Wikipedia talk:WikiProject England/The West Country Challenge


 * Please consider helping GA reviewing Rodmarton Manor or Burton Pynsent House!

Welcome!

Proposed format
I'm thinking of a 21 day contest. 3 days allocated to each county. I think this would be run slightly differently from Dragon as Dragon was very much a trial and mish mash to see what works and what doesn't, and most people found it pretty exhausting. What I'm thinking of with this is a three day focus for each county, rather like I did for the Preserved County Challenge of Wales. However, rather than just being stub obliteration it would also include cleanup of core articles and new articles. I would give higher points to destubbing and cleanup of core articles. Points would be accumulated from each round, and then after 7 rounds we have an overall winner. Also throughout the contest I would welcome Good Article promotion and offer high points for anybody who promotes one from the core list. So that would allow three weeks for anybody to promote what they want amid the county challenge main part of the contest.♦ Dr. Blofeld  09:20, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

What we could do is create a page for each county, for each of the three days. Start with Bristol, WikiProject England/The West Country Challenge/Bristol. What we would do is list a few from the core list which we consider core articles for Bristol, or perhaps more, perhaps you could come up with 50-100 articles for Bristol. Those would be listed on the page. We could then also list all of the stub articles and important articles badly in need of cleanup and rewriting. Higher points would be given to takcling those core articles, cleanup and destubbing, Contestants section beneath it all and editors gather their articles together, then we move into the next county after three days, with a ranking based on scores from that round..♦ Dr. Blofeld  09:25, 8 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Sounds interesting - I would be interested in the thoughts of others. Possible disadvantages would be that getting GAs (or even DYKs) in 3 days would be "difficult". Also some features eg roads, rivers & bits of history & geography go across county boundaries. I could do lists for Bristol & Somerset as I know those quite well, I would find this more difficult for other counties where I am less familiar.&mdash; Rod talk 09:33, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

What we'd have though Rod is the GA part of it open throughout the entire contest, so independent contributors needn't necessarily take part in the county challenge but contribute what they want from anywhere. As with Dragon there were "contestants" and "participants". It'll be the same with this. People looking to win the prize will have to participate as contestants in the county challenge for points. Even with that though there'll be the GA one running throughout the contest. I would give a prize to the person who produces the most GAs during it. Perhaps we could add another week at the end then to allow people to finish off articles for GA? I'm OK with 28 days, though I think we have to remember it is the summer and a lot of people will want to watch the Olympics etc. ♦ Dr. Blofeld  09:39, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Could look something like this:


 * Bristol (Day 1-3)
 * Cornwall and the Scillies (Day 4-6)
 * Devon (Day 7-9)
 * Dorset (Day 10-12)
 * Gloucestershire (Day 13-15)
 * Somerset (Day 16-18)
 * Wiltshire (Day 19-21)
 * Finale (Day 22-28)

The last week then you could allow people to work on what they want for the whole area and go for more GAs to max out their points. I think this would work better and you'd get most people contributing to all areas which I think is what is needed. As I say though a "mini core list" could be drawn up for each page, a cleanup section, important ones badly needing rewriting, and a list of stubs. I'll start Bristol as an example. If we could get somebody from each of the county projects to help with identifying the others this would be great. I'm sure I can find a few for each though we'll need somebody more knowledgeable for each like you for Bristol and Somerset to ensure we're covering the important ones.♦ Dr. Blofeld  09:42, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Roads/geography/history overlapping is fine, in some cases it might actually be beneficial to have certain articles listed twice.♦ Dr. Blofeld  09:50, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

For the core list on each county page, list all the ones in the general core list of course and any others which might be included on a county list which perhaps might not get on the general West Country one. Maybe 100 or so articles, depends. These lists will definitely come in use in the future anyway so worth doing. At some point you could probably have contests for Somerset and Cornwall separately depending on how this goes :-)♦ Dr. Blofeld  10:27, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Contest
The plan is to run the contest for three weeks Monday August 8- Sunday 28.♦ Dr. Blofeld  17:54, 30 June 2016 (UTC)


 * Excellent, I'm looking forward to it. :) &mdash; Gasheadsteve Talk to me 21:15, 30 June 2016 (UTC)


 * We might have to approach WMUK for funding again on this one but we'll see how things progress over the next few weeks. ♦ Dr. Blofeld  22:11, 30 June 2016 (UTC)

Funding
I've requested £250 for the contest anyway. Hopefully will be approved in time! In the meantime can you think of a way to increase the interest in this? Would it be worth publicizing in some of the towns in the area or something? If somebody could announce it on social media too that would be good.♦ Dr. Blofeld  18:23, 14 July 2016 (UTC)
 * I suggested at the outset that the number of participants might be limited. I think a clearly worded announcement (including dates & prizes) on the relevant wikiprojects, and possibly some of the most watched articles would be good - would you like me to do a 1st draft? I have recently been doing some work on the cleanup list for Devon & was told that WikiProject Devon is "pretty much dormant". Could we get a geonotice which covers the relevant area? It would probably also be worth putting something on the WikiMedia UK mailing list. I don't know which groups on facebook/twitter etc would be useful. Perhaps claiming that there are Pokémon at every site on the  Missing photograph hotlist would get more visits?&mdash; Rod talk 18:46, 14 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Yes some sort of announcement would help. It would be good to have more people on board with this, but like with Dragon, numbers were limited. I'll wait until the grant is approved before announcing it on the various boards though, hopefully it'll be sooner than later and still enough time to get some more people signing up.♦ Dr. Blofeld  19:17, 14 July 2016 (UTC)
 * (Driveby comment) Because of the way IPs in Britain are structured, you can't target a geonotice to a particular area, since IPs often geolocate to where the server is based, or in many cases to an arbitrary point near Methodist Central Hall in London. The best you can narrow it down to is "Britain" (which is why no matter where you live, you'll still see adverts for WMUK events at the opposite end of the country). That said, covering the whole country would be no bad thing; it's in the nature of the West Country that a lot of locals move out to the big cities elsewhere and a lot of Londoners, Brummies etc visit it regularly on holiday, so you'll probably find a lot of people with an interest in it scattered across the country. If you want a practical way to boost awareness, post notices on the talkpages of everyone who's written a FA or GA on a west country topic, since not only the people you notify but everyone who watches their talkpage will see them. You also want to decide before any contest starts whether naval ships with a connection to Plymouth will qualify. &#8209; Iridescent 19:43, 14 July 2016 (UTC)
 * I've never done a geonotice before and wasn't aware of this problem. I've started drafting a request for a notice in my sandbox - feel free to improve.&mdash; Rod talk 20:07, 14 July 2016 (UTC)

Thanks. Well anybody is free to contribute anything they want which is related to the West Country throughout the three weeks. Yes, Plymouth made ships would qualify. But I'm hoping that most people will be willing to focus on the given county for three days, and obivously Devon is the focus for three days, not 21. With this the emphasis is more on destubbing and general core article improvement rather than FA/GA as there won't be enough time, though anybody is free to spend the three weeks improving one or two articles to GA status and not participate in each country challenge, that's fine. At a later date we could do one for Good Articles, but I think a raw basic improvement drive is what is needed here.♦ Dr. Blofeld  19:51, 14 July 2016 (UTC)

Images
Should there be points available for uploading relevant photos and adding them to articles? I think many West Country articles would benefit from the addition of one or more photos. &mdash; ''' Gas Head Steve [TALK] 20:04, 17 July 2016 (UTC)

Yes, perhaps you could create a hotlist of missing photographs and I'll see about giving points for them. The highest demand ones get more points..♦ Dr. Blofeld  07:06, 18 July 2016 (UTC)
 * I put links to the project missing photo cats but I'm not sure how you decide or indicate which are the "most important".Do you need to physicially take the photo yourself to get points or would uploading (suitably licenced) pics from Geograph or similar count?&mdash; Rod talk 07:58, 18 July 2016 (UTC)
 * For freshly taken photographs I think. Perhaps there's some Grade I listed buildings without photos or something?♦ Dr. Blofeld  08:02, 18 July 2016 (UTC)
 * We really don't have many grade I listed buildings completely without photos. But there are lots of articles with a <100kb geograph image that could be upgraded to a much better image.  Ϣere Spiel  Chequers  20:00, 18 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Rich Farmbrough maintains some lists of articles without images at User:Rich Farmbrough/temp138.  Ϣere Spiel  Chequers  20:00, 18 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Thanks - I wasn't aware of these. There is some overlap with those taggged on the talk pages but some are different. Would you be happy to move these from the front page of the challenge to the Missing photograph hotlist, otherwise that could be giving undue prominence to images over other improvement aspects?&mdash; Rod talk 07:59, 19 July 2016 (UTC)
 * I have no objection to them being reorganised that way.  Ϣere Spiel  Chequers  12:35, 19 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Thanks - done.&mdash; Rod talk 20:11, 19 July 2016 (UTC)

Timing

 * Could someone please translate "If participating in the contest, all entries for each county must be submitted between the above times after three days with each county," into English? Johnbod (talk) 16:09, 18 July 2016 (UTC)
 * There is three days allocated to each country. So articles must be submitted between 0:00 GMT on Day and 23:59 GMT on Day 3 of each one.♦ Dr. Blofeld  16:42, 18 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Surely each county, only Cornwall would claim to be a country and not everyone there would agree with that.  Ϣere Spiel  Chequers  16:30, 21 July 2016 (UTC)
 * It's a typo ;-)♦ Dr. Blofeld  18:11, 21 July 2016 (UTC)

English?
The implication is that this is just a contest for articles on the English language wikipedia, but I thought I'd just check, are articles about the West country eligible if on other languages?  Ϣere Spiel  Chequers  19:49, 18 July 2016 (UTC)

Any languages anybody wants to contribute in!♦ Dr. Blofeld  17:08, 19 July 2016 (UTC)


 * Yes, I'm also thinking about chipping in by writing articles about places in the West Country in other languages. Deryck C. 21:33, 20 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Thanks Doc. I've publicised this to the Georgian community and I think we'll have some interest there.  Ϣere Spiel  Chequers  16:28, 21 July 2016 (UTC)

Editathon
Feel free anybody to start contributing towards this and warming up to the official start next week. List the articles in New/improved articles section.♦ Dr. Blofeld  19:27, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

I'll try to start contributing to this myself this week.♦ Dr. Blofeld  18:07, 2 August 2016 (UTC)

Prize winning
, and others. I had originally intended giving the prize to whoever improves the most articles each day, but it occurred to me that I'm putting most of the funding into this daily prize system and it will be the winner of each contest and overall winner on points which will count and they're the ones who should be rewarded the most, so it makes more sense to give it to whoever scores the most points on one day.♦ Dr. Blofeld  13:57, 8 August 2016 (UTC)
 * OK by me - I'm not really after prizes but it does give a focus to my editing. NB I'm not going to have any internet access for the next few days (but I might have some photos for Devon articles when I get back).&mdash; Rod talk 14:01, 8 August 2016 (UTC)

Cakes?
I'm looking over the prizes... and I just don't see any cakes. The Welsh cakes were so good... I was wondering what I'm missing? WormTT(talk) 13:16, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

None, unless Rod's wife wants to make some scones, fudge or Cornish pasties for this ;-)?♦ Dr. Blofeld  18:41, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

Bristol
Good effort folks. Just one hour left now, it's very close for today's prize!♦ Dr. Blofeld  22:01, 10 August 2016 (UTC)

Core articles
What does tackling a core article (50 points) entail? Cwmhiraeth (talk) 09:27, 11 August 2016 (UTC)

The minimum expectation would be a full sourcing/ref cleanup. Technically you could edit a core article and improve it basically for 55 points but ideally we'd be looking for a full cleanup and a decent rewrite/expansion in parts for 75 points. But yes, you could go through the core articles and cleanup the sourcing and update/reinforce a bit and claim 55 points. I would have to see an example of what you'd do first though haha!♦ Dr. Blofeld  09:37, 11 August 2016 (UTC)
 * I thought there might be a requirement to add 1500 characters of prose. I've done two and will add them in to the score sheet now. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:17, 11 August 2016 (UTC)
 * If you do a 3kb expansion/rewrite of a core article which isn't a stub then it's 25 points extra on top of the 50. But only 5 extra for a basic sourcing/cleanup. If the core article is a stub though and you expand it to mininmum 1.5 kb in total then you'll get the 25 for destubbing.♦ Dr. Blofeld  10:45, 11 August 2016 (UTC)

Lost motivation..
Having stayed up until 23:59 GMT last night, waking up this morning was quite disheartening - Especially when it appears that RodW has added many articles which it appears he has worked on elsewhere and just submitted today. He clearly didn't write them all in the time they were submitted (that doesn't seem in the spirit of the competition?). We have really enjoyed this competition up until now as it has encouraged us to write articles. ツStacey (talk) 10:11, 14 August 2016 (UTC)
 * I'm sorry if my actions have caused you to loose motivation. I have not been able to contribute for the last few days as I have been away (in Devon) - hence I'm miles behind in any points scoring & the points don't really worry me anyway. When I came back from holiday I had some photos on the requested list which I have uploaded - 2 of which didn't have articles so I wrote them yesterday. I also expanded some stubs in my sandbox and uploaded these this morning - they have all been done in the last 24 hrs. If it would help to motivate you I will remove myself from the points scoring system and just contribute where I can (although I will not be able to do much in the next week anyway as A level results come out & I'm a university admissions tutor so will be a bit busy).&mdash; Rod talk 10:22, 14 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Oh, I hadn't realized he had just submitted them today, I will deduct the points for the articles not contributed today in keeping with the rules.♦ Dr. Blofeld  11:37, 14 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Happy to have the points removed (or just stop claiming points) but it may be worth clarifying the rules which say "All articles must be submitted..." not when they have to be written. Does this apply to photos I took a few days ago but didn't submit until this morning? Surely if someone wants to plan ahead and does the work to create/improve articles covered then that is still achieving the purpose of the contest.&mdash; Rod talk 11:43, 14 August 2016 (UTC)
 * I just checked Rod's new articles again, and they were all submitted today, which is in keeping with the rules. As with the Dragon contest it's well within the rules to submit work done offwiki or elsewhere as long as it's submitted within the days of the contest and the article is edited/improved within those days. Somebody could write 100 articles on Dorset for instance and sumbit them all when the contest arrives. That's permitted. You and Worm wouldn't have won the Cornwall contest anyway with those three articles which were done beyond midnight, I'm sorry though that you didn't realize it was intended as midnight summer time and that you stayed up late writing content.♦ Dr. Blofeld  11:45, 14 August 2016 (UTC)


 * Photographs ideally taken this month as I was saying to Gasheadsteve I think. Aren't they recent ones? I'm sure Rod doesn't really mind about points on this anyway..♦ Dr. Blofeld  11:51, 14 August 2016 (UTC)
 * The pics were all taken in the last week.&mdash; Rod talk 12:15, 14 August 2016 (UTC)
 * That's perfectly fine for photographs, thanks for taking the time to take them.♦ Dr. Blofeld  12:33, 14 August 2016 (UTC)
 * I don't think Stacey or I want your points removed Rodw, you've worked hard on those articles and photos. We've a busy week coming up too, so were trying to put in the effort above and beyond where we felt we could make a difference, and I know I felt it disheartening seeing that effort go unrecognised. WormTT(talk) 12:02, 14 August 2016 (UTC)
 * 98% of your work has been converted to points, and it's not time wasted anyway as the articles have been improved and help wikipedia and count towards the overall expansions, which is really the point of this. Seriously though, I can't bend the rules on submitting times though because before I know it others would be working hard on GAs and spending extra hours right at the end trying to get the points they need to win on one day. If I make an exception for you then it would cock up the whole contest as Sturm in particular has done a lot of work in our early hours, in the day his time in Texas and would have won on a few days if his work had counted towards that day. I thought I was very clear with the 0:00 and 23:59 times but my "GMT" seems to have confused you. I had thought it was obvious that it was strictly three days. Sorry. It really has to be strictly submitted between the 0:00 on Day 1 and 23:59 on Day 3 for several reasons. That 75 points could be made up with a quick core expansion today though.♦ Dr. Blofeld  12:10, 14 August 2016 (UTC)
 * It is disheartening not getting the points (which is how "credit" is given in this game) but I for one value your effort to improve wp. I also think it puts Dr. Blofeld in a difficult situation where there are conflicts and arguments - but someone has to do it.&mdash; Rod talk 12:15, 14 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Indeed, he's doing an excellent job too, I've dealt with enough conflict on Wikipedia to know that I wouldn't want to do the job! WormTT(talk) 12:17, 14 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Yes I'm trying to minimize conflict or difficulties. I know that if I approve those three articles later in the contest a few people will say "you permitted it for them" so these should count too, and sometimes it might be down to just 20 or 30 points and might make the difference in winning one of the subcontests at the last minute and people getting annoyed that they lost out on something. As I said anyway, you're nearly 300 points ahwad in the contest overall and everything to play for, so there's every reason to be motivated to continue. Now I could have placed a 1000 point penalty for submitting work late ;-)♦ Dr. Blofeld  12:30, 14 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Ok. We have a new game plan! ツStacey (talk) 12:44, 14 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Bring it on - great to see you "back in the game".&mdash; Rod talk 12:58, 14 August 2016 (UTC)

Saying GMT, but meaning BST has caught me out a few times as well, so I feel your pain. BTW, I think that there's a small error in the overall totals for Cornwall. Cwmhiraeth's total for the three days is 1325, not 1375, still enough to eke out the overall win, though.--Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 14:35, 14 August 2016 (UTC)

Frankly, I am amazed I managed to win any of the vouchers at all. Rod has an excellent track record for content, and I knew up front he was going to be a tough opponent, plus Sturmvogel is an experienced MILHIST editor who is doing a fine job in his specialist subject of naval ships, of which Plymouth in particular has a substantial history behind. I haven't edited much over the weekend because I have been busy doing lots of off-wiki things and enjoying the nice weather. There are of course plenty of articles I would like to work on, but I simply don't have time to do it. Perhaps next time we do this it might be easier to do rewards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd plus other prizes. Stacey, if you're staying up late to write articles when you'd rather not, you're taking it too seriously. Sit down with Worm and do something relaxing, like a movie and bottle of wine. Works for me. (except the wine bit, that is) Ritchie333 (talk) (cont)  10:46, 15 August 2016 (UTC)

Our dedicated judge
I think Dr B. is doing a great job on this contest, spending a lot of time organising it, negotiating prizes, making lists for our convenience, checking submissions, keeping things efficiently up to date, making wise decisions and sorting out disagreements. I would like to congratulate him on his dedication. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 09:35, 15 August 2016 (UTC)

Points
For future contests I'm definitely going to scrap the points system and simply make it # article count of mininmum 1.5 kb improvements/destubbing. We might get less GAs out of it but on several occasions now I've felt uncomfortable where contestants obviously feel hard done by by a points decision or felt that something has cost them something, that's the downside to running this. I think # number of articles would not only be easier to judge but would reduce the disputes or possible errors in vetting.♦ Dr. Blofeld  09:11, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
 * I think the point system works well as it encourages people to consider quality over quantity. However, I understand you wanting to make it simpler for yourself! I really think your contests are a huge success - you will always have people questioning rules whatever competition you run (its sign of people taking it seriously). I think in future you will have a longer list of rules to clear up some of the difficulties and that will help the next one continue to be a success. Despite my quibbles, we are still here editing articles specifically for the contest - we need a push to edit and competitions are always incentive enough. As I am sure Dave has said to you before, we find your contests the most enjoyable thing on Wikipedia at the moment - please don't change them because I moaned about a couple of rules! ツStacey (talk) 16:03, 16 August 2016 (UTC)

Break
,, , , etc. What would people say to a week's break after today before the Dorset contest starts? We're half way through but it might help replenish the batteries and enthusiasm if we have a week's break in between rather than 21 days straight.♦ Dr. Blofeld  10:27, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Suits me. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:38, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
 * I think a break sounds very sensible. Three straight weeks of fairly intense editing is quite hard work, so I think a little breather will help keep it fun and stop it from becoming a chore. &mdash;  Gas Head Steve [TALK] 11:18, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Sounds fine to me. And Dr. B, you're doing twice the work of the rest of us, so if anyone deserves the break, it's you. <b style="text-shadow:0 -1px #DDD,1px 0 #DDD,0 1px #DDD,-1px 0 #DDD; color:#000;">Worm</b>TT(<b style="color:#060;">talk</b>) 11:40, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
 * OK, but me, but I've already started ;-) Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 12:47, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
 * I wasn't in the pings (probably because I only edit intermittently) but OK by me. Can I check - if people do things in their sandbox (maybe at the weekend when they have some time available) & then upload when the contest restarts is that going to be considered a problem?&mdash; Rod talk 13:33, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Sounds fine. I'm on day 7 of my #100wikidays, so I'll be writing one new article every day with or without the contest. I'll just change where I look for subjects until the contest resumes. Or not; just found a bunch more Devon women in need of articles... Penny Richards (talk) 14:04, 16 August 2016 (UTC)

It's fine to continue with the West Country biographies during the offweek too, any from any of the counties, though you won't get the points, which I'm sure won't bother you too much!♦ Dr. Blofeld  15:52, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I've got a few more Devon ships that I'd planned to get done until things were derailed by my attempts to conquer the world.--Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 17:35, 16 August 2016 (UTC)

OK, The Dorset contest will now start on the 24th August, and everything set back a week so it'll end in early September.♦ Dr. Blofeld  15:53, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Okay, I can get back to my pet Monopoly miniproject :-) <b style="color:#7F007F">Ritchie333</b> <sup style="color:#7F007F">(talk) <sup style="color:#7F007F">(cont)  18:11, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
 * 264 article improvements already is amazing I think! Well done everybody!♦ Dr. Blofeld  10:59, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

GA question
I've just been reading the updated GA rules and I was wondering about a Cornish article - Freda Corbet - which I thought was close. If I manage to get it over the line, can I claim points (not tied to any day)? <b style="text-shadow:0 -1px #DDD,1px 0 #DDD,0 1px #DDD,-1px 0 #DDD; color:#000;">Worm</b>TT(<b style="color:#060;">talk</b>) 09:26, 18 August 2016 (UTC)

If you get it to GA next week, yes you'll get 200 points to overall contest score if you write and nominate it for GA when the contest resumes next week, but not added to Cornwall contest. You're free to continue working on it in your sandbox for submitting next week. A lot of advantage later in the contest could potentially be gained if this week is used well, hopefully it gives people more time to work on things like GAs for improving overall contest scores.♦ Dr. Blofeld  09:37, 18 August 2016 (UTC)

Welcome back!
Hope everybody is feeling more refreshed to continue now, good luck with Dorset!♦ Dr. Blofeld  07:27, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

Good job everybody on Dorset, I think that one has been my favourite one so far! I almost wish that we were running it for a few more days as I was enjoying editing when I found a bit of time!♦ Dr. Blofeld  10:40, 27 August 2016 (UTC)


 * I thought Dorset easier and more enjoyable than Gloucestershire. Please could you check the scoring for Day 14. One of my contributions seems to have been omitted from the scoreboard. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 17:22, 29 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Part of the problem with Gloucestershire may have been the lack of articles included in both the Core articles and stub lists. I found today that loads of articles which I should have included in the lists were not tagged and therefore not included. I have done some today but there are loads more at Category:Gloucestershire which still haven't been tagged with the project . If these had been included it would have made the county easier. Having worked on Somerset articles for the last 10 years + I think the issues will be slightly different, with few of those in the core article list still at stub class (and I have already expanded some of these in my sandboxes ready to upload in the morning). When I set the lists up I didn't realise quite what the focus of the competition was & would have excluded those already at FA or GA if I had known. One of the things I am disappointed about is that issues on cleanup lists (eg Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset - Dorset, Gloucestershire & Wiltshire don't have them) do not get any points and therefore don't get tackled during the competition. The other area I have been working on is the missing photo categories (see Missing photograph hotlist) where I have been trying to combine the bot produced lists with the categories & upload pics from Geograph or use those already on commons, however again this doesn't gain points. However I have been impressed with the number of participants and articles which have been started or improved during the competition so far, and would like to thank everyone for their contributions.&mdash; Rod talk 17:55, 29 August 2016 (UTC)

Yes I know, I asked to go through and tag them.♦  Dr. Blofeld  18:37, 29 August 2016 (UTC)
 * There's 5 points for basic cleanup.. If you'd listed articles which needed cleanup for each I could have given higher points for cleaning them up. If you do that for the remaining counties I'll increase the points.♦ Dr. Blofeld  18:38, 29 August 2016 (UTC)
 * A lots of these are very minor & on Devon you said "To give you the 5 points on each of those you'd have to do some sort of content addition or multiple reference cleanup I think!" so I struck those claims.&mdash; Rod talk 19:07, 29 August 2016 (UTC)
 * I don't think I was aware they were on any list. If its' very basic cleanup I think 5 points is fine. It's if it's a major cleanup of an important article which should be worth more. Just don't want to disappoint you or anybody!♦ Dr. Blofeld  19:18, 29 August 2016 (UTC)

Which one was that ?♦ Dr. Blofeld  17:43, 29 August 2016 (UTC)
 * WWT Slimbridge Cwmhiraeth (talk) 17:54, 29 August 2016 (UTC)
 * During the Gloucestershire minichallenge I have submitted three articles for GAN, Severn bore, Severn Railway Bridge and WWT Slimbridge. I am not expecting to get the 200 bonus until they pass GAN, if they do, but I am entitled to the 75 points for 3K expansions of each one as a core articles and this is what I have not had. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 18:39, 29 August 2016 (UTC)
 * I checked and it was actually a typo it should have been 225 not 125. I've added the hundred. Will give the + 400 once they pass GA.♦ Dr. Blofeld  18:54, 29 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 19:43, 29 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Because of the issue on WWT I missed the +200 on that one too, sorry about that, so you will get the prize that day once the articles all pass GA. Perhaps for the next county I will make people list entries under a given day under their user names to make it easier to see what points belong to what.♦ Dr. Blofeld  19:50, 29 August 2016 (UTC)

500 articles
Four days left, well five including today. The final one will be a four day contest for Wiltshire. Let's see if we can pass the 500 article mark!♦ Dr. Blofeld  08:42, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

Core article minimum requirement
OK, I realize that I've been lenient with awarding core article points to some of the contestants as it was intended to be minimum 1.5 kb prose expansion and I've awarded points for expansions as low as 500-1 kb. Sorry about this but it's too late to go back now and count all the prose that anybody has added. Until the end of the competition now it's minimum 0.5 kb of readable prose, so please make sure that your entries have that.♦ Dr. Blofeld  13:20, 1 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Honestly, I hadn't seen that the rule on core articles was different, I thought we were just trying to bring them above the 1.5k line. I generally add everything I can find so articles do range from 1.5k to 3 or 4k - if there are any in particular you are concerned about just point me to them and I'll revisit them. I'll make sure I've added more in the next round, I don't expect I'll be doing any more core article this round - they're pretty much all done! <b style="text-shadow:0 -1px #DDD,1px 0 #DDD,0 1px #DDD,-1px 0 #DDD; color:#000;">Worm</b>TT(<b style="color:#060;">talk</b>) 13:24, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

I've relaxed the ruling to 0.5kb from now until the end, but I don't know if there were some articles you expanded which might have been under 1kb added prose, try to at least pass the 1kb mark anyway. Perhaps some of the others could identify articles that they might consider way too short in terms of expansions?♦ Dr. Blofeld  13:32, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

50 points
I've upgraded the scoring for destubbing to 50 points now for the last four days. Take advantage of it!♦ Dr. Blofeld  14:10, 1 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Is it too early to ask what you plan for a finale, if you even plan to do one? <b style="text-shadow:0 -1px #DDD,1px 0 #DDD,0 1px #DDD,-1px 0 #DDD; color:#000;">Worm</b>TT(<b style="color:#060;">talk</b>) 14:16, 1 September 2016 (UTC)
 * No finale, just a four day contest for Wiltshire instead of 3, an increase in points for destubbing, and a relaxing of the Core article expansion guideline that's all!♦ Dr. Blofeld  14:53, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

Closing stages
I badly need a break from here right now for a number of reasons, but as I've committed to run this and WMUK have entrusted me with the responsibility I will see it through until the end. I don't want to let anybody down. You've all produced terrific work during this and stand out on a site full of negative people. So I'll hang in there for four more days, but I may not be as quick with the updating as I'll be checking in rather than spending a lot of time on here. Good luck for Wiltshire!♦ Dr. Blofeld  16:17, 1 September 2016 (UTC)
 * I'd be quite happy for a postponement of the final round of a few weeks, if that will help. I'd rather you didn't burn yourself out over this! <b style="text-shadow:0 -1px #DDD,1px 0 #DDD,0 1px #DDD,-1px 0 #DDD; color:#000;">Worm</b>TT(<b style="color:#060;">talk</b>) 16:21, 1 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Oh running the contest has been nothing but a genuine delight, seeing the amount of material produced. The contest isn't the reason at all, but the fact that I've lost five close friends on here in the last few days, the ongoing infobox wars and arguments and the general mean spiritness of people on the site, the lack of ability to interact socially and assume good faith. But I know that when this site gets unbearable you really need to walk away from it for a bit. I promise I'll update the scoring for the remainder of the contest over the next few days but it'll be done later in the evening. We could of course end Somerset today and then have Wiltshire for three days rather than four and then a finale later in the month to close this out, but I suspect that most people will just want to finish this in the next four days and get on with other editing. Up to you. Sorry about this anyway, but you all know how exasperating this site can be at times.♦  Dr. Blofeld  16:31, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

Let's just finish this on the 4th September I think on Sunday, makes most sense, three days as with the others. I'm off now, I'll update the scores from today sometime after 9pm. Cheers.♦ Dr. Blofeld  17:12, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

GA Reviews needed
Somebody please consider reviewing one of the following:


 * Severn bore
 * Severn Railway Bridge
 * WWT Slimbridge
 * HMS Gloucester (1909)
 * Rodmarton Manor
 * Herbert E. Balch
 * Burton Pynsent House
 * Lacock Abbey


 * I will review the ship. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 05:30, 30 August 2016 (UTC)

As I don't have nine pairs of eyes I would appreciate being alerted on wiki whenever an article passes GA so I can update the scoreboard, it's impossible for me to monitor multiple pages and keep tabs on them all.♦ Dr. Blofeld  08:06, 31 August 2016 (UTC)
 * I'm not going to have time to work much on articles, but I can fit one of these in.--Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 15:08, 31 August 2016 (UTC)

Next time we'll really have to allocate a prize for prompt GA reviews I think, the backlog stemming back to Gloucestershire has been getting confusing! I hope I haven't messed up too much! We should be updated with Cwm and Sturm's points now though.♦ Dr. Blofeld  09:05, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

Been sidetracked, I'll announce the winner of Somerset later this evening, signing out now.♦ Dr. Blofeld  16:44, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

3 - 3
3-3 now in mini contests wins between Cwmhiraeth and Worm and Stacey! Wiltshire will settle it! Remember 100 points now for core article destubs. A quick destub of any article worth 50 points. Worm and Stacey getting closer now to Cwm's overall score again... The winner of course is the highest scorer overall, but if one of you win Wiltshire contest there's also that added bonus of knowing you won the most subcontests ;-)♦ Dr. Blofeld  19:49, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

Indications of effect
For one indicator of the effect of this contest you may like to look at the last few days on the Somerset articles by quality log, which I have on my watchlist (sad person that I am). Similar indicators may be available for the other counties.&mdash; Rod talk 06:41, 3 September 2016 (UTC)

Well done to all
Great to you've passed the 500 articles improved/added mark. Well done to all! Robevans123 (talk) 20:50, 4 September 2016 (UTC)

Yes, it's a great achievement. It's roughly on par with Dragon if not slightly more productive as if you exclude the 300 or so automated stubs and that this was just 3 weeks and Dragon already had a lot created before April we'd have cleared 700 if we had another week. Though not as many GAs of course, but the focus on this was always more destubbing and cleanup anyway. Testament to how great the work on Wiltshire has been today, browsing google maps and I'm recognizing names all across the county from articles coming in, so well done!♦ Dr. Blofeld  20:54, 4 September 2016 (UTC)


 * Well done everyone! Work and childcare responsibilities meant that I wasn't able to contribute as much as I would have liked, but it was good fun, and I think it was a very worthwhile exercise. Congratulations to all the prize winners over the course of the contest, and thank you to Dr. Blofeld for all the hard work put into running it. &mdash;  Gas Head Steve [TALK] 21:43, 4 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Lots of people involved and plenty of articles destubbed. I thought Wiltshire particularly enjoyable because the stub list was long and varied, many of the stubs I expanded were a decent size and well-referenced already, and the Wiltshire community history was an excellent resource. I wasn't enthusiastic at the beginning of the Challenge, but it grew on me, and in the end I found it very enjoyable. Well done for a well-organised event, Dr. Blofeld! Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:18, 5 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Yes, well done all! I meant to do more, but didn't get round to it. The short timescales rather put me off, I must admit. Johnbod (talk) 14:41, 5 September 2016 (UTC)
 * I'd also like to thank everyone involved (especially User:Dr. Blofeld) for their contributions. I will admit I have been surprised at how effective it has been and surpassed my original thoughts when this competition was originally suggested. I presume some sort of report will be written (perhaps for WikiMedia UK who put up the prize money) so that we can all learn from everyones' experiences to inform future developments and competitions?&mdash; Rod talk 15:07, 5 September 2016 (UTC)
 * I'd echo Rod's thoughts - a good idea. Hchc2009 (talk) 17:50, 5 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Karla Marte at WMUK should be sorting out a report later in month, so contact her if you want to provide input.♦ Dr. Blofeld  09:25, 6 September 2016 (UTC)

Comments from a non-combatant:
 * I thought about trying for some points but this evaporated on the first day when I saw the impressive amounts of work by several editors; I'm not in the same league.
 * Timescale was too short for me also. Wiltshire is my home county but fell on a weekend when I was busy elsewhere.  Same overall duration but just for 1 or 2 counties would suit me better.
 * 1,500 characters is a bit high for an article on a small village. Small amounts of padding were added to achieve this goal, e.g. listing selected Grade II buildings. Wire723 (talk) 09:38, 6 September 2016 (UTC)
 * There was nothing stopping you contributing articles to Wiltshire throughout the three weeks if the timeframe for the challenges were too short for you and other contestants were putting you off.. It was very much an editathon as well as a contest and for people who might improve/create articles to add to the overall main list but not compete for prizes. If I didn't have a county sepcific focus a lot of areas which we improved wouldn't have got covered and I couldn't make it longer than 3 days because the contest would start to cause burnout.♦ Dr. Blofeld  09:55, 6 September 2016 (UTC)

WikiProject England/The South East England Challenge
Though I'm sure people will be glad that this is now over, if anybody here would be interested in participating in the next British regional challenge in November, same format as this sign up there. Though I'm not yet sure on November or the length (might cut to two day per county and have a break in the middle) if you support the idea at least.♦ Dr. Blofeld  22:01, 4 September 2016 (UTC)
 * This one has been fun - look forward to the next. :) Hchc2009 (talk) 17:48, 5 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Sign up at WikiProject England/The South East England Challenge then, too. I think that one will be more a Good Article contest than a challenge like this one but we'll see. Ideally it would be split into two, one a mini county contest and the other part a GA contest.♦  Dr. Blofeld  09:25, 6 September 2016 (UTC)

Bonus £70
I'm away from here for a week, but if anybody feels like working on any of the following articles this month I'll offer a £10 voucher per article to whoever can promote each of the following to GA by the end of the month. Gloucester, Geography of Somerset, Clifton, Bristol, St Ives, Exeter, Dorchester, Trowbridge. Collaboration is permitted of course and the winnings may be split (but multiple people will have had to have made significant contributions to claim) but the offer is there for anybody who takes it up. Whoever successfully completes one will be declared as one of the bonus winners on the main page. The deadline is September 30 for nominating.♦ Dr. Blofeld  16:30, 5 September 2016 (UTC)
 * I propose having a go at the Geography of Somerset. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 18:55, 6 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Great you will find a lot of stuff in Geology of Somerset which should really be in the Geography article (but the geology one was done first).&mdash; Rod talk 19:45, 6 September 2016 (UTC)

Now offering £70 worth of books to anybody who promotes two or more of the following to GA status by September 30.


 * Clifton
 * Dorchester
 * Exeter
 * Geography of Somerset
 * Gloucester
 * St Ives
 * Trowbridge

See the main page section for instructions. ♦ Dr. Blofeld  11:12, 7 September 2016 (UTC)

WikiProject Women in Red/The World Contest
Hi, I don't know if anybody is watching this still but I invite anybody to sign up for the women contest, over $4000 to win, the UK will be a part of it, articles on women from the West Country could be a part of it. Hopefully we can run another contest sometime!♦ Dr. Blofeld  16:04, 10 June 2017 (UTC)