User talk:Fox/June 2009

I need your advice on a particular garden that needs tending...
Hi,

I need help from an experienced Wikipedian, and I was glad to see your name over at WP:ADOPT.

I need your advice concerning WP:WPOOK, which I've been coordinating. The set of pages the project concerns is listed at Portal:Contents/Outline of knowledge and WikiProject Outline of knowledge, and has grown to about 500 articles in the encyclopedia.

The goals of the WikiProject are:


 * 1) Increase awareness of readers of the existence of the outlines on Wikipedia
 * 2) Complete the existing outlines
 * 3) Create an outline for every subject that is exensive enough to benefit from having an outline (core subjects and major or extensive fields).  There are thousands of these.
 * 4) Recruit as many editors to work on these as possible (we need thousands of editors working on these)
 * 5) Surpass portals in number by the end of the summer, and leave them in the dust by the end of the year
 * 6) Get the major outline subject areas displayed on the Main Page (in place of or in addition to the portal links at the top of the page)
 * 7) Increase the OOK to higher quality than Britannica's Outline of Knowledge (published in its Propaedia volume).

I was hoping you could comment on how to achieve the goals above.

Also I'm interested in every possible way of reaching readers and editors of Wikipedia. How can I get the most eyes and typing fingers on Wikipedia's outlines? Contacting editors directly without a reason relevant to them is spam, which I'd like to avoid. There are 75,000 regular editors on Wikipedia, and I want to contact all of them. So how do I do it? Directly or indirectly, I don't care which, piecemeal or all-at-once, all methods are fine with me. But I've got to find ways. I need your help.

I would also like to know how to find or attract editors to create new outlines. And I need advice on finding editors to help write the new outline article mentioned above (it needs to be fleshed out, completely referenced, and brought to featured article status).

Can you recommend anyone in particular who might be interested in sinking their teeth into a project like this? Or ways to reach groups of editors? Or ways to reach all editors? I welcome any and all advice you might have.

I look forward to your reply on my talk page.

The Transhumanist 03:23, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

WikiProject Eurovision Newsletter - May 2009
Note: the Newsletter is "collapsed" for convenience. To see the full letter, click on the "show" button at the right end of the gray bar. If you are no longer interested in WikiProject Eurovision then please remove your name from this list. This Newsletter was delivered by Grk1011/Stephen (talk) 02:46, 1 June 2009 (UTC) == Wikipedia Signpost : 1 June 2009 ==


 * From the editor: Browsing the archives
 * Book review: Review of The Future of the Internet
 * Scientology: End of Scientology arbitration brings blocks, media coverage
 * News and notes: Picture of the Year, Wikipedia's first logo, Board elections, and more
 * Wikipedia in the news: Tamil Wikipedia, Internet Watch Foundation, and more
 * Features and admins: Approved this week
 * Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News
 * Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Read this Signpost in full &middot; Single-page &middot; Unsubscribe

Delivered by SoxBot (talk) at 22:24, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

?
What does "tl;dr" mean?

The Transhumanist 02:32, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for the excellent ideas
A couple guys on our team participate in Wikicup, so I've asked them how we should go about implementing your suggestion.

And WikiProject Military history/Awards is an awesome awards page, and provides a great model for showcasing winners.

Thank you.

If you come up with any more ideas, please fire away. Any time.

The Transhumanist 03:29, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

FYI
I have no idea what/why you guys are going on about, and don't have time to investigate, but I dropped a note here to draw eyes. Please put down the tools for now, and discuss it there. rootology /equality 12:52, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Stop...!
Please, go here, don't use tools on those pages again. rootology /equality 13:03, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Deletion review for User:Guido den Broeder/Visit
An editor has asked for a deletion review of User:Guido den Broeder/Visit. Because you closed the deletion discussion for this page, speedily deleted it, or otherwise were interested in the page, you might want to participate in the deletion review. — Aitias // discussion  15:16, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

File:Julian fractal.jpg
A lovely image! I hope you wouldn't mind that I put it on my user page. Thanks! --BorgQueen (talk) 18:54, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

WikiProject Alternative Music Newsletter for May 2009
SoxBot (talk) 10:53, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Page deletion
hey i think this is where i talk to you, you just deleted my page and you said something about noteability, is it noteable enough to have appeared on a radio station known as radio wey (heard not only accross the uk but accross the world) for over an hour? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hkazandjian (talk • contribs) 13:59, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

WP:GREECE
Hi! Lately, it is not the most active project in the world, but if I can provide any useful input to you, I am available!--Yannismarou (talk) 17:46, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Your sysop review
Archival time, maybe? Hope your exams went well. Regards, AGK 14:01, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Happy 's Day!
For a userbox you can add to your userbox page, see User:Rlevse/Today/Happy Me Day! and my own userpage for a sample of how to use it. — Rlevse • Talk  • 01:07, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Your awesome userpage!
Hi Garden-just wondering, for the rhs element of your userpage, which bit makes it go on the right & how would I make one that appears on the left? Cheers! Dotty•• |&#9742; 07:51, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Ping
IRC when you can. :) iMatthew : Chat  17:44, 11 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Ping. iMatthew :  Chat 17:19, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

I've gone "snow blind" and need your help
Hi Garden,

Thank you for your previous advice. Per your suggestion, I've started a discussion over at WikiCup concerning our possible inclusion next year.

I've got another problem perhaps you can help with. I've been immersed in this project for so long that I'm pretty sure I'm missing things that would be obvious to someone not closely connected with the project.

Like gaps in coverage.

Would you please take a look at the OOK and tell me what's sorely missing?

I'd appreciate it.

The Transhumanist 19:57, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

WikiCup Newsletter XIX and XX
Delivered by The  Helpful  Bot  at 21:56, 13 June 2009 (UTC) for the WikiCup. To report errors, please leave a message on the talk page.

The flag problem
What should we do about that flag situation? I'm leaning towards limiting it to Countries, States, Cities, Continents (the basics). You? – ( iMatthew  • talk ) at 21:12, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

WPOOK's advert banner is done!


Is it perfect? Can it be improved?

Penubag loves feedback. Please let him know if it can be further improved.

Thank you.

The Transhumanist 23:03, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

== Wikipedia Signpost : 15 June 2009 ==


 * Book review :Review of Cyberchiefs: Autonomy and Authority in Online Tribes
 * News and notes: License update, Google Translate, GLAM conference, Paid editing
 * Wikipedia in the news: In the Google News, London Review of Books, and more
 * WikiProject report: WikiProject Chemistry
 * Discussion report: Discussion Reports And Miscellaneous Articulations
 * Features and admins: Approved this week
 * Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News
 * Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

Read this Signpost in full &middot; Single-page &middot; Unsubscribe

Delivered by SoxBot (talk) at 11:28, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

Amazing Race Wikipedia
Hello, Garden. Welcome to the Amazing Race Wikipedia. In your travels, you will encounter two types of tasks. In a Detour, you have a choice between two tasks. Both of you must work together on this. In a Roadblock, one team member must work on a task alone. Your Amazing Race Wikipedia submissions page is located here. Enjoy the competition! Best, and. 19:54, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

Outline update - Full Steam Ahead! - 06/18/2009
Several members of the WikiProject have been hard at work.

Buaidh has been building and refining the outlines on the U.S. States, the states' historical outlines, and the Historical outline of the United States. Lately, his edits have dominated the project's watchlist readout. (I think he's overdue for a barnstar or two. hint hint)

Penubag has been working on medals for all the main branches of the OOK, and has completed the OOK WikiProject's animated advert banner (see below).

Highfields has been filling in the currencies for each country on their respective outlines.

NuclearWarfare and Thehelpfulone have been busy with WP:AWB, posting banners and notices, and helping our sister project, the Index WikiProject, get established. Indexes work hand-in-hand with the outlines and are prominently linked to from the top of most of them. And the outlines, which serve as tables of contents, are only as good as the pages they link to.

Since we started integrating (linking) the OOK and its support pages into the encyclopedia and into the Wikipedia community, activity on outlines has been increasing. Though there's still much left to do.

But I digress. There are a couple more...

Welcome our new members! Stefan and MacMed
Stefan is building the Outline of sharks.

MacMed has joined our advanced wiki-tools team, and is currently adding links to outlines in the corresponding subject articles' see also sections.

Be sure to stop by their talk pages and say "hi".

WPOOK's advert banner has gone live!
Penubag has finished this WikiProject's animated advert banner, and it is now being displayed on the Wikipedia ads template which in turn is displayed on about 2000 user pages. Each time someone access one of those pages, there is a 1 in 184 chance of them viewing this:

If you'd like to display the banner on your userpage locked-on to the ad as above, use the following code:

 

(By the way, it's been awhile since we've barnstarred Penubag).

Watchers needed!
If you haven't already, please add the entire project's watchlist to your watchlist. Here's how:


 * From the edit window, copy and paste WikiProject Outline of knowledge/Watchlist into your raw watchlist.


 * Or go to WikiProject Outline of knowledge/Watchlist using Related changes and click on "Related changes" in the toolbox menu in Wikipedia's sidebar on the left hand side of the screen.

Check the watchlist every time you log on!
I forgot to mention this step above. :)

The OOK is in 5 other Wikipedias?
I can't make heads or tails of 'em, but these links were on Portal:Contents/Outline of knowledge:


 * ar:ويكيبيديا:مواضيع أساسية
 * fa:پورتال:فهرست موضوعات پایه
 * pl:Przegląd dziedzin wiedzy
 * pt:Portal:Conteúdo/Esboço do conhecimento
 * zh-yue:基礎課題表清單

Resurrected from the grave yard...
I discovered an AfD discussion on possibly the first article named "Outline of", which was called Outline of Islamic and Muslim related topics, and which was created 4 years ago. Of course they deleted it. But now it has many friends, and so it has risen from the dead. :)

See the DRV discussion at Deletion review/Log/2009 June 7.

A diamond buried in project space

 * When G716 found the page "Learn" tucked away as a subpage of the Probability WikiProject, he thought "This deserves to be in the article space", and moved it to the encyclopedia. See Outline of probability.

Recruiting
Recruiters needed. Drop me a note if you are interested.

Advice from the mentors

 * Astatine-210, Strdst grl, and Willscrlt - link to the outlines from the corresponding subject articles' see also sections - this is underway by MacMed (non-country outlines) and User talk:NuclearWarfare (counry outlines).
 * Astatine-210 - add a link to the outlines to the disambiguation pages of the corresponding subjects - good idea. Since "Outline" is just the type of page, not the subject, I think these might qualify for inclusion on disambiguation pages. We need someone to look into the relevant guidelines on this.
 * SimonTrew - provide a badge (userbox) for WPOOK members to add to their user pages - Penubag will have one for us soon.
 * Zachary crimsonwolf - create a card explaining outlines, and send it to everyone you know, and make it viral (by including a request for the recipients to send the card to everyone they know) - this task has been split in three:
 * Creation of a "thank you for your interest" card which introduces (explains) outlines, to send to queriers, new participants to discussions, those who seem to be confused about outlines, etc.
 * Creation of a thank you card / invitation to the WPOOK, to send to users we see working on outlines, including a request for them to invite others whom they think might be interested


 * weebiloobil - contact Wikignomes - OK...
 * 3. Creation of an invitation to Wikignomes, with a brief rundown on the types of tasks there are for them to do on the outlines. The invitation will include a request for them to invite anyone they think would enjoy working on outlines.


 * weebiloobil - add examples to Outlines - more examples will be added as suitable outlines are completed
 * weebiloobil - add a picture to Outlines (it doesn't have to be relevant), to provide atmosphere and to break it up visually and add a splash of color - will do, and we'll add a caption to make it relevant, with a link to the outline on that subject. Thank you for the idea.
 * Zachary crimsonwolf - ask Jimbo Wales to bestow the award(s) for the country outlines contest, once you get it going first - we'll give that a try
 * Zachary crimsonwolf - ask everyone in the project to inform their acquaintances around Wikipedia about the OOK - will do, as soon as the cards
 * UzEE - collaborate with all the WikiProjects you share scope with - we've placed a banner on their talk pages, and have placed task notices on some. We'll be posting more tasks, and plan to create a section on contents system development and maintenance for each WikiProject page itself.
 * SriMesh - if you can't get outlines added to next year's WikiCup, then create your own WikiCup-like contest - there's 6 months left to this year to address reservations and work out the details at WikiCup. In the meantime, there's the 200-WikiProject contest, which needs input.

More outline tasks

 * WikiProject Outline of knowledge/Drafts/Outline of chocolate draft - our current outline collaboration!
 * Outline of psychology - someone moved a big chunk of this article to the talk page, leaving a big gap in the outline. Editors are needed to add subheadings and links.
 * See also links - add (where "x" is the subject) to the see also section of the corresponding subject article of each outline

New outlines in article space

 * Outline of sharks - under construction in article space
 * Outline of Hinduism (converted from "List of Hinduism-related topics")

New outline drafts

 * Outline of chocolate
 * Outline of Christianity

Main discussion pages

 * Wikipedia talk:Outlines
 * Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Outline of knowledge
 * Portal talk:Contents/Outline of knowledge

Keep up the great work
I'm impressed with the level of enthusiasm and work going into the outlines. I'm proud to be working with each of you.

The Transhumanist 21:59, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Mr. Shape shifting
I was wondering to ask you: Could you please (if it´s not a big bothering) give me some quick lessons or teach me in this shape shifting formatting you have? I would like to use it in some other things. - <font color="#FFDB58" size="3" face="Matura MT Script Capitals">Damërung <font color="#FF2400">...ÏìíÏ...<font color="#A7FC00">_ Ξ_       .  --  06:18, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

WikiCup Newsletter XXI
Delivered by The  Helpful  Bot  at 22:28, 22 June 2009 (UTC) for the WikiCup. To report errors, please leave a message on the talk page.

Outline collaboration #2: Outline of Gibraltar
This outline is approaching completion.

I added a bunch more links, finding them with the following Google site-specific searches of Wikipedia:
 * "of" and "Gibraltar"


 * "in" and "Gibraltar"


 * "for" and "Gibraltar"


 * with "Gibraltar" not at the end

(You can use the wikicode for the links above as the basis for new searches - just replace "Gibraltar" with any other country or region name).

Request: please redirect the redlinks! (bluelinking...)
The redlinks need to be bluelinked where possible. The most useful way is to create redirects leading to the material (which is usually included in a section of an article - see Redirect. That way, when the redirect pages are replaced by the actual articles, the links will already point to the right places.

Please take a crack at it, and bluelink a few.

Thank you.

Good luck.

Have fun.

The Transhumanist 01:02, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

P.S.: on an unrelated matter, where should the Outline of chocolate be placed on the OOK? -TT

== Wikipedia Signpost <span style="color:#666; font-variant: small-caps; font-size:80%; font-family:Georgia, Palatino, Palatino Linotype, Times, Times New Roman, serif;">: 22 June 2009 ==


 * Special report:Study of vandalism survival times
 * News and notes: Wikizine, video editing, milestones
 * Wikipedia in the news: Wikipedia impacts town's reputation, assorted blogging
 * Discussion report: Discussion Reports And Miscellaneous Articulations
 * Features and admins: Approved this week
 * Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News
 * Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

<div style="margin-top:10px; font-size:90%; padding-left:5px; font-family:Georgia, Palatino, Palatino Linotype, Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe

Delivered by SoxBot (talk) at 02:45, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks
For the barnstar and the praise. Ego's inflating nicely.

I'm working through Silent Alarm at the minute. Do you fancy finishing off Intimacy whilst I do that so we can send them both to GA and FA at the same time? Rafablu88 (talk) 20:52, 21 June 2009 (UTC)


 * That's great. I don't think I'm gonna follow the FBC template point-by-point by it does give nice markers. I reckon it should be FAC ready a week from now at the latest. I don't mind if you want to edit it at any point. I'll have a look at Intimacy while you finish it off as well. Follow AWITC more on that. Rafablu88 (talk) 20:59, 21 June 2009 (UTC)


 * It's done. :D Pop in at your convenience on the FAC page to add any welcoming comments. Hopefully it'll be a straighforward process. Rafablu88  21:42, 23 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Cheers. I'm adding a massive star on your page when all's done and dusted. ;) Rafablu88  21:46, 23 June 2009 (UTC)


 * No probs. I've got a week or so totally off before I get into summer mode and also start a job soon. That's why I worked flat out to get it to FAC. Rafablu88  21:48, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

I finally got to whack somebody with a trout!
That was fun. :)

The Transhumanist 23:51, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

RfC on reliable sources for Eurovision articles
A second RfC has been started on sourcing for Eurovision articles, you can view it at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Eurovision. This RfC is critical as it will help determine how current and future Eurovision articles are sourced, and as much participation as possible is needed for a consensus to develop. You are being notified as you are listed as an active user of WikiProject Eurovision, and hence the results of this RfC could have a large impact on the articles you edit. Camaron · Christopher · talk 09:15, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Outline update - Push push push - 06/25/2009
Work is proceeding apace...


 * Julian is working on getting a bot account (and he delivered this update as his trial run).
 * Penubag is working on the Project page and upcoming contest.
 * Buaidh is developing all of the U.S. state historical outlines.
 * Tarheel95 is writing a proposal to add a link to the Main Page leading to the the OOK.
 * Highfields is integrating the OOK into the encyclopedia by deorphanizing outlines by placing a main link in the see also section of the subject articles that have a corresponding outline.
 * I've been trying to keep up with them. :)


 * New members


 * Minnecologies - developing Outline of forestry and is watching the big picture.
 * Mnation2 - improving Outline of Lebanon


 * Hatnotes

The current consensus is that we can't place a hatnote leading to an outline at the top of a subject articles unless the outline being presented is of at least the same quality-level as the article.


 * What's next...

Improve outline quality by completing them.

Place hatnotes for the outlines of high enough quality.

Guidelines pertaining to outlines need to be updated. Outlines emerged as a class of pages only a few months ago, and most of the relevant guidelines don't cover them specifically. For example, Stand-alone lists is incredibly out of date.

Invite wikignomes, wikielves, and wikifairies (all 2500+ of them) to help on the outlines.

Identify 600 more subjects with coverage extensive enough to justify outlines, create rudimentary drafts for them, and post notices to the corresponding WikiProjects and subject talk pages to help build them.

Convert outlines titled "List of" to outline articles, and add them to the OOK. There are a few hundred of these. Conversion instructions are needed.

Add a description of outlines to About Wikipedia and Basic navigation, and add tips about outlines to the WP:TOTD and Tips library.


 * Keep up the great work!

The Transhumanist 20:27, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Signature coding
Did you write iMatthew's amazing colour changing script? If so, could you tell me what's wrong with this one:

<span style="font-family:helvetica;color:##default=6E7B8B">Aditya  <font color="#000033">α <font color="#292421">ß

I tried to fix it, but I can't. It doesn't seem to randomly create the colours, as it's supposed to. Thanks in advance. <font color="#000033">Aditya  <font color="#000033">α <font color="#000033">ß 17:47, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

BOO! (and a favour)
You need to start using MSN or something.

Also could you briefly unprot this? I want to make a quick change. Ta! // roux <span style="border:1px solid #36454F;-moz-border-radius-topright:10px;-moz-border-radius-bottomleft:10px;padding:0px 7px;font-size:30%;">  21:51, 27 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Ta! How have you been? Enjoying your summer? It's beastly hot here. → ROUX   ₪  22:05, 27 June 2009 (UTC)
 * You have exams in August? Or you get results in August? 29 is the upper limit of what I can survive. 20-23 with a light breeze is perfect. Which of course explains why I moved back to humid Toronto instead of staying in paradise. Blergh. → ROUX   ₪  22:12, 27 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Denmark? Very cool. I'd love to go there. An ex and I had a similar experience when we visited North Carolina. Air conditioned plane, air conditioned airport.. walk out into 40+ weather. We nearly turned around and flew back home. → ROUX   ₪  22:18, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Who wants to write a Newsletter!?
Anyone? .... Anyone!? :) – ( iMatthew  • talk ) at 22:08, 27 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Aha, spotted indeed! No problem, thanks for volunteering out of the blue! :P – ( iMatthew  • talk ) at 22:11, 27 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Reminder. :) – ( iMatthew  • talk ) at 17:34, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

WikiCup Newsletter XXII
Delivered for the WikiCup by <font style="color:#006600;"> ROBOTIC GARDEN  at 21:46, 28 June 2009 (UTC). To report errors see the talk page.

Request for feedback
Minnecologies has done an incredible amount of work on Outline of forestry and posted a note to me on my talk page requesting feedback.

I've posted my observations at Talk:Outline of forestry.

Please take a look at the outline and let Minnecologies know what you think of it on the outline's talk page.

Thank you.

The Transhumanist 19:37, 29 June 2009 (UTC) Delivered by JCbot (talk) at 20:15, 29 June 2009 (UTC).

== Wikipedia Signpost <span style="color:#666; font-variant: small-caps; font-size:80%; font-family:Georgia, Palatino, Palatino Linotype, Times, Times New Roman, serif;">: 29 June 2009 ==


 * News and notes: Jackson's death, new data center, more
 * Wikipedia in the news: Google News Support, Wired editor plagiarizes Wikipedia, Rohde's kidnapping, Michael Jackson
 * Discussion report: Discussion Reports And Miscellaneous Articulations
 * Features and admins: Approved this week
 * Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News
 * Arbitration report: The Report on Lengthy Litigation

<div style="margin-top:10px; font-size:90%; padding-left:5px; font-family:Georgia, Palatino, Palatino Linotype, Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe

Delivered by SoxBot (talk) at 01:51, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Amazing Race Wikipedia Starts!
Hello, Shappy. This is a reminder that Amazing Race Wikipedia will start very soon. At 00.00 (or whereabouts), our host Firestorm will place the first Detour on your submissions page. Again, the Detour is a choice between two tasks; both members of the team choose one task and work together to complete it. A Roadblock is a task only one team member must perform; he/she may not have any help from the other team member. Good luck and enjoy the Race! :-)  and  --EdwardsBot (talk) 13:33, 30 June 2009 (UTC)