Wikipedia talk:The Great Britain and Ireland Destubathon

Wikipedia talk:The Great Britain/Ireland Destubathon/Archive 1

What is a destubathon?
I am searching for the meaning of the word destubathon. Does anybody have an idea?--Sae1962 (talk) 06:22, 21 October 2016 (UTC)
 * It's a neologism coined here to describe a contest to upgrade stub-level articles to start or better quality.--Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 15:53, 15 December 2016 (UTC)

Ireland
I know the Ireland - Northern Ireland and Ireland - UK sovereignty issue is a contentious issue for some. The contest in no way implies Ireland and Northern Ireland is one entity or that Ireland is somehow part of the UK. It is included and organised this way for convenience, and to bring about the same benefits to Ireland as the UK. There's a lot of townlands in Ireland which need expanding or merging etc, it will really benefit from this. As long as we're clear on that..♦ Encyclopædius  15:34, 2 February 2020 (UTC)


 * could I ask why it's not the United Kingdom and Ireland? (Or United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland?)

Great Britain doesn't include Northern Ireland, which is why I think it's confusing. Best Wishes,  Lee Vilenski (talk • contribs) 20:01, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

Does "Great" Britain sound too ostentatious? I prefer it! :-) ♦ Encyclopædius  12:16, 4 February 2020 (UTC)

Would British Isles be clearer and more politically correct? Derek Andrews (talk) 00:07, 16 February 2020 (UTC)
 * I agree that it should be British Isles as that is a geographical term rather than a political one.  The C of E  God Save the Queen!  ( talk ) 09:13, 16 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Ireland isn't British though...♦ Encyclopædius  13:30, 16 February 2020 (UTC)
 * No, but British Isles is the geographical term that encompasses all islands of Great Britain and Ireland plus the Channel Islands.  The C of E God Save the Queen!  ( talk ) 22:06, 16 February 2020 (UTC)

Experiences from veteran destubbers
It may be helpful to have a few paragraphs from those who know the ropes- so we can maximise our zapping. I had a quick glance at a couple of counties I have worked on in the past, and have a few naive questions.


 * What do you do if the 4000 char article has stub tags on Article page but is rated as Start or C on the Talk page.
 * What do you do if the 4000 char article has stub tags on Article page is obviously Start or C and is perfectly referenced. Is there any way to determine when the stub tags were placed?
 * What do we do with defunct district councils?
 * What do we do for Cliffe and Cliffe Woods Parish Council, where there are already adequate articles on the two constituent villages Cliffe-at-Hoo8K (B) and Cliffe Woods 13K (B)

I am sure that others will have questions to add. I am sure that there are a few anecdotes wizzened destubbers are itching to share. --ClemRutter (talk) 18:51, 2 February 2020 (UTC)

Anything over 1.5 kb prose is not a stub. In cases of clear start-B class rated or templated as stubs they're not stubs. But if those entries are poorly sourced and you largely rewrite fully source and condense it, removing unverifiable claims so it is sound, those articles are very welcome. If defunct district councils can be destubbed do so. Every county on the list is current I believe.♦ Encyclopædius  10:16, 3 February 2020 (UTC)
 * I mostly work on biographies, but my destubbing strategies are pretty simple and easy to translate to other subjects.
 * There are enough obvious, extreme stubs to improve that I don't usually worry about borderline cases, unless I know I have something substantial to add.
 * I work my way through the sources I can access in the same order every time, so I can remember where I left off if I have to leave off.
 * Because biographies of women can involve dealing with several name variations, that's another angle to cover in searches; even misspellings or translations of names (like Marie/Maria) can sometimes yield useful references.
 * A lot of stubs are missing easy-to-add features like categories, infobox, image, map, section headings, auth control, italics for titles, etc. Fixing those doesn't require much work, and often significantly improves the article for readers and searchers.
 * Penny Richards (talk) 23:45, 2 February 2020 (UTC)


 * Not a regular destubathoner, but a question, a suggestion and a comment:
 * What's the best way to measure size of stub/ex-stub?
 * While you're looking at the stub please add any missing redirects or dab page entries (eg from undisambiguated version of title if it's "Foo, Fooshire" or "Foo (thing)", or from variations used in article or obvious in source titles etc).
 * And I think a civil parish (not a "parish council") is an entity worthy of having its own separate well sourced article, in a case where it does not correspond to just one settlement as in the example above. Pam  D  00:13, 3 February 2020 (UTC)


 * I often find I 'de-stub' an article by simply removing the stub tag on articles that already give a basic overview of the subject. The length/sourcing quality can vary. But I'd be worried that this project clearly encourages editors to delete or redirect small articles which cannot be currently expanded to 1200 characters. This seems destructive rather than constructive. Sometimes a subject can be adequately summarised in far less than 1200 characters. I'd seriously recommend this instruction to delete/redirect articles needs to be removed from the project/competition. I certainly won't be participating as it stands at the moment. Sionk (talk) 01:28, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

I'm talking about one liners where you can barely find info for another sentence. If a tiny hamlet has zilch info available for it it's more productive to merge it to a nearby village and write what can be said there. If you're happy with it remaining a one line stub for life and think that's a positive thing then I can't agree. Perhaps anything which can't be expanded under 300 char. I agree that well sourced stubs in the 750-1200 range are mostly productive and worth keeping. But I hate browsing categories and finding them swamped with one liners about tiny hamlets and townlands, I want to reduce those and try to improve the average quality, you see?♦ Encyclopædius  09:40, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

I've updated it to state that 500 - 1.2 kb expansions are still welcome and there will be a prize for them even if they won't count for the main prizes. The main objective is reducing those one liners on hamlets. If the editor believes the article can't be expanded and is destined to remain a sub stub forever then in those cases consider redirecting/merging but I think most can be expanded to 500 char even if only using a map.♦ Encyclopædius  11:17, 3 February 2020 (UTC)


 * I still think the aim of deleting articles about populated places is most unconstructive. As you say, unless the place clearly doesn't exist (I've come across several of those) it shou;ld be possible to expand them into somethoing useful. Therefore I don't think deletion/redirection of clearly notable subjects should be an aim of this project. Sionk (talk) 06:57, 4 February 2020 (UTC)

Your opinion is respected Sionk, but it's only your opinion, my contests have always been very productive and a positive thing. The rules and goals says nothing about deleting articles about populated places anyway. Most could and should be expanded even if only 500 char of readable prose. If there are literally no hits or only one or two sources and it remains only a line or two and seems predestined to remain a one line stub then I think editors should take whatever decision seems necessary. You can easily convey information on small hamlets with little info in the parish articles so nothing is lost. Ideally we'd have a full article on every locality in the entire world of course..♦ Encyclopædius  12:24, 4 February 2020 (UTC)

Biographies
Is there a reason why this is prioritising expanding women's bios? In my experience, the bios of women are often pretty well developed as a result of the great work of the Women in Red drives, but many articles on men I encounter (mainly deceased male scientists, in my case) are in a very poor state. Espresso Addict (talk) 02:08, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

Agree: to focus on women doesn't seem relevant to the project and will antagonise some editors. Just "biographies" would be better. Or perhaps just leave it out and focus on geography. If biogs, then why not companies, sports teams, fiction set in the area ... ?  Pam  D  06:50, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

When I run contests I always do it. It's not the main focus, that's geo and building stubs, nobody is under any obligation to wtite women bios, so ignore it if it's not for you. But WIR specialises in creating new articles on women all around the world. Not a lot of editors are actively improving bios on notable British women. There may be a separate prize for it, it's not what the main prizes are for. If there is a prize put up I'll remove it from the priority list so there is some incentive there.♦ Encyclopædius  09:47, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

Irish counties
Several of the Irish county stub categories are red links. Soneone might be able to create a list of "County Roscommon stubs" by finding the stubs within the county category, but without that there seems no point listing a redlinked cat. Pam D  06:55, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

Yes, we may need to create makeshift project categories for those. But I'm thinking of reducing it to just simple sections on each country and editors start what county it is. It will be much easier to patrol five sections than 134. If we keep a tally board of counties done that might be best and get a bot to draw up lists of stubs by county?♦ Encyclopædius  10:11, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

TemplateStyles
I moved some of the styling into templatestyles. If you want to adapt the styling, this is the link: Template:The Great Britain/Ireland Destubathon/styles.css. —Th e DJ (talk • contribs) 15:00, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

Format
I've simplified the format to make patrolling it easier, five sections rather than 134 sections!! Listing county first in the submissions and putting in alpha order should make it easier to track. And keep a running tally board of articles done for each county..♦ Encyclopædius  15:42, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

I have had a look at the lead paragraphs and done a ce. I look on it as a 2nd draft- that will probably be rewritten several times more. --ClemRutter (talk) 21:11, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

Goals & Rules
Are these the goals of the competition, or are these the goals for each participant. To me the first two bullet points look like goals, but the next three are clarifications- I possibly could turn 3 and 4 into goals and move 5 into the rules section. If you look at rules point 2, it back refers to a goal that doesn't exist. As one of the goals of the contest is to particularly target short stubs on small settlements, if you start expanding them and find you can only find between 500 char and 1.2 kb of readable prose, don't let that..... I will just make a small tweak in the meantime. ClemRutter (talk) 21:49, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

To compete for prizes yes. Other that than anybody can do anything they want providing they are expansions to at least 500 char, work on an article to GA or clean up and fully source a B class article if they like. No new articles though. The idea is almost entirely to reduce the stub categories and improve quality though. As there will be a lot of townlands and small hamlets which can't be written over 1.2 kb there is a $20 prize for whoever expands the most short stubs to at least 500 char though they won't be eligible for the main prizes if not fully "destubbed".♦ Encyclopædius  12:03, 4 February 2020 (UTC)

Reminder/newsletter?
I've signed up but I've never participated in an organised editing event like this before, and my memory is rubbish these days -- can I suggest a newsletter, or at least a reminder to those who expressed interest a few days before the start of the month? Cheers, Espresso Addict (talk) 05:12, 4 February 2020 (UTC)

Thanks, appreciate it. Yes the "contest" part of it isn't the point, it's just something to make working on a part of Wikipedia that a lot of people otherwise neglect more enjoyable and give some sort of motivation for it. Wouldn't it be great to be able to browse a map of the UK and every village and monument you zoom in on, wikipedia consistently has a decent article? That's the primary goal I have in mind even if it takes 50 contests haha! Casliber usually puts up a central notice at before contests begin, I've asked him. Cheers!♦ Encyclopædius  12:10, 4 February 2020 (UTC)

Question about the competition rules
If I create a new article, does that count as a "destubbed article" to my count? --SuperJew (talk) 15:53, 4 February 2020 (UTC)

No new articles on this, sorry, there's so many stubs (over 4000 Scottish geo stubs alone) there really has to be a full focus on getting them expanded. If anybody spots a notable subject and creates it though they can add it directly to WP:The 10,000 Challenge.♦ Encyclopædius  18:02, 4 February 2020 (UTC)


 * When is a new article not a new article? Hypothetical scenario here: if I was to create a stub article today, then expand it in March, would that be eligible? MIDI (talk) 09:45, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

Yes. As long as it's under 1.2 kb of readable prose and a stub. Thanks ♦ Encyclopædius  10:00, 25 February 2020 (UTC)


 * Fab. So effectively any (stub) article in the mainspace at the start of March is fair game? MIDI (talk) 10:08, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

Precisely! ♦ Encyclopædius  11:09, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

Destubbing non stubs?
Do you want a record kept of articles "destubbed" by removing inappropriate stub tags? I thought I'd have a look at the Cumbria stubs cat and the first I looked at was Allithwaite. Not a stub, though needs a tweak to explain strange note about former parish which previously shared its name. Haven't touched it for now, but if I removed the stub tag in March it would contribute to the aim of the project so ought perhaps to be recorded as a success for the project even if not competitively. Pam D  06:37, 5 February 2020 (UTC)
 * A related thought: it might be helpful to see categories for stubs subdivided by size for the purpose of the destubathon: under perhaps 100(?) to find the real substubs, over 1200 for the likely mis-taggings, perhaps some divisions in between, which will interest different editors. Some helpful geek could presumably quite easily create tables or lists either by-size-by-county or by-county-by-size. Pam  D  07:05, 5 February 2020 (UTC)

Yes, there's a fair few which haven't been updated. Editors are expected to remove the tag and update the talk page on those. If they verify the content, add a few sources and add some readable prose though I think it can be claimed. I've already asked for a list of stubs, a list of sub stubs too would be useful.♦ Encyclopædius  08:53, 5 February 2020 (UTC)


 * Browsing through Category:Lancashire building and structure stubs finds obvious non-stubs like Lytham Priory, shorter solidly-sourced stubs like Blackpool Central Mosque, etc. I think the "sub stubs", whether we say 100 or 300 characters, your "one-liners", are the ones to concentrate on to create the greatest benefit to the encyclopedia, but we need to be able to find them easily. Some will have minimal prose but a solid and useful infobox from which more prose should be created if sourced. Even a very short stub is a service to the reader if it has as a reference or external link a source of further information, so I wonder whether "unreferenced & no external links" or "unreferenced or only one source or external link" should also be the priority, and a way provided to help destubathon particpants to find them.  Pam  D  10:33, 5 February 2020 (UTC)

Add to my comment at the village pump tech page and request a list of sub stubs by topic. Last I looked somebody said why not just use the categories. Comment there!♦ Encyclopædius  10:39, 5 February 2020 (UTC)
 * PetScan can be used for getting lists of sub-stubs. Eg. 379 sub-stubs from Ireland geography stubs category. Note that in the "Page properties" tab, I set a maxsize of 1000 bytes. SD0001 (talk) 02:11, 9 February 2020 (UTC)

Talk page banner
Will there be a talk page template declaring "This article was expanded from a stub as part of Wikipedia:The Great Britain/Ireland Destubathon in March 2020", on the lines of the WiR templates? Pam D  10:05, 5 February 2020 (UTC)

Usually we do that, but not that important..♦ Encyclopædius  10:41, 5 February 2020 (UTC)

Logging the results
At the moment I see a list of links to counties- an example may help. --ClemRutter (talk) 10:47, 5 February 2020 (UTC)

Example given for how to format the entries for England.♦ Encyclopædius  13:14, 5 February 2020 (UTC)


 * Just in case anyone is interested, I've added a table in my userspace to keep track of the articles I work on. It's purely for my own reference and not an official part of the contest but feel free to copy the code into your own userspace if you want to use it. &mdash;  Gas Head Steve [TALK] 13:31, 5 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Nice ! I might indeed use this to follow my contributions. Any tips on how to check readable prose size (bytes)? --SuperJew (talk) 17:22, 5 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Very nice! I've borrowed and adapted it for myself: User:Penny Richards/Britain & Ireland Destubathon. Thanks! Penny Richards (talk) 00:24, 1 March 2020 (UTC)
 * , I use DYKcheck to show the readable prose size, but I'm sure there are other tools out there to get this information. &mdash;  Gas Head Steve [TALK] 20:33, 5 February 2020 (UTC)

Flora and fauna also?
Is the destubathon inclusive of flora, fauna, fungi, etc? If so, I'd be happy to put a notice for your contest in February's Tree of Life Newsletter. Enwebb (talk) 15:13, 8 February 2020 (UTC)

Yes, nature and geography are part of the main focus. Lots of specially designated area stubs too. Expansions and destubs on all topics are welcome.♦ Encyclopædius  21:25, 8 February 2020 (UTC)

Cleanup of non-stub articles
Are we going to do anything about articles in poor quality but are above the 1500 character threshold for stubs? For instance, I've just rewritten A256 road, turning it from a load of whimsical roadgeek fancruft to something reliably sourced. Similiarly, A258 road is above the threshold but has the same problems; the most obvious being the neutrality - for example, it mentions nothing about Charlie Elphicke's long-standing criticism of it being a notorious accident blackspot (although I can't really use him as a neutral source). Ritchie333 (talk) (cont)  17:11, 10 February 2020 (UTC)

Yes, debloating is fine providing you rewrite and verify and source it. A lot of articles should be nuked and restarted from scratch. In cases like your road doing just that is more beneficial than trying to find sources to patch up what was there and not always being able to find them.♦ Encyclopædius  17:22, 10 February 2020 (UTC)


 * I did chuckle at "Note there are two filling stations (Total & Texaco). There is another petrol station which is Jet nearby. All of them had car washes." (unsourced) on the A256 article, and wondered if I should create a WP:CARWASH notability guideline. Ritchie333 (talk) (cont)  17:27, 10 February 2020 (UTC)

LOL! The A2 is largely unsourced too. I was thinking of running a Debloatathon at some point targeting the more important stuff and encouraging editors to restart from scratch. Something I encourage on my user page.♦ Encyclopædius  17:31, 10 February 2020 (UTC)
 * You could call it "Weight Watchers" ;-) The A2 would be a tough nut to crack, given it was at one point the most important road in the entire country (connecting London, Canterbury and Dover) and picking apart the history of what bits of the Roman Road match up to the medieval and modern routes is something of a dog's breakfast. Ritchie333 (talk) (cont)  17:37, 10 February 2020 (UTC)

True, but that's partly my point, people often ignore the important stuff because it's tough to research or write. They create excuses for why it can't be done or they can't do it. In a lot of cases even if they deleted it and wrote a basic, fully sourced start class summary that's better long term than mostly unsourced, bloated material. The A2 should have a fully sourced summary of the modern route if nothing else.♦ Encyclopædius  18:08, 10 February 2020 (UTC)
 * I think this is where I came in. A2 road was featured in Look and Learn Jan- Apr 1962 in 12 parts. Written and Drawn by Peter Jackson. I never got #1. But there's a reference for you!ClemRutter (talk) 17:16, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

note re event
this event looks terrific. thanks for setting this up. please do let us know more, as it happens. thanks!!! --Sm8900 (talk) 16:29, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

Thankyou !♦ Encyclopædius  11:35, 12 February 2020 (UTC)

Channel Islands
Just checking, the Channel Islands are being counted as part of England in the contest but they aren't included with the county stub lists on the main sections. Is there a reason for that ?  The C of E God Save the Queen!  ( talk ) 11:28, 12 February 2020 (UTC)

They are but I haven't got around to putting the Channel Island stubs on the list yet. I still have to do Scotland, Ireland, NI and Wales too. Anybody can help add them!♦ Encyclopædius  11:34, 12 February 2020 (UTC)

Isle of Man ? Category:Stub-Class Isle of Man articles theres about 500 to do. ClemRutter (talk) 18:22, 28 February 2020 (UTC)

Rocket and space stubs
I went on a small hunt for aerospace stubs, since I am familiar with Black Arrow, but did not find any convenient category stub listings. I found High Down Rocket Test Site after a few clicks, does anyone have a good idea on finding aerospace articles that would qualify for this destubathon? I have a few high quality sources that may have information I can use to expand articles to fit this theme. I will probably do at least a couple geography/location based destubs with whatever I can find at the local library, but am hoping to find a good list of aerospace articles to expand as well. Planes are okay too, I guess :).  Kees08  (Talk)   20:48, 12 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Partial answer to myself is the UK spacecraft stub template.  Kees08  (Talk)   22:27, 12 February 2020 (UTC)
 * All UK and Ireland related stubs qualify!♦ Encyclopædius  17:16, 13 February 2020 (UTC)
 * You can also try the project assessment page. The stub listings won't be sorted by geographical location, so it might be difficult to find articles related to the British Isles, and many of the items listed as stub actually seem to be of sufficient length and quality to be promoted to start.--Cincotta1 (talk) 18:00, 15 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Any updates in assessments (stubs that are starts are above, and vice versa) would be greatly appreciated . I have been making a few updates as I go along. Hope to see you participate in the contest if you find the time :).  Kees08  (Talk)   18:26, 15 February 2020 (UTC)

"/" in title producing odd effect
If I hover my mouse over a link to this project, the title shows as "Ireland destubathon", presumably because some piece of software assumes that the "/" introduces the main title. Is there any way to get round this by subtly changing the destubathon title? Pam D  23:16, 23 February 2020 (UTC)


 * Yes, you're right, the wiki software is interpreting the page as Ireland Destubathon, which is a subpage of Wikipedia:The Great Britain. I don't know if this matters though, it doesn't appear to cause any problems as far as I can see.&mdash;  Gas Head Steve [TALK] 10:06, 24 February 2020 (UTC)

Books ... and more
Another little niche group of stubs to expand: Special:WhatLinksHere/Template:UK-book-stub - it's a stub template which doesn't have a category, they're all within Category:Geography book stubs and Category:United Kingdom stubs. There are 9 books listed. Pam D  16:47, 25 February 2020 (UTC)
 * And that leads me to look at Category:United Kingdom stubs, which has 314 members and 23 subcategories, some of which are geographical categories and so included in the lists on the destubathon page but others not - I don't see Category:United Kingdom garden stubs or Category:United Kingdom poem stubs, but each might appeal to some editors. The former will be able to be assigned to a county (and may well also be in a county stub category, though my sample of one was not (Abbey Gardens doesn't have a London stub category, though it has Category:Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Newham }. Some of the poems might be place-specific too, but most not. Other categories include Category:British historian stubs with 696 and Category:United Kingdom organisation stubs with 544 before you look into subcategories. In short there's something for everyone, beyond the geographical or country-specific ones. Should the destubathon pages have a listing of "United Kingdom" stub categories too?  Pam  D  17:07, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

Yes, feel free to add general United Kingdom stub categories above the England entries. ♦ Encyclopædius  17:39, 25 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Will have a go when not on phone. Could you give an example under one of the countries of how you want non-county-specific but country-specific destubs to be listed? Pam  D  08:02, 26 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Have done. Map isn't ideal - couldn't find one with no country boundaries at all. Does it seem OK? While getting there I've cleaned out Category:United Kingdom geography stubs, some of which were just very lazy stub-sorting, so it's now empty except as a parent category. Some of the UK subcategories include huge numbers of articles, especially the UK-bio section and its subdivisions (all those sportspeople etc). Pam  D  09:44, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

Schools and more...
I had to share these- in case anyone was short of ideas. World wide the majority of schools articles are stubs, about 25,000. Going from Category:Stub-Class school articles is unrealistic as you are swamped by South Asian entries. A better way is to choose a county, and pick a well known school. At the bottom of that article is a helpful navbox. Just work through it systematically- schools editors never update the talk page so the assessment can be 13 years out of date. Stubs become C without further effort! With UK schools- GIAS is your friend- it will link to other schools on the site, give basic information- and a link to Ofsted. Copy the |URN= 123456 as a new field in the infobox. You now can start on the text- yes there is WP:WPSCH/AG and other schools in that navbox to help. ClemRutter (talk) 18:47, 28 February 2020 (UTC)

Why not go from Category:Republic of Ireland school stubs and Category:British school stubs and subcategories? Pam D  06:48, 1 March 2020 (UTC)

Law
Question about legislation. Do we count pieces of legislation to count for where it is created (so capitals areas) or the area which it affects? Or is it left up to our judgement?  The C of E God Save the Queen!  ( talk ) 12:26, 1 March 2020 (UTC)

Legislation can't really apply to counties unless on a county level or place where the legislation was made.♦ Encyclopædius  12:51, 1 March 2020 (UTC)

Question about place of career
Hello. I'm a bit confused with the sentence "Alternatively, the subject must be particularly associated with the area it is submitted for in some way by residing or working there." If a person was born in the UK, then moved to another country, would that count for this destubathon? Or only solely UK people. Examples: Leslie Dilley born in Wales who did work in UK and the USA, or James Hogan (American football) born in Ireland, but had career in USA. Thanks! --MrLinkinPark333 (talk) 19:25, 1 March 2020 (UTC)

both of those have place of birth, Rhondda cynon taf and County tipperary, go by that.♦ Encyclopædius  22:58, 1 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Okay. I wasn't sure since they weren't solely in the UK. Thanks! --MrLinkinPark333 (talk) 01:27, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

Off to a flying start
Excellent start everybody, even what has been done just today has made this worthwhile! I'll update assessing the entries tomorrow.♦ Encyclopædius  22:57, 1 March 2020 (UTC)
 * why are you signing off entries that have only been expanded to 1200 characters? We followed the standard 1500 rule during the Africa destubathon, which is IMHO the correct level to be considered a start class. It's not fair on participants who put proper effort into this if you're going to allow articles that are still sttubs to be considered. &mdash; Amakuru (talk) 09:49, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

It's 1.2 kb minimum requirement for this but strongly encourages 1.5 kb minimum. Because in a lot of cases with hamlets in particular it's sometimes difficult to write 1.5 kb. I don't want not being able to reach it stop people from expanding short stubs. 1.2kb is decent enough for me and borderline. But you have a point if editors are only going to consistently only aim for 1200 range on articles which you can easily write 2 kb + for. Should I make it 1.2 kb for smaller settlements and 1.5kb for everything else?♦ Encyclopædius  12:16, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

The vast majority of the entries are over 1.5 kb anyway. ♦ Encyclopædius  13:24, 2 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Yes, very much so, and I'm not suggesting that anyone is deliberately gaming the system or posting a glut of 1200 byte articles specifically to win prizes. And I agree with you that there may be some cases where very little can be written based on the sources available, even though that does perhaps raise questions about whether those topics meet WP:GNG.
 * But looking at a quick example from the top of the list, Church of St Mary the Virgin, Henlow, I am sure that could be expanded beyond its current length. There seems to be quite a bit of website and book material dedicated to that topic; and from a project point of view, ignoring the rules of this competition for a second, we would still lable that as a stub.
 * If there are genuine reasons why some articles can't be expanded to 1500, then I'd have thought it reasonable would for those entries to have an explicit rationale attached to them, as to why it's felt that it can't be expanded any further. Then that rationale could be signed off by yourself or the judges as valid. Thanks &mdash; Amakuru (talk) 13:41, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

Yes, on that one a Grade I listed building should be 1.5 kb minimum. ♦ Encyclopædius  13:44, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

I've tweaked the rules to state that it's really 1.5 kb we're looking for unless the editor genuinely can't find enough for it. There is even a small prize for expanding lots of stubs to between 500 and 1200 char BTW, one liners on hamlets which are at least given some content. While you can't win the main prizes with those, I appreciate any effort which is made to try to make them resemble articles. What we don't want is for editors to ignore articles entirely which they can't get to 1.5 kb. Townlands of Ireland in my experience are some of the most difficult to get to over 1.2 kb.♦ Encyclopædius  13:54, 2 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Cool, that sounds reasonable. And thanks again for the effort you're putting into this worthwhile project. I probably don't have the time for serious numbers of these right at this moment, or competing for the prizes, but will do what I can! &mdash; Amakuru (talk) 13:57, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

Me being thick
I followed the instructions but I'm just not seeing "Prose size (text only): 1310 B (xxx words) "readable prose size" or anything like that. The best I can find under "Tools" is "Page length (in bytes)". Is that likely to be the same? Deb (talk) 16:20, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

Readable prose count, if it's not working just copy the reasable prose and check on the external site provided.♦ Encyclopædius  17:22, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

More than one county?
If I were to destub an article about a bridge - the ends of which are in different counties (eg Hannington Bridge), which county should it be recorded under?&mdash; Rod talk 16:31, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

Pick one county ♦ Encyclopædius</span 17:20, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

Prize for "British and Irish towns, villages, hamlets and townlands"
Does this count inhabited English civil parishes with scattered farms/houses but no hamlet? An example is Batherton (noting that the official 2011 census population appears wrong; the much lower 2001 figure is probably closer). Cheers, Espresso Addict (talk) 18:01, 3 March 2020 (UTC) Civil parishes yes. Even separate articles on tiny dwellings, though notability of farms themselves might be questionable.♦ Encyclopædius  18:18, 3 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks -- sorry, further query -- if I'm just going for this prize (as I have no hope with the England or Scotland ones), would it be ok to just contribute articles from one or two counties? Or do I have to attempt five different counties? And would there be a problem combining England with Scotland (I used to live in Cheshire and have lots of book sources for that county, but am now based in Scotland.) Espresso Addict (talk) 19:42, 3 March 2020 (UTC)
 * If you're only doing the 500-1200 expansions and going for the Anti Stub Stubbers award you wouldn't be eligible for the main prizes anyway so the normal contest rules wouldn't apply. I will create a new section for the Anti Sub Stubbers award for people to put up articles which came short but are valuable expansions nonethless. OK ? If you find sub stubs which aren't notable in their own right and find a way to merge you can also put those up of course, though overall it is amount of effort going into expanding lots of them.♦ Encyclopædius  19:51, 3 March 2020 (UTC)
 * The one I was considering competing in was Ser Amantio di Nicolao's second one: "Most articles destubbed and improved on British and Irish towns, villages, hamlets, civil parishes, historical hundreds and townlands". Espresso Addict (talk) 20:14, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

At least five counties for that please. But you could do four different and the rest all in one county if you wanted.♦ Encyclopædius  20:59, 3 March 2020 (UTC)
 * I'll give it a go! Can I mix counties from different countries (England, Scotland &c)? Espresso Addict (talk) 00:12, 5 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Of course.♦ Encyclopædius  10:05, 5 March 2020 (UTC)
 * I promise I'll stop asking questions sometime -- do I have to copy mine in the new listing you've set up for this to be eligible? I'm getting a bit confused as to where I'm supposed to list things. Espresso Addict (talk) 06:19, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

Well, claims usually start to be made about half way through the contest, but some healthy early competition is sometimes productive. Up to you.♦ Encyclopædius  06:50, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

Prizes
After surveying developments last five days I've decided to do a slight restructure of the prizes and merge the Anti Sub Stub award into the one for settlements. For that award it won't just be number of articles but overall effort to improve quality but we'll accept minor expansions of short stubs on hamlets etc. I've lowered the settlements and women prizes slightly to £40 (about $51) to put more into the main counties covered section as I feel that needed to be highest as it's the main leaderboard of the contest. Ideally if we had some further donations to the prize fund we could also give prizes for the runners up. Hope everybody is cool with this, thanks.♦ Encyclopædius  12:26, 5 March 2020 (UTC)
 * I think that's a good idea. Would also be great if we could get some runners up prizes too because I remember it worked better for encouragement during WP:Awaken the Dragon because edit fatigue can set in if we're all going flat out for a month to try and get to the top of the pile.  The C of E God Save the Queen!  ( talk ) 12:29, 5 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Yes, because multiple contestants will have put in a very commendable effort, whoever wins, the top three at least should be rewarded whoever wins. Of course there's the regional prizes for consolation, but as there's only one prize for each of those somebody might miss out on something.♦ Encyclopædius  12:34, 5 March 2020 (UTC)
 * I would support a 35/10/5 split for first/second/third prizes, though I understand if you don't want to make that change during the contest. I thought having the prizes spread out helped in the Africa Destubathon. I tried to solicit donations to the contest last month but was not successful.  Kees08  (Talk)   17:06, 5 March 2020 (UTC)

Thanks to Ser Amantio we now have it as £100 going into the main prizes and the settlement and women prizes restored to £50 each. Were you interested in donating to the prize fund? ♦ Encyclopædius  17:57, 5 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately unable to at this time, might be able to for the next contest.  Kees08  (Talk)   18:27, 5 March 2020 (UTC)

The "All 137" prize
In the intro, para 3, the wording says "A £50 (c.$66) reward is offered to anybody who can cover all 137 ...". Under "Prizes" section it's gone up to £75. (And also clarifies what happens if multiple people achieve this, which wasn't clear from the intro).

Pam D  08:34, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

Correct it then. It says it will be split if so.♦ Encyclopædius  08:45, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

Women
I've noticed we have a spot for the short settlements bonus prize entries, but is there a place for us to specifically place entries for the womens prize?  The C of E God Save the Queen!  ( talk ) 09:56, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

I'll put it up now, thanks.♦ Encyclopædius  11:16, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

Almost a quarter the way there!
Excellent work everybody, very impressed with the range of articles coming in.♦ Encyclopædius  21:25, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

500 articles!!
Superb achievement! If somebody can do Tyne and Wear we'll have also reached covering all 137 counties today!! ♦ Encyclopædius  19:12, 15 March 2020 (UTC)

Wrexham I think needs one too!♦ Encyclopædius  14:18, 17 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Done! Quetzal1964 (talk) 15:29, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

Thankyou!!♦ Encyclopædius  15:57, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

Clarification of number of "counties" in England for the purpose of this destubathon
I am currently considering whether I can get at least one destub for each "county" of England, but I'm confused. On Ceremonial counties of England (which uses the map we are using for this) it says there are 48 counties. The map says "Not Shown: City of London". Is City of London a county for this competition? - it is not shown on the list under The Great Britain and Ireland Destubathon entries. The list in the "Tally chart of articles done by county" has 51 entries but includes Isle of Man, Alderney, Jersey & Guernsey which are not included in "Lieutenancy areas since 1997". Should we just add City of London to the list & assume there are 52 areas to be covered in the England part of the destubathon?&mdash; Rod talk 15:18, 20 March 2020 (UTC)

City of London is currently merged with Greater London, basically just LONDON, Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey are listed as the three extra and treated as counties in their own right. Alderney isn't but articles are permitted. If we introduced City of London and Alderney separately that would take the total to 139. ♦ Encyclopædius  15:55, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
 * What about Sark and Herm :)?  The C of E God Save the Queen!  ( talk ) 16:39, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
 * And Jethou! OK, "Alderney and other islands" good? I think City of London and Greater London should be combined, just LONDON.♦ Encyclopædius  16:43, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
 * I agree, just make it one London. Besides, not really many settlements to expand in one square mile!  The C of E God Save the Queen!  ( talk ) 16:52, 20 March 2020 (UTC)

In thinking about it I think we should keep it at 137 and divide it by Bailwick of Guerney and Bailwick of Jersey. Alderney, Sark and Herm under Guernsey. Some of the islands have very few articles and some are even still stubs like Les Hanois so.. See below for structure:♦ Encyclopædius  17:00, 20 March 2020 (UTC)

Banner
Template:The Great Britain and Ireland Destubathon banner

Contest banner..♦ Encyclopædius  17:49, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Been looking for something like this! Added :) --MrLinkinPark333 (talk) 20:20, 20 March 2020 (UTC)

I am ineligble for any prize
Following a discussion atthe board meeting of WikimediaUK today I need to declare myself ineligable for any prize, therefore Quetzal1964 & Ritchie333 are now joint leaders for England. I will still contribute but evenif I were the leader will not accept the book token.&mdash; Rod talk 13:16, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

Are they pleased with the contest though?♦ Encyclopædius  14:52, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Not discussed specifically - wider issues & effect of currentsitaution etc rather than nitty gritty of any single project.&mdash; Rod talk 15:08, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
 * I was going to apply for another contest grant, hope the current situation won't affect that. If so, prizes will have to be given out later in the year.♦ Encyclopædius  15:22, 21 March 2020 (UTC)

Keep going!
Well done everyone, you're all making great progress towards the final target. Unfortunately my circumstances have changed somewhat in recent weeks and with two young children off school I suddenly find myself with a lot less free time to work on articles! I'll do my best to get a couple more stubs expanded by the end of the month though. Good luck everybody. &mdash;  Gas Head Steve [TALK] 09:25, 25 March 2020 (UTC)

Totally understandable. Thankyou, stay safe.♦ Encyclopædius  10:35, 25 March 2020 (UTC)

Future contests
Given the uncertain times we now live in and the demands of running and participating in a contest for a month I think it would be wiser to do a series of one week, 10 day to 2 week max contests spread out over the next six months. It's easy to do ten days straight and then have a rest, I think I would favour ten days the most and I could probably get a WMUK grant to split into £100, £100 and £50 for three different smaller contests. I have a few new contest concepts I want to try out, including a "Debloatathon" which is about rewriting and sourcing bloated, poorly sourced articles, particularly on important topics and a "Sourceathon" dedicated purely to sourcing claims in articles and number of unique sources added to the encyclopedia. I of course have an interest in setting up contests for areas such Europe, the US and Latin America etc. I think we're onto a winner with this format, but I also don't want to keep running the same contest and people getting bored. I want to target different areas with some different ones for trial and see how it goes.

I was thinking of running a one week Destubathon for Northern Scotland in the week after Easter, for Highlands, Orkney and Shetland Islands. I wanted to aim for 100 destubs or improved stubs (there's almost 400 stubs on Highland setlements alone) on settlements for that but also keep it open to all articles. I think a productive thing long term might be to set a say The 50,000 Destubbing Challenge and have the articles done for this to kick it off and long term allow articles "destubbed" on any topic and any part of the world to count towards that as well as the individual regional challenges. I wanted to set a large target like 50,000 articles long term to get people currently working on the different regional world challenges also working towards it even if it might take 20 years haha!. The times when contests are not being held people can still continue to have an incentive to destub articles in the format we have here but face no pressure on output or region.

I was wondering if you could share your thoughts on if you are interested in doing something similar to this is in shorter bursts long term and what areas you'd like to see the most. I could do something like a "European Sourceathon", extend it to all countries of Europe and all editors have to do is to add some sources and verify unsourced claims to articles for difference countries. Whoever verifies the most claims for the most countries is the winner. People could destub articles as part of it but no pressure to have to do full articles.

♦ Encyclopædius  12:08, 29 March 2020 (UTC)
 * An interesting idea & I would agree a month is a long time for a specific focus, but I have some other areas I am going to work on (around hundreds of work emails & multiple video conferences). Having moved to a new county (you can probably guess which one from my current contributions) there are lots of articles needing attention & lots of red links to start. To participate in this contest I have also been neglecting an area I've been involved with for the last 18 months or so. The number of links to disambiguation pages at Disambiguation pages with links/The Daily Disambig has been growing since January 2020 (when it was at around 2,000) and is now nearly 10,000. Many of them only take a few seconds to fix (particularly with the tools identified at Disambiguation pages with links). What about a contest for who can disambiguate the most links? (the problem might be it would take longer to record them for a contest than it would take to fix them).&mdash; Rod talk 12:57, 29 March 2020 (UTC)

An interesting idea ! I could run something like a World Sourceathon with people adding sources and also include a prize for most dab pages fixed from Category:All articles with links needing disambiguation. I think it would be a bit narrow for a contest in its own right, but we could certainly kill two birds with one stone!♦ Encyclopædius  13:23, 29 March 2020 (UTC)

Perhaps this isn't a good time for this, a lot of people are less motivated with the current worrying situation. I'll scrap the idea then and won't run another contest until people want one.♦ Encyclopædius  08:36, 30 March 2020 (UTC)
 * I've been waiting 4 long years for this. I have to say though, I'd prefer it be an editathon (including new articles) rather than a destubathon because personally I have found it difficult for some places to find suitable destub targets that have enough sources to make anything meaningful out of.  The C of E God Save the Queen!  ( talk ) 08:49, 30 March 2020 (UTC)


 * Please don't drop the idea; I think we all also need focus items at this time. It's not easy for many workers, or family carers, but some do have more time.  I like the idea of shorter runs, as a month is satisfying but long - but not too short, either, as achieving a goal can be hard in say a week, where a couple of days of sudden workplace or childcare issues can make a previously feasible target tough.  I enjoyed my first destubathon, but would also be very happy to try a source-a-thon, or general editathon.  The idea of a super-competition also sounds interesting, as a way to draw in multiple initiatives.  And for this present 'thon, thanks! SeoR (talk) 09:06, 30 March 2020 (UTC)

Thanks. What I could do is just keep The 50,000 Destubbing Challenge open long term, people can still do articles but extend to worldwide and I don't have to check or approve them, but try to make them of the quality of this. We could have a different focus every few weeks and see if WMUK would put up some prizes but keep it open to anything. I think it would be productive, is 50,000 too daunting though? Would you rather it was like 10,000 to start off with? I can still run some full on contests later in the year. Encyclopædius 11:35, 30 March 2020 (UTC)


 * I have seen the thread but would prefer to leave it a few days before commenting. It will take a few days to put my thoughts in order- and a few days to go go back and fix all the loose ends.ClemRutter (talk) 20:37, 30 March 2020 (UTC)

25 articles
Only need 25 articles now to reach the target! I believe Renfrewshire is the only county which doesn't have 3 articles, it has two currently unless somebody forgot to update the tally, the rest have easily reached the target of 3 articles!♦ Encyclopædius  14:22, 30 March 2020 (UTC)

Contest winner
A hearty congratulations to Quetzal1964 for completing all 137 counties and automatically winning the overall competition. An incredible achievement, I wasn't sure if anybody could do it! Well done! Quetzal also wins the regional Scottish one and is likely to come in 2nd place for Wales after Kosack. Cwmhiraeth is the obvious regional winner for both England and Ireland which is also a wonderful achievement, and is set to finish in second place overall. Only a day and a half left, let's go out in style! ♦ Encyclopædius  14:42, 30 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Congratulations to Quetzal! I was thinking about going for the complete 137 set of counties, but about a week ago I realized that Quetzal had the same objective so I decided to stick to Ireland and England, destubbing articles I was interested in rather than struggling to find disparate articles for each county in turn. Anyway, I have enjoyed the contest, and many thanks to Dr. Blo... Encyclopædius for organising it so efficiently and well. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 19:15, 30 March 2020 (UTC)

Rename
Just to let you know that Blofeld is no longer with us and you have a new host. :-) † Encyclopædius  17:36, 30 March 2020 (UTC)
 * What happened, did Bond drop him down the smokestack again? :)  The C of E God Save the Queen!  ( talk ) 11:36, 31 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Haha! † Encyclopædius  12:20, 31 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Or was it Reichenbach Falls?--Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 17:48, 31 March 2020 (UTC)

1000 articles!!
Wooohoooo! :-) † Encyclopædius  11:17, 31 March 2020 (UTC)

Prizes
I'm not sure what the current situation is with WMUK and if they are working from home or not but there may be a delay in giving out the prizes given the state of things right now. Everybody will get their reward though don't worry :-). I'll announce the prize winners tomorrow and will then be taking a break from editing here for a bit. If over the next few weeks anybody starts to miss contributing towards this they can put up destubs on anything they want on the new The 50,000 Destubbing Challenge!† Encyclopædius  16:45, 31 March 2020 (UTC)
 * If you email your contact at WMUK they should be able to answer as the office & staff have set up "working at home" and video conferencing systems, but you are right there may be a delay. Thanks for organising the contest & you and everyone who took part can take a pat on the back for improving over 1,000 articles.&mdash; Rod talk 17:27, 31 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Yes, I've had an email now. I'll deal with the prizes and alert the prize givers tomorrow.† Encyclopædius  19:00, 31 March 2020 (UTC)

Prize announcement

 * 1) Quetzal1964 - £75 main prize + £50 Scotland = £125
 * 2) Cwmhiraeth - £50 England, £50 Ireland + £15 2nd place = £65
 * 3) The C of E - £50 villages and hamlets + £10 3rd place = £60
 * 4) WTT/Stacey - £50 England + £5 4th place = £55
 * 5) Kosack - £50 Wales = £50
 * 6) Penny Richards - women bios = £50


 * WMUK pays Quetzal1964 £125, Cwmhiraeth £115
 * Ser Amantio pays The C of E £60, Kosack £50, Penny Richards $62 (£50)

My feeling was that Espressoaddict deserved something on the village prize too for quality Cheshire villages but he didn't make a claim for the prize in the section..† Encyclopædius  16:43, 1 April 2020 (UTC)
 * , thanks, but we said at the beginning that we wouldn't be taking any prize that we couldn't eat. :) Please either award it elsewhere or put it to roll over to the next competition. WormTT(talk) 20:39, 1 April 2020 (UTC)


 * Hi folks -- Sorry, I got distracted (and then depressed) by all the coronavirus kerfuffle -- I only did Cheshire settlements, and never finished any other county destubs. Well done to everyone who kept their heads! Espresso Addict (talk) 21:58, 1 April 2020 (UTC)

Understandable. Know that I much appreciated your work though. I've noticed general editor morale is down on here because of the worry of this virus. I try to limit how much news I read or watch about it as it does make you feel depressed and I don't want to feel like that! We need something productive to get through this! we have a spare £60 as Worm isn't eligible for it. I can use it to pay C of E so you pay out less or I could use it to run a Northern Scotland Destubathon later in this month. I could of course also split it into 6 and give more competitors £10 each. What shall we do? The Northern Scotland contest would be more beneficial for Wikipedia. 10 days, nothing big but hopefully doable if anybody is interested.† Encyclopædius  07:23, 2 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Up to you how you want to handle it. I'm easy either way. :-)


 * ,, and Just leave a message on my talkpage, or shoot me an e-mail at the link in my profile, and let me know how you want to handle the payment.


 * I think this damn virus has gotten a lot of us down - I know the disruption to our daily lives and routines even within my social group has been causing a lot of headaches. And I'm still trying to get used to the change in my day-to-day - I swear, every day it's like something new comes up and we have to roll with it again. On the plus side...I suspect there may be an uptick in editing when people are stuck inside with nothing else to do. :-) -- Ser Amantio di Nicolao Che dicono a Signa?Lo dicono a Signa. 13:38, 2 April 2020 (UTC)

Congratulations to all the prize winners, great job everyone. I'm still disappointed I had to give up part way through, but it's been fun and a useful distraction from the outside world. &mdash;  Gas Head Steve [TALK] 14:09, 2 April 2020 (UTC)

Well done to all who took part. Sometimes I know I felt a little drained but I did enjoy writing about things I never thought I would do in all corners of the British Isles. Never thought I'd write about a Sinn Fein politician, nor that would I find New York near Newcastle and get it featured on DYK as well to boot! I thank for running it (Number 1 took a spill down the smokestack again I understand!) and to  for encouraging it and widening the chances for everyone. I look forward to the next one!  The C of E God Save the Queen!  ( talk ) 15:03, 2 April 2020 (UTC)


 * Congratulation to the losers and winners. In the process, my total edits this month were over twice my previous maximum. I broke two keyboards, and bought and sent back two more laptops to ebay. I looked forward to the nightly admonishments from Herr Doktor. Yes it was fun. Yes I had a hidden agenda to: work on the WP:WPSCH backlog- and have a sense of pride that after a month and 50 articles- I have barely dented it!
 * To get to know so many schools.There is a terrific sadness when you see the disparity of opportunity...


 * So a few serious thoughts on the future.
 * Why Scotland? I know where it is but why not Merseyside, or the Northern Powerhouse. By limiting the geography you reduce the potentially interested editors. Unless of course a Region wants to form a relationship with WMUK. There are other ways of having a limiting target. In May, stubs beginning in 'M', In June and July, stubs beginning with 'J'... and then A,S,O,N,D. But I have checked out Category:Secondary schools in Highland (council area) just in case.
 * Has anyone got the skills to automate the report back page- so we only have to enter the details of new article once- and the tallies are auto generated? Navigating up and down a 1000 line list at three in the morning is an unnecessary chore.
 * The problem that one has with schools is knowing when to stop- there is need to clean it up, check every item in the infobox and usually add a logo, and some form of useful map. In the process of getting there, you access maybe 3 or 4 documents and you have enough material to write a GA- but that is off focus. Possibly we need a prize for restraint!
 * Is there any way we can use this as a spring board for pulling more folk into the movement. If only we had a standard email that could be sent out to some of 'directors' attached to these building, asking them to upload CC-O photos of their buildings, that we could use to improve these articles further. The fact that their building appeared in the Destubathon could be a reason to contact them?
 * Do we need an alternative way to stay in touch during the Destubathon- I am at the early stages of investigating Zoom Conferencing-the forty min limit on the free version would be fine for a weekly moral booster- but others will have more experience than me.


 * Thank you playmates- it was fun, thank you for letting me join in your game. ClemRutter (talk) 17:40, 2 April 2020 (UTC)


 * If it's any help to you, I am a Shetlander who lives in Mainland and I can try (coronavirus restrictions-permitting) to get photos of some of the schools up here for you. I think the only schools with articles currently are the Anderson High in Lerwick and Quarff Primary School, although I think there are 22x primary, 5x 4-year junior high schools and 2x 6-year high schools in total in Shetland. Some of the island ones are off limits to me at the moment due to ferry restrictions, but if there's any in particular you'd need photos of let me know and I'll see what I can do :) Griceylipper (talk) 20:32, 2 April 2020 (UTC)


 * I would just like to thank everyone who took part for making it fun: for organising it,  for putting up additional prizes and all participants for their efforts. I am going to donate an amount equal to the prize I won to Leuchie House (plus gift aid). This is a charity which, in normal times, provides respite care for people with neurological conditions in beautiful Leuchie House near North Berwick. My late mum was a beneficiary of that care and that means so was my dad. Now the facilities are being used to free up beds to allow more space in hospitals for Covid-19 and although they will receive some funds from the Scottish Government for providing these facilities they will still be losing out as their normal users have to stay at home. Probably TMI. Quetzal1964 (talk) 18:24, 2 April 2020 (UTC)

Thanks everybody. As Worm like Rod can't accept the prize the England prize goes to for most articles. Cwmhiraeth do you want the money or is there an area you'd like to put it into for a new contest? 10-2 weeks if we run more.† Encyclopædius  08:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks, Encyclopædius. I enjoyed the contest, and was quite surprised to be overtaken in the England part on the final day. I'd like to put the England prize money back into the kitty for your next competition. I'm not too bothered about which region any new contest focuses on, but I did get the impression that Ireland could do with a bit of a boost. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 08:53, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Thanks. Agreed on Ireland, Irish rural localities in fact was one of the main reasons I decided to do this and include Ireland. Anybody up for a ten day Irish Destubathon in May? † Encyclopædius  16:18, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

Looks like the money is yours, you deserve it anyway. I guess nobody wants a contest or to add to the 50,000 Destubbing Challenge until this coronavirus thing is over. I thought more people would want a distraction from it. Oh well.† Encyclopædius  06:03, 4 April 2020 (UTC)
 * I think May is a bit soon and I suggest you leave it till June. We will probably still be locked down then and thoroughly bored! Cwmhiraeth (talk) 06:33, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

I don 't edit much in the summer, June or July is out I'm afraid, contest season September to May.†  Encyclopædius  07:44, 4 April 2020 (UTC)
 * I just saw this, didn't know it was an actual proposal. I'd be happy to do a May one be it Scotland or South East England.  The C of E God Save the Queen!  ( talk ) 08:15, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

Is the Highlands, Orkney and Shetland Geo Destubathon still going to be held as originally planned between April 13-19? I for one am quite excited at the prospect (I might be slightly biased as a Shetlander :P), but I can appreciate if there is a desire to hold off until participation is likely to be higher. Griceylipper (talk) 14:36, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

It would be a good one to run with a week-10 days but the feeling I'm getting is that the majority of people are finding it difficult to concentrate on wiki right now. I don't want to take the time to set up a contest with a small reward and find only three or four articles coming in. The new Destubathon challenge certainly indicates very few people are interested in destubbing right now.† Encyclopædius  16:46, 4 April 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm willing to join in a Highlands, Orkney and Shetland Destubathon. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 17:34, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

New grant proposal
Just to let everybody know I'm filing a new grant proposal soon. I'm planning on running something in which there is a £20 worth of Amazon vouchers each week to win. £10 for most articles destubbed in total and £10 for most articles destubbed for the "focus of the week" over the summer months. There will be a different focus each week as part of the new 50,000 Destubbing Challenge, covering different parts of the world but still having some British ones every few weeks. Let that run over the summer and then hopefully once this virus disruption is better we'll run something like A European, Asia or Latin America Destubathon in September or October. Nobody has to commit to it every week as it's not really a full blown contest, but if there is a week when you feel like doing a lot and winning the prize go for it. Whoever wins the prize for the most weeks will be the overall winner. Sign up as part of The 50,000 Destubbing Challenge if interested and I will likely kick it off on May 1 with a focus on SouthEast England.† Encyclopædius  11:32, 22 April 2020 (UTC)