 | This page is currently inactive and is retained for historical reference. AFT5 was removed from all Wikimedia wikis on March 3, 2014. |
| Developer(s) | Wikimedia Foundation |
|---|---|
| Type | Assessment (wiki content) |
| Website | Article Feedback @ MediaWiki.org |
- Note: the Article Feedback Tool is now discontinued. To hear more and give your feedback on this former Wikipedia feature, please go to the AFT V5 project page.
The software remains supported by volunteer developers; please visit the Version 5 info page on MediaWiki.org for more information on the software development.
The Article Feedback Tool (AFT) was a Wikimedia survey for article feedback, to engage readers in the assessment of article quality, one of the five priorities defined in the strategic plan.
Background and development history
This tool was created with the following goals:
- Quality assessment – Article feedback complements internal quality assessment of Wikipedia articles with a new source of data on quality, highlighting content that is of very high or very low quality, and measuring change over time.
- Reader engagement – Article feedback encourages participation from readers, offering a call to action for some assessors to improve the article.
The first phase of the feedback project began in 2010, with the Mediawiki page started on 9 July, the Workgroup formed on September 15 and a project page in en.wikipedia created on October 7. Various functional requirements were developed in conjunction with English Wikipedia editors via discussion (e.g., at Village Pumps) and announcements (in The Signpost and at Administrators' Noticeboards).
The version 4 (V4) of the tool featured a rating form at the bottom of each Wikipedia article, inviting readers to rate that article based on four criteria. The goals of the version 4 of the tool are to 1) provide a mechanism by which readers can help assess the quality of an article and 2) provide an on-ramp for readers to start engaging with Wikipedia. The current tool invites readers to rate this page for these four qualities: trustworthiness, objectivity, completeness and writing (see image).
The Version 5 of the Article Feedback Tool (AFT V5) was based on community feedback and analysis of the public data. The main goal of this version was to find ways for readers to contribute productively to building the encyclopedia. Analysis of the V4 and feedback from the community were incorporated into the design of the next version. The following blog post describes the features of the tool that appeared to be working versus features that were not quite as successful at quality assessment and reader engagement.
The AFT V5 was focused on finding ways for readers to contribute productively to building the encyclopedia. When Wikipedia editors were asked over IRC to comment on what types of feedback would be useful to hear from readers, some mentioned that it would be useful to know what readers were looking for and if they found it. One direction that was tested in the next version is a simplified form which asks the reader "Did you find what you were looking for?", with 'Yes / No' buttons. Readers were also invited to add a comment or suggestion for improving the article.
Quality is still an important consideration and the next[which?] version of the tool will continue to test various ways of measuring quality. In a departure from the current tool, we may test implicit measurements of quality. For example, with the "Did you find what you're looking for" question, the percentage of "yes"'s could be an indicator of article quality.
Deployment in Wikipedia
The Version 4 was deployed on almost all pages on the English Wikipedia, among other wikis.
Phase 2 began on TBD, and a wikicategory for the project started on February 14, 2011. In July 2011, "What's this?" help function on the "Rate this page" box replaced the phase 2 "Please take a moment to rate this page" wording.
Surveys that thousands of users took in the summer of 2011 show that more than 90% of users believed the tool was useful, and slightly more than half believed that it positively affected the development of articles.
In the fall of 2011, users typically submitted between 30,000 and 45,000 separate ratings each day. About 97% of users submitting ratings were not logged-in editors, indicating significant uptake by readers.
On the English Wikipedia, the Article Feedback was disabled (made opt-in) on March 5, 2013, following an RfC. It was later discontinued in March 2014; feedback records are no longer readable via the MediaWiki interface.