Wikifunctions:Project chat

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JavaScript converter functions for Wikidata time (Z6064)

I recently created JavaScript converter functions for Wikidata time, but will do more testing before connecting. I aim to get them connected by early next week. In the meantime, please feel free to have a look and give feedback. I don't think there's anything risky or controversial in these functions.

• Convert from Wikidata time, JavaScript (Z28686)
• Convert to Wikidata time, JavaScript (Z28687)

Notes:

• I copied JavaScript converter code from Gregorian calendar date, Time of day, Natural number, and Integer. Of course, we have a maintenance burden resulting from multiple copies of converter code snippets. There are some ideas afoot about allowing for one converter function to call another converter function, but we aren't there yet.
• When we have a distinct type for Julian calendar date, it will make sense to revisit these converters to make sure Julian dates are handled correctly. DMartin (WMF) (talk) 00:41, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

Okay, these JavaScript converter functions are connected now, and I've used them successfully in implementing a new function Later Wikidata time (Z28846). DMartin (WMF) (talk) 18:21, 15 October 2025 (UTC)

Nice work 🤩 So9q (talk) 05:16, 14 November 2025 (UTC)

Chinese translation for project name

[en] English:

The Chinese-speaking community hasn't decided on the translation of "Wikifunctions." It's about time we translate this. I propose the name "维基函数"(zh-Hans)/"維基函數"(zh-hant).

Note that Taiwan seems to prefer "函式/函式" when it comes to programming functions, but considering

1. It will be disastrous to convert regional terms in our project names,
2. Taiwanese also use "函数/函數," and
3. Math functions are universally called "函数/函數,"

I'd choose not to split the translation.

I hope other Sinitic languages (Chinese topolects) choose to follow this translation, except for those conventionally preserve the original foreign names. Also, Classical Chinese might consider another name.

---

[zh-Hans] 中文（简体）:

中文社群尚未决定“Wikifunctions”的翻译，是时候译了。我提议“维基函数”(zh-Hans)/“維基函數”(zh-hant)。

需要注意，台湾似乎更倾向用“函式/函式”来翻译程序/程式的function，但考虑到

1. 项目/专案名称中使用地区词很糟糕
2. 台湾也使用“函数/函數”
3. 数学上的function普遍译为“函数/函數”

我倾向于不去分裂这个译名。

我希望其他汉语族语言（汉语方言）也能采用这个译名，除了一贯保留原文者。此外，文言文可能会考虑另行翻译。

---

[zh-Hant] 中文（繁體）：

中文社羣尚未決定「Wikifunctions」的翻譯，是時候譯了。我提議「维基函数」(zh-Hans)/「維基函數」(zh-hant)。

需要注意，臺灣似乎更傾向用「函式/函式」來翻譯程序/程式的function，但考慮到

1. 項目/專案名稱中使用地區詞很糟糕
2. 臺灣也使用「函数/函數」
3. 數學function普遍譯爲「函数/函數」

我傾向於不去分裂這個譯名。

我希望其他漢語族語言（漢語方言）也能採用這個譯名，除了一貫保留原文者。此外，文言文可能會考慮另行翻譯。

---

-- 魔琴 (talk) 13:14, 14 October 2025 (UTC)

"維基函數" shall be fine. Have you notify other zh wikis and translatewiki.net about this? Ericliu1912 (talk) 21:59, 14 October 2025 (UTC)

已通知：zhwiki, zh_classicalwiki (lzhwiki), ganwiki, wuuwiki, hakwiki, zh_min_nanwiki (nanwiki), cdowiki, zh_yuewiki (yuewiki), zhwikibooks, zhwikinews, zhwikiquote, zhwikisource, zhwikiversity, zhwikivoyage, zhwiktionary, yuewiktionary, zh_min_nanwiktionary (nanwiktionary), zh_min_nanwikisource (nanwikisource)。

已通知 translatewiki.net portal：zh, lzh, nan, yue。

-- 魔琴 (talk) 00:04, 18 October 2025 (UTC)

Winston mentioned in Telegram @wikifunctions_zh that the current zh-Hant translation pages use "维基函式库," probably since Wikifunctions is a library and "functions" is plural. Winston在Telegram@wikifunctions_zh說，現行繁體翻譯是「維基函式庫」，可能因爲Wikifunctions是庫，而且「functions」是複數。--魔琴 (talk) 03:51, 15 October 2025 (UTC)

Sounds as if someone is saying that because Wikidata is a database, we should add the character "库" when translating its Chinese name. In my view, that would be superfluous—like drawing a snake and then adding feet. PexEric (talk) 08:47, 16 October 2025 (UTC)

翻譯：聽起來像是說維基數據是數據庫，所以我們翻譯的時候應該加「庫」字。我認爲這是畫蛇添足。--譯者：魔琴 (talk) 00:08, 18 October 2025 (UTC)

「维基功能库」行吗（大家都不常用，而且语言的陌生化）🤔 --For Each ... Next (talk) 11:03, 20 October 2025 (UTC)

功能怪怪的，而且感覺偏離了wikifunctions的用途了。 SunAfterRain 05:15, 21 October 2025 (UTC)

支持zh-cn=维基函数，zh-hk=維基函數，zh-tw=維基函式。遵循各地用語习慣才是最自然的。維基數據本來也應該譯為維基資料，不知道為什麼沒有這樣。 Midleading (talk) 04:48, 26 November 2025 (UTC)

Support. A unified and clear translation. PexEric (talk) 08:42, 16 October 2025 (UTC)

我仍然認為zh-Hant應翻譯為維基函式，對我來說，維基函數在這個狀況只算是退而求其次的選擇。--S8321414 (talk) 00:40, 18 October 2025 (UTC)

Translating Wikifunctions as 「維基函數」 is not accurate. en:Wikifunctions says: "Wikifunctions is a collaboratively edited catalog of computer functions to enable the creation, modification, and reuse of source code." Here, "functions" refers to en:Function (computer programming), which Chinese Wikipedia translates as 「子程序」 and Cantonese Wikipedia translates as 「子程式」, and not to en:Function (mathematics). Therefore, it is recommended that Wikifunctions should use the Chinese name 「維基子程序」 and the Cantonese name 「維基子程式」. Kwgulden (talk) 02:47, 18 October 2025 (UTC)

「子程序」or「子程式」means "subroutine, subprogram or callable unit" and a function is just a type of it. PexEric (talk) 02:55, 18 October 2025 (UTC)

Thanks for your explanation. That means the sitelinks in d:Q190686 may not be accurate. But I am still not sure whether it is appropriate to refer 「函數」 to en:Function (computer programming) as 「函數」 usually refers to en:Function (mathematics). Kwgulden (talk) 03:09, 18 October 2025 (UTC)

計算機的function應該得名自數學的function吧，感覺除非大家跟着臺灣用「函式」，不然沒招。 魔琴 (talk) 13:05, 20 October 2025 (UTC)

FYI: @WhitePhosphorus多年之前的留言 m:Talk:Abstract_Wikipedia/zh#译名. 维基函数这个名字可以的。Stang 08:12, 19 October 2025 (UTC)

I vaguely remember an earlier decision to not translate it.. MilkyDefer 11:11, 19 October 2025 (UTC)

维基百科的姊妹项目没有一个不翻译的，保留原文不太符合社群习惯。我猜很多中文用户在当年的定名票选中反对Wikilambda这个名字。 魔琴 (talk) 20:31, 24 October 2025 (UTC)

另外，這裏建議在新名稱確定之前，將「Abstract Wikipedia」暫譯爲「抽象維基百科」。-- 魔琴 (talk) 13:02, 20 October 2025 (UTC)

Agree. Ericliu1912 (talk) 16:05, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

Agree. ~ Sheminghui.WU (talk) 23:55, 23 October 2025 (UTC)

現決定在m:Special:MyLanguage/Abstract Wikipedia/Abstract Wikipedia naming contest完成前，在中文社羣內部討論中暫將「Abstract Wikipedia」稱爲「抽象維基百科」。

(DeepSeek translation) It has been decided that, prior to the completion of the m:Special:MyLanguage/Abstract Wikipedia/Abstract Wikipedia naming contest, "Abstract Wikipedia" will provisionally be referred to as "抽象維基百科" in discussions within the Chinese community.

-- 魔琴 (talk) 05:53, 14 November 2025 (UTC)

zh-hant: 抽象維基百科; zh-hans: 抽象维基百科. -- 魔琴 (talk) 06:07, 14 November 2025 (UTC)

I think Literary Chinese could be translated into '維基函數'. --WAN233 (talk) 01:54, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

As a user who is actively involved in editing the Mindong (Eastern Min) edition of Wikipedia, I believe the term "函數" (hàng-só) is sufficient to convey the meaning of "function."

At the same time, as a Chinese speaker, I want to remind everyone that for many people, just seeing the word "函數" isn't enough to understand what this feature or website is for. They might mistake it for something related to teaching math, as if the Wikimedia Foundation is planning to enter the educational/tutoring industry.

Names like "維基百科" (Wikipedia) and "維基辭典" (Wiktionary) are excellent translations; you immediately know what they do when you hear them, and these products have had a profound impact on the internet over the last two decades.

I suggest that, rather than getting bogged down in the technical accuracy of computer terminology or issues of linguistic identity and regional preferences, we should rethink this from a product and branding perspective. We need to find a translation that makes its purpose clear to people. The goal should be to settle on a name that is easily understood by the contemporary Chinese-speaking world (中文語境 / 華人世界 or at least 華語圈). Davidzdh (talk) 09:44, 26 October 2025 (UTC)

@Davidzdh: 这聽起来像另择翻译。programming function 是一個技術性的術语，我觉得可能很难找到合適的替换词。如果要天马行空造出一個有联繫的词，这应该是命名比赛的範围，我不清楚维基媒体是否允许我们这樣另择翻译，虽然我们確实有Wikisource=>维基文库。 魔琴 (talk) 16:11, 9 November 2025 (UTC)

Also consider the technical term "functional programming". dringsim 01:45, 16 November 2025 (UTC)

@沈澄心:你的意思是？叫「维基程序函数」？「维基函数编程」？ 魔琴 (talk) 19:16, 1 December 2025 (UTC)

我主要是想说考虑到现有的一些专业术语Wikifunctions的译名可能不太适合脱离“函数”这个词…… dringsim 19:24, 1 December 2025 (UTC)

Make function/implementation/test pages more distinguishable

Hi,

It seems to be a common problem, especially but not only for beginners, to know what type of pages are looking at. Mainly because the identifier look the same (you can't deduce from the id alone Z16438 or Z16439 what it is). There is some visual clues that allow to know if a page is a function, an implementation or a test (in particular, it's written under the identifier) but I'm wondering if we couldn't/shouldn't make the distinction more obvious, for instance adding some kind of icon before the name, writing the type more prominently, and/or changing the color a bit (other ideas are welcome obviously).

What do y'all think?

Cheers, VIGNERON (talk) 13:09, 1 November 2025 (UTC)

I agree. I don't know exactly what the design elements should be, but making it a little bit clearer so that one, at a glance, sees what type of page one is currently on would be very helpful. Especially since in a normal workflow one start with a function, creates a test, goes back to the function creates the implementation and then to the function again. These switches and having to know what type the page you're looking at is, is a cognitive burden in an already complex task. Ainali (talk) 13:46, 1 November 2025 (UTC)

Makes sense. I’d like to pitch in phab:T373735 here, too. Also, we already distinguish functions with a different icon in the object selector, but it would be better to limit the results to the required type of object (as already happens in some contexts). GrounderUK (talk) 14:12, 1 November 2025 (UTC)

@Ainali and GrounderUK: if we go with icons, what should they be? It would be nice to reused Unicode emoji (easier and more interoperable than custom designed icons). My proposal is that it could be something like: 📜 (Function, not my best idea) ⚙️ (Implementation, where the gears of the code actually runs) and 🧪 (Test, a test tube). What do you think? Cheers, VIGNERON (talk) 17:24, 8 November 2025 (UTC)

Functions using this function

Inspired by Vigneron's observation above and a note I made in the chat at the talk at WikidataCon today. We are now at a place that it is possible to compose function of other functions, which in turn may be part of other compositions. Following the latest newsletter I could figure out how to add Swedish to the album short description function. But it is a bit confusing, and it was noticeable in this instance, to keep track on what "level" one is working on or looking at. I think it would be helpful to have on the page (not having to go the WhatLinkshere and having to figure out which links may be relevant) something like "This function is used by: [list of functions]" Or do you have any other good tricks for this? Ainali (talk) 13:59, 1 November 2025 (UTC)

I don’t know whether it’s a “good” trick, but you can try something like this:

Special:Search/: z14K2 "z7k1 Z13708" !"z14K1: Z13708".

This should find implementations that call a given function (Z13708, in this case) but which are not themselves implementations of that function. This is more focused than “What links here”, also eliminating test cases and pages outside of the main namespace. As phab:T373735 suggests, being able to see which function the listed implementations implement would be an advantage (and this also applies to the results in “What links here”).

This approach cannot handle nested function calls or the kind of indirection introduced by function application (as with functions configured by language). In the second case, an alternative like

Special:Search/: Z28811 !"z14K1: Z28811" !Z20

will exclude the function’s own implementations and all test cases, but still find the configuration that selects the target function. GrounderUK (talk) 15:00, 1 November 2025 (UTC)

I like your question and think having something for this is helpful. What do you think about creating Wikidataitems for each function in Wikifunction and adding a property to each item to show which functions a function is using. I am not sure if it is a good solutions. It seems to be more usable than the special search syntax. SPARQL-Queries are also not easy to modify and so I am not sure if it is a good idea and if there will be enough user. A bot can be used to update the items every time a function is modified. Hogü-456 (talk) 17:36, 3 November 2025 (UTC)

I suspect that the data is already in some database tables, so it would probably be redundant storing it on Wikidata as well. Ainali (talk) 19:02, 3 November 2025 (UTC)

Do you know where the information is stored. I looked at the tables of the Wikilambda extension. There is the wikilambda_zobject_join_table and wikilambda zobject function join table. It seems to me like these are the most related tables for the request you have. I tried to write queries in Quarry to get the content and have not found out if there is the information inclueded what functions are used in a function. Hogü-456 (talk) 21:22, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

I don’t believe the information already exists. Functions are not physically used by functions; they are used by implementations and test cases. This is why “What links here” for a function lists no functions (apart from itself). GrounderUK (talk) 21:54, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

Ah, yes of course. But that was really what I wanted to know (especially being used by implementations), even though I wasn't very clear in my original post. Ainali (talk) 08:05, 5 November 2025 (UTC)

I wanted this too for the graphical images of our network. The first graphs had a composition in between each pair of functions (i.e. function A has a composition B which calls function C). It's all extractable from the dump, but needs a second order query. --99of9 (talk) 05:14, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

Right.  Unfortunately that info is not present in the database tables.  There is an open ticket proposing that we add it: T388047 DMartin (WMF) (talk) 01:06, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

Thread referenced in phab:T410822 (final paragraph). GrounderUK (talk) 13:13, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

Categorisation and extended documentation for functions

Tracked in Phabricator:
Task T260953

This has come up before, but going forward I think it would be worth setting up a template like d:Template:Property documentation where related functions and categories could be listed in a standard way, rather than asking people to put links on talk pages ad hoc. Stuff like "equivalent functions on other data types:", "is specialisation / partial application of:", or "is subroutine of:". And then long-form documentation for humans could follow that if necessary, maybe stored on a different page and transcluded so that it's translatable. YoshiRulz (talk) 17:32, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

@YoshiRulz: I would strongly encourage you to think about what might be worth documenting to whom and why, rather than rush in with a talk-page-based solution. The original plans for Wikifunctions included a lot of (vaguely-specified) ideas around reader-facing, translated documentation. Hiding it on the talk page would undermine a lot of potential visibility and leave readers lost. Jdforrester (WMF) (talk) 17:03, 5 November 2025 (UTC)

I'd assumed it must be on the talk page because the description field is too small and not Wikitext, also that's where Wikidata puts Property docs, and where is currently suggested e.g. in the FAQ. YoshiRulz (talk) 18:31, 5 November 2025 (UTC)

As for the target audience, there would be at least those looking to use the function in an embedded call (possibly via VisualEditor), and those looking to use it as part of implementing another function here. I would say their needs mostly overlap, except you could probably omit some of the links to related functions for the former since they'd only be relevant to maintainers of this wiki. The long-form docs, if present, would be the most important; I envision them being used similarly to template documentation, clarifing a function's semantics (more than would fit in the description) and giving usage examples. YoshiRulz (talk) 18:47, 5 November 2025 (UTC)

I support this idea as an improvement on the status quo. I don't think I understand the alternative Jdforrester is suggesting. Where other than the talk page would you expect to find "equivalent functions on other data types", for example? In the catalogue, maybe, but that's hard to find starting from the function itself. --99of9 (talk) 23:35, 11 November 2025 (UTC)

@99of9: They would probably go on the Function's page itself, depending on what our designers and product people come up with following on from the list of wants and needs. This was our original plan back in 2020. Jdforrester (WMF) (talk) 21:06, 13 November 2025 (UTC)

Oh sure, even just having Categories on mainspace pages would be great. But unless you tell us otherwise, that could be another 5 years away for all I know. So in the short/medium term I still support categorisation and templates on the talk pages, and I wouldn't characterise that as "rush[ing] in". --99of9 (talk) 04:35, 14 November 2025 (UTC)

Some more ways to link persistent objects together that have come to me: "raises exception types:" (Z50s on Z8), "{throwing,non-throwing} equivalent:" (Z8 on Z8), "outputs satisfy invariants:" (Z8s on Z8, see also refinement types proposal), "creation functions (constructors):" (Z8s on Z4), "decomposition functions:" (Z8s on Z4), "is (approximate) inverse of:" (Z8s on Z8), "complementary/negative function:" (Z8 on Z8), "specific to language:" (Z60 on Z8, for functions on strings or Lexemes with no lang param, or weird things like Z15151), "equivalent function on {item,property,lexeme} {object,ref}:" (Z8s on Z8, for functions on Wikidata interop types) YoshiRulz (talk) 12:17, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

Wikifunctions & Abstract Wikipedia Newsletter #225 is out: First round of voting for naming the wiki for abstract content closed; Calling for Wiktionary functions; Embedded Wikifunctions on Bengali Wikipedia and seven more Wiktionaries

There is a new update for Abstract Wikipedia and Wikifunctions. Please, come and read it!

In this issue, we update you on the closing of the first phase of the naming contest for Abstract Wikipedia, we introduce a possible implementation of Wikifunctions for Wiktionaries, we talk about our latest outreach events, and we take a look at the latest Type and software developments.

Want to catch up with the previous updates? Check our archive!

Enjoy the reading! -- User:Sannita (WMF) (talk) 14:06, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

I do not see this Status Update linked at the Main Page. Can you please add it there. Hogü-456 (talk) 20:49, 11 November 2025 (UTC)

@Hogü-456: I've added this one (and last week's). Thanks for spotting! Jdforrester (WMF) (talk) 21:44, 18 November 2025 (UTC)

Wikifunctions & Abstract Wikipedia Newsletter #226 is out: Getting ready for second round of voting for naming the wiki with abstract content; Rewriting the backend: Why Rust?

There is a new update for Abstract Wikipedia and Wikifunctions. Please, come and read it!

In this issue, we summarise current discussion regarding the naming contest for Abstract Wikipedia, we discuss how we are rewriting the backend, we ask for help in substituting a function, we suggest you the recordings of Wikifunctions-related sessions at the WikidataCon 2025, and we take a look at the latest software developments.

Want to catch up with the previous updates? Check our archive!

Also we remind you that the next Natural Language Generation Special Interest Group meeting will be held on November 18, at 16:00 UTC (link to the meeting).

Enjoy the reading! -- User:Sannita (WMF) (talk) 14:42, 13 November 2025 (UTC)

Naming contest: two quick news

Hello all! Two quick updates around the naming contest:

1. We are moving back the beginning of the second round of voting for two or three days. This is to give a bit more time for vetting the names.
2. Unfortunately, my favorite name had to be stricken from the contest: Wikicore. That name unfortunately clashes with an existing registered and actively used trademark in a key jurisdiction. We are aware that it was the candidate with the second-most upvotes. We are very sorry. --DVrandecic (WMF) (talk) 13:13, 17 November 2025 (UTC)

I was thinking for a moment to maybe replace Wikicore with Core Wikipedia, but given the reactions to those two names in the first round, this does not seem to be even close to what the community is thinking about these two names. So, we just dropped the Wikicore option instead. --DVrandecic (WMF) (talk) 13:18, 17 November 2025 (UTC)

That is sad, but I agree that dropping it completely is right. I'd still like to know the plan for variants, e.g. Proto-Wiki vs ProtoWiki. 99of9 (talk) 20:32, 17 November 2025 (UTC)

Seeing as you're already delaying the vote, why not promote the next highest proposal from the previous round to be a candidate? By your metric that would be "Wikiblueprint" (which, by my example metric, beat half of them). YoshiRulz (talk) 03:53, 18 November 2025 (UTC)

They considered pulling in Wikiblueprint, but unfortunately it's an active business name. --99of9 (talk) 05:09, 18 November 2025 (UTC)

You should echo this on the second round page. YoshiRulz (talk) 03:58, 18 November 2025 (UTC)

I added a note about it, with a link to this section in the project chat. Hogü-456 (talk) 20:40, 19 November 2025 (UTC)

Unlabelled (Z29532)

Does anyone know what could be wrong with this function? It's working fine but it's replacing "‧" with "·". EnaldoSS (talk) 10:49, 20 November 2025 (UTC)

@EnaldoSS: If it's outputting a Unicode · ( Middle Dot , ·) rather than a Unicode ‧ (Hyphenation Point), this might be the result of the regex code? Jdforrester (WMF) (talk) 16:32, 20 November 2025 (UTC)

Reminder: Help us decide the name of the new Abstract Wikipedia project

Hello. Reminder: Please help to choose name for the new Abstract Wikipedia wiki project. The finalist vote starts today. The finalists for the name are: Abstract Wikipedia, Multilingual Wikipedia, Wikiabstracts, Wikigenerator, Proto-Wiki. If you would like to participate, then please learn more and vote now at meta-wiki. Thank you!

-- User:Sannita (WMF) (talk) 14:21, 20 November 2025 (UTC)

Wikifunctions & Abstract Wikipedia Newsletter #227 is out: Second round of voting for naming the wiki with language-independent content; Sharing function calls

There is a new update for Abstract Wikipedia and Wikifunctions. Please, come and read it!

In this issue, we announce the start of the second phase of the naming contest for Abstract Wikipedia, we share the results of the MacArthur Foundation's 100&Change contest, we share the recording of the last NLG SIG meeting, and we take a look at the latest software developments.

Want to catch up with the previous updates? Check our archive!

Enjoy the reading! -- User:Sannita (WMF) (talk) 10:11, 21 November 2025 (UTC)

Are function aliases in mul not surfaced?

Tracked in Phabricator:
Task T359663

I just tried adding the Scribunto equivalent for a function as an alias, but when I type it into a Z8-typed input field, it doesn't autocomplete, nor does it autocomplete in the site searchbox. YoshiRulz (talk) 08:22, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

Apparently not. Another example is “atan”, which is found as an “en” alias for Z19156 but not as a “mul” alias for Z20959. Will you be filing a ticket on Phabricator? GrounderUK (talk) 10:47, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

I'll do that now, there doesn't seem to be an existing one. Nevermind, found it while looking for links to previous discussion, it wasn't in the front-end tag where I was searching. YoshiRulz (talk) 11:59, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

phab:T359663 GrounderUK (talk) 13:09, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

re: using system messages in functions

We can't use {{int:}} since HTML fragment (Z89) doesn't go through the Wikitext parser. How can we make use of that library of translations?
For my specific use case I wanted the string "no value", so for now maybe I could pull the label from no value (Z6022)? (Since concept of no-value in Wikibase (Q19798647) is different.) YoshiRulz (talk) 15:57, 23 November 2025 (UTC)

@YoshiRulz: Yes, you should use labels from Wikidata as the general translation system, rather than hacking things through the MediaWiki-interface i18n system Jdforrester (WMF) (talk) 04:04, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

So something like Z16273(Z20607("Z6022"), Z1002) then? YoshiRulz (talk) 08:53, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

Hmm… I guess you can’t use Wikidata labels for items that don’t exist. Presumably their creation is opposed by that community as a matter of policy? For extracting a Wikifunctions label, I’d suggest something based on this function call, avoiding the indirection from converting the ZID to a quoted object reference (unless and until we get some progress on phab:T366459). GrounderUK (talk) 11:01, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

ArticlePlaceholder render main snak, composition (Z29745) YoshiRulz (talk) 12:36, 25 November 2025 (UTC)

Wikifunctions & Abstract Wikipedia Newsletter #228 is out: Vote on the new wiki name! Finishing each other’s sentences

There is a new update for Abstract Wikipedia and Wikifunctions. Please, come and read it!

In this issue, we update you on our naming contest for Abstract Wikipedia, we discuss our progress on sentence creation with functions, and we take a look at the latest software developments.

Want to catch up with the previous updates? Check our archive!

Also, we remind you that if you have questions or ideas to discuss, the next Volunteers' Corner will be held on December 1, at 18:30 UTC (link to the meeting).

Enjoy the reading! -- User:Sannita (WMF) (talk) 11:38, 27 November 2025 (UTC)

Proposed conventions for all kinds of labels

I've just made a bunch of proposals at WT:Naming conventions, in separate threads because I'm sure some will be more controversial than others. Essentially all I've done is broken down my own personal style into self-contained points. I have taken inspiration from others in the community though, like the Ruby-style '?' suffix that I saw on a couple functions. YoshiRulz (talk) 21:51, 1 December 2025 (UTC)

@YoshiRulz: Thanks. I've replied to a bunch of your proposals, but you've already started a "vote" it seems on all of them, which seems premature? Jdforrester (WMF) (talk) 14:45, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

Forgive me for being out of line, I've never had the need or want to participate in policymaking on a Wikimedia project before. "Up to now, everything had been in order." YoshiRulz (talk) 16:33, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

Don’t worry. You’re not out of line. I suspect we’ll get round to commenting on your suggestions before we feel inclined to vote on them, but if anyone wants to agree without commenting, that will be fine. GrounderUK (talk) 16:43, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

@YoshiRulz: Yup, not a problem, just didn't want you to take it as a criticism that I'm not voting immediately! :-) Jdforrester (WMF) (talk) 15:42, 3 December 2025 (UTC)

Wikifunctions & Abstract Wikipedia Newsletter #229 is out: And the name is Abstract Wikipedia

There is a new update for Abstract Wikipedia and Wikifunctions. Please, come and read it!

In this issue, we share the final results of the naming contest for Abstract Wikipedia, we share two demos about new Wikifunctions features, we talk about Wikidata components in Wikifunctions, and we take a look at the latest software developments.

Want to catch up with the previous updates? Check our archive!

Enjoy the reading! -- User:Sannita (WMF) (talk) 11:02, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

Wikifunctions and the Abstract Language / functions helping

I think I have a bit of a crazy idea. I watched the video of the volunteer corner, Denny talking and demonstrating how to develop the basic wikifunctions for language generator.

One thing I could feel is that's it's hard keeping track of what is happening into the different layers of functions, switching back and forth to the different pages and tests.

Then I thought about the idea of a "Wikifunction Spreadsheet" and I think it could be a great help actually in that task !

Instead of the "One function per page" you put one function call per cell, and a sequence of composition into the adjacent cells. On another cell you can try another function connecting the results of the previous cells to try and compare all on the same page.

You put the tests (maybe even imported from the function tests itself) in different columns and copy the "composition formula" into the columns as we can copy formulas in a traditional spreadsheet to see the intermediate results into the rows, see at which step it breaks if you split the composition into smaller formula that uses the results of the previous step on the previous line …

It might not be that much work to implement into Wikifunctions as the formula editor and the views for the datatypes are already implemented ?

@DVrandecic (WMF) @Jdforrester (WMF) @VIGNERON what do you think ? (ping the people who participated) TomT0m (talk) 19:29, 6 December 2025 (UTC)

Oh, I like a lot the idea of tracking what is happening inside a composed function, seing the result of each sub-functions. I'm not sure to fully understand the spreadsheet formating and/or analogy, but I'm definitely in agreement with the underlying idea. Cheer, VIGNERON (talk) 09:23, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

My idea was to use an actual Spreadsheet. But instead of the usual string inputs in the cells for data, you'd use typed Wikifunctions datatypes inputs, and instead of traditional spreadsheet functions you can compose to create formulas, you can use any wikifunctions. You could use usual cell reference for functions inputs.

To decompose a function for debugging, you can replace a function with its composition implementation in the UI, or something like that. And you highlight a part of the composition and the UI let you replace it with a cell reference in the formula, and move that part of the composition to that cell. That way the extracted cell with this subformula will show the intermediate result.

In the same spirit you want to see if you can replace a function with another in a composition ? You do the previous operation to extract that function in a cell. You copy everything like in a traditional Spredsheet, down in the next row. You get another cell for another intermediate result. Change the function in the copy of the extracted cell in the new row with the new function. Compare the results.

Want to test with a bunch of test lexemes input for exploratory work ? Enter them in a column, In the next column adjascent to the first one, with the cell in the left referenced as an input parameter, enter your composition as a formula. Copy it down …

Just ideas. It seems that it would be a cool UI principle for testing different things, as a lot of people knows a bit about spreadsheets, it's flexible, and we can push the concepts further with more advanced datatypes on Wikidata than usual, and their input and views are already coded in the software. TomT0m (talk) 09:48, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

I really like your idea and I am interested in using it as I am using spreadsheets a lot. In the past I experimented with converting spreadsheet functions into source code in a programming language. I wrote a program to convert some common Spreadsheetfunctions into source code in R. With the program you can read a file in the Flat ods-Format a text version of the .ods-Format a Spreadsheet file format. As an output you get the source code in R what will calculate the same result. So far it works not every time as the program is in an experimental state. You can find the source code of this program here at the Wikimedia Gitlab Instance. If you are interested in testing it I can try to help with the installation. There is an overview page with mappings of Spreadsheetfunctions to Wikifunctions functions at Wikifunctions:Excel functions and Wikifunctions:OpenFunctions. I think mapping the already existing spreadsheet functions to the Wikifunctions functions can help making it easier to convert an function implementation in a Spreadsheet into a Wikifunctions function. Hogü-456 (talk) 18:33, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

Making a "List of functions filtered by their Implementations" page

There's already a "List of functions filtered by their Tests", adding one for implementations can help fill gaps for empty functions which have test cases but no implementations, or even functions which have neither. B0oredman (talk) 03:57, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

+1 So9q (talk) 11:49, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

Please see phab:T404897 and feel free to comment there! GrounderUK (talk) 12:10, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

American / British / etc. English

So what's the plan for spelling on Abstract Wikipedia? It seems to me that Wikidata already does a good thing by having words like "color" be defined in en-CA/GB/US rather than just "en". Will AW potentially have functionality to display content in the user's language, so that "color" will show up as "colour" on en-GB language and "color" on en-US? Or will everything just default to Canadian English since its language code is higher up alphabetically :)???? </facetious> — rae^5e <talk> 15:41, 8 December 2025 (UTC)

It had better! Wikifunctions does… honestly… For an example, please see [“driving licence”(en-gb), …] ↤ Q205647 (Z26565). GrounderUK (talk) 15:48, 8 December 2025 (UTC)

Of course, “en” is widely abused on Wikidata for “en-us”, so most varieties of English will have “en-gb” above “en” for their fallback, I imagine. Australian for “color”, for example. GrounderUK (talk) 15:58, 8 December 2025 (UTC)