In 2011, the Tagalog Wikipedia was part of the WikiHistories fellowship research project of the Wikimedia Foundation. The project tries to capture the triumphs, failures, and daily struggles of the editors working to make the dream of globally shared knowledge a reality.[5]
Due to the mass deletion of very short articles, as of July 2021, the total number of articles is below 50,000.
First steps of Tagalog Wikipedia
The first article created in the Tagalog Wikipedia (aside from Unang Pahina or the main page) is about Wikipedia. It was created on March 25, 2004. During the times when Tagalog Wikipedia's standards on articles were not strict, the first featured article was Livestrong wristband, but this was replaced by the article kimika (chemistry) in line with the revised standards.[17] But kimika along with the second featured article wiki were eventually replaced by a review process.[18][19] Technically, the very first featured article that survived the review process is about keso (cheese).[20]
The Tagalog Wikipedia has several characteristics which define it differently from other language editions of Wikipedia. According to Michael Tan, a Filipino anthropologist and Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist, the Tagalog Wikipedia greatly depends on the UP Diksyonaryong Filipino for basic definitions.[25] Though focused on the Tagalog language, it has pages that helps non-Tagalog speakers on anything related about the online project.[26]
Coverage
The Tagalog Wikipedia has significant coverage of topics related to the Philippines, as well as anime and manga-related topics. In 2010, GMA News and Public Affairs released a report criticizing the Tagalog Wikipedia's lack of science-related articles.[27]
Project name
According to Wikipedians from the Tagalog and English Wikipedias, the Tagalog Wikipedia also represents the Filipino language.[28][29][30] According to the Vibal Foundation, a foundation that started WikiPilipinas, the Tagalog Wikipedia is different from WikiFilipino, the wiki that they manage because WikiFilipino uses Filipino language while Tagalog Wikipedia uses Tagalog language.[31] The difference or sameness of Tagalog and Filipino sparked a debate among Tagalog Wikipedians about the name of the project. This debate was mentioned in an article by DILA (Defenders of the Indigenous Languages of the Archipelago),[32] an organization that defends indigenous languages of the Philippines.
Comparison with other Philippine-based language editions
Compared to the other Philippine-based language editions of Wikipedia, the Tagalog Wikipedia has significantly fewer articles than the Cebuano Wikipedia, which currently has more than 6,117,000 articles, and the Waray Wikipedia, which has more than 1,267,000 articles, as the majority of the articles in those two languages were initially created by the Lsjbot.[33][34]
The Tagalog Wikipedia has an article depth of 145.52, compared to 4.3 for the Waray Wikipedia and 2.18 for the Cebuano Wikipedia, as of 27 January 2025.[35] By active users, it has 140, compared to 154 for the Cebuano Wikipedia and 74 for the Waray language edition.
