Talk:The Abode of the Message

Looking for collaborators to correct and enhance this article --Wyomack 06:18, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Expanding this into a full article
Since I'm thinking about expanding this from a stub to a full article, I've added/expanded the "See also," "references," and "External links" sections. I'm an occasional visitor to the Abode, who thinks it's an interesting place. Feel free to write to this Talk page if you have any comments on my work. --MouseRancher (talk) 23:02, 9 August 2010 (UTC)

Expanded the "Facilities" section, added some photos to the Wikimedia Commons and incorporated them into the article, and made some other minor improvements including more References. I'll probably tighten up the Facilities descriptions somewhat during the next few days. More to come.... --MouseRancher (talk) 19:33, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

Added a "History" section and associated references, which still need to be reviewed for accuracy by those with more expertise. Next to do ... the Activities section. --MouseRancher (talk) 19:03, 12 August 2010 (UTC)

Expanded the "Activities" section and consolidated some of the Facilities section entries into it. The article is ready for final fact checking and review. --MouseRancher (talk) 22:13, 12 August 2010 (UTC)

Modified the lede (first section) to include an "intent" paraphrased from that given by Pir Zia Inayat-Khan on the Abode website's "Vision" page. This section still needs improvement for tone (which should be encyclopedic). Added a BannerShell to the Talk page. Also, I removed the Talkpage's Project banner for "WikiProject Cooperatives." A "cooperative" is defined as being owned by its members, which I don't believe is the case for the Abode. I was the one who originally added that banner. I added a Talkpage banner for "Wikiproject Community" which is a good fit. --MouseRancher (talk) 16:34, 13 August 2010 (UTC)

BTW, I need to improve the inline references, I know. There also might be too much detail in Activities and in Facilities. I think the the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies article might be a good model in general.

I further explored the possible Wikiprojects to which this article might appropriately belong. Project assignments appear at the top of this Talkpage. Note that this is different from the question of which Categories the article might be appropriately placed into. It is also different from the Portal with which this article might be associated -- it is currently associated with Portal:Sufism, indicated by the big green navigation box at the bottom of the article, which at this time seems to me to be suitable. Most critically, I looked at the the mission or definition of each project. Here's what I believe:
 * WikiProject_Religion - "aims primarily to organise and condense the series of articles on religion" No, this article is not about religion.
 * WikiProject_Islam - "to improve the quality and quantity of information about Islam" No, this article is not about Islam or topics in Islam.
 * WikiProject_Organizations - "dedicated to improving Wikipedia's coverage of local, regional and international organizations" Yes, this article is about an organization.
 * WikiProject_Community - "a guide to articles that deal with the definitions of community and community development in general" No.
 * WikiProject_Spirituality - "to better organize information in articles related to Spirituality" and "pages covering topics of spirituality, as well as pages on topics that can be compared or contrasted with spirituality." No.
 * WikiProject_Cooperatives - a cooperative is "a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit" No, I don't believe the Abode is owned by its residents, but by the SOI.

The types of organization that the Abode is could be described as might be (by purpose and structure) a spiritual intentional community, as well as (by US law) a nonprofit charity and a church-related organization, both of which fall under WikiProject_Organizations. Accordingly, I am removing the existing WikiProject banners and placing only the one for Organizations. I will pursue having someone from that project do an evaluation of the article at a suitable time soon. --MouseRancher (talk) 21:01, 13 August 2010 (UTC)

Restored WikiProject_Religion since the article (even in its previous stub-class form) was rated "mid-importance" by the New religious movements work group. --MouseRancher (talk) 08:27, 16 August 2010 (UTC)