Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Newsroom/Suggestions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shortcuts:
WP:POST/N/S
WP:POST/TIPS
WP:TIPLINE

Welcome to The Wikipedia Signpost's Tip Line. There are two ways to leave tips:

  1. Add a tip on this page
  2. Anonymously e-mail us at WikipediaSignpost@Gmail.com (for convenience, you may use this link)

Not every mention of Wikipedia in the media will make it into Signpost. Consider editing Wikipedia:Press coverage or Wikipedia:Wikipedia as a press source so we have a comprehensive record.

Please do not post newsletters to this page; news from WikiProjects is always appreciated, but templated messages are much more likely to be ignored. Ral315 (talk) 05:43, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

The Wikipedia Signpost
Front Page
Archives
Newsroom
Next Issue
Suggestions
Comments
Single-Page
Tools

+/-
Delivery
About

Contents

[edit] Etc.

[edit] Calendar of upcoming events

I intend this to be a sort of calendar of upcoming events, on and off Wikipedia (particularly non-obvious events, that might be easily missed) -- things that readers might be interested in. Anyone can add events here.

  • No events yet.

[edit] Requests for WikiProject features

If you'd like your WikiProject featured in an upcoming WikiProject report, feel free to list it here. Note that these requests are entirely advisory, and may or may not be used in future reports. Please do not "support" or "oppose" individual requests, and keep requests short and concise. Ral315 (talk) 05:51, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

  • WP:DINO, with over 90 members, the Dinosaur WikiProject is really dedicated to dinosaur coverage. See achievements for more information. Bibliomaniac15 21:51, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
  • WikiProject Oregon is a lively and productive project that currently supports over 5000 articles, and has a dedicated core group of editors who work toward getting articles to GA and FA. Currently we are working on a response to the Oregon Historical Society's announcement that they are starting a collaborative encyclopedia project that will somehow be better than Wikipedia. Katr67 (talk) 02:21, 16 February 2008 (UTC)
  • Wikipedia:WikiProject Textile Arts nearly died and came back to life. Originally begun in early 2007, by the start of December it had dwindled to just two active members. For a view of how much it's revived, here's its March newsletter (featured pictures, good articles, DYKs, and a featured portal drive). Durova 09:19, 6 March 2008 (UTC)
  • I think Wikipedia:WikiProject Categories/uncategorized might be a nice success-story to include in some edition of the Signpost. Various gnomes have hacked away at this backlog ever since bots like Alaibot started populating it a year and a half ago. Of course, this is a never-ending task but it's an important one and the backlog typically hovers around 2000 articles (compared to 10 times that a year ago). Pichpich (talk) 13:42, 29 March 2008 (UTC)
  • Wikipedia:Spotlight. We have just restarted and our first article was elevated to a GA by our effort. We have already created new templates and even a barnstar. The one thing we are missing is people. The last article (Kristallnacht) was a 3-person job, and we could do with a little feature just to let people know we're back...... Dendodge .. TalkHelp 17:45, 24 May 2008 (UTC)
  • WikiProject Environment. It has quite a bit of members and quality of articles (5 FA, 20 GA, 3 GAN). It has a task force that has attracted an English course in University of Kansas to improve environment-related sections in Wikipedia articles. OhanaUnitedTalk page 13:21, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Feature ideas

Feel free to comment on these ideas in this section, but please don't add new ideas here. This is a scratchpad for ideas suggested by others, that might be worth using.

  • Ragesoss suggested a feature comparing our articles with Britannica's (or that of other encyclopedias). I'm thinking how this might work, but it could be a good feature, if we have the manpower to do it. Ral315 (talk) 08:04, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
  • TonyTheTiger suggests: "I would like to suggest that you make it a regular feature to announce the newly created WikiProjects each week." Is this easy to do? Feasible on a week-to-week basis? Ral315 (talk) 08:01, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Tips

[edit] EFF/literary agent lawsuit

Available in history, but we're not going to cover this until the lawsuit has run its course, so I'm removing it from here for the sake of keeping this page concise. Ral315 (talk) 07:58, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Amending the Wikipedia 1.0 assessment scale - community input requested

A couple of amendments were proposed to the assessment scale, and are undergoing a full community discussion here. You may want to keep an eye on it (and perhaps include a mention of this in the next Signpost?) in case any of these pass, as the scale grades 1.25 million articles. Titoxd(?!? - cool stuff) 06:19, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Epa, Titoxd, what is the timing on this? I'm looking for a taker on the May 26th Dispatch; would that be a fit? Or does it need to be mentioned this week? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 06:22, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
Currently, the vote is scheduled to end on 0000 UTC May 26. However, the page has only been active for a fraction of a day, we can surely extend that deadline. Titoxd(?!? - cool stuff) 06:24, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
Although looking closer at the Signpost, since the current week's edition hasn't been published, a small "by the way" mention would probably be really helpful to us. Titoxd(?!? - cool stuff) 06:27, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
Yes, it sounds like you want the vote mentioned this week, and then if it passes, you might want to cover it in the 26th Signpost (which won't go out on the 26th :-) I have to get someone slotted in to the 26th Dispatch soon, so I'm not sure if you want dibs on that spot, or if Ral will say it's better for a general Signpost article. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 06:29, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
That would be up to Ral, I think. I don't mind writing the report, but given that one of the proposals is mine, I'm not sure whether that would be seen as biased or not. If you guys don't have a problem with that, I think I can surely write it. Titoxd(?!? - cool stuff) 06:36, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
I trust you can write a neutral article, but it wouldn't hurt to have someone like Sandy read it over, and ensure it's neutral. I'll do the same. As for a report on the discussion this week, I think it's early to write a full article, but I'll mention it in News and notes. Ral315 (talk) 14:15, 19 May 2008 (UTC)
I put out messages everywhere, but this never happened; scrambling to get a Dispatch now for the 26th. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 04:53, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Is there any news on this? Anyone planning on covering it? Ral315 (talk) 06:06, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] 'Ordinary' Arabs to retake Internet: Wikipedia founder

Could be a mention in the next Signpost. Cirt (talk) 13:52, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Syria blocks Wikipedia

http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/7466.htm ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 16:26, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Milhist project recommended

Per this edit the Military history project has been commended for being one of the best research tools on the subject: "Simon Fowler's 2007 Guide to Military History on the Internet (UK:Pen & Sword, ISBN 9781844156061) rates Wikipedia as "the best general resource" for military research (p. 7). Of the military pages, he says: "The results are largely accurate and generally free of bias" (he also suggests people join the wikiproject). When rating WP as the No. 1 military site (p. 201) he says "Wikipedia is often criticised for its inaccuracy and bias, but in my experience the military history articles are spot on." You've all "worked together to produce something of greater value than any one individual could by themselves" (p. 201)." Don't know whether this deserves a mention in ITN? Thanks. Woody (talk) 00:55, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Definitely. I think this may be the first time a specific Wikiproject has been commended for its work in print. Bibliomaniac15 01:46, 23 May 2008 (UTC)
Perhaps in a book; the LGBT WikiProject was profiled in an LGBT magazine, though I don't remember the details at this time. Ral315 (talk) 01:59, 23 May 2008 (UTC)
I've added the full quotes to the Mil Hist talk page. Gwinva (talk) 04:22, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

The full quotation of the author has been provided per this edit. This might be useful for any mention or story. -MBK004 04:25, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hoax article associated with art installation

As the New York Times reports, the soon-to-be-deleted Alexander Stanhope St. George is a hoax article created by Paul St. George, the artist responsible for the Telectroscope art installation.--ragesoss (talk) 21:20, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

The NYT article mentioned the article Alexander Stanhope St George (without the period), which was speedy-deleted by me within the hour after the NYT article was published. The hoaxer recreated the article as Alexander Stanhope St. George (with the period) thereafter, and it is that version that is currently at AfD (I have no idea why that one wasn't speedied too).--Pharos (talk) 19:53, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] WikiProject creates project-specific blog open to all project members

The active and ingenious folks at WikiProject Oregon have created a blog focused on the Oregon Wikipedia project at wikiprojectoregon.wordpress.com. Started from discussions at RecentChangesCamp 08 among some Oregonians who attended (most of the credit goes to Peteforsyth), the blog is open to all Oregon project members willing and able to contribute. Goals include, but are not limited to...

  • reaching out to new contributors
  • getting recognition from the blogosphere, the Oregon news media, and the rest of Wikipedia
  • exploring ways to expand our work (for instance, influencing the government to be a better resource for encyclopedia building, influencing the Oregonian to address its vanishing story problem, working with groups like the Oregon Encyclopedia...)

Read the related project talk thread here. Feel free to contact me or Peteforsyth for further details. Thanks, VanTucky 20:44, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] The Wikipedia Story

Would it be possible to mention [1] and mention that Fuzheado (Andrew Lih) would like to have people to help make the final chapter? The Placebo Effect 03:20, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Interview with Sue Gardner in El Pais

Martin, Javier. "Sue Gardner: "Nos vamos a centrar en aumentar la calidad de los contenidos de Wikipedia"", El Pais, 2008-05-29. Retrieved on 2008-05-30. (Spanish)  --Malcolmxl5 (talk) 01:51, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia in news: Wikipedia criticised by Kevin Myers

Wikipedia criticised by journalist whose entry was vandalised with defamatory comments. Autarch (talk) 19:05, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] How Wikipedia can help schoolchildren

At the start of the next academic year, high school teachers across New South Wales will be intoning a new education mantra: “Reading, Writing, 'Rithmetic and Wikipedia”.

An interesting development. Cirt (talk) 12:25, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Radio Wikipedia

I was wondering whether there could be a story (or mention) of WP:Radio Wikipedia. StewieGriffin! • Talk 14:26, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

I don't know if I'd cover it right now, as it's rather new. Ral315 (talk) 06:06, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
Unified login is only new, but that has been covered. StewieGriffin! • Talk 20:51, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
If you're honestly making that argument, you're missing my entire point. Radio Wikipedia is a project that is new, doesn't affect a lot of people, and may or may not last very long. (I know you intend to keep it going for a while, but things happen). Unified login has been discussed for six or seven years, affects almost every user, and will stay in place indefinitely. Ral315 (talk) 03:17, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] FritzpollBot to create millions of new articles?

User:FritzpollBot has been approved to create articles for the places that are missing on Wikipedia. When the bot run is complete, it has the potential to double the size of English Wikipedia. A discussion has started at Village Pump on whether this will benefit Wikipedia. Can Signpost run a article on this and possibly interview the bot-owner and the user responsible for the idea? Thanks, Ganeshk (talk) 01:21, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

This is certainly a notable story and a good case for the Signpost to demonstrate its NPOV. Sketchy details appear to be that Mr.Z-man posted one of those notices that appears to all users until dismissed, mentioning the creation of 2 million new articles, which of course created a chaotic 200K discussion page within 24 hours. Currently a majority favors implementing bot as planned, while a minority is split between add features first and do not implement. I created a sideshow by making a devil's advocate AFD of one of the articles, due to the underlying notability policy needing resolution; it was speedy closed as wrong forum, so I remade the request with less fanfare at the discussion page. Blofeld also temporarily changed the page title from "millions" to "thousands", which seems of interest from my POV. JJB 20:28, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
As the operator, I'd happily answer any questions on this topic, FWIW Fritzpoll (talk) 21:07, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
Just to update that consensus on this topic has now been reached and the project will get underway (in a discussion phase) very shortly Fritzpoll (talk) 14:37, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
If it's of any use to use, a possible draft article on the subject can be found here. I think you can see I tried to keep it short. John Carter (talk) 17:00, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Canadian Government Minster article edied by staff

There has been an CBC news article written about the WP article on Jim Prentice. This article talks about how an IP linked to his ministry has been editing the article. Here is a link to the article source - [2]

Formatted the above source. Short but interesting investigative piece. Cirt (talk) 18:14, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Digital World: Wiki gone wild

More commentary about the CAMERA thing and other related stuff. Cirt (talk) 18:17, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia.org is based on the wrong metric

There is a discussion on Meta about the metrics used to determine the placing of Wikipedias on the portal. The current metric, article numbers, has been gamed in many ways by many projects alternatives are considered. Please have a look, have a vote and let us change to a metric that makes sense for what we do. Thanks, 80.56.11.13 GerardM (talk) 12:56, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Apple Pro Tip

We've been featured here. The feature has been available for about 6 months, but it's an excuse to mention it now.--HereToHelp (talk to me) 22:05, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Google maps integration

Apologies if everyone already knows this, but I just noticed today that Wikipedia articles with geographic coordinates now appear on Google Maps. For example, if you search for "1 Financial Center, Boston" and then hover over the "More" button in the upper right, you can turn on the links to Wikipedia articles. If you click on one of the "W" icons that appears, you'll get a popup with the article intro, and a link to the full text. If you zoom out, you'll get big W's and little W's, though a bit randomly. -- Beland (talk) 02:58, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

This is at least the third time this has been suggested here. I assume it was already covered back in May, but I'm not sure where. Dragons flight (talk) 08:08, 9 June 2008 (UTC)
A technology report, IIRC. Ral315 (talk) 08:32, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia nominated for the Prince of Asturias Award

Wikipedia and Google are among the 24 candidates for the Prince of Asturias Awards for Communication and Humanities 2008, which will be given out on Wednesday in Oviedo. [3] The award is given out by the Prince of Asturias Foundation. Sorry, I haven't found any mention in the English press yet. – Minh Nguyễn (talk, contribs) 07:51, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Encyclopedia Britannica will accept user contributions

Front page news on Slashdot.[4] DurovaCharge! 19:29, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Global rights (or administrators by any other name... )

There must be a tabloid shock, horror exposé to be written about Wikipedia:Global rights usage. For more technical guff see meta:Anti-vandal fighter. Short version: meta may grant near-sysop (if they aren't identical the difference is minimal) rights to "anti-vandal fighters" which will apply on all projects, including this one. In other words, not only will local admins be able to block, delete, undelete, and protect, meta-designated "anti-vandal fighters" will too. Threat or menace? Angus McLellan (Talk) 21:01, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Erm, having followed the discussions, I'm unaware of any suggestion that would allow Meta sysops to use their rights here. From what I've seen, the right for large projects to opt-out has been clear from the start. Can you point me to anything that says otherwise? Ral315 (talk) 08:03, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
Erm is right. No story. Note to self: read more carefully. Angus McLellan (Talk) 17:14, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Philip Greenspun illustration project is dead

Someone should do a story about how the Philip Greenspun Illustration Project (which received a $US20,000 donation to create illustrations for articles) has died a quiet death without producing a single illustration. It was originally scheduled to begin Round One in December 2007. Six months later, all you can hear are crickets chirping. Kaldari (talk) 21:58, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

yes, please. I've been wondering about this myself. -Ravedave (talk) 02:47, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
While it seems to have stalled, I don't see any evidence per se that it is "dead". Have you tried contacting the Wikimedian-in-charge, User:Pfctdayelise? I will comment though, that I think the rates are way too low to attract any meaningful interest from professional illustrators. I've created technical illustrations on commission before and the project's standard fee of $40 per piece is less than I often bill per hour. The only people the current project structure is likely to entice are those who would be interested in making similar pieces for free anyway, in which case the project is unlikely to accomplish much. Dragons flight (talk) 03:14, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
I would prefer to give it a week or two to see if it does have any activity, I think; Pfctdayelise just updated that page to indicate that it's about to start. I think this is definitely worth a look, though. Ral315 (talk) 08:06, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
There's been activity on the mailing list. There's a trial run to test the software that will handle the ticketing of "jobs". --seav (talk) 07:35, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Warzone pics

See this Raul654 (talk) 06:00, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Article about Euro RSCG criticizing WP

I just saw that ZDNet.nl put this article online today. The head reads:

Wikipedia schaadt imago van bedrijven
Voorzitter: "Encyclopedie is niet bedoeld om te promoten"

Translation from Dutch:

Wikipedia damages the images of companies
Chair: "Encyclopedia is not meant to promote"

According to the article, Pierre Baudoin, chairman of the French Wikimedia, has already responded to these statements by Euro RSCG. I wonder if there's an English source about this. - Face 21:36, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Ok, here's the article on the French version of ZDNet. And here are some more French articles about it. Cheers, Face 21:47, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Dispatches: RFA Review

You know, an article on the ongoing RFA Review (just opening the question phase yesterday) might be a good article. The project is intended to evaluate every aspect of the Requests for Adminship process, and has a broad scope and methodology to match the awesome scale of the task. Thoughts? UltraExactZZ Claims ~ Evidence 14:27, 13 June 2008 (UTC)