Wikibase Architecture Documentation

# Client Introduction

Wikibase Client is part of Wikibase.
It's primary development is part of the Wikidata project.
Wikibase Client is focused around a MediaWiki extension that allows users to use and display data from a Wikibase Repository via Lua modules or parser functions.
Wikibase Clients can also use centralized language links, article placeholders and other features.

# Requirements Overview

The overall goal of Wikibase Client is to allow MediaWiki sites to connect to a Wikibase Repository, using repository data in articles.

Wikidata specific goals are also fullfilled by Wikibase Client:

  • Centrally manage interwiki links

# Basic Usage

  • A user can include data from a Wikibase Repository in wikitext
  • A user can connect multiple pages on separate sites together
  • A user can edit some amount of centrally held data from the Wikibase Client site

# Quality Goals

  • Entity data which is included in a Wikibase Client's content is eventually consistent with updates on the corresponding Wikibase Repository. The Repository notifies the Client of updates via Entity Change Notifications to which the Client reacts by purging the caches of pages which include data of the affected Entities which in turn pulls the updated Entity data from the Repository.

# Stakeholders & Expectations

# Wikibase Client editor

  • Connect a page to a Wikibase Item.
  • Show that a page is connected to a Wikibase Item in the page info.
  • Link to the connected Wikibase Item for an article page in its sidebar.
  • Use data from a Wikibase Repository in Wikibase Client wikitext generated content.
  • Have data from a Wikibase Repository used in Wikibase Client pages update automatically when changes happen on the Wikibase Repository.
  • See the "unconnected pages" on a Wikibase Client.

# Wikimedia editor

  • Store Wikipedia page connections in a central place.

# Wikipedia editor

  • Connect pages on different Wikipedias, showing interwiki links on the connected pages.
  • Have interwiki links keep up to date, when pages are moved or deleted.
  • Store information relating to article quality in a central place, for use in interwiki links on the Articles.
  • Have data updates which cause pages changes to be shown in RecentChanges.
  • Have data updates which cause pages changes to be shown in Watchlists, when the page being changed is watched.
  • Update Wikidata’s data used on Wikipedia when it is incorrect or outdated via web interface.
  • Find wrong or missing data on a Wikipedia article and correct or add it to Wikidata.

# Wikipedia reader

  • Have a representation of structured data about the world in Wikipedia articles (e.g. infoboxes)
  • Rely on centrally maintained data and trust that information in articles is up-to-date, even on small Wikipedias
  • Find reliable and up-to-date references for claims about the world

Architecture Constraints →