Technical Writer

Description

Background Information and Statement of Purpose

The Editor Engagement program run by the Wikimedia Foundation's (WMF) Tech Department is developing new features and running experiments to increase the volume and quality of participation in Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. As part of this program, we are developing an open source infrastructure for rapid experimentation via A/B testing, funnel analysis and cohort analysis. We are looking for a part-time technical writer to work with the team on producing end-user documentation for both internal and external customers of these tools. These tools currently include:

• EventLogging: a platform for modelling and measuring how readers and editors interact with our sites
• User Metrics API: a tool to support cohort analysis via a standard set of user participation metrics

Scope of Work
            
Your primary responsibilities may include:

• Writing the first version of the end-user documentation for EventLogging, including tutorials on:
  • how to set up a new data collection job
  • schema design, data collection and data validation
  • event monitoring
  • basic analysis of log data
• Building an initial repository of schema patterns for data modellers
• Collecting and documenting existing best practices for the creation of new schemas
• Helping drive the definition of new best practices by consulting with the relevant stakeholders
• Writing the first version of the end-user documentation for the User Metrics API, including tutorials on:
  • new cohort definition and metric selection
  • use of API parameters and aggregators
  • understanding the JSON response

We expect the technical documentation writer to attend weekly check-ins (remotely or in person) with the product owners and other stakeholders as needed.

All contents and documentation produced as part of this contract will be hosted on mediawiki.org and released under a Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike 3.0 unported license.

The contract will commence on February 1, 2013 for a duration of 5 months. The contract will end on June 30, 2013 unless it is extended.

** Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience required
** Local candidates preferred


About the Wikimedia Foundation

The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Our commitment: Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. According to comScore Media Metrix, Wikipedia and the other projects operated by the Wikimedia Foundation receive more than 483 million unique visitors per month, making them the fifth-most popular web property world-wide (comScore, November 2012). Available in 285 languages, Wikipedia contains more than 21 million articles contributed by a global volunteer community of more than 100,000 people. Based in San Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation is an audited, 501(c)(3) charity that is funded primarily through donations and grants. The Wikimedia Foundation was created in 2003 to manage the operation of Wikipedia and its sister projects. It currently employs 150 staff members. Wikimedia works with local chapter organizations in 39 countries or regions to advance the mission of the Wikimedia movement.

•   http://wikimediafoundation.org
•   http://blog.wikimedia.org