Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2012-11-26/WikiProject report

This week, we uncovered WikiProject Deletion Sorting, Wikipedia's most active project by number of edits to all the project's pages. This special project seeks to increase participation in Articles for Deletion nominations by categorizing the AfD discussions by various topic areas that may draw the attention of editors. The project was started in August 2005 with manual processes that are continued today by a bevy of bots, categories, and transclusions. The project took inspiration from WikiProject Stub Sorting and some historical discussions on deletion reform. As the sheer number of AfDs continues to grow, the project is seeking better tools to manage the deletion sorting process and attract editors to comment on these deletion discussions. We interviewed Frankie.

'''What motivated you to join WikiProject Deletion Sorting? Why do AfD discussions need sorting?'''
 * For the first question, I started sorting debates because it is a way to assist the deletion process that I can easily fit into my everyday schedule, which tends to be a bit erratic. For participating in a discussion I need to set apart a minimum amount of time to research the subject, whereas for sorting I can make bursts of small, quick edits, and if for some reason I need to go do something else I'm not leaving anything half-way done. On the second question, sorting AfDs is helpful to the deletion process because it increases awareness over one crucial point of an article's lifecycle, as deletion marks a point where the content becomes unavailable, and thus no longer workable. I think AfD regulars may find the daily logs sufficient, but there are many editors that do not review AfD regularly that would be interested in being aware if an article within certain subject areas is nominated, or that would prefer not to have to review the whole daily logs just to find those discussions that they want to take part of.

'''WikiProject Deletion Sorting is Wikipedia's most active WikiProject when ranked by changes made to articles (second when bots are excluded). Where do these edits come from? How does the project coordinate such enormous activity?'''
 * The amount of work required to keep all discussions sorted is by no means trivial, but I think those numbers might a bit misleading. Note that there will be two corresponding edits under the WikiProject space for each AfD for each list it's included in : one to sort the nomination, and one for the bot to remove it after closure. Given that most nominations are sorted in more than one list, that's 4 or 6 edits per nomination, and there are around 40-50 fresh nominations every day.

'''How is deletion sorting actually conducted? What templates, scripts, lists, and other tools are available to help sort AfD discussions?'''
 * The sorting lists can be found at WP:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Flat or WP:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Compact (they're the same list, only the presentation varies). The process consists in transcluding the nomination in the appropriate list(s), and then including a notice on the nomination using the template . In addition to letting involved editors know that the debate has been sorted, this notice helps the closing administrator by telling them how long has the debate been advertised, which may take part in deciding whether to relist.

'''What kinds of editors tend to use the project's resources? Can new Wikipedians take part or is deletion sorting more appropriate for experienced users?'''
 * New Wikipedians can simply take part on the process. Unlike mainspace categorization, which has a number of considerations and caveats when it comes to how to categorize an article, deletion sorting is a meta-process that simply aims to increase awareness, and it has minimal pitfalls. Sorting a discussion in a list that is completely off from the article's subject wouldn't be optimal, but all it would mean is that one just let people know about a discussion that they might not care about.

Anything else you'd like to add?


 * If anything, just to reiterate that editors should feel free to jump in, and to post any doubts at WT:WikiProject Deletion sorting.

Next week, we'll take a stroll down the vast, unspoiled Yorkshire countryside. Until then, you can locate our previous reports in the archive.