Attribution signals overview
Attribution signals are the individual elements that keep Wikimedia projects visible when their content is surfaced in external contexts. Signals provide direct acknowledgment and access to sources, and present additional information that helps end users evaluate and engage with the knowledge they encounter.
The signals in this framework serve one or more of the following purposes:
- Ensure compliance with licensing and content attribution requirements.
- Strengthen trust by giving visibility to the processes and the community behind Wikimedia projects.
- Provide transparency about how up to date or how widely used the knowledge is.
- Support the long-term growth of the free knowledge ecosystem by exposing pathways for contribution and collaboration.
Signal categories
Attribution signals are grouped into three categories that reflect their nature or intended purpose:
Essential attribution
These key building blocks support attribution across reuse scenarios and mediums. Usage recommendations are based on Creative Commons licensing, and are meant to be flexibly tailored to the diverse reuse contexts. Please consult the guidance for each scenario to understand which signals are recommended in each case and how they can be implemented in a reasonable manner.
Source
Identifies the Wikimedia project from which the content originates.
Credit
Information about the volunteers who created the content.
Link
Direct access to the original Wikimedia page(s) from which the reused content was drawn.
Title
Name of the work being reused, such as a Wikipedia article or a Wikimedia Commons file.
License
License under which the Wikimedia content is available
Brand mark
Visual (or auditory) cues used to identify Wikimedia or any of its projects as the source of the knowledge being shared.
Modification disclaimer
Indication that the content has been modified, adapted, or built upon after its extraction from the original source.
Trust and relevance signals
The following signals are designed as cues that strengthen credibility and highlight the collaborative, robust, and dynamic nature of Wikimedia’s knowledge ecosystem.
Reference count
Number of references supporting a Wikipedia article at the time of citation or reuse.
Contributor count
Total number of unique human editors who have helped create and maintain the content.
Page views
How often a Wikimedia project page has been visited over a defined period of time
Attribution count
Popularity or relevance of a specific Wikimedia source (e.g., a Wikipedia article) in its context of reuse.
Trending indicator
Indication of content experiencing an unusual volume of recent activity.
Last update
Timestamp of the most recent edit to the content.
Ecosystem growth signals
These interventions are designed to sustain the cycle of free knowledge by inviting users to participate or donate to Wikimedia projects.