Wikipedia talk:WikiProject New Zealand

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Kia Ora, while this talk page discusses WikiProject New Zealand, a New Zealand Wikipedian notice board does exist. It may be more relevant to place any comments concerning New Zealand articles (or Wiki-events) there. If you are asking for New Zealand opinion on AfD, then try Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/New Zealand. To seek New Zealand Wikipedian help on editing a new (New Zealand) article, then try Wikipedia:New articles (New Zealand). Many thanks. --Midnighttonight please tell me off for procrastinating on my essay! 08:34, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Archive1 upto end of June 2006

Contents

[edit] Removal of material from Schools

It has come to my attention that User:Mr Bluefin has been going around NZ schools removing a lot of useful information arguing that it is not encyclopedic. Please keep watch on this issue to make sure that these articles are not reduced to sub-stubs as what happened to Mt Roskill Grammar: [1] (now reverted).--Konstable 01:54, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Input needed on mountaineer

British/Irish mountaineer Brede Arkless who assumed NZ citizenship is up for deletion at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Brede Arkless. Please provide input. More NZ related links at Talk:Brede Arkless. Thanks. ~ trialsanderrors 00:54, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Karori

  • I received the following note on my talk page. Could a knowledgeable Wikipedian check this. I cannot possibly go check myself and Google wasn't helpful. Please leave a note on my talk page if you answer this. - Mgm|(talk) 08:13, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Could you inform Pook51 that the paragraph about 'Tom Chong' is false information. The 'Tom Chong' statue does not exist nor is the fact about how Tom Chong was one of the first chinese settlers to reside in Karori. Rovemcmanus 01:43, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Māori terms

I have started on an attempt to clean up the usage of Māori terms throughout New Zealand articles. What I mean is that making sure that the proper spelling is used for example Maori -> Māori, Pakeha -> Pākehā, Pa -> Pā. The full list of what I am using can be found here (I keep on adding to it as I go) can be found at User:Konstable/Māori terms, along with the more specific description. Basically I do this using AWB, but reviewing (and editing if needed) all the changes so it is not a fast process for so many articles. If anyone has any terms they wish me to add to the list, wants to help do the same, or any other thoughts - let me know on User talk:Konstable/Māori terms.--Konstable 10:55, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Category:New Zealand people

There seems to be a wish to put people directly in this category as well as any sub-categorys. I think this is a bad idea. The category will become too long (several thousand names) and unweldy. I think either everyone should be in a subcategory (or two if applicable) or perhaps we should split it by letters of the surname or something. Even large countries like Franch or Australia don't list many in the top category. I also not that subcates like Category:New Zealand World War II people don't show up until you go to the second page. - SimonLyall 11:23, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

Simon, I took the liberty of fixing a category link in your post above. I agree with your point.-gadfium 20:25, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
I often find it amusing to see such spelling errors in a comment designed to improve the accuracy and usability of structure in an encyclopedia, as opposed to a dictionary. categorys? how about categories, weldy? try unwieldy, Franch to France, subcates to subcats. Look my tongue is in my cheek, so lets lighten this up. Cats have always been curious to me, especially the wiki kind, and I'm still working through it here. I support the current model, as it simply works, although I would prefer to see a complete alphabetical list of articles in each category on a single page, and a complete list of subcategories on its own page if required, but I'm unsure why the 200 limit messes up the lists. I dont see a list of several thousand being an issue at all, but obviously it is to some, I deal with such lists everyday. Is it a problem with text editors or browsers? I'm not about to try and change policy though, that path (already well trodden) is a waste of energy, better spent building and improving articles. My ultimate thought is that there should be roughly 4 million people listed in this category, an idea unacceptable to most wikipedians, but one shared by most revolutionary thinkers, see Equality_of_opportunity.moza 04:26, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
Moz, if you remove the colon from this title it categorizes this page under Category:New Zealand people. Please be more careful in future, as this mistake could undermine the accuracy and usability of the encyclopedia ;) Ziggurat 04:29, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
I was checking and fixing it when your edit conflict forced me to wait a few seconds more. do you really think that the "this mistake could undermine the accuracy and usability of the encyclopedia " is necessary? I dont.moza 04:32, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
Just noting that everyone makes mistakes, and pointing out spelling errors in an otherwise unrelated post seems needlessly rude. Ziggurat 06:28, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
ok well how about: "My ultimate thought is that there should be roughly 4 million people listed in this category,.." seems related to me. It is possible to see the humourous side, depends on the readers mental set and setting.moza 08:31, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
And as for rudeness, how do you think the next of kin feel about the deceased Rod Donald being mis-named on up to a hundred articles as co-leader of a NZ political party? its scandalous, and the failure of ANYONE doing ANYTHING about it renders any further discussion and/or opinion completely worthless. I see interminable bickering over incredible trivia and yet you all allow this to continue without significant or meaningful discussion and almost no action. A few have shown the way, but less have followed. Does that mean I can go and create a hundred lying articles and have them up for six months? I dont think so. rude? I think its disgusting and utterly shameless, and we are all tarred with the same brush.moza 15:50, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Subcategories of Category:Regions of New Zealand

It's worried me for a while that the subcategories of Category:Regions of New Zealand don't conform with the official regions into which the country is divided. it's mainly my fault - I created most of these categories a year and a half ago while making a few hundred geography articles. I think, though, that it's about time these were formalised. Luckily, most of the seventeen categories won't need much work at all. Twelve will need only the slightest of tweaks if any (Category:Northland, New Zealand, Category:Waikato, Category:Hawke's Bay, Category:Taranaki, Category:Manawatu-Wanganui, Category:Wellington Region, Category:Marlborough, New Zealand, Category:West Coast, New Zealand, Category:Canterbury, New Zealand, Category:Otago, and Category:Southland, New Zealand, plus the still useful, even if not "official" Category:New Zealand outlying islands). The other five need a little more work.

I'd like to propose the following changes:

Unless there are any serious objections to this, I'll start the ball rolling with a CFR of the Auckland and Nelson ones, then see where to go from there. (crossposted at Wikipedia:New Zealand Wikipedians' notice board) Grutness...wha? 07:14, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

On further inspection, I can simplify this scheme a little further -
Grutness...wha? 06:07, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalism watch Page

As per a bit of discussion at thr Auckland meetup I am thinking of setting up a subpage of this to help coordinate the watching of NZ related pages to reduce vandalism. It would probably be a list of top 20 articles and links to pages like Special:Recentchangeslinked/Category:Cities and towns in New Zealand to help people keep an eye on other pages. Thoughts and suggested names or better places to put this? - SimonLyall 13:19, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

You know, I've been here two years, and an admin for a year and a half, and I never knew about Recentchangeslinked! Thanks you! :) BTW - do you think that the "Cities and towns" category needs to be taken to CFD for renaming? It deals with lots of places which are much smaller than town size as well... perhaps "Cities, towns and settlements...", or just "Inhabited places..."? Oh, and yes, the vandalism page is a very good idea - perhaps as a subpage of this page, something like Wikipedia:WikiProject New Zealand/Vandalism patrol (WP:WNZV)? Grutness...wha? 00:57, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
I agree with the idea of a vandalism watch page, but perhaps we could just add a section to WP:MVP. Lots of people look for vandalism to any pages listed there. Otherwise, we're vulnerable to vandalism during the small hours of the morning.-gadfium 01:02, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
I'm not sure WP:MVP is the best place, compared to George W. Bush most of ours are fairly minor problems. Im also thinking of something more general to catch the random vandalism of NZ pages. Eg this one on Simon Upton I found two weeks after it happened (and this that sat for a month) and there are probably older. Sort of a g'tee that almost all NZ related pages are watched by a couple of people and prioritising it to ones most often hit. - SimonLyall 09:43, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
Waikouaiti and Stewart Island/Rakiura are often hit, I think they think its funny to include an international airport down there, and there seems to be a 'wasp' response to the dual naming thing, Mt Taranaki has had a similiar trail.moza 10:53, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
I've set up WP:WNZV as suggested by Grutness. It needs to be populated, and regularly checked for vandalism.-gadfium 20:18, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
Any feedback? The transcluded list of List of towns in New Zealand isn't ideal, as it includes a few linked items which are not towns in NZ. I could convert it to part of the WP:WNZV page easily enough, but then we'd have to add any updates manually. Should we also include or transclude List of New Zealand-related topics, List of New Zealanders, Category:Years in New Zealand etc, or only add articles as someone notices a vandalism problem?-gadfium 09:29, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tagging talk pages and assessing articles

Wikipedia Assessments within AWB. Click on the image to see it in better resolution
Wikipedia Assessments within AWB. Click on the image to see it in better resolution

Hi. If you still have work to do tagging talk pages and assessing articles, my AWB plugin might be of interest to you.

The plugin has two main modes of operation:

  • Tagging talk pages, great for high-speed tagging
  • Assessments mode, for reviewing articles (pictured)

As of the current version, WikiProjects with simple "generic" templates are supported by the plugin without the need for any special programatic support by me. I've had a look at your project's template and you seem to qualify.

For more information see:

Hope that helps. If you have any questions or find any bugs please let me know on the plugin's talk page. --Kingboyk 14:37, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] joining WikiProject New Zealand

Hello, I would like to help with this WikiProject. Where do I sign up? --James Bond 00:35, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Welcome! Just add your name to the list at Wikipedia:WikiProject New Zealand#Participants. Grutness...wha? 01:17, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Missing pages that are no longer missing

I just created New Zealand telephone numbering plan, because it was on the list of missing pages, (and I needed a reference article for work purposes too). I also added it to Wikipedia:New articles (New Zealand) and put a project template on the talk page. I think it can still be improved, but do not have the time just yet. What is the protocol for what happens to the Wikipedia:WikiProject_New_Zealand listing? Do I remove it? Let someone else review the article, and they remove the listing? Put a new one in its place? -- Cameron Dewe 01:49, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

There's no official protocol, but what normally happens is either it gets left until someone updates the list, or (if you're more diligent :) you could remove it and note in your edit summary what has been removed. Grutness...wha? 23:04, 10 October 2006 (UTC)
How about adding it to Wikipedia:New articles (New Zealand) and taking it off the list? -- Cameron Dewe 01:02, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Battle of Greece

This article has been vastly improved and expanded. New Zealanders participated in this campaign during World War II and I was hoping some of you might want to contribute. It has also been nominated for A-class status. Take a look if you'd like. Periklis* 06:40, 10 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 16:30, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Scouting in NZ

The other day I added to Wikipedia:WikiProject Scouting/Todo this list:-

Anyone care to pick this up and run with it? I'm over the Tasman and know little about Scouting in NZ. --Bduke 00:59, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sir Brian??

Was Brian Lochore actually knighted, or was an editor a little overenthusiastic about the form of address for a holder of the OBE? dramatic 10:49, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

He was knighted in 1999 - see here. Grutness...wha? 11:05, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Phew!

I'm pleased to announce that everyone listed on List of New Zelanders and all the major lists linked therefrom, now has Birth/death dates included on the year in New Zealand pages. Ok, the above lists are not all-encompassing by a long chalk, but its a start. dramatic 10:53, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Good work! I'll add my own "phew" - I've just sifted all the NZ-bio-stubs, NZ-geo-stubs, NZ-company-stubs, NZ-org-stubs, and Maori-stubs from the main Cat:New Zealand stubs, which now looks a little slimmer at 580 stubs than it did at just over 800! Grutness...wha? 10:59, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
On a related stub-tidying note, I've been sifting my way through some of the NZ-geo-stubs and re-stubbing them as the appropriate regional stub, but I've noticed that changing the stub, doesn't always move them from the NZ Geography Stubs category into the appropriate sub-category e.g Tolaga Bay. Am I doing something the wrong way - or is there something else I should be doing to fix this? Malathos 00:04, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
No, that's perfectly fine. The standard way of subdividing countries in geo-stub splitting these days is to create templates for each region but to only create categories for those where there are a large number of stubs (usually 60 or more). other stub templates simply feed into the parent national geo-stub category. WP:WSS runs regular checks on the number of stubs marked with each template, and once a particular template appears to be heavily used it will get a new category. The reason is that while main categories are intended for readers, stub categories are mainly aimed at editors, and it is far easier for editors to find particular articles if there are a "comfortable" number of stubs in a category, not too many and not too few. If all categories were made as soon as a national split occurred, there might well be a large number of categories many of which would be nearly empty. Don't worry - given time and the exponential growth in stub numbers, the other categories will appear sooner or later! Grutness...wha? 01:12, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
In fact, it's likely there will be a new category for greography stubs on the Wellington Region within a few days. Grutness...wha? 01:21, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
Ah, thanks. In that case, I'll carry on re-stubbing where I can . Malathos 01:39, 6 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 20:19, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Crimes Act 1961

Enough articles refer to Crimes Act 1961 that it may be worthwhile to create an article for it. I'll leave it to the experts here to evaluate ... ✤ JonHarder talk 21:54, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

There are quite a few Acts which need pages. Apart from the Crimes Act, there is (just off the top of my head):
  • State Owned Enterprises Act
  • whichever act gave women the vote
  • the act making NZ nuclear free
  • various 1st Labour govt acts
  • Employment Contracts Act
  • Employment Relations Act
  • the Human Rights Act page needs expanding

Its pretty easy to do the basic stuff - you just grab a copy from New Zealand Statutes, which most libraries have, and fill in the template. You can pinch this from the Treaty of Waitangi Act page or several others. --Helenalex 22:18, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

All the legistation is online[www.legislation.govt.nz], so that should make it even easier.--Limegreen 23:11, 14 January 2007 (UTC)
This doesn't seem to include repealed legislation, but for stuff which is still current it is useful. --Helenalex 23:15, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Geography of New Zealand

Hi all, I've done the major revision needed of the Geography of New Zealand. It would be good to get a temperature map and this site has some good maps but I'm not sure of the copyrights etc. Tim_ 00:11, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

strangly enough I was also starting to do an update. My version is User:SimonLyall/test . Feel free to grab bits I have into what you have done etc. I'll have a look myself but I'm a little behind right now. - SimonLyall 01:59, 21 January 2007 (UTC)
Ah yours is looking great, the geographic regions section is very nice, I'll add a lot of the stuff from yours to the main article in the next few days if you haven't already. =) Tim {talk | contribs} 08:00, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Aroha Island

I'd like to add Aroha Island to the List of islands of New Zealand, but am not quite versed enough to know which section in the list is best for it. Please advise. I came across this since I decided to try to de-orphan an article, and started working on Aroha Island. Keesiewonder talk 01:34, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

I would think it belongs in the "Open sea islands" section, although I confess I don't know exactly where Aroha Island is. You could improve the article on the island by giving its location in greater detail, and perhaps even including a map to show where it is.
Incidentally, where are our blank maps of New Zealand and North and South Island kept? I thought I'd find them at commons:Category:Maps_of_New_Zealand, but the only blank one there is Image:NZ Locator Blank.png. To use that one, see Rakiura National Park for an example of how to superimpose a dot.-gadfium 04:23, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
Aroha Island is located just off the northern coast of Kerikeri Inlet in the Bay of Islands. (There's a nice map showcased here.) It's connected to the mainland by mangrove flats and a causeway, so I wouldn't exactly describe it as an "open sea island", but that section is probably the closest fit. -- Avenue 09:49, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! I've added Aroha Island to the Open Sea Island section of the island list. Since I'm focused on de-orphaning (from 0 to 4 in the 'what links here' count) right now rather than expanding the stub article, I'll save expanding/improving the article for another day. Keesiewonder talk 02:05, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] William Stevenson

According to William Stevenson (New Zealander), Sir William Alfred Stevenson was born when his father (William Stevenson) was only 4 years old. Stevenson senior, not content with that feat, founded his company at the age of 15, so methinks that it is his birthdate which is in error. Does anyone have a source to fix it?dramatic 11:23, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Flora and fauna

Is anyone interested in forming a WikiProject focusing on the biota of New Zealand? I'm doing a course in ecology and conservation at the moment and I'm interested in continuing along this path, so I may be able to contribute a bit to this area. If other editors are interested we could look at drafting up a sub-project. Richard001 06:37, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

You should fish (ba-dum!) for interest in the various Tree of Life Wikiprojects. One of my current personal projects is the New Zealand wrens, feel free to give it a look over. Sabine's Sunbird talk 22:34, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
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