Hi, welcome to my final blog post as an outreachy intern. I’m glad of the progress i’ve made so far😄, to be honest i dont want it to end but it has to🥹, the 3 month went by so fast but i made the best use of it with the help of my community (Wikimedia Foundation) , Outreachy Organizer and my mentor. This blog will be addressing lessons and growth of my project during the Internship.

What was one fear i had about the internship that turned out to not come true?

At the start, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the technical expectations or that I might not be able to make meaningful contributions to such a large project like MediaWiki because i had to learn a new language but with the help of my mentor i was able to get past that stage and my contributions were just as valuable.

What was one amazing thing that happened during the internship?

One amazing moment was when I successfully imported pages and slots with the data-editor working correctly for the first time. Seeing my changes work in the live MediaWiki instance felt really rewarding because it showed me that my efforts were directly improving the project.

What communication skills have i learned during the internship?

I learned to write clearer commit messages, explain issues clearly, and provide updates on my progress. I also improved how I ask technical questions making sure I include enough context so that others can understand the problem quickly.

What parts of my project did i complete?

I worked on ensuring the Mediawiki imports pages and slots correctly with the help of our extension (OSLRef), handled schema validation, and set up ways to intercept submitted data for further processing. I also improved error handling and documentation around the workflow.

How did my Outreachy mentor help me along the way?

My mentor was incredibly supportive they helped me break down complex tasks into smaller, achievable steps, and gave constructive feedback on my work. They also reassured me when I ran into issues, which helped me not get stuck in frustration.

What are the next steps for me to complete the project?

The next steps involve extending the data handling features to support more schema types, refining the UI/UX for the data-editor, and improving documentation. I will be working on that even after the internship has ended just to give back to my community and also help in my personal growth.

Summary of Project Goals Completed:

My project centered around modernizing VisualData and MediaWiki's schema workflows by redesigning the Schema Builder and the form generator from scratch. But the project goals exceeded the timeline so we had to redefine it to making JSON editor work with our extension that simpilify importing of pages and articles with it schema.

Final thoughts?

For me, life after Outreachy still connects a lot with my current project.
Even though the official internship is ending, I’m still invested the project by contributing and making it better, alongside looking for job opportunities and exploring other open source work. Longer term, I’d also love to give back to the program as a co-mentor or mentor, since I know how much difference that support makes.

Ending My Outreachy Journey: Lessons and Growth