Wikipedia:Portal peer review/Textile Arts/archive1

Portal:Textile Arts
A well-designed but neglected portal that's been around for a year. Hadn't been updated in a while so I've taken a stab at it. The textile arts project is returning from near-extinction so the first priority here is to provide a venue to highlight member contributions, second priority lure in new participants. Also wondering what it would take to raise this portal to featured level. Feedback and suggestions would be welcome! Durova Charge! 04:34, 22 January 2008 (UTC) That should hopefully help to get you started on some really good ways to improve this portal. Cirt (talk) 23:32, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Comments
 * 1) In general, it would make it easier as far as reducing need for work on updating in the future, if you utilized the Random portal component tool. Portal:Sustainable development (Featured Portal) is a good example of this.  Cirt (talk) 23:32, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
 * 2) The introduction could be expanded a tad, I'd use only one image at a time in the upper right corner of the intro, the Featured Portal Portal:Iceland is a good example of this. Cirt (talk) 23:32, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
 * 3) Could add a Featured content section, the Featured Portal Portal:North West England is a good example of this. Cirt (talk) 23:32, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
 * 4) The "Did you know" section could be standardized (as mentioned above, so could lots of sections) and a good model to go with for that is the Featured Portal Portal:New South Wales - which has sets of three hooks per subpage, with a free-use image used for every set. Cirt (talk) 23:32, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
 * 5) Associated Wikimedia should have its own subpage instead of using that template, and the links actually specialized to existing content on other projects - see Featured Portal, Portal:Religion, for a good example. Cirt (talk) 23:32, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Review by Seaserpent85


 * As this is quite a "young" portal, a convenient way to introduce readers to the subject is by including randomised content. If you're not familiar with this, visit Portal:Iceland as an example, see how the selected content changes each time you visit. If you want a hand with setting this up, then just let me know on my talk page and I'd be happy to help.


 * The introduction section should include a link to the main subject at hand. Most portals bolden the first use of the subject and then provide a "Read more..." link at the end of the introduction.


 * Whilst not necessarily a requisite for portals, images look better without the thumnail square around them. Instead use a caption (which pops up when you hover over the image), which provides the reader with the same information and makes your portal look a lot sleeker! The selected picture also needs to include credit to the photographer - something simple like at Portal:Tennis is fine.


 * As you are actively seeking new participants, why not highlight the to-do and WikiProjects sections with some suitable images. At present the two sections are lost amongst the rest of the portal. See Portal:Amusement parks for some ideas of icons which draw readers to different sections.


 * Obviously expansion is the next step forward for the portal, if you're aiming for featured status then the "magical number" for each section seems to be at least 10 - ie. 10 selected articles, 10 selected pictures etc. This ties in with the need for randomised content which can then be added to as and when desired.

Those are the main points I can think of for the moment, the main thing is really just to get expanding and increase readability. Let me know if you're unsure of anything or if you need any help with the portal. Many thanks, Sea serpent 85 23:44, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much for the feedback. One of the challenges here is how underdeveloped the project is: cochineal is the only featured textile arts article.  We have one GA in history of silk and a GAC in Palestinian costumes.  I'm hoping to raise Navajo rug to GAC soon.  Half of the top-importance articles are stub-class or start-class.  How do you select content for presentation when the pickings are rather slim?  The one area where we're well stocked is DYK (see this list).  I'll roll up my sleeves and work on some other suggestions.  Lots of ideas here.  Cheers!  Durova Charge! 00:05, 23 January 2008 (UTC)
 * There's no set rule that says selected content has to be featured, or even good - if an article is readable and you think it would interest potential participants then I would say add it. You may well find, as I have, that include a B-class article as a selected article actually encourages others to bring it up to GA status. I look forward to seeing how the portal progresses! Sea serpent 85 00:19, 23 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Personally, I wouldn't go less than "B" class in the selected content of a portal. You run the risk of using content from articles that are unsourced, or worse yet, WP:OR.  Cirt (talk) 04:53, 23 January 2008 (UTC)