Participation CTA
Participation calls to action (CTAs) are context-appropriate prompts that invite end users to engage with Wikimedia projects from off-platform experiences. In the context of Wikipedia, for example, CTAs might encourage users to create an account, download the Wikipedia app, add images or links to articles, translate pages into new languages, or make other contributions.
The goal of these interventions is to provide pathways for contribution, to channel the audience's interest into on-wiki participation, and to promote the sustainability of the volunteer ecosystem that keeps the content of Wikimedia projects high quality, collaborative and up to date.
Data sources
This section identifies where and how the data behind this signal can be obtained. It lists the relevant Wikimedia APIs, datasets, or metadata fields that reusers can rely on to implement the signal accurately and consistently.
Wikimedia Attribution API Beta
The Wikimedia Attribution API returns a static set of standard participation calls to action through a participation_ctas object. To retrieve information about this signal, include calls_to_action in the expand parameter. These CTA objects currently provide static link texts, URLs, and descriptions rather than dynamic or page-specific values. CTA data is currently being exposed for demonstration purposes, but is correct and can be adopted to display generic participation actions.
Reference documentation can be found in any wiki's REST API sandbox, such as the REST API sandbox on English Wikipedia →
Share feedback on this beta API →
Implementation guidance
Minimum requirements
Keep essential attribution primary. Participation CTAs are secondary attribution interventions, and they must not obscure or replace essential signals (i.e., Source, Author, Link, Title, etc.).
Always display calls to action near the reused content so end users can clearly understand the connection between the action and the Wikimedia source.
Best practices
If usage data is available, the recommended practice is to target users who consistently demonstrate curiosity about content from Wikimedia projects (e.g., consistently navigate to the Wikimedia sources being shared).
Coordinate with Wikimedia to determine which predefined contribution pathways (e.g., structured or recommended edit tasks in Wikipedia) could be used, and how to design Participation CTAs that better fit your context.
Where technically feasible and aligned with user privacy expectations, we encourage partners implementing Participation call-to-actions to preserve the referrer domain name in CTA links by removing the meta tag
content=”no-referrer”and ensuring that components for link embeds to Wikipedia do not have therel=”noreferrer”attribute. We also recommend appending a Wikimedia-specificwprovprovenance parameter. These practices enable Wikimedia to better understand how reuse contexts contribute to return visits and participation, helping evaluate the effectiveness of participation calls to action. The following page documents how to format thewprovparameter. We recommend that you document your parameter on this page.
Reuse scenarios
Participation CTAs can turn off-platform experiences into constructive contributions to Wikimedia communities. This way, reusers can help improve results quality over time, while fostering the sustainability of the volunteer ecosystem that powers the content they rely on. Participation interventions are especially effective in the following scenarios:
Search
Recommended
Inviting users to learn more or dive more deeply on a topic, or suggesting edits to contribute transforms passive reading into active participation, fostering the flow of free knowledge.
AI assistants
Recommended
CTAs like “Save this to my reading list on Wikipedia” or “Suggest an edit to improve this article” connect conversational experiences to opportunities for participation.