Template:Did you know nominations/Vallejo (ferry)

Vallejo (ferry)

 * ... that the Vallejo, a houseboat made famous as a locus of San Francisco Bay Area culture by artist Jean Varda and philosopher Alan Watts in the 1960s, was initially constructed as a passenger ferry in Portland, Oregon in the 1870s?
 * Reviewed: Water of Love

Created by Peteforsyth (talk). Self nom at 04:02, 23 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Symbol possible vote.svg The hook is 229 characters; must be shortened. Newness, article length, cited fact, sourcing all check out. The sentence "was featured in a rainbow-colored issue of the San Francisco Oracle" is taken verbatim from the source (which used it in a quotation) and should be rephrased, but I found no other close paraphrasing (and it appears that care was taken to avoid that). The one bare-url citation needs to be formatted. And, can you identify (spell out, least) what the "FHA" is for the last citation? The article should be a given a lead section by adding something brief about the boat's later claim to fame; it's long enough to warrant a lead section, in my opinion. SJ Morg (talk) 08:54, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

How about trim as follows: Casliber (talk · contribs) 01:00, 29 August 2011 (UTC)


 * ALT1... that the houseboat Vallejo, made an icon of Bay Area culture by artist Jean Varda and philosopher Alan Watts in the 1960s, was initially built as a passenger ferry in Portland, Oregon in the 1870s?
 * That had a small grammatical error, which I've fixed (by adding "made"). It's good enough now (197 characters), but I'm hoping the article's creator will be back online in the next day or two, and maybe he'll have some ideas on the hook wording. There are still other issues needing addressing besides the hook's length. SJ Morg (talk) 02:55, 29 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Great feedback, thanks to you both. I believe I've addressed the most glaring content issues, and will come back to do the rest. I had a little trouble finding the hook length requirements (I'm sure it's there somewhere, but I got frustrated trying to find it). I've made another small tweak to Alt1, creating Alt2. This actually shortens it a touch. (This for accuracy, since the location where the boat was constructed is actually unknown). -Pete (talk) 03:40, 29 August 2011 (UTC)


 * ALT2: ... that the houseboat Vallejo, made an icon of Bay Area culture by artist Jean Varda and philosopher Alan Watts in the 1960s, initially served as a passenger ferry in Portland, Oregon in the 1870s?
 * Symbol confirmed.svg Yes, I'd go with ALT2 (or 3, below), and all critical content issues have been addressed. The remaining points I raised, which you've said you intend to address later, are minor and not significant enough to hold up DYK approval.  So, I'm marking it as good to go (with ALT2).  I decided to link Portland, Oregon, because (San Francisco) Bay Area is now linked and because the entire last half of the hook had included no links. (FYI, hook length limit is "about" 200 characters; see Did you know, under "The hook"). SJ Morg (talk) 04:20, 29 August 2011 (UTC)
 * ALT3: ... that the houseboat Vallejo, made an icon of Bay Area culture by artist Jean Varda and philosopher Alan Watts in the 1960s, originally served as a passenger ferry in Portland, Oregon in the 1870s? This is a one-word change, from "initially" to "originally", which adds just 1 character (total 195). Personally, I have a slight preference for this one over Alt2. SJ Morg (talk) 13:23, 29 August 2011 (UTC)