Following the conclusion of the three-year development cycle, Capacity Exchange entered a six-month maintenance and community engagement phase funded through a Wikimedia CH grant.
This phase focuses on maintaining the platform, expanding outreach, and strengthening community engagement so that CapX can continue supporting capacity-building across the Wikimedia Movement. It also aims to increase awareness of the platform, encourage its adoption by Wikimedia communities and affiliates, and strengthen the partnerships and governance needed for its future.
Outreach
Amanda Jurno presenting CapX at the Wikimania 2026 lightning talk session in Paris.
Outreach activities (including community communications, strategic meetings, presentations, and focus groups) aim to raise awareness of Capacity Exchange across the Wikimedia Movement and gather feedback from communities and key stakeholders. This ongoing engagement also helps us identify opportunities and priorities to inform a possible future development phase of the platform.
If you would like to have an online workshop or presentation about the platform for your community, please contact us at capxwmnobrasil.org or join our Telegram Group (in English).
Throughout the second half of 2026, the CapX team promoted the platform through the events and Wikimedia communities listed below:
At this webinar, Wiki N'zuñdeuh and Capacity Exchange engaged in a conversation about building bridges, sharing wisdom, and growing together.
The Capacity Exchange Project (2023–2025 +1)
The second phase of Capacity Exchange (CapX) development began in June 2023 and concluded in June 2026. Funded through a Movement Strategy Implementation Grant (MSIG), it delivered an interactive online platform, backed by a database, that enables Wikimedians around the world to publish information about themselves and their affiliates, search for people and organizations, and connect directly with one another.
Explore the activities, outcomes, and documentation from the project's three-year development cycle below.
Detailed information on the MSIG-funded three-year development cycle
In August 2023, backend development started after careful planning. Outreach activities began in September of that year. From December 2023 to March 2024, we hosted an Outreachy Internship. In April 2024, we started the frontend implementation. And in August 2024 we presented the second phase's prototype.
2023 / 2
June & July ― Planning and Onboarding phase
August ― Start of Technical Development
September ― Start of Community Outreach
December ― Start of Outreachy Internship
2024 / 1
March ― End of Outreachy Internship
April ― Start of Frontend Implementation
August ― Prototype Launch at Wikimania
2024 / 2
September & October ― Management transition
October ― Technical Development Team Growth
October & November ― Refactoring of Technical Plan
November ― Community Outreach Facilitators Onboarding
November & December ― Community Outreach and Testing Sessions
2025 / 1
January ― Development of software's new version and Team Growth
February ― Budget update; Team Growth; Launch of new versions of User and Organization profile
March ― Launch of Software's New Version and Outreaching it
April ― WMF agreement to integrate Let's Connect's profiles; Grant's Amendment - extra year
April & May ― Refactoring of Outreach and Technical Plans - extra year
May ― Completion of all planned deliveries
2025 / 2
June ― Developing LC integration; End of cycle test and cleanup
July ― In-person Technical meeting and next steps planning
July & August ― Development and deployment of LC integration
September ― Release of the Capacity Directory's translatable version; updated documentation
October ― Let's Connect's clinics; development of new features; launch of Data Analytics page
November ― Launch of Carousel of Suggestions feature & translation improvements
December ― Development of Mentorship feature & Translation improvements
2026 / 1
January ― End of LC integration; UX improvements; code refactoring
February & March ― Data Analysis improvements; 2nd cycle of Mentorship development
April ― Launch of Translate! page and improved Capacity Directory
May ― UX/UI Enhancements and Event Feature Improvements
June ― Project Documentation, Knowledge Management, and End-of-Cycle Reporting
Development
Our technical plan guides our activities. The current version follows up its last versions, and aims to guide the third year of the second cycle of development, from June 2025 to June 2026. Before that, we followed the Technical Plan version 3.0, that was completed in June 2025.
At Wikimania 2024, we launched the CapX first version (capx.toolforge.org) for user testing. The Capacity Exchange team worked hard to incorporate all community feedback we received, and implemented a high-fidelity version in March 2025. Now, we are improving the available features and working to integrate it with more community activities.
Below are some project milestones for your acquaintance.
Promotional Video - Meet the Capacity Exchange
In December 2023, we conducted focus groups to assess the CapX previous pilot and identify its gaps and strengths. Such an assessment is presently steering, in 2024, our development route.
Also in December 2023, CapX onboarded an intern from Outreachy Round 27, within the initiative Assist Capacity Exchange Development. During the internship, we collaborated with the project Lusophone Technological Wishlist on our common effort to (re)imagine the sociotechnical infrastructure of the Wikimedia Movement from a Global South perspective. The internship ended in March 2024.
In March 2024, we onboarded a new software developer responsible for the frontend, which started being implemented on April 2024.
In July 2024, the CapX Working Team convened in São Paulo (Brazil) for a planning meeting. And in August, 2024, we presented capx.toolforge.org at Wikimania 2024, in Poland.
In September 2024, we began the process of slowly transitioning Capacity Exchange's management. For two months, Andi Inácio and Amanda Jurno co-managed the project, before Andi stepped-out to pursue a PhD scholarship abroad.
In October 2024, we concluded the process of selecting two new members of the CapX Technical Development team. We then started to onobard CapX's new front-end developer and designer UX/UI.
Through the months of October and November 2024, the team refactored the Technical Plan, which follows up its second and first versions, and aims to guide the second cycle of the software development.
In November and December 2024, we conducted focus groups to assess the CapX current version and identify its gaps and strengths. Currently, the team is engaged in incorporating all community feedback into a fresh version of the software. In December, the CapX Working Team convened in São Paulo (Brazil) for a planning meeting.
Development team at the second cycle final meeting (May 2025). From left to right: on top are Victor Góis, Allan Rodrigues, Éder Porto, and Alberto Leôncio; at the bottom are Letícia Nascimento, Guilherme Gutz, and Amanda Jurno.
During January 2025, the development team worked non-stop to develop a full new version of the software. Another developer was brought in to help us make a great tool for the community.
In February 2025, we asked for a budget update that allowed us to bring along another developer and another outreach facilitator. Before that, we deployed part of the software's new version in which users can see and edit their own profiles, and the profile of the organizations they administrate.
In March 2025, the development team launched the software's new version. By sending emails to nearly 300 key-Wikimedians, the Outreach Facilitators collectively spread the word about it throughout the Movement. We also published a Diff and produced a unique promotional video.
An agreement to proceed with the integration of Let's Connect profiles and Capacity Exchange was signed in April 2025 by the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia Brasil. To be able to consolidate this integration with Let's Connect, and have clarity about the project's future coordination, WMF used a grant amendment to extend the project iteration by one year. Consequently, the Capacity Exchange project will continue to be coordinated by Wikimedia Brasil until June 2026.
During April and May 2025, the team refactored both the Outreach Plan and the Technical Plan for the extra year to guide the activities during the next extra 12 months. The first document contains sensitive information and, therefore, is private.
Throughout May 2025, the Technical Plan v.3.0 final deliverables were the focus of the development team's efforts. With pride, we can say that we completed everything that was planned, leaving the code clean and open for anyone to use.
On the development side, the month of June 2025 was dedicated to testing and cleaning up the code. The team also worked on the integration of Let's Connect profiles, with the feature that automates the filling out of information by former members of the initiative. Additionally, we worked on organizing the project's documentation so we could publish a Diff post to communicate to the community about our efforts and achievements, and the report at the end of the Grant's second year.
The month of July 2025 was dedicated to organizing the development team, resolving pending issues so that the new cycle could begin smoothly and without any loose ends. At the end of the month, we held an in-person technical session where the team outlined next steps in development, and defined priorities and a work schedule for the upcoming months.
September 2025 was an important month for the CapX's development. Besides actively responding to feedback from LC participants and correcting some minor errors on the feature, we launched the long-awaited directly translatable version of the Capabilities Directory. With this improvment, users can easily translate the capacities and their description on MetaBase or through the Meta-Wiki translation tool. This has made it even easier to contribute to the linguistic expansion of the tool, making it even more inclusive.
Throughout October 2025, we began planning new features with some partners and launched the new Data Analysis page, where it is possible to browse the data from the CapX user database. We also conducted two clinic sessions with the Let's Connect team to present our partnership and the special feature we created for them within the tool.
In November 2025, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Volunteer Supporters Network Hub and the EduWiki Hub to formalize our partnership. We also launched a new feature called the Carousel of Suggestions, which displays possible matches on the user’s CapX homepage. We improved the ways of translating the tool and its Capacity Directory to prepare ourselves for the Translat-a-thon in partnership with the Language Diversity Hub.
In December 2025, the team worked on the development of the Mentorship feature and on improving the tool’s and Capacity Directory's translation. We also took the opportunity to conduct usability and page load speed tests, in addition to implementing other minor improvements across the platform.
In January 2026, the integration of Let's Connect profiles into Capacity Exchange was finalized: autofill option was removed, and now all new applications for the program will be made through the platform. The team also improved the user experience in the tool, adding easier ways to select skills, the ability to search profiles by username, language information in the mini-biography, and language aliases for the organization names. In addition, unit testing and code refactoring focused on quality were implemented. (See screenshots of the interface for the record [ 1], [ 2], [ 3], [ 4], [ 5 ].)
In February and March 2026, the second development cycle of the mentoring feature began following feedback from the partners involved. The Data Analytics page also received improvements, and it is now possible to view the concentration of some information in map format. The team also worked on improving the back-end portal, accessible to CapX partners, along with other UX/UI and accessibility improvements.
In April 2026, the team developed and launched a new translation tool. It is now possible to translate all skills directly within the Capacity Directory, or translate them all at once on the Translate! page, making it easier to contribute to linguistic equity on the platform. The team also delivered an updated and improved version of the Capacity Directory, featuring three navigation options, including a tree view and a separation by thematic categories. We also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Wikimedia Language Diversity Hub and the Wikimedia ESEAP Hub to formalize our partnership.
In May 2026, the development team worked to improve the user experience and interface, ensuring that the tool functions smoothly and remains accessible. The developers also began preparing for the end of the development cycle, scheduled for the end of June, by addressing issues and fixing bugs to deliver a robust and stable platform. During the month, the Events feature was also restructured to incorporate improvements that had already been implemented across other features.
In June 2026 the team focused on documenting and recording all relevant information related to the project, ensuring that the knowledge generated throughout the development cycle was properly organized and preserved. The team also worked on preparing the tool for handover by cleaning and refining the platform as much as possible, while ensuring that all test suites reached their highest level of coverage (all tests achieving coverage above 90%). During this period, we published a Technical Report providing detailed information about the technical aspects of the project, as well as the Volunteer Governance Framework, which outlines the processes and guidelines for the project’s future volunteer maintenance.
In July 2026, we submitted the final MSIG report to the WMF, and it was approved, marking the end of the project's three-year development cycle.
Outreach
Outreach activities (such as community communication, strategic meetings, and focal groups), aim to consult different key stakeholders within the Wikimedia Movement. Our goal is to assess Wikimedians' needs and perspectives regarding the proposed sociotechnical solution for community capacity building based on peer learning. The ongoing consultation aims to gather feedback regarding our pilot platforms, thereby enabling us to enhance existing features and develop new ones.
Outreach facilitators promoted capacity exchange at the following events:
The initial phase of the Capacity Exchange was led by a voluntary working group of Wikimedians, after a pitch at a Wikimedia European Affiliates meeting. This group formulated the concept, taxonomy, and pilot platform for the initiative.
The working group delivered a pilot software based on the OER World Map. The pilot was then tested by a small group of interested future users, who provided initial feedback on it.
Trans-localizing its activities, the platform care started to be transitioned to Wiki Movimento Brasil, as of November 2022. The project proposal for the new phase was then presented to the MSIG.
Project's News
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wmnobrasil.org or join our Telegram Group (in English).
