The content of this Signpost piece is adapted from email threads titled "What's making you happy this week?" that are sent to Wikimedia-l.

We encourage you to add your comments about what's making you happy this month to the talk page of this Signpost piece.

What's making you happy this week? is returning after an unplanned pause that was due to off-wiki events. User:Clovermoss and I agreed that we will try to alternate weeks writing this publication.

The Commons picture of the day for 1 March 2020 is of a hermitage, named Ermita del Santo Cristo de Miranda, which is located in Spain. I think that everyone should sometimes get a break for personal refreshment, such as by curling up in a chair with a book, going on a vacation or retreat, or pursuing a hobby.

A hobby that I enjoy is music. Here is a video clip from Star Trek: Voyager in which the ship's doctor and the character Seven of Nine sing a duet. This happens during a story line in which the Doctor gives Seven advice regarding romance. They sing an American English folk song, "You are my sunshine", which seems appropriate for this Signpost piece with the title "On the bright side": YouTube link.

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  Seven of Nine was portrayed by actress Jeri Ryan
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  The Doctor was portrayed by actor Robert Picardo
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  The Doctor's instruction to Seven of Nine regarding dating included dance lessons
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  French-Canadian lumberjacks playing music while at camp

There is a lot that is making me happy this week. I'm happy that I'm back to contributing to "On The Bright Side" and the What's Making You Happy This Week? threads again because it's something I look forward to. It's nice to think and reflect upon the positivity across the Wikimedia movement.

This week, I read an interesting article from Wired entitled "Wikipedia Is The Last Best Place On The Internet". A link to the article can be found here: [1]. I really enjoyed reading this, and I agree that Wikipedia really has come a long way since 2007. The extent of Wikipedia's influence has grown considerably and has had such an impact on the world today that I really couldn't even imagine what the world would be like without it.

I am looking forward to the start of the Wikigap Challenge, which is taking place on March 8 through April 8, 2020. This challenge is receiving help from the UN Human Rights Office which is incredible and not something that happens everyday. However, it seems like there's always something interesting going on when I check Wikimedia-l, and that's thanks to the dedicated efforts of countless editors.

Preface

Mindful of the ongoing 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, the tone of this week's email is more somber than some emails of the past. Let us hope that public health actions being taken in many places throughout the world are effective at "flattening the curve", so that health care systems are able to manage the peak number of people who are simultaneously in need of health services.

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  World Health Organization representatives meet with Tehran city administrators
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  The goals of community mitigation: (1) delay outbreak peak; (2) decompress peak burden on healthcare, known as flattening the curve; and (3) diminish overall cases and health impact.

Project milestone

• Dutch Wikipedia has reached the 2,000,000 article milestone.

More good press for English Wikipedia from Wired

• "On Wikipedia, a fight is raging over coronavirus disinformation", published on 9 February 2020
• "How Wikipedia Prevents the Spread of Coronavirus Misinformation", published on 15 March 2020

A couple of quotes from the latter article:

• "Heilman noted that Wikipedia has a structural advantage over the big social networks: 'It takes more time and effort to disrupt Wikipedia than it does to restore Wikipedia to a reliable level. It’s the exact opposite on Twitter and Facebook, where it takes a second to spread false news,' while getting those lies removed will take a lot of time and effort."
• "I spoke this week with the Wikipedia editor who guided the article about the new coronavirus from a one-sentence item in early January to a substantial article with charts of infections around the world. She goes by the handle Whispyhistory, and is a doctor in South London... The picture she paints of the project’s contributors is akin to the staff of a demanding teaching hospital."

Recognitions from the Affiliations Committee

• Myanmar Wikimedia Community User Group
• Wikigrannies User Group
• Wikimedia Community User Group CEE Spring
• Wikimedians for Sustainable Development
• Wikimedians of Turkic Languages User Group
• Wikimedians of United Arab Emirates User Group

Gallery

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  Logo for Dutch Wikipedia's 2 million article milestone
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  Logo of the Myanmar Wikimedia Community User Group
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  Logo of the Wikigrannies User Group
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  Logo of Wikimedia Community User Group CEE Spring
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  Logo of the Wikimedians for Sustainable Development
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  Logo of the Wikimedians of Turkic Languages User Group
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  Logo of the Wikimedians of United Arab Emirates User Group

There's been a lot that's made me happy this week. However, I realize that right now is a difficult time for a lot of people. Before I write about anything else, I would like to thank the real world heroes out there. I think that no words can accurately describe the cumulative effort and sacrifices that so many people are making everyday. I would especially like to thank doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals. I would like to thank people who provide shelter and food to other people in need. I want to thank the countless parents that are doing everything they can. I want to thank caregivers for what they do everyday. I extend my sympathies to anyone who is going through a really difficult time right now, because so many people are facing struggles that I can't even begin to imagine.

Sometimes, it's the small and seemingly inconsequential moments that can really matter. For me, that's been doing my best to do what I can. Living in those moments of joy where I find them. This week, that involved lots of oatmeal and tea, taking a brief walk outside to feel the wind, and reading for hours on end. I have also listened to music. If anyone is curious, I absolutely adore this song from The Sound of Music. I think I gravitated towards it because even though life can be scary sometimes, remembering your favourite things can help get you through that.

I've also spent time on Wikipedia, and there are a lot of good things happening on-wiki. There's a new WikiProject dedicated to Wikipedia's coverage of COVID-19 and the ongoing pandemic: WikiProject COVID-19. There are so many editors actively contributing there, and it's heartwarming to see this kind of intense collaboration and dedication. The ramifications of these actions have a very real impact on the real world. It's amazing that so many people are doing their best to help others. I'm thankful for that, and to everyone who tries to make the world a better place.

Gallery

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  Oatmeal with blueberries
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  Stack of books
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  Logo for WikiProject COVID-19

I would like to express gratitude to people who, instead of running away from the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, are "running toward the fire", especially people who voluntarily accept personal risks. This includes many health care workers and people who have other public service roles including civil protection volunteers, journalists, firefighters, security personnel, and people who provide other essential services such as in food banks, homeless shelters, nursery schools, public utilities, and transportation. I am thankful for their courage and sacrifices. Also, I am thankful for the many people who are sharing and publishing information for public benefit, including on Wikimedia projects, the Internet Archive, and OpenStreetMap.

Special thanks to User:Bdgzczy, who started the article on English Wikipedia regarding the pandemic; to User:Universehk who started the article on Chinese Wikipedia; and to Chinese doctors Ai Fen (艾芬) and Li Wenliang (李文亮), who gave other doctors early warnings about the virus.

• People helping people in the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic
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  A nurse measuring the body temperature of an outpatient in Hubei TCM Hospital, Wuhan, China
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  A doctor wearing special protective suit for the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak treats a patient in Hubei TCM Hospital, Wuhan, China
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  A Protezione Civile (Civil Protection) volunteer measures the temperatures of people before they enter Guglielmo Marconi Airport in Italy
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  New York National Guard soldiers hand groceries to members of the community at a food distribution point at Hope Community Services in New Rochelle, United States
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  A supply fence for the needy in Kiel during the COVID-19 pandemic in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
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  A sign that says "Keep Calm and Edit" with the Wikipedia logo

Once again, I would like to express my sympathies. There are so many people going through so much right now. It's difficult to write words that can even begin to describe it all.

COVID-19 has impacted so many aspects of everyday life. Many people are relying on Wikipedia for reliable and accurate information, and the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic article receives more than a million pageviews daily. As of the time of writing this, there are 597 articles within the scope of WikiProject COVID-19. There is an article about the outbreak in 110 languages, which collectively have received more than 34.9 million pageviews.[2] Editors from across the world are collaborating together to make Wikipedia a better place, and that is something I am incredibly thankful for.

I'm also thankful for all the people who are supporting others. The everyday heroes of our world: healthcare workers, parents, caregivers, volunteers, and countless others. Thank you for making the world a better place.

Skillful translations of the sentence "What's making you happy this week?" would be very much appreciated. If you see any inaccuracies in the translations in this article then please {{ping}} User:Pine or User:Clovermoss in the discussion section of this page, or boldly make the correction to the text of the article. Thank you to everyone who has helped with translations so far.

What's making you happy this month? You are welcome to write a comment on the talk page of this Signpost piece.