Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Laundromat

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[edit] Definition of a laundry list

Excuse a rather stupid point. I have never heard of laundry list or Wikipedia:laundry list. You say why they are bad, and what you plan to do with them, but not what they are. I think I know what you are getting at, but a bit of a definition or etymology would be good. Or perhaps the term should be used rather less in favour of something more descriptive. Or perhaps you could create the laundry list article. Thanks. -- zzuuzz (talk) 18:26, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

I was interpreting it to be a over-specification of Wikipedia:Avoid trivia sections in articles. This should probably be renamed to Wikipedia:Wikiproject trivia lists, or similar. -Quiddity 18:37, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
Zzuuzz, you raise a good point. I'll add a definition to the project page. It's fairly common English usage. The OED lists a number of usages of the term:

1958 Spectator 4 July 24/2 Mr. Wardle makes a point of dissociating himself from the laundry-list species of biography-making. 1968 Time 10 May 22 The at-large ballot is a bewildering laundry list of 75 names. 1972 Fortune Jan. 3/1 As the archetype of U.S. corporations, General Motors is charged by its critics with primary responsibility for a laundry list of social ills, including air pollution, congestion in the cities, ugliness in the countryside, [etc.]. 1972 Times Lit. Suppl. 24 Mar. 333/1 A huge panorama of names and dates, as dull as a laundry-list. 1975 Radio Times 16 Jan. 5/4 Everybody knows..that there are exceptions to this laundry-list of woes, and that the author can be brilliantly served.

Hope that helps. Nandesuka 03:20, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] An example

Would this be an example of the sort of edits we're looking for? - brenneman {L} 04:47, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Very much so, yes. I'm going to take a crack at Wizard this weekend, as an exemplar, as well. Nandesuka 23:23, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] awesome idea for a project

Wildlife articles tend to attract this sort of thing - X and culture in particular. I cleaned out swan today, apparently someone thought that the fact tha Byork once had a swan design dress wa important in an article on birds. Sabine's Sunbird talk 08:03, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cleanup template

If a cleanup template, ala cleanup resources, was created, I would use it on articles that don't fit other other cleanup categories. It would have several benefits: a reminder to me of an article I need to revisit, a pointer to this project which would help get other editors on board and a heads up to list-prone editors that the article is about to be cleaned. All of the articles could be found in their own category, replacing the list of articles on this project page. It would be easier to tag articles. JonHarder 20:23, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

I went ahead and created the template, Template:Cleanup-laundry, which can be used to tag articles. I will start by tagging articles in the to-do list and also add the template to the cleanup resources page. If there is no objection, within a week I will remove the to-do list and replace it with a reference to Category:Wikipedia laundry list cleanup which will enumerate all the articles needing attention. I borrowed wording from the project page and a couple of the other cleanup templates to create this new template. Take a look at it and add improvements. JonHarder 22:05, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] template:cleanup-laundry

This article or section contains a lengthy laundry list of enumerated items that needs to be cleaned of minutiae and then converted into readable, encyclopedic text.
If you are familiar with the subject, please improve the article by removing nonnotable, nonencyclopdic, and unhelpful items and then incorporate the remainder into the article's main body flow, with appropriate text. Editing help is available.


This template is very vaugly written. It sits at the top of an article, though it seems to be a message to the editors, would it not be better on the article talk pages?

Also not everyone knows what you mean by laundry lists. It is not a common term from my experience. While there is a link to the project page it does not clearly explain what the objection to the article is.

Imaging the message from the point of view of somebody who is simply reading wikipedia sent from google. HighInBC 23:35, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm hoping other editors will help tighten up the explanation. I think I understand the intent of this project, but I'm not sure how to make a clear but concise template explanation. With regards to placing the template on the article page, that is the current practice for a majority of the very similar cleanup templates found on the cleanup resources page. The wording on those templates is much like this one. JonHarder 00:38, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

I've tightened the template wording, replacing the phrase "laundry list" with "lengthy list" and reducing the wordiness. Hopefully this will make it more clear and point editors in the right direction. Below is the current template content:

To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article or section can be improved by converting lengthy lists to text.
If you are familiar with the subject, please improve the article by removing nonnotable, nonencyclopdic, and unhelpful items from embedded lists and then incorporate the remainder into the article's main body flow, with appropriate text, or discuss this issue on the talk page.

JonHarder 12:29, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

That is much better, thank you. I really like the idea of your project. HighInBC 14:32, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Project directory

Hello. The WikiProject Council has recently updated the Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Directory. This new directory includes a variety of categories and subcategories which will, with luck, potentially draw new members to the projects who are interested in those specific subjects. Please review the directory and make any changes to the entries for your project that you see fit. There is also a directory of portals, at User:B2T2/Portal, listing all the existing portals. Feel free to add any of them to the portals or comments section of your entries in the directory. The three columns regarding assessment, peer review, and collaboration are included in the directory for both the use of the projects themselves and for that of others. Having such departments will allow a project to more quickly and easily identify its most important articles and its articles in greatest need of improvement. If you have not already done so, please consider whether your project would benefit from having departments which deal in these matters. It is my hope that all the changes to the directory can be finished by the first of next month. Please feel free to make any changes you see fit to the entries for your project before then. If you should have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you. B2T2 13:55, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lists

Now to be honest I will get this off my chest first, I felt quite offended when the Dead Rising article had the message "this needs a clean-up". At the time of adding the information in, I didn't know certain things, and felt to a large degree that bulletpoints are a lot more helpful than chunks of text. But of course everyone has there own opinion.

Since the message appeared, I have begun to remove the lists, which are not needed in the article. This message is a little thanks but I feel it will only be adding to your status as a project group.

I would like to raise one last point; while you say that the Dead Rising page is entirely a list in some form or another, I have been looking on your project page and it looks like you need to maybe critique your own page. --WarDragon 01:24, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia Day Awards

Hello, all. It was initially my hope to try to have this done as part of Esperanza's proposal for an appreciation week to end on Wikipedia Day, January 15. However, several people have once again proposed the entirety of Esperanza for deletion, so that might not work. It was the intention of the Appreciation Week proposal to set aside a given time when the various individuals who have made significant, valuable contributions to the encyclopedia would be recognized and honored. I believe that, with some effort, this could still be done. My proposal is to, with luck, try to organize the various WikiProjects and other entities of wikipedia to take part in a larger celebrartion of its contributors to take place in January, probably beginning January 15, 2007. I have created yet another new subpage for myself (a weakness of mine, I'm afraid) at User talk:Badbilltucker/Appreciation Week where I would greatly appreciate any indications from the members of this project as to whether and how they might be willing and/or able to assist in recognizing the contributions of our editors. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 18:52, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rowing (sport)

This article is the main focus of WP:ROW and on a recent peer review someone mentioned it containing laundry lists in the latter sections. Wondering what that meant I found myself here. I cleaned up the section on event terminology myself, but I am wondering what should be done with the 'popular culture' section. Does it need cleanup, or should it be scrapped entirely. If so, should an external link to a list be left in its' place? Any advice would be appreciated.--The Spith 18:47, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

My opinions is that the whole "Screenplays and television shows" can be removed unless there are entries that are particularly notable for some reason. The "Rowers of wider fame" seems more appropriate. Is there a way to choose the five or so most relevant from that list and put them into a paragraph? ✤ JonHarder talk 03:03, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] This project is failing badly

The number of articles which contain, or which are entirely laundry lists, is growing exponentially. For every one you might be fixing, 100 more are written. You are trying to stop a river by standing in it. --Xyzzyplugh 21:30, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

  • More like trying to stop a river by putting signs alongside it that say, "This river may require to be stopped. You can help!" –Pomte 05:42, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
    • Ain't it beautiful? -- list lover

[edit] Templates

[edit] Stand-alone lists?

Does this project cover stand-alone lists as well? The reason I am asking is that I began cleaning the List of 21st century classical composers after noticing the Laundromat tag, but the tag was removed yesterday by The Transhumanist (AWB), who mentioned in the edit summary that WikiProject Laundromat only applies to non-list articles. A little clarification on the issue would be much appreciated. — Dorvaq (talk) 12:35, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

The Goals section mentions only non-list articles, but I don't see why not. Notice the Resources section links {{Cleanup-list}}. If that list needs cleanup, then tag it with {{Cleanup-list}} and keep going. Whether you're technically doing it for Wikipedia:WikiProject Laundromat is irrelevant. –Pomte 13:12, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re: identifying articles to be cleaned

Nice list. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 206.124.150.8 (talk) 04:45, 31 March 2007 (UTC).

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