Portal talk:American Civil War/Intro

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[edit] Welcome to the American Civil War portal intro talk page

Goals: This article intends to give the barest introduction to the subject matter while providing the maximum possible effective linking and some understanding of the depth of feeling surrounding the subject, especially the legacy and impact of the war on modern thought. Compared to most portals, this introduction is immensely long as of this writing, and I'm striving to make it even more economical, while reflecting the same basic components.

Maximum wiki links. This is a portal, a guide to other places, and so I want the page to link to everything relevant. Since that's impossible, I want to take every opportunity to wikify, so long as we stay within the guidelines.
Most economical possible length. The American Civil War article introduction is fine and is plenty for such a vast and complex article. This portal has a different purpose: I'm suggesting ONLY the barest essentials of narrative are necessary here. The rest of the portal page will provide articles and links to tell desired narrative.
Focus on the war's impact, as opposed to the war's events. Since we want the important stuff where people can see it, I'm going to hold firm on a focus on the war's legacy and meaning in the second paragraph, so long as such a paragraph exists.

While I encourage users to edit boldly, I also ask that before any edits to this highly visible introduction are made, that they be discussed on this talk page first. It's perhaps an unreasonable request, but it's a request to make sure that this very visible location doesn't devolve into a flame war better intended for this talk page. Again, welcome! BusterD 22:44, 7 September 2006 (UTC)