Wikipedia talk:Merchandise giveaways/Archive 1

Errors
When I did a test run, it put Jalexander as the nominator instead of Sven Manguard. The editnotice mentions that there is a nominator field, but I don't see it. This might be the cause of this error. Sadly, I'm not template savvy enough to know.  S ven M anguard  Wha?  03:07, 26 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I've changed how it's being done in the prefil so that it is no longer using a normal 'template' and the nominator field is visible with a pre-filled four tilde. That should fix the issue, it appears it was doing some weird caching before (it was working for some but not all which was very weird). Jalexander--WMF 02:05, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

Can I nominate more than one editor?
Methinks it would be a good question for the FAQ. --Philosopher Let us reason together. 03:31, 15 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Very true, I'll add it (The answer is yes by the way). Jalexander--WMF 19:13, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

Clever t-shirts
I dunno, I like the blue one...but they're all a bit vanilla... you coulda done something really clever. I love the xkcd cartoon on "water in popular culture" which I can't find anywhere...or some clever...webshot of volunteer article page or something. Or a plain t-shirt with the four tildes. Let onlookers figure that one out....Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:26, 16 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Thumbs up for the tildes. PS: Maybe you meant wood? benzband  ( talk ) 16:06, 16 November 2012 (UTC)
 * We're definitely looking into other shirts, especially for this if it takes off but for the shop as well. The easy test was obviously just to use what we were already selling but if it does well a special edition shirt would be very nice :). Anyone who went to Wikimania got to see some prototype designs our main shirt designer made. One of them was a nice shirt with WP:HOLIC (and another was WP:DISCUSS ) I could see something like that too ;) Jalexander--WMF 19:19, 16 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes! That's it! It's wood in popular culture. Maybe you guys could cut some deal with kxcd or something. that one would make a rather cool t-shirt....Casliber (talk · contribs) 04:45, 17 November 2012 (UTC)


 * PS: There might be some inspiration in here somewhere.....Casliber (talk · contribs) 04:47, 17 November 2012 (UTC)

I'd buy a T-shirt that read " * Support ~ " in the front with the globe in the back. :-) &mdash; Coren (talk) 23:42, 21 December 2012 (UTC)
 * I like the idea of a shirt with [Citationneeded] on the front, as it's a common joke (there's a cartoon out there somewhere that does this) and would be something that would appeal to people who aren't necessarily hard-core Wikipedia editors. It could also be interesting to offer a t-shirt with the various barnstars or at least one or two specific barnstars. I'd like the idea of creating a t-shirt with a barnstar where the Wikipedia logo is in the center. You can see some variations of this with the Admin barnstars, but without the mop. As far as general merch goes, it might be cute to offer t-shirts that show some of the more humorous service awards.Tokyogirl79 (｡◕‿◕｡)   16:17, 23 December 2012 (UTC)

As an update on this request, I'd like to announce that we are making all standard t-shirts currently available on the shop eligible as shirts for the Giveaways. Our designs are admittedly still "vanilla" (and we're in the process of creating new ones), but nominated users will have more than twice the number of choices than they had before. Please also include any new merch suggestions on the main talk page or at the Design Ideas page.--CCogdill (WMF) (talk) 01:17, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

How do you decide?
How do you determine if a nominated candidate will or will not receive a t-shirt and what time span is in place? Automatic Strikeout  18:52, 16 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Short answer is that essentially all of them will right now as long as there is a reasonable explanation of why and they want to accept. I'll be reaching out to nominated users at least every couple days and when they are set will update the nomination to say that we're sending a shirt out and put the user on a page for those who've received merch (a 'hall of fame' ? not sure what to call that yet). I'll be reaching out to the first round very soon :) Jalexander--WMF 19:15, 16 November 2012 (UTC)

Cool project
If the Wikimedia store were coordinated with this to send gifts and there were a comparable interface to post notices when that was done then I think I would be interested in purchasing gifts through the store and enjoy posting notices on people's pages. Also, I have stated it elsewhere, but I like the idea of paper gifts like postcards, posters, and cards which are easy to mail and transport and teach something about Wikipedia.  Blue Rasberry   (talk)   21:46, 16 November 2012 (UTC)

Oppose voting?
Per this and this, I am raising the question of whether or not there should be any oppose !votes. I can understand why it might not be a good idea, but I'd like to see it discussed. Automatic Strikeout  04:01, 17 November 2012 (UTC)
 * As reluctant as I am to support this idea, it will become necessary at some point in time. As this becomes more well known, more nominations for users will pour in. Hey, a lot of people want a free t-shirt. I think that at this stage it would be better to suggest that we plan out a minimum qualification of some sort. I think that it would be reasonable to suggest that nominated users have one or more of the following criteria: (This is what people are getting nominated for right now, but it'd be good to have a list for people to look at.)
 * User has made an overwhelmingly positive contribution to a WikiProject or topic. (This would enable users with fewer edits that focus on one specific topic to be noticed. The user could do less than 500 edits, but if those edits were overwhelmingly positive then it'd count.)
 * User has over X amount of positive edits and has been editing for X years. (This would be good for those users that have made what would probably be seen as "minor" edits and have been around for a long while doing stuff like grammar checking and stuff.)
 * User has helped bring one or more articles to ______ status. (This would potentially fall under the first one, but it'd be less multiple edits to a general topic and more concerning specific edits to one article, as there are also people who specifically want to edit one and only one article. I figure it'd probably start at B class or GA class maybe?)
 * User has made multiple positive contributions to discussions for deletions, disputes, or intervention. (Pretty much a maintenance and goodwill nom for those who specifically go into those areas and play intermediary or work to help provide a voice of reason to what can sometimes become a volatile situation.)
 * User has created or rescued multiple articles that utilize reliable sources to show notability. (Even if they're just stubs, this in itself is quite a feat. Sourcing and creating/rescuing articles might not be particularly hard, but it can get monotonous and a bit grinding after a while.)
 * These are just a few suggestions, but I think that if we were to put these in as suggestions or a general guideline it would probably hold off the need to have oppose votes for a little while. There would be the option for exception nominations for someone who did something that fell outside the general guidelines but was still overwhelmingly positive, though. But if we have someone nominate a user that obviously didn't fall within the general criteria (User X with 20 general edits that while helpful, aren't overwhelmingly amazing) we would have a nice way of turning them away.Tokyogirl79 (｡◕‿◕｡)   16:10, 23 December 2012 (UTC)
 * For the time being, we don't want to encourage opposition voting. We want this program to be a positive outlet for users to recognize each other for the work they do, not a forum to qualify and contest the merits of any one nominee. You make a good point that as this program becomes more well known and utilized, we may want to reconsider this, but for now we want users to feel empowered by a nomination, even if their stats aren't as impressive as others'. I will curate all nominations before we notify the user, so we will evaluate certain cases in which we feel a user is ineligible (in the event of a history of abusive behavior, for instance), but we expect to exercise this power rarely if ever. If we ever deem a user ineligible, we will note as much on their nomination when we archive it.
 * I appreciate your point and am glad to have these criteria here in case we need to return to this discussion once the program gains traction.--CCogdill (WMF) (talk) 01:23, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

Page text: respecting intrinsic motivation
I love this idea of giving out merch as a bonus, a gift, but I think it needs to be presented in a way that honors the primary motivations of editors. No one toils on Wikipedia for a t-shirt, but thousands do it because they enjoy contributing and sharing in collaboration with their peers. I've been doing a lot of reading about 'badges', rewards, and other motivation elements in online communities. Steven and Maryana did great specific research into the real motivations of active Wikipedians: Autonomy, core mission, topical interest, audience, perfectionism, challenge, self-expression, responsibility, addiction, and recognition. In promoting merch we should remember that these are the reasons people edit and that a bonus t-shirt is just a symbol for editors being driven by them.

As such, I have a slight criticism with the current text of the page, in the way that it introduces merch as something more for editors than barnstars:
 * "Many editors have long toiled, independently and without much recognition other then occasional WikiLove or Barnstars. While a note from another community member can still be the best reward you can get, they deserve more - something physical that not only rewards them for the spectacular work they put in to the projects but allows them to show off their love of the projects to those around them."

This seems like the wrong wording. It basically says, Barnstars are nice but you deserve... more. And that 'more' is... a t-shirt. To me this trivializes respect from ones' peers, one of the greatest rewards you can get on Wikipedia and subordinates it to a shirt with a logo on it. The reading I've done on rewards and motivation suggests that with any form of extrinisic motivation it's very important to continue to honor the intrinsic motivations of editors. I think we can suggest that merch is a 'special gift', a sweet little bonus, but not as something 'more', as if people weren't really rewarded until they had a physical token for their work. So in keeping up this generally AWESOME initiative, I'd just suggest a tweak to that part of the wording. Cheers!Ocaasit &#124; c 21:47, 18 November 2012 (UTC)


 * +1 - I took a pass at tweaking that paragraph. James, feel free to revert if you disagree! Siko (talk) 08:04, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

Project/Initiative tagline/motto suggestion!
I have a suggestion for tagline/motto of this initiative: oremus pro invicem, very popular phrase, it means let's pray for each other. See second last phrase here. --Tito Dutta (talk) 11:13, 20 November 2012 (UTC)
 * The only problem with that is that some might see it as not being all inclusive since it's a phrase that is mostly associated with Roman Catholics. Given the wide variety of users that are nominated and edit here on Wikipedia, that just wouldn't accurately depict all users and some might not necessarily like that the phrase utilizes the term "pray". Tokyogirl79 (｡◕‿◕｡)   16:31, 23 December 2012 (UTC)

The nominations page
...has made me very happy. -— Isarra ༆ 01:34, 22 November 2012 (UTC)
 * :) Me too! Jalexander--WMF 02:13, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

Recommendations
I'm not sure whether or not to put this on this page or on the main page for nominations, so I'm putting it on both. (Although a more definite location for questions would definitely be a good idea.) My suggestion is that along with the current forms of nomination, we have something that allows for users to reference the nominee's past edits and history. We'd use something along the lines of the below format: (maybe use a different form?)



This would give each incoming use an easy way to pull up the user's editing history, which will be invaluable when it comes to someone that a user might not know that well or at all. I think that would help increase participation when it comes to voicing support because it'd be that much easier to research them. I know that I've wanted to research and show more support for other users, but it takes a longer time to search their editing history because I have to go through a few screens to do so rather than having it accessible through one click.Tokyogirl79 (｡◕‿◕｡)   04:40, 30 December 2012 (UTC)

Banned users
I think the spirit of this project is wonderful, and I thank James for his work on it, so I feel badly to bring this up, but someone has to say it. I can see at least two permanently banned users who have been nominated for T-shirts. I also recognize that some editors have argued that being banned shouldn't disqualify someone, because they still contributed good things prior to the ban. But I don't buy that argument. I'm in no position to claim to speak for the consensus of the community, but is there not a real risk that having WMF reward users who are banned from the project might be contrary to community consensus? --Tryptofish (talk) 18:28, 31 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Hmm... I have to say that it might be a good idea to say that while previously banned users can be nominated, currently banned users should be ineligible for a shirt. They might have made good contributions in the past, but usually banned users are banned for a reason. If they're permanently banned, then getting a t-shirt really would be a moot point. I mean seriously, it's just rubbing salt into the wounds: "hey, you're not unbanned, but here's a t-shirt from that site you can't edit anymore".Tokyogirl79 (｡◕‿◕｡)   18:36, 31 December 2012 (UTC)
 * In this case, these are permanent bans, so they are currently in effect. I agree with you about rubbing salt. --Tryptofish (talk) 18:48, 31 December 2012 (UTC)


 * Someone has also posted about a user currently up for a nod that was banned a week or two later for being a sockpuppet of a user that has done some pretty non-good will type things like vandalizing pages, making death threats, and overall harassment of other users. I've stated on the user's entry that if nobody objects, I'll remove it in a few days because of that reason. (Long-term abuse/Wagner) The user in question is User:EM64T. It might have been their attempt at a fresh start, but given that they've done such things under other accounts, I think that offering them a t-shirt is a little premature. If they want to prove him or herself, then that's fine. I just don't think we should be throwing t-shirts at them until they've done more to prove themself.Tokyogirl79 (｡◕‿◕｡)   09:57, 14 January 2013 (UTC)
 * I just received an email about these shirts and I am very pleased. I have been banned for a month (up soon) from the Men's Rights Movement, not very repentant.  But the tee-shirt thing was well underway by then and I am looking forward to looking good in my "I Edit Wikioedia" garb.  Life is good.  Einar aka 199.229.237.237 (talk) 00:02, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Wikimedia
If this is a Wikimedia initiative, should'nt be announced in others WM Projects? I've seen nothing in es:, i.e. Thanks. --Ganímedes (talk) 13:40, 9 December 2013 (UTC)


 * We've noted this on our FAQ on the main Giveaways page; the Giveaways program is still in its pilot stage, as is the Shop in many ways. Once it becomes more institutionalized, we hope to expand the program to Wiki projects in all languages. In the meantime, users on all Wikis are eligible to nominate or be nominated!--CCogdill (WMF) (talk) 01:32, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

2014 Program Update
As of yesterday, 1/27/2014, we have begun contacting nominees to release the next round of Giveaways. We are going to release them in small groups of only 3-5 until we can ensure the process is efficient and accurate. We'll be selecting nominees in chronological order from the date of their nomination. Please note we will begin with nominations on [|Archive 3] as some of these were archived without having received their Giveaway. Thank you all for your patience during this transition period for the shop. We are so thrilled to have the program underway once more. --CCogdill (WMF) (talk) 01:44, 29 January 2014 (UTC)