Wikipedia talk:WikiProject United States Presidents/Archive 1

Template
Hi, Eisenhower, can you make a template for this project?Ray-Ray 01:03, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

American Presidents only?

 * Hi, just found this page from the Community Portal. From the page, it appears that this project is about American presidents. If this is so, I'd suggest that you move this to WikiProject American Presidents or something similar. Good luck! —Mira Luka 03:57, 14 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I came here to say much the same. WP:CSB may not be happy! --Midnighttonight 05:22, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I'll make it about other Presidents to then. Nevermind, how do you change the name of your project?Ray-Ray 15:26, 14 May 2006 (UTC)


 * I've moved it to US Presidents. Also, are we sure the adopt-an-article thing is a good idea? People aren't going to be around full time, so putting teams to work in such timescales may not actually work. Perhaps best to have various articles to choose from, so that people with knowledge on one subject can add to their specialism. Also, as many of the articles have a lot of information already, it might be that the articles need more editing than expansion... ConDem Talk 17:56, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I like it though...Ray-Ray 19:21, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

for Eisenhower...
Would you like to be in my group for the A.A.A.? (Adopt-A-Article)


 * Sure. But people who supports deletion herehere I DO NOT want to work with. General Eisenhower • (at war or at peace) 21:33, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Collaborations
I think the collaborations need to be changed - with the exception of Grant and Johnson, they are all already featured articles, and so any improvement we could make would be extremely minor. ConDem Talk 23:28, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

ok, I will!Ray-Ray 23:41, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

What is going on? This project is about US Presidents, not Spanish monarchs or musicals. ConDem Talk 23:48, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

sorry, can you help me find some good articles? but george washington has to stay!Ray-Ray 23:54, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I can't do much at the moments, because I'm meant to be revising for my exams. But if you want this project to go places, find some US President articles that are in need of improvement. Take a look at them, and if they already seem really good, there's not much point. Unfortunately, I think most of them are already quite extensive, but some of the really minor presidents could use some work - how about adding them to the list? ConDem Talk 23:58, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Now I'm done!Ray-Ray 00:15, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Assess the material and define your scope
I would like to pose two questions: (one) does this project cover things like the White House that relate to the presidents or just the biographies? And two, since we only have 42 biographies to work with (Grover Cleveland served twice), how about completeing the table below?--HereToHelp 01:28, 16 May 2006 (UTC)


 * In fact, how about we template that? WikiProject US Presidents/1.0 Rankings.--HereToHelp 01:34, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I guess I should add that you should use these rankings, and that you are now part of the Version 1.0 Work via WikiProjects team!--HereToHelp 01:39, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Partner needed...
Will someone be my partner?--Gangsta-Easter-Bunny 15:34, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

there is also another userbox that general Eisenhower made, but he hasnt put it on the project page yet...Ray-Ray 16:02, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Suggestions
Might i suggest you create a banner for talk pages, like the one at Talk:James Monroe (and possibly coordinate with the WikiProject U.S. Congress. :) -Quiddity 17:17, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

For newbies
Though I don't like to admit it, I am a noob. I have never worked on a project before and am relatively new to this. However, i would like to join your group (i added myself to the members list). What should I be doing? And how much knowledge do I need (All I have is the recent finish of an APUSH course in school)? TheGodEmperor 01:31, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
 * We know; the red (nonfunctioning) link to your userpage is a dead giveaway. But as long as you make useful edits, we'll take you in. Start researching, or better yet, complete those ratings from a few posts up and then we'll know what needs it most. As for more on Wikipedia in general...just a moment, let me welcome you. (Always put new stuff on the bottom of talk pages).--HereToHelp 01:49, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Question
Do you guys include Acting Presidents (Dick Cheney is the only Acting President thusfar not to be a president as Bush Sr. was elected right after his Vice Presidency)? Also, given that you cover some articles relating to US Presidents, do you plan to work on the ultimate presidential urban legend, David Rice Atchison? Staxringold 23:23, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Dunno. When we're done with these we can move on to the Vice Presidents.--HereToHelp 00:57, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I asked about Cheney not because he is VP, but because he was Acting President of the United States for a couple of hours. I was wondering if you folks included them (well, thusfar because as I said with Bush Sr. being elected regular President, HIM, referring to Cheney) as president(s). Staxringold 01:11, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
 * This is a new project; we really don't know. We haven't even assesed what we have!--HereToHelp 02:18, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Council
Why don't we elect council members? And if a team's article becomes featured, does the team get a position on the council?--71.30.192.15 01:25, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I agree. Frankly, that's just a way to spark bad feelings with no redeeming value. It's what you do, not your position, that counts. Would anyone oppose disolving the council?--HereToHelp 02:17, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I didn't mean to dissolve the council. I meant why don't we elect members or if a team's page gets featured, do they get a spot? Just askin' and givin' ideas, y'all. Notin' else.- G a  n  g  s  t  a [[Image:Flag of Kentucky.svg|Kentucky|20px]] E  as  t  e  r [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|United States|20px]] B  u  n  n  y -18:13, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Dissolve except for president, who will do all jobs of the council but no edits.- Gang sta - E  a  ster - Bunny -(22:36, 20 May 2006 (UTC))

Page Template
Here it is: The code is WP:USP-A.- G a  n  g  s  t  a  E  as  t  e  r  B  u  n  n  y -18:16, 18 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Don't put that up anywhere yet. Let me work on it, but I'm busy now.--HereToHelp 20:21, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I made some serious modifications. Oh, check out this cool feature:


 * makes this:


 * Of course, we have to finish ranking everything before we put this in, so we have more time to improve it.--HereToHelp 23:45, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I was thinking about having something about the importance of the articles, but most of these are Top or High, and arguably all Top. So there's no real point.--HereToHelp 23:56, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Bush Article
This is an article we won't be able to work on till 2008. Updaters will probably put in POV (just like the news). So we will either (A) don't work on that article till 2008, or (B) get two teams to work on it. Think about it, Ray-Ray.- G a  n  g  s  t  a  E  as  t  e  r  B  u  n  n  y -18:22, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Proposed portal
I have been working on Portals for a while, and have put together a proposed new portal to cover U.S. Government topics. The proposal is at Portal/Proposals, with a mock-up of the portal at User:Kmf164/United States Government. For a better idea of how portals work, check out Featured portals. My thoughts were to use part of the portal to highlight featured articles and pictures. Another part of it could highlight current events (news stories, as well as things like current/pending legislation, nominations, Supreme Court cases/decisions, etc.). The third part could be some topic directory. The last section could highlight WikiProjects and things to do. I think the scope of the portal should include both what's current, as well as historical aspects. I'd like to welcome any suggestions on improving the draft. Also, would anyone here be interested in helping to maintain it, should it be approved. Maintenance would most importantly involve keeping the current events updated, but also choosing articles and pictures to feature, maintaining the list of articles/categories, etc. I think the best place to provide input is at User_talk:Kmf164/United_States_Government. Thanks. --Aude ( talk | contribs ) 19:57, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

Presidential Stub
Should we make a stub for presidential categories?--Gangsta-Easter-Bunny 21:56, 18 May 2006 (UTC)(actually I'm working on it) (too late!)
 * Here it is- [[Image:Seal Of The President Of The Unites States Of America.svg|30px|Seal of the President of the United States]] This U.S. President-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by . --USP-stub
 * Uh...do we have any use for it? I mean, we have B-Class or better for everything. Don't rush head long into these sorts of things. Yes, be bold, but we don't need it.--HereToHelp 22:47, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Eventually we may need it though. (For Presidential parties and conventions, etc.)- Gang sta - E  a  ster - Bunny -(00:04, 19 May 2006 (UTC))

New Council Ideas
The council should be elected. The President will have 6-month terms. The Vice-President will be elected with the President(running mates). The Secretary will have 3-month terms. The Newbie Welcomer will have a 1-month term. The Librarian will have 4-week terms, and project relations will have 2-week terms.--Gangsta-Easter-Bunny 01:29, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

If this works I am running for Project Relations.--Gangsta-Easter-Bunny 01:33, 19 May 2006 (UTC)
 * On the contrary, I think the council should be disolved. It is nothing but an impediment to improving articles. Just get out there and start improving stuff.--HereToHelp 01:55, 19 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I think the council is quite good. The President's job would be to look over the project. The Vice-President would look over the council more than the project. If the President (A) resigned, or (B) is caught vandalising U.S. presidential articles three times, s/he is impeached and the Vice-President takes over. The secretary would look after the templates, article status, project advertising... The newbie welcomer will welcome newbies. The librarian will find resources (wikipedian and non-wikipedia). Project relations will make sure we come out all right with other projects and MfD's. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Gangsta-Easter-Bunny (talk • contribs) 12:55, 19 May 2006.
 * I'm still not convinced.--HereToHelp 20:16, 19 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Why can't we all do whatever we want or can to help with President articles and associated templates, etc? Why on earth do we need a Council? That's the kind of thing which makes the project look like a fun club made up by school kids, rather than something designed to improve an encyclopedia. ConDem Talk 01:32, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Amen! It's not your position but your contributions. Let's avoid bureaucracy whereever possible. We need something more like an adhocracy.--HereToHelp 03:02, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Dissolve the council!!!!! See above.- President G  a  n  g  staEB -14:36, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

New course of action
I've finished assessing all of our material and have found some patterns: (1) there is a lot of stuff. If we do one a week, we still need about a year. (2) The A-Class articles need to be shortened, the B-Class articles need to be expanded, and a few A-Class articles are just about ready for an FAC. Here's what I propose: we have three Collaborations each week, chosen informally, from topics that need expansion (mostly B-Class), shortening (mostly A-Class), and tweaks, either for an FAC or to revisit something featured. This system would probably replace AAA, because while they are not mutally exclusive, they are redundant to each other. I have made a draft in my sandbox.--HereToHelp 17:47, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Sounds like a great idea. ConDem Talk 00:36, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I've moved it to WikiProject U.S. Presidents/Collaborations. Please discuss it here, though.--HereToHelp 01:36, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I haven't seen any activity—please don't let this WikiProject become inactive—so if no one objects soon, I'll put this in and scrap AAA (hey, it's starting to look like a one man project.)--HereToHelp 01:18, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Done.--HereToHelp 11:44, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

Community Portal
Somebody created WikiProject U.S. Presidents/Community Portal and, not to be mean, but it's pretty much worthless. Anyone concur to delete it?--HereToHelp 11:44, 23 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Yup. ConDem Talk 16:35, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

Logo
We need a logo.
 * I think the Presidental Seal, without modifications, would suffice. And the barnstarr is kind of unnecessary, too. Remember that we probably should not modify these sorts of images without good (encyclopedia-related) reason. We don't need our own barnstar.--HereToHelp 11:17, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

O.K.--Gangsta-Easter-Bunny 12:45, 26 May 2006 (UTC)


 * I'm going to put these up for deletion. --HereToHelp 12:59, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

Nominate articles for Portal:United States
I've worked for the past month to update Portal:United States and keep it better maintained. Though, I think the portal would be even better with broader participation. One way to do that is instead of choosing the "selected article" myself each week, if others would nominate articles and help make decisions. (same goes for pictures, though these are stocked up through July 29) Articles about U.S. Presidents (and other U.S. politics) are welcome on the portal, as it's intended to cover all topics relating to the U.S.  If you would like to nominate or weigh in on what should be featured, please visit the portal. Thanks. --Aude ( talk contribs ) 21:36, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

Portal:Presidency of the United States
Yo guys - terribly sorry but I didn't "know of your existence." Please do check this portal out and contribute. Rama's arrow 17:59, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Invitation
I just wanted to let you know that the Biography WikiProject has been reorganized and we wanted to see if you guys were interested in merging with us? We've reorganized it so that it's more like the Military history project with task forces for the specialized areas. One of the task forces we could create could be Politicians-- by merging with us and becoming a task force, you wouldn't lose anything! You'd keep your same page here, it would just be redirected to Politicians task force (which we'd create) and you would continue as before, except that instead you'd also gain the benefits of being part of a larger project. We would give you a parameter to our Project banner (politicians-task-force=yes) and a note would appear that says the article is a part of that task force (see example on military history article), plus having peer reviews and collaborations, and being able to grade articles by class and importance so that the articles can be part of the WP:1.0 project and much more... Let me know what you think! If you are interested, you need to add your name to the task force vote we're currently having plange 16:15, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
 * That might work except the project is all but abandoned...I'm probably the only one who still watches the page. A "Selected president" on a separate portal might be interesting.--HereToHelp 17:29, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Then come join our politicians task force :-) plange 17:32, 31 July 2006 (UTC)
 * I said I watch the page...but I guess I, like everyone else, don't have the same enthusiasm as I did when this started. I may help out, I may not; my schedule's looking busy. But feel free to make use of what there is...the version 1.0 rankings, for instance.--HereToHelp 17:57, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Project Directory
Hello. The WikiProject Council is currently in the process of developing a master directory of the existing WikiProjects to replace and update the existing WikiProject Council/Directory. These WikiProjects are of vital importance in helping wikipedia achieve its goal of becoming truly encyclopedic. Please review the following pages:
 * User:Badbilltucker/Culture Directory,
 * User:Badbilltucker/Culture Directory 2,
 * User:Badbilltucker/Philosophy and religion Directory,
 * User:Badbilltucker/Sports Directory,
 * User:Badbilltucker/Geographical Directory,
 * User:Badbilltucker/Geographical Directory/United States, (note: This page will be retitled to more accurately reflect its contents)
 * User:Badbilltucker/History and society directory, and
 * User:Badbilltucker/Science directory

and make any changes to the entries for your project that you see fit. There is also a directory of portals, at User:B2T2/Portal, listing all the existing portals. Feel free to add any of them to the portals or comments section of your entries in the directory. The three columns regarding assessment, peer review, and collaboration are included in the directory for both the use of the projects themselves and for that of others. Having such departments will allow a project to more quickly and easily identify its most important articles and its articles in greatest need of improvement. If you have not already done so, please consider whether your project would benefit from having departments which deal in these matters. It is my hope to have the existing directory replaced by the updated and corrected version of the directory above by November 1. Please feel free to make any changes you see fit to the entries for your project before then. If you should have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you. B2T2 22:43, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Sorry if you tried to update it before, and the corrections were gone. I have now moved the new draft in the old directory pages, so the links should work better. My apologies for any confusion this may have caused you. B2T2 14:40, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia Day Awards
Hello, all. It was initially my hope to try to have this done as part of Esperanza's proposal for an appreciation week to end on Wikipedia Day, January 15. However, several people have once again proposed the entirety of Esperanza for deletion, so that might not work. It was the intention of the Appreciation Week proposal to set aside a given time when the various individuals who have made significant, valuable contributions to the encyclopedia would be recognized and honored. I believe that, with some effort, this could still be done. My proposal is to, with luck, try to organize the various WikiProjects and other entities of wikipedia to take part in a larger celebrartion of its contributors to take place in January, probably beginning January 15, 2007. I have created yet another new subpage for myself (a weakness of mine, I'm afraid) at User talk:Badbilltucker/Appreciation Week where I would greatly appreciate any indications from the members of this project as to whether and how they might be willing and/or able to assist in recognizing the contributions of our editors. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 22:28, 29 December 2006 (UTC)