Talk:Samuel Merrill Woodbridge

Why is this a Featured Article?
I usually defend FAs from people who question their legitimacy, but for once I have to join them for this one.

I don't really have a problem with the article's subject, but why is this considered an FA? I understand that the writing is sufficiently polished. I understand that it is well-sourced. Clearly the author has done his research. But what makes this an FA? What makes it 'Featured?' What makes it 'one of Wikipedia's best articles?' It doesn't say anything about why this man is notable. There are oodles of churches and seminaries in the Christian world, and they all have pastors or priests. He taught for a long time and produced several books. What did he write? How did he influence his field? Is or was he famous, if even within the narrow confines of New Brunswick? In short, what made the author choose him as a project? There's barely anything that could be remotely considered interesting in the article; the closest I can find is the quote from Corwin about his personality and teaching style.

I'm not saying it's a bad article; it might even qualify as a "good" one. But I think to be Featured an article should engage the reader at least a little. I'm willing to defend covered bridges in northern Pennsylvania, bogs in England, and suburbs in Australia; at least they have more pictures, or hints of interesting tidbits, or more detail. But if citations, prose and organization are all that count for a Featured Article, then we might need to split up that category, because there's no way an average reader would rank this in the same league as Middle Ages, or Campaign history of the Roman military, or Introduction to general relativity. Brutannica (talk) 17:14, 12 December 2013 (UTC)


 * - Sorry you were disappointed. I'll chalk it up to the fact that neither you nor I can please everyone all the time. For instance, while your work may interest you and some other readers, I have no interest in your work in Japan's juvenile protection process, Pokémon, or manga. FA's come in different shapes and sizes and topics...not all of them have to be 50-page behemoths, or articles about Australian military figures, hurricanes, Doctor Who trivia, celebutards, or mushrooms. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. --ColonelHenry (talk) 17:22, 12 December 2013 (UTC)


 * It's a featured article because it's the best that ColonelHenry, the principal editor of this article, and others (whether by editing or commenting upon the article when it's been under review) have been able to make it - and the level to which they got it was adjudged to be sufficiently well-written, comprehensive, well-researched, neutral and stable (by various people uninvolved in the article's creation and editing) to meet the FA criteria.  The criteria do not include that articles must be "in the same league" (of importance? of impact? of what?) as other articles of the type you have mentioned.  You may be thinking of WP:Vital articles instead. Your apparent view that we should only award FA status if the subject is a sufficiently important or interesting one is not one that is generally shared. If you want to change the criteria, though, please go to WT:FA? rather than complaining on the talk page of a particular FA that you happen to dislike. If you think that this article doesn't pass the threshold of notability, then feel free to take it to AFD (although be warned that some take the view that nominating featured articles for deletion is a type of disruptive editing since such attempts have never succeeded and a lack of sources showing notability would have become apparent in the FAC process). BencherliteTalk 17:42, 12 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Again, I'm not saying that this subject isn't inherently interesting, or that it's not notable and should be deleted. I'm saying the way the article is written isn't very interesting. As it is, it can be broken down into "Woodbridge was born to this family. [Family details] Woodbridge went to these schools, joined these clubs, and earned these degrees. Woodbridge became a pastor. Woodbridge became a professor and taught these subjects. Woodbridge became a dean and then a president. Woodbridge retired. Woodbridge married and raised a family. Woodbridge died and was buried. [One quote on his personality] [A list of works]" This is fine for an ordinary article, but doesn't have anything else to pull the reader in. I'm pretty sure an ordinary reader would be left wondering why this particular figure is notable. As a basic example, he wrote a lot, but what did he write about? I don't think a list of titles suffices. Essentially, I think for biographical articles, some sense of how the subjects were influential is needed at least.


 * I didn't mean to make a personal attack of any kind; if Wikipedia were to get rid of its articles on obscure or dry subjects it wouldn't be the same (or as useful). But if FAs are supposed to be "the best work" of Wikipedia... I have a hard time seeing how something this bare-bones can compare with the sort of stuff I mentioned (in terms of writing quality and depth of research). Brutannica (talk) 01:15, 14 December 2013 (UTC)
 * - You're entitled to your opinion, but other editors disagreed with you and for good reason (which explained comprehensively above). So, there's no use continuing this discussion--and you can go on contributing to articles on manga and Pokémon that I will likely not care enough to read. To each his own.--ColonelHenry (talk) 01:48, 14 December 2013 (UTC)

I enjoyed reading this article when it was showcased on your main page. Yes, it is short, but it is well-written and covers all of the man's life. I'm just a casual reader, and I've seen some featured articles on famous people that looked endless. Length isn't everything; some of your featured articles could benefit from a trim or two. — Preceding unsigned comment added by MrReaderEric (talk • contribs) 01:31, 14 December 2013 (UTC)
 * - thank you for your kind words. --ColonelHenry (talk) 01:48, 14 December 2013 (UTC)

Featured article review
See Wikipedia talk:Featured article review. Sandy Georgia (Talk)  17:34, 3 July 2022 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120226005710/http://65.217.178.199/TLCScripts/interpac.dll?SearchForm%3FDirections=1&Config=pac&Branch=0 to http://65.217.178.199/TLCScripts/interpac.dll?SearchForm%3FDirections=1&Config=pac&Branch=0
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120226005710/http://65.217.178.199/TLCScripts/interpac.dll?SearchForm%3FDirections=1&Config=pac&Branch=0 to http://65.217.178.199/TLCScripts/interpac.dll?SearchForm%3FDirections=1&Config=pac&Branch=0
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120226005710/http://65.217.178.199/TLCScripts/interpac.dll?SearchForm%3FDirections=1&Config=pac&Branch=0 to http://65.217.178.199/TLCScripts/interpac.dll?SearchForm%3FDirections=1&Config=pac&Branch=0

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