Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/October 21, 2012

21 October 2012 blurb


A virus is a biological agent that reproduces inside the cells of living hosts. When infected, a host cell is forced to produce many thousands of identical copies of the original virus, at an extraordinary rate. Unlike most living things, viruses do not have cells that divide; new viruses are assembled in the infected host cell. Over 2,000 species of viruses have been discovered. A virus consists of two or three parts: genes, made from either DNA or RNA, long molecules that carry the genetic information; a protein coat that protects the genes; and in some, an envelope of fat that surrounds and protects them when they are not contained within a host cell. Viruses vary in shape from the simple helical and icosahedral to more complex structures. They spread in many different ways. Whereas viruses such as influenza are spread through the air by people when they cough or sneeze, others such as norovirus, which are transmitted by the faecal–oral route, contaminate hands, food and water. Rotavirus is often spread by direct contact with infected children. The human immunodeficiency virus, HIV, is one of several major viruses that are transmitted during sex. Viral infections often cause disease in humans and animals; however, they are usually eliminated by the immune system, conferring lifetime immunity to the host for that virus. (more...)

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Proposed new blurb
A virus is a biological agent that reproduces inside the cells of living hosts. Unlike most living things, viruses do not have cells that divide, instead forcing infected host cells to produce many thousands of identical copies of the original virus, at an extraordinary rate. A virus consists of two or three parts: genes, made from either DNA or RNA, long molecules that carry the genetic information; a protein coat that protects the genes; and in some, an envelope of fat that surrounds and protects them when they are not contained within a host cell. Over 4,800 species have been discovered, many of which cause disease in plants and animals, including common human diseases such as the common cold, chickenpox and cold sores, and serious epidemic and pandemic outbreaks such as HIV, Ebola, influenza, SARS and COVID-19.

Discussion
I put something above just to get Graham started ... current length allowed is MUCH shorter than it was in 2012, limit to 925 to 1025 characters ... please edit as you wish. You can calculate characters at http://www.javascriptkit.com/script/script2/charcount.shtml Sandy Georgia (Talk)
 * I tweaked most salient points - prioritising what diseases over contagiousness/modes of spread. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:51, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Where did 4,800 come from? Sandy Georgia (Talk)  02:07, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
 * First para of Introduction to viruses lead. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 02:26, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Ack ... the body of the article has 5,000. Sandy Georgia (Talk)  02:30, 20 March 2020 (UTC)

Re-nomination template

 * Today's featured article/requests/Introduction to viruses To be added to TFAR when Graham says we're ready.  Sandy Georgia  (Talk)  06:35, 20 March 2020 (UTC)

Dilemma
So, this timely and relevant TFA request is ready to go, but I am not sure how we should proceed next. Almost two months in advance (on March 3), all of April TFAs were already scheduled out, so we can't even ask for an April slot. While Ealdgyth indicated early on she would juggle the already scheduled TFAs to fit this in, Wehwalt has seemed to indicate that we must find a volunteer to give up their already scheduled slot. I don't know how we go about finding a volunteer without pinging the possibilities. The FA writers most likely to understand the need to put relevant content on the mainpage are those who already have had multiple TFAs, and can more easily see the big picture. If we get a volunteer for a specific date, we can put up the request (ready above) at WP:TFA/R, but it hardly makes sense to put it up without having secured a date; that would result in confusion. Waiting til May in the midst of the coronovirus epidemic makes little sense, when we have an excellent Introduction to viruses written by. So, I have gone through those already scheduled and suggest these are the editors most likely to be willing to cede their already scheduled spot (I imagine if the request to re-run a Virus article TFA passes, the displaced article would get rescheduled quickly by the in May). Possibilities are:


 * 3 April – Rodrigues starling
 * 6 April – Operation Retribution (1941) Date connection
 * 7 April &  – South Pacific (musical)
 * 8 April – Gerard (archbishop of York)
 * 10 April &  – Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca

Any volunteers to give up your TFA slot, pending acceptance at TFAR, to make way for a timely Virus article, related to Coronavirus? Sandy Georgia (Talk)  20:46, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
 * (runs to the front of the line) I'm always fine to give up a TFA spot... --Ealdgyth (talk) 20:54, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
 * No problem for me either, the month already has one other bird and one other extinct animal. The latter (Segnosaurus) is also a FAC of mine, so it seems fair I shouldn't have two in one month. FunkMonk (talk) 20:56, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
 * I don't have any trouble giving up South Pacific if needed, subject to Ssilver's concurrence as FAC conom.--Wehwalt (talk) 22:16, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Mine is tied to the date of the operation, so I think it would be better to displace one that isn't date tied. Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 03:20, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Happy to move the mushroom too Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 03:24, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks, all ... I will put forward the request in the morning then (late here now), since there are at least enough date possibilities open that we can see how the community feels about the re-run., I thought I had carefully checked for date connections, but I see I missed yours-- my apologies. I would fall off my chair if Ssilvers said no, as he's an old Wikicolleague :)   if you have a chance, could you give the proposed blurb (above) a final glance, as it was a bit short, and I added a sentence.  I also considered that  might give up March 27, so we could run the virus sooner, but I fear that would be cutting it too close in terms of gauging TFAR consensus.  Best, Sandy Georgia  (Talk)  03:41, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Timely, indeed, would be the virus TFA. My only thoughts: 1) the Samuel Mulledy article does have a date connection (date of birth) and 2) re-scheduling it in the near future might be a challenge, because I already have another same-subject TFAR proposed for May 1. That being said, if the community would like viruses on March 27, I certainly wouldn't make a fuss. (And hopefully the TFA coords might be a little flexible with same-subject articles).  Ergo Sum  04:40, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
 * That is very generous of you, ; I believe the Coords are following this discussion, so we can trust them to exercise the best option. I will add 27 March to the list of possibilities in the blurb above.  Thank you ever so much, Sandy Georgia  (Talk)  16:18, 21 March 2020 (UTC)