Community Insights/Frequently asked questions
If you arrived at this page from the survey, close this tab or window to return to the survey!
How long does the survey take?
[edit]The survey should take 10 to 30 minutes to complete for most respondents.
Wikimedians who engage in multiple activities (for example, admins, organizers, affiliate members) should expect the survey to take longer than those who engage in one or two activities.
How were people selected to take the survey?
[edit]By using sampling, only a randomly selected group of contributors are invited to take the survey.
The criteria for eligibility are:
- having made at least 5 edits in two of the three months preceding the sampling, for a minimum of 10 edits
- having a confirmed email and EmailUser turned on
- not having permanently opted out of the Community Insights survey
We are using sampling for two reasons. First, we want to make sure the results we report fully represent people across the movement. Second, we do not want to overburden every user with the survey every year.
If you were randomly selected to participate in the survey, you will receive an on-wiki notification that you received an email about the survey.
If you are a program leader, affiliate representative, or volunteer developer, you may also get an email or see the survey on a mailing list or on social media. We do this because we don't have any single place that volunteer developers, affiliates, or program leaders do their Wikimedia activities. They use many different tools and many different places, so we need to do a different type of sampling process for these people.
What questions are being asked in the survey?
[edit]The full questionnaire for the latest survey is always linked on the survey's main page.
I am an editor and I did not get an invitation to take the survey on my talk page. Can I still take it?
[edit]Not everyone was invited to take the survey because we used random sampling to avoid overburdening Wikimedia communities. You are welcome to take the survey if you wish, and can send a message to surveys
wikimedia.org to do so.
Will the data be made available under an open access policy?
[edit]Potentially. This is a complicated process and we don't have the resources to commit to share the data openly yet. We are more likely to be able to share the data with Wikimedia affiliates or researchers who sign a non-disclosure agreement. It will take time to organize and manage the databases in a way that can be shared with others.
Why are we doing this survey? How will the data be used?
[edit]The data from this survey will directly influence the work of teams at the Wikimedia Foundation. It will provide a structured way for Wikimedia Foundation staff to incorporate communities' feedback and experiences into the work they do.
The results are also published on metawiki so that Wikimedians can read the findings, look at how results have changed over time, and make use of the analyses for their own activities. You can read past results by going to the Reports page.
There is a mistake in the survey. Who do I contact?
[edit]Please email surveyswikimedia.org and we will get back to you promptly.
How can my organization do a survey like this?
[edit]Visit the survey support desk to learn more about how to do a survey.
How do I ask a question that is not answered by this FAQ?
[edit]We all love asking questions and we are happy to hear yours. Please post to the talk page if you have an additional question that is not posted here.
You are welcome to ask questions not already covered here on the Community Insights Discussion page. This page is watched by Foundation Staff who will be happy to offer clarifications and expand this FAQ. If you prefer a more private communication method you can also reach out directly to tandic-ctrwikimedia.org. You can write in any language, but replies will be in English.
How can I opt out of this survey?
[edit]In 2026, we changed the survey distribution method to only send one email with the link to the survey. If you do not want to participate, you can ignore the email and you will not be contacted again about this year's survey. If you want to permanently opt out of all Community Insights survey sampling in the future, you can write on the Community Insights talk page or email us at surveyswikimedia.org.
I took the survey in a language other than English, and I found the translation quality to be poor. What are you doing to fix this?
[edit]The survey is written in English, and translating it takes a lot of work. The initial translations are done by a third-party service, and some translations, but not all, have been reviewed and revised by volunteers. If you have feedback about the quality of a translation into your language, please contact us at surveyswikimedia.org.
The survey doesn't seem to have my language available.
[edit]For the Community Insights survey, we prioritize languages that are as wide-reaching as possible. For the 2022 survey, the following language versions are available:
We are pleased to add nine language versions of the survey for 2022! As time goes by and more of the survey questions stay the same from year to year, we hope to continually expand the languages available and improve the quality of all language versions.