Wikipedia sister projects: What they are and how they expand free knowledge

When you think of Wikipedia, you think of encyclopedic articles—but that’s just one part of a much bigger system. The Wikipedia sister projects, a network of free knowledge platforms run by the same volunteer community behind Wikipedia. Also known as Wikimedia projects, they include tools like Wikinews for original reporting, Wikiquote for memorable quotes, Wiktionary for definitions, and more—all built on the same open, collaborative model. These aren’t side apps or experiments. They’re essential parts of a global effort to make knowledge accessible, verifiable, and free from corporate control.

Each project serves a different purpose but shares the same DNA: no ads, no paywalls, no corporate editors. Wikinews, a volunteer-run news site that publishes original reporting under a free license, lets anyone write breaking stories with verified sources—no journalism degree required. Wikiquote, a collection of attributed quotations from public figures, books, and films, keeps sayings accurate and properly sourced, so you don’t end up misattributing Einstein or Maya Angelou. Then there’s Wiktionary, a multilingual dictionary and thesaurus that tracks slang, obsolete terms, and technical jargon, filling gaps that commercial dictionaries ignore. These aren’t just backups or alternatives—they’re specialized tools that handle what Wikipedia can’t easily cover without cluttering its encyclopedic focus.

Behind these projects are the same people who edit Wikipedia: teachers, librarians, students, retirees, and curious volunteers. They don’t get paid. They do it because they believe knowledge should be free, open, and built by everyone. The tools they use—like translation aids, template wizards, and edit review systems—are shared across all projects, making it easier to move from writing an article to writing a news report or defining a word. And while Wikipedia gets most of the attention, it’s these sister projects that let you dig deeper: into how language evolves, how news breaks in real time, or how ideas are quoted and remembered.

What you’ll find below are real stories from inside this ecosystem—how Wikinews recruits new reporters, how translation tools help bridge language gaps across projects, and how volunteers keep these platforms running without corporate backing. This isn’t theory. It’s what’s happening right now, in real time, on the quiet front lines of free knowledge.