Capacity Exchange/FAQ
Here you can find Frequently Asked Questions.
What is the Capacity Exchange?
It is an accessible, beautifully designed, multi-language, and user-friendly solution to look for and connect to peer wikimedians who are willing to share skills, abilities, or services.
The CapX platform is the place where all the user groups, initiatives, programs, and users converge and, at the same time, from where they all part. It is the place to find the best match for your needs, someone who can have your back and help you figure out how to handle your issues—be they technical, social, or even organizational needs.
On CapX you find the help to build your capacities in the way that better suits all the parties involved. You can discuss the ways of connecting through our message feature or ask for the help of a peer support program – it's up to you.
How does it connect to Wikimedia projects?
Capacity Exchange uses Wikimedia projects as its primary data source. Most of CapX's database consists of relationships between links from Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and others. This makes CapX an organized display of the information spread across Wikimedia projects, in a searchable format that can be linked to skills and abilities of the Capacity Directory.
CapX chose to rely on the strength and solidity of Wikimedia projects and their communities envisioning data security and the maintenance of user and organization information. It is running on the Wikimedia Cloud Services, specifically at Toolforge. The platform is multilanguage, by being connected to TranslateWiki platform, and complies with the privacy and security settings of Wikimedia projects (See CapX Privacy Policy here). To learn more about these technical choices, visit CapX's documentation.
How can I connect with other users?
The goal of the CapX tool is to map capacities and pair those who are willing to share with those who wish to learn. While the tool facilitates the matching between these parties, the exchange must take place outside of it.
Wikimedians can share with their peers in any way that works best for them, or they can look for peer support initiatives, such as Let's Connect.
Despite this, the tool does offer a channel for exchange between peers: the messaging service. Messages are sent through Meta-Wiki and, therefore, offer the same privacy and options.
To access the feature, click on the hamburger menu in the upper right corner of the screen and select Messages, or go directly to capx.toolforge.org/message. You can also access this page by clicking on the Let's talk button located at the bottom of a user's profile page.
Go to the Capacity Exchange User Guide to see more information about it.
How is this being coordinated with past, existing, and future capacity-building efforts?
We are constantly reaching out to existing initiatives to assess their assets, needs, and perspectives on skill development. Our goal is to incorporate their input into the development of the platform as much as possible.
Also, the platform is helping to create a network of people interested in capacity building, enabling strategic development of a larger ecosystem around the topic. We are always open to discussions about potential collaborations and partnerships. Reach out to us at capx
wmnobrasil.org.
How can I create a user profile?
To join the Capacity Exchange platform, you must have a Wikimedia user account, as access to the tool is done through Wikimedia Unified Login.
To create a user profile, go to the capx.toolforge.org home page, click on Join for the Exchange! or click on Log in on the menu located at the upper right corner of the page. After logging in to Meta-Wiki and authorizing access to your basic data, you are already registered.
You can then choose to fill out your profile with all the information you want others to find about you. To learn more about How to edit your profile, visit the CapX User Guide.
How can I create an organization profile?
All user groups, initiatives, projects, chapters or other entities that want to, can have their organization profile on Capacity Exchange. To create it, they must inform the CapX team of all usernames that should have editing rights. This process is done manually by the CapX team to increase security and prevent malicious edits.
To be added as admins, the indicated users must have already created their profiles on CapX because edits on the organization profile will be made using their individual logins. To learn how to edit the organization profile, go to the Capacity Exchange User Guide.
Why do I need to create an account to access the tool?
You don't need to create an account to access the tool, but you do need it to access all its features.
We have chosen to keep user information accessible only after login as a security measure. While we do not handle non-public user information (except for that entered in the mini bio text – see CapX Privacy Policy), keeping user data behind the login process makes it harder for web crawlers to access it.
It is important to note that you do not need to provide any information to navigate the tool: just log in using your Wikimedia user account. However, keeping your profile completed and updated will allow you a better experience.
Which information is available to logged-out users?
For security reasons, we choose to keep users data behind the login process. If you read the CapX Privacy Policy and still doesn't want to create your user profile, you still can access the landing page, the Organization List, and the Events page.
It's important to note that you can always choose to delete your profile. As we are in compliance with GDPR, when you delete your profile all information is deleted from the database and cannot be recovered.
Can I make suggestions about the existing features?
Of course! CapX is a living tool, constantly evolving and ready to adapt to the different needs of Wikimedians. All suggestions are very welcome and can be made through the Bug Reports tool or by email (capx@wmnobrasil.org).
Can I translate the tool to my language?
Yes, please!
We want CapX to be as diverse and accessible as possible, and to achieve this, it is essential that the tool and the project are available in various languages.
- To translate Meta-wiki pages, simply use the project's translation tool – go ahead!
- To translate the tool, access the project's page on Translatewiki and follow the steps provided by the platform.
- To translate capacities and their respective descriptions, one has to translate each item on Wikidata and MetaBase. We created a step-by-step tutorial in the User Guide and have provided all the direct links to make it easier.