This project focuses on working with the community to create an optional short lived campaign feature to celebrate 25 years of Wikipedia. The feature will have surprises and “easter eggs” for readers of Wikipedia to discover. These fun “easter eggs” will be on the Wikipedia portal page, and any interested Wikipedias. The campaign feature will be available in from 16 February to 16 March 2026. No changes will be implemented on a language-specific Wikipedia without community collaboration and approval. We will notify folks of any changes to the portal or apps in advance.

In addition to this campaign feature, we are also exploring easter eggs for the Wikipedia App but these would launch later in 2026.

This project is a collaboration between the Product and Technology and Communications departments. It is led by Carolyn Li-Madeo and Corli de Kock.

• An easter egg is a message, image, or feature hidden in software, a video game, a film, or another—usually electronic—medium.
• In the context of this campaign feature, easter eggs are a reward for curious and dedicated fans. They should inspire feelings of discovery, surprise, delight, satisfaction as well as a sense of connection.

While our goal is to be creative with this work, we set some guardrails for our explorations to ensure safety of participants and adherence to best practices:

1. No easter eggs that change or obscure content on Wikipedia or sister projects.
2. We will not use any tracking for ideas like collecting easter eggs; or ideas like surprises popping up after clicking 25 links.
3. The experience should be just as good on mobile as on desktop.

18–34 year-olds (younger millennials and older Gen Z) with a focus on global Readers

• Create a special on-wiki product engagement to celebrate Wikipedia’s 25th anniversary.
• Increase brand affinity for Wikipedia.
• Inspire sharing on social media and earn press.

Do you think your community would be interested in participating? Check out these instructions or add your username on the Talk page and we’ll be in touch!

There are also specific questions around Community Configurations open for input and ideas. Thank you for all the contributions. This question is now closed.

This campaign feature was in a soft launch period from 16 February to 22 February. We spent the time testing the feature out, fixing technical issues and got great feedback from many of you that helped us make it better! Thank you for the ongoing support and enthusiasm! It is really exciting to be able to see the feature in action and hear how people respond to Baby Globe.

This is the second-last update we will be making to the feature. Two more updates are coming later this week and then we will only do bug fixes until turning the feature off on 6 April.

23 February changes:

1. UI copy for Community Configuration updated. We also added a video overview of how the configuration works above.
2. Learn more on Minerva is changed to Birthday mode (Baby Globe) settings.
3. It is now possible for admins to turn Birthday mode on by default for readers.
4. Updated the predefined list of QIDs.
5. The Wikipedia portal page was updated to show Synthesizer Baby Globe with the great "Welcome to Wikipedia" recordings many community members shared! Thank you for helping to make this version so special 💙

Later this week, we will also be adding the last two special versions of Baby Globe to the feature. We will share an update once it is live.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions or spot a bug!

This campaign feature is now live! There are still two updates to come later in the week, but from 23 February, communities are able to fully customise the feature for readers by visiting "Special:Community Configuration" on your wiki.

The feature will be available until 6 April 2026.

Information for admins:

You can now turn on the feature as well as configure it by visiting "Special:Community Configuration" on your wiki.

Information for readers:

If you're visiting Wikipedia in any of the language Wikipedias listed below and you are curious about the "Birthday mode (Baby Globe)" switch in the Appearance Settings on Desktop and Settings on Mobile – well done! You just found a semi-secret easter egg! Turn it on and see if you can find Wikipedia's 25th birthday mascot as you explore Wikipedia. Get to know Baby Globe better.

Participating wikis:

• Azerbaijani
• Basque
• Betawi
• Breton
• Chinese
• Czech
• Dutch
• English
• French
• Gorontalo
• Greek
• Indonesian
• Italian
• Kannada
• Luxembourgish
• Madurese
• Malay
• Portuguese
• Sicilian
• Simple English
• Spanish
• Thai
• Vietnamese
• Wayuu
• West Flemish

To help you navigate and understand better what can be customized for Birthday Mode under the Community Configuration, we have prepared a short demo video.

Timestamps:

• 0:06 - Intro
• 0:42 - How the Birthday Mode will look on wiki
• 1:26 - A glance at the predefined list of articles the Baby Globe will appear on
• 4:07 - Going through the global Community Configuration settings
• 5:45 - Customizing Baby Globe special animation filters
• 12:17 - Closing: Let us know if you need any help!

Hello everyone. We have an important update with some significant changes to share with you.

Over the last few weeks we have been testing Birthday mode through the beta cluster and Test Wikipedia. We have also run usability testing, specifically recruiting people with various motion sensitivity issues.

Through these parallel processes, we have identified some challenges and how we are addressing them:

• Problem: If Birthday mode was on by default, people struggled to find the option to turn it off. People did not easily see the link between Baby Globe and Birthday mode.
  • Solution: Change user interface designs to make the link between Birthday mode and Baby Globe more clear and make the Birthday mode switch very easy to discover by moving it close to Baby Globe.
• Problem: People with motion-sensitivity found the animations uncomfortable.
  • Solution: Add a version that uses still images rather than animations for people who have turned on a “prefers reduced motion” setting in their operating system.   
• Problem: Our initial plan to use Sparql queries to pull QIDs from Wikidata resulted in a massive database. This was slowing down the performance of the feature.
  • Solution: Limit the amount of QIDs to 2500 per language Wikipedia and remove the “neutral” Baby Globe that would have shown up on all non-configured pages. This makes the feature more manageable from a technical perspective. It also means when you find Baby Globe, it will feel more like an easter egg. We will update the list of predefined QIDs that each language Wikipedia can further customise on Friday 13 Feb.
• Problem: Testing revealed an issue on mobile where Baby Globe does not show up if sitenotices is disabled on mobile.
  • Solution: In order to show Baby Globe on mobile web, we will enable sitenotices globally on mobile, beginning February 16.

Implementing these solutions will require more time to build and test. To make this possible, we are adjusting the timeline:

• Limited release: 16 February - 23 February
  • This week is intended for communities to test the feature more and agree on how to configure the feature.
  • For this week, it will not be possible for communities to turn Birthday mode on by default for readers.
  • We will not be running the planned Central Notice Banners for Minerva on 16 February to keep awareness of the feature low.
  • Most of the user interface changes listed above will be implemented.
  • The static version for readers with motion sensitivity will also be implemented.
• Full release: 23 February - 6 April
  • Communities can now decide whether they want to turn on Birthday mode by default for readers.
  • We will continue to do bug fixes.
  • We have also extended the end date for the feature to 6 April because the live-date is delayed.

Taken together, we think these changes will help avoid confusion from readers and deliver on the enjoyable experience that was always the aim of this project.

Thank you for being part of this project so far! Your feedback and input has been invaluable in shaping the end result. We appreciate your enthusiasm for Baby Globe and this feature. We want to deliver the best possible experience for you and Wikipedia readers and we believe this is the right move to do so. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

We’re excited to let you all know that Baby Globe is now live on the beta cluster. If you turn on Birthday mode in the appearance settings and go to one of these pages you will see Baby Globe in action:

• ballon: https://en.wikipedia.beta.wmcloud.org/wiki/Macy%27s_Thanksgiving_Day_Parade
• confetti: https://en.wikipedia.beta.wmcloud.org/wiki/Dance_squad
• synthesizer: https://en.wikipedia.beta.wmcloud.org/wiki/Programming_(music)
• camera: https://en.wikipedia.beta.wmcloud.org/wiki/Leica_Camera
• headphones: https://en.wikipedia.beta.wmcloud.org/wiki/Music
• outerspace: https://en.wikipedia.beta.wmcloud.org/wiki/Marvel_Cinematic_Universe

Communities will be able to configure where each of the Baby Globe versions show up. Read more on the Community Configurations.

Please try this out and share your feedback with us here! Please pay special attention to:

• Page performance: Does having Birthday mode turned on slow down the use of the site? For example, do pages load more slowly?
• General usability: Is Birthday mode and the mascot reacting generally as you would expect it to?

Work on this is ongoing, so the sooner we hear about issues we better. Thank you for helping to make this feature work smoothly and ensure an enjoyable, fun experience for readers!

A limited version of Birthday mode is now available for pre-release testing on the beta cluster. Through the course of the next two weeks, we will be updating this smaller version of the feature to show how the gadget works on-wiki, including:

• The switch to turn on Birthday mode -- now live! ✅
• Animatics of the birthday mascot. Animatics are simple versions of the animations to test out how it works. If you turn on Birthday mode in the appearance settings on beta cluster, you will see Neutral Baby Globe on various pages. -- now live! ✅

Go to https://en.wikipedia.beta.wmcloud.org/wiki/Special:CommunityConfiguration/WP25EasterEggs to view the Community Configurations section of the gadget.

If your wiki community has decided to have Birthday mode turned on for the celebration, you can change some parameters of the setting to suit your local wiki needs and context.

The configuration setup is very detailed, but basically this is what you can do:

• When turned on, different versions of Baby Globe will appear on specific article pages as per your configuration setup.
• You can also add a list of articles where Baby Globe should not appear.

See a full list of Baby Globe versions and the predefined list of articles in this table using Wikidata items. The predefined list is meant as a helpful starting point for communities. You can decide to use it as is, add or remove specific things, or build your own list from scratch!

Rather than build out a default list of articles where Baby Globe should not appear, we created a version of Baby Globe that appears "neutral". They do not do much, they stand around, blink and look cute. This version can then show up on any page and not imply anything particularly positive or negative. By comparison, the versions that are overtly celebratory (like the confetti one) can be configured to show up on overtly celebratory things (people also turning 25 this year, all “cakes”).

The configuration setup allows Baby Globe to be configured by each opted in language edition to be blocked on specific pages defined in community configuration (eg. define specific pages where no instance of Baby Globe will appear, not even its default neutral state). So you can very easily override and adjust this default setup.  

When a reader loads an article page, the feature will first check the Global filter to see if a version of Baby Globe should appear on this article. Then, the feature checks the Baby Globe special animation filters to see which version of Baby Globe to show.

Now that you have a sense of how the Community Configuration works, use the list of Baby Globe versions to discuss and decide where you want Baby Globe to show up on your Wikipedia.

Please let us know if you have questions about the Community Configurations or other aspects. We will keep you updated on this page as more of the feature is available for testing. Please share your feedback as soon as possible on the talk page.  

As you test our Birthday mode, please pay special attention to:

• Page performance: Does having Birthday mode turned on slow down the use of the site? For example, do pages load more slowly?
• General usability: Is Birthday mode and the mascot reacting generally as you would expect it to?

Happy Wikipedia Day to everyone! We hope to celebrate with you later today during the global virtual birthday party – where you’ll see a sneak peek of the birthday mascot! You can also read more about the Wikimedian who inspired the mascot with his illustration on Diff. The teaser phase of this experiment is also now live on Wikipedia.org.

Unfortunately, testing of the feature on the beta cluster has been delayed. We will be sharing an update here soon when it is ready for testing. Apologies to those of you who have been patiently waiting to see Baby Globe in action!

It is not too late to join this experiment! If you are interested in having small surprises for readers on your local Wikipedia, here is what you need to do:

1. Get a consensus from your community: Make sure that your wiki community knows and agrees to have the Birthday mode from 16 February 2026 - 16 March 2026. Your community also needs to decide whether to have the feature on or off as default. You can start a discussion on your wiki’s village pump to kick off the conversation.
2. Customize the Birthday mode: Starting on Jan 26, you can take a look and start configuring the extension via the Community Configuration. Only admins/sysops and interface administrators have the right to edit the local configuration while other users can read the configuration.
3. Turn on the feature: On the day, one of the admins should turn on the feature by going to the page “Special:CommunityConfiguration” on your wiki.
4. Surprises are ready to be found: All is set and readers can now find Baby Globe and some surprises along their reading journey.

We currently have 11 wikis joining the celebration with Birthday mode:

1. Betawi: bew.wikipedia.org
2. Czech: cs.wikipedia.org
3. French: fr.wikipedia.org
4. Gorontalo: gor.wikipedia.org
5. Italian: it.wikipedia.org
6. Indonesian: id.wikipedia.org
7. Madurese: mad.wikipedia.org
8. Thai: th.wikipedia.org
9. Vietnamese: vi.wikipedia.org
10. Wayuu: guc.wikipedia.org
11. Sicilian: scn.wikipedia.org/

Today we also published a simple webpage with more information about this special feature. It has been translated into languages that are usable by the Wikis that had opted in by the 15 December deadline. Where possible, please use these customised links when sharing the page with your readers, press or others in your community. This will help us keep track of where traffic is coming from and help us build better campaign websites in the future. Thank you for your support with this!

• Czech: https://wikimediafoundation.org/cs/wikipedia-mascot/
• French: https://wikimediafoundation.org/fr/wikipedia25/wikipedia-mascot/
• Indonesian: https://wikimediafoundation.org/wikipedia25/id-wikipedia-mascot/
• Italian: https://wikimediafoundation.org/it/wikipedia-mascot/
• Spanish: https://wikimediafoundation.org/es/wikipedia25/wikipedia-mascot/
• Thai: https://wikimediafoundation.org/wikipedia25/th-wikipedia-mascot/
• Vietnamese: https://wikimediafoundation.org/vi/wikipedia-mascot/

We will be sharing a small version of the gadget for pre-release testing on the beta cluster between 4 - 10 January 2026 – we will post a note here as soon as it is live. This smaller version will not show the portal page, but will show how the gadget works on-wiki, including:

• The switch to turn on Birthday mode,
• Animatics of the birthday mascot. Animatics are simple versions of the animations to test out how it works. We will share an updated sneak peek of more complete animations of the mascot on this page around the same time.

When testing out the beta cluster feature of the Birthday mode gadget, please use a variety of devices (especially old ones if you have them!) and with different connection types. Please pay special attention to:

1. Page performance: Does having Birthday mode turned on slow down the use of the site? For example, do pages load more slowly?
2. General usability: Is Birthday mode and the mascot reacting generally as you would expect it to?

The feature will only be live on the beta cluster for about a week. Please share your feedback by Wednesday 15 January 2025.

The Wikimedia Foundation team will be taking a break from Wednesday 24 December 2025 and we’ll be back in the office on Monday 5 January 2026. We will still check this page to answer any questions you may have, but we will be a bit slower to respond. Remember, if you want to be guaranteed to have the special feature live on your Wikipedia by 16 February 2026, we need to know you are interested by 15 December 2025.

• It will still be possible to turn on the feature for other Wikipedias later on (even after 16 February) but we will prioritise deploying the feature to Wikipedias that opt in earlier.
• This feature will remain supported until 16 March 2026, after this we will remove the feature from all Wikis.

We look forward to collaborating more in the new year! Here is a little sneak peek of a work-in-progress animation of Baby Globe scrolling on a phone.

We have finalised the timing for the special campaign feature:

• 15 January 2026 - 15 February 2026: Teaser phase on Portal Page where the mascot hides in the Puzzle Globe.  
• 16 February 2026 - 16 March 2026: Special campaign feature is live on participating Wikipedias and on the Portal Page.

If you want to be guaranteed to have the special feature live on your Wikipedia by 16 February 2026, we need to know you are interested by 15 December 2025.

• Note that it will still be possible to turn on the feature for other Wikipedias later on (even after 16 February) but we will prioritise deploying the feature to Wikipedias that opt in earlier.

In the last update, we shared mockups of the wireframes showing the placement of UI elements, using artwork placeholders. Small changes have been made to the wireframes, which you can view at this Figma link.  These changes include:

• Adjusting button colours on the portal page to make the hierarchy clearer and reduce clutter.
• Refining the switch to turn on the special feature to make this clearer.
• Mockups showing how readers can dismiss the special feature on the portal page.

The special campaign feature will be built as a community configured gadget. We have already built these top-level toggles:

1. Wikis decide to turn the gadget on or off. If the gadget is on, readers will access the feature via an appearance setting.
2. Wikis can configure if the mode is turned on by default or requires readers to opt in. There will be an easy opt-out available for readers if a Wiki decides to go with the “default on” option.

Now we are adding additional admin-level options that communities will be able to customize through Community Configuration. This includes toggles like:

1. Choosing which versions of the birthday mascot (“easter eggs”) to show on Wiki from the list of available options created by the project team throughout this process. For example, choose to have the Reading Mascot, but not Balloon Mascot.
2. Customize certain “easter eggs” based on a list of options provided in the configuration. For example, what article types (defined through Wikidata items) should trigger specific “easter eggs”?

We need your help defining this second group of toggles. Help us by answering these question on the talk page: Thank you for all the contributions. These questions are now closed.

On what article types (defined via Wikidata items) should this celebratory confetti mascot easter egg appear? Note that confetti will only appear in the small area around the mascot when a reader clicks on the mascot. The deadline for suggestions is end of day 5 January 2026. Add your suggestions here.

This mascot will appear on pages related to dreaming or sleep, and when a reader is idle for a long time. In the dream bubble we will show footage without sound from Wikimedia Commons as the mascot’s dreams. What footage do you think we should play there? Share a link! Please make sure the footage you suggest is high quality and CC0 or in the public domain. The deadline for adding footage is end of day 30 November 2025. Add your suggestions here.

Most of the items that the birthday mascot uses will come from the space inside the globe, which we are treating like "hammerspace". This allows for lots of fun with different items! What emojis do you think we should include in hammerspace? We will redraw a selection of these emojis for Wikis to pick from in the community configurations. The deadline for adding emojis is end of day 30 November 2025. Add your suggestions here.

Thank you for your continued curiosity and playful energy! We look forward to continuing this experiment with you all.

In our last update we shared a narrowed down scope of ideas:

• a charismatic birthday mascot would be the star of this campaign feature;
• the portal page intervention would be visible to all;
• and there would be a “birthday mode” where readers can interact with a “companion”,  the birthday mascot.

In this update we are sharing wireframe sketches of the portal page and the toggle switch where users will turn on “birthday mode”, as well as updated sketches of the birthday mascot. Join us at an office hour or leave a comment on the talk page with your thoughts.

These wireframes show the placement of UI elements, but do not show final artwork.

The plan is to tease the campaign feature for a week or two before it becomes available on the Wikipedias that have chosen to turn the gadget on. During this time, the Portal Page will show the birthday mascot is hidden inside the Puzzle Globe logo. People visiting the page will see the birthday mascot peek out of the opening of the globe. This could be a static image or a GIF where the birthday mascot waves, blinks or does other small actions.

At the top, there is a countdown to Wikipedia’s birthday. We will use the time of the first edit as the “time of birth”: 18:29 UTC on January 15, 2001. Below the search bar there is a button that will take people to a landing page on the Foundation’s website to explain more about the mode and birthday mascot.

Once the campaign feature goes live, the mascot will take over the space where the Puzzle Globe usually is. These wireframes show our new work-in-progress sketches of the mascot, you can see more of them below. While the campaign feature is live, the birthday mascot will celebrate on the portal page. A visitor can also dismiss it on the portal page. Above this section, the timer will now count “up” to playfully show how old Wikipedia is. The button below still leads to the landing page which will now include more information for readers on which Wikipedias have the gadget enabled and how to switch to "birthday mode”. On Vector 2022, a “birthday mode” switch will be added under “theme”:

Minerva and the mobile experience present a variety of different challenges with visibility and placement for a switch. As the appearance settings are inside of the menu panel, we are exploring ways to inject a ‘button’ on the article view to entice readers to turn it on. Additionally it could be helpful to encourage birthday mode to be on by default on Minerva when possible. Regardless of which approach is taken for the Article or Page view on Minerva, the switch toggle should be available in Settings. For versions that require a dialog, Codex provides a standard component for dialogs on mobile.

The star of the short-term campaign feature is a charismatic mascot (first developed by our community). The mascot will be used in the visual surprises that are unlocked by easter eggs; as a teaser element in the portal page intervention; and as a part of the ‘birthday mode’ extension.

For now, we have focused on developing the character of the birthday mascot, next we will be focusing on how readers interact with the mascot and where they show up. The birthday embodies some of the best qualities of Wikipedia: curious, open, worldly, and always ready to explore with readers! The mascot is also playful—quick to pick up a noisemaker to celebrate Wikipedia’s 25th birthday, show off their dance moves, or pull a giant puzzle piece out of their head space. Think of them as a friend to all editors and readers.

These are still rough sketches. The final mascot animation will be more polished and feel a bit slicker, while still feeling hand-drawn and not computer-generated. Below are some sketches of the mascot doing typical birthday things to give you a sense of more celebratory moments.

Most of the items that the birthday mascot uses will come from the space inside the globe, which we are treating like "hammerspace". This allows for lots of fun with different items and for us to use existing resources like emojis to build out the amount of items the mascot has access to.

We will be hosting office hours to answer questions, discuss feedback and ideas.

Please join us in one of these sessions:

• Wikipedia 25 Easter Eggs Office Hour (Session 1) - 6 Nov 2025 at 9am UTC.
• Wikipedia 25 Easter Eggs Office Hour (Session 2) - 11 Nov 2025 at 9am UTC.
• Wikipedia 25 Easter Eggs Office Hour (Session 3) - 14 Nov 2025 at 6pm UTC.
• Wikipedia 25 Easter Eggs Office Hour (Session 4) - 18 Nov 2025 at 7pm UTC.
• Wikipedia 25 Easter Eggs Office Hour (Session 5) - 20 Nov 2025 at 12pm UTC.
• Wikipedia 25 Easter Eggs Office Hour (Session 6) - 25 Nov 2025 at 12pm UTC.
• Wikipedia 25 Easter Eggs Office Hour (Session 7) - 25 Nov 2025 at 7pm UTC.

During Wikimania, we shared a broad selection of mix-and-match elements that can be combined together. Based on feedback we received there, and consultations with Wikimedia Foundation engineers and technical experts, as well as colleagues in Movement Communications, we have narrowed down the list of elements and resolved how they will be combined.

In essence: This project will take shape as an intervention on the portal page (visible to all) and a ‘birthday mode’ that will unlock delightful visuals as well as unlockable Easter eggs.

Mascot

We will leverage a charismatic mascot (first developed by our community and known affectionately with the working title of ‘Baby Globe’) to unite our efforts in this project. The mascot will be used in the visual surprises that are unlocked by Easter eggs; as a teaser element in the portal page intervention; and as a part of the ‘birthday mode’ extension.

Portal page

The portal page will be the first hint that something celebratory is afoot on Wikipedia. We will utilize a large visual element (potentially interactive) to celebrate Wikipedia’s birthday, introduce our mascot and to entice visitors to turn on ‘birthday mode’ to celebrate and explore Wikipedia in search of Easter eggs.

Birthday mode

This mode or toggle (most likely taking the form of a gadget, please see Notes on community configuration and involvement below for more information) will create a festive atmosphere within the chrome of Vector 2022 and Minerva. When ‘birthday mode’ is turned on, celebratory elements will be added to Vector 2022 and Minerva and it will be possible for Easter eggs to be unlocked. The mode can be configured on or off based on community preferences. One goal of utilizing ‘birthday mode’ is to enable editors and readers who are not interested in celebrating to continue their normal Wikipedia activities, undisturbed through the celebration.

Easter eggs

Easter eggs will be discoverable / unlockable when birthday mode is enabled. Easter eggs will feature animations and other fun surprises featuring our mascot. They may be unlocked via gestures or appear on specific article topics or pages. More updates and examples of what exactly will happen here to follow soon. If you have suggestions for fun surprises, please add them to the Talk page.

Notes on community configuration and involvement

We want to work with volunteers on different language Wikipedias to advocate for enabling the ‘birthday mode’ gadget in their communities. We will aim to enable Wikis to turn the gadget on or off, and to configure if the mode is turned on by default or requires opting in (eg. turning on the toggle). Do you want to collaborate on this? Do you think your community would be interested in participating? Add your username on the Talk page and we'll be in touch!

Apps involvement during peak 3 in May 2026

Easter eggs will not be available on the mobile apps at the start of birthday celebrations (January 2026), but we will work with the apps teams to create ‘companion puzzles’ in May 2026 that can be unlocked by ‘connecting’ with another app user (eg. scanning a QR code from their app) to unlock a discount in the Wikipedia Store and / or other rewards or contests.

The aim of this approach is to break down individual ideas or compositions into mix-and-match elements that can be combined together. Ideas do not necessarily need to ship together in a final form, so hopefully seeing these designs as smaller ideas that allow us to be flexible in how we implement them.

This space is visited often (over a million times a day) and sits outside of content, how might we leverage it to celebrate the birthday and bring awareness to the easter eggs project? The portal page is a space off-Wiki where celebration can occur and where we can set the stage for further easter eggs to be discovered.

[1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wikipedia-year-in-review-2024/

Utilizing appearance settings as a way to facilitate new layers of interaction with and understanding of Wikipedia. An appearance setting can help to ensure that the experience is ‘opt in’ and doesn’t disrupt the normal flows of reading and editing…while still rewarding curious visitors.

Easter eggs are often unlocked by performing certain actions or entering in special codes. How might we leverage common gestures on the web to reveal surprises? Gestures like scrolling fast, highlighting certain words, or clicking lots of links quickly.

Content on Wikipedia is front and center on both desktop and mobile, but the footer and header of the article view do leave space for interventions and surprise. What surprise could we hide for curious readers to discover at the bottom of pages?

How might we encourage people to explore and share with their friends through the use of puzzles that need multiple people to work together to solve or complete? Can we bring people together to unlock rewards?

A charismatic mascot could be an element that is used to unite a broader easter egg campaign, appearing as a surprise. Something like this could be easy to animate and understandable without language.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_Assistant

[2] https://www.figma.com/blog/finding-a-forever-home-for-figpals/

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Mascot

To aid in assessing elements and to inspire different ways of approaching combinations, we’ve included a series of ‘compositions’ that pull together different ideas. These compositions are just for illustration purposes and do not have to be considered as a discrete solution: they represent a small number of ways ideas can be composed together. Can you think of other fun ways to combine the ideas?

You visit Wikipedia.org and notice that something is different, the globe responds to your touch and opens up a whole world for you to explore.

You go on with your search, curious what else you might find. You discover a new appearance setting and when it’s turned on you get to see inside Wikipedia in a way you never knew was possible.

Wikipedia is a living breathing thing: on some articles a warm chime occurs every time the article you are reading has been edited.

You come across an article and here discover that not only did many people work together on this article too – they have looooong discussions about it. Like debating about whether hot dogs are sandwiches? (Good question!)

You spot a funny message about cookies and how you don't have to accept them to use the site. This is exactly the kind of thing you wish more websites did! You screenshot the message and send it to your friends.

As you browse you discover that there are other language Wikipedias! You learn that this article is also available in 241 other languages! You realise how connected you are to all these people through learning together.

You keep the special setting on. It reveals many cool things you never knew about Wikipedia. You grow to trust and love this common resource. Now you know how to tell good articles from the not-so-good-YET articles. You understand that there are high quality sources, and how community members decide about all of it together.

You visit Wikipedia.org and notice that something is different, the globe responds to your touch and opens up a whole world for you to explore.

You go on with your search, curious what else you might find. You discover a new appearance setting and when it’s turned on you get to see inside Wikipedia in a way you never knew was possible.

Wikipedia is a living breathing thing: on some articles a warm chime occurs every time the article you are reading has been edited.

You come across an article and here discover that not only did many people work together on this article too – they have looooong discussions about it. Like debating about whether hot dogs are sandwiches? (Good question!)

You spot a funny message about cookies and how you don't have to accept them to use the site. This is exactly the kind of thing you wish more websites did! You screenshot the message and send it to your friends.

As you browse you discover that there are other language Wikipedias! You learn that this article is also available in 241 other languages! You realise how connected you are to all these people through learning together.

You keep the special setting on. It reveals many cool things you never knew about Wikipedia. You grow to trust and love this common resource. Now you know how to tell good articles from the not-so-good-YET articles. You understand that there are high quality sources, and how community members decide about all of it together.

You had a bar bet with a friend that the actor on your favorite show was 25 not 19. Landing on the Wikipedia page for their article in the app you confirm this, but then you get drawn in to their personal life, you learn a bit about their childhood, browse their filmography and find yourself at the bottom of the article. And that’s when you spot it. Is that a puzzle piece? What is this doing here?

You ask your friend to take a look, it’s not appearing on the website, so hey download the app. Twist! On their app there’s a different puzzle piece! You put your phones near one another to compare and the familiar buzz from triggering an NFC occurs. You both accept and unlock a surprise message and a discount to the Wikipedia store.

This is too cool! There must be others hidden around! In your browsing you discover that there are different puzzle pieces to connect and different messages to uncover. Some tell you cool things about Wikipedia and its history, others reveal mini games or fun animations.

Thank you for taking the time to read about this project. Please leave ideas and comments on the Talk: page.