About Lexica

Lexica is a mobile-first tool designed to simplify microcontributions to lexicographical data on Wikidata. Wikidata is the free knowledge graph that powers many Wikimedia projects including Wikipedia, and lexicographical data enriches this knowledge base by linking words and linguistic forms to structured information. Contributors use Lexica to link Lexemes to Items, add script variants, and provide hyphenation data — making language data more complete and useful for speakers of languages across the world.

The project was led by Wikicollabs, an Indonesian organisation that managed the full product development cycle from defining the vision and designing the UI/UX and user flow, through to managing development sprints, writing technical specifications, and conducting user testing. This work directly supports Wikimedia Deutschland’s broader initiative to decentralise software development within the Wikimedia movement by growing technical capacity in the Global South. The project is funded by the Arcadia Philanthropic Fund as part of the Software Collaboration for Wikidata programme, and all source code is published under an open licence.

Mobile-First for Global Contributors

The core design insight behind Lexica is that many contributors to Wikidata’s lexicographical data are not desktop users. Making meaningful contributions from a mobile device has historically been difficult, and this barrier has limited the diversity of languages and communities represented in the data. Lexica removes this barrier by providing an interface built specifically for mobile interaction, allowing contributors to make valuable lexicographical contributions quickly and conveniently from any device.

The tool supports multilingual content and accommodates script directionality, enabling it to serve contributors working with languages that use right-to-left scripts or non-Latin writing systems. This breadth of language support is central to the project’s mission of making Wikidata’s lexicographical data more complete and representative of global linguistic diversity.

How Dihardja Software Helps

Dihardja Software provided engineering capacity for the Lexica project, working closely with the Wikicollabs team in Indonesia. Based on the designs and technical specifications provided by Wikicollabs, Dihardja Software focused on delivering a frontend and backend that could support accessible, reliable contribution experiences for users of all technical levels.

The frontend was built using Vue.js and the Wikimedia Codex design system, ensuring a responsive, consistent interface that integrates naturally with the broader Wikimedia ecosystem. The backend was developed with Node.js and MariaDB, and deployed to Wikimedia Toolforge for ease of maintainability within the Wikimedia technical environment. Integration with the Wikidata API enables live editing and entity queries, and the mobile accessibility focus ensures contributors can participate meaningfully from any device, supporting Wikimedia’s goal of a more globally representative and linguistically rich knowledge base.