Archive 01 Archive 02 Archive 03
Hello,
Please keep your comments civil. and sign your posts. Anonymous and offensive comments will be deleted.
Cheers ChiragPatnaik ( talk) 07:09, 18 August 2008 (UTC)
Some countries don't have navies. what of those? redirect ot Military? Also some countries will be protectorates and as such will not have Navies and will have the navies of the parent country associated with it. ChiragPatnaik ( talk) 03:02, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
There is only one section left (including its subsections) that needs to be completed before the pages are ready for Around the World:
There are a few more things that need to be completed before the lists can be moved into the main namespace:
Moving these lists into the main namespace could have a huge impact on their development, because then each list will fall under the scope of the WikiProjects of the respective countries. That's a lot of WikiProjects that may become involved with refining and maintaining these lists.
The move will be accompanied with the placing of new sections on each of the WikiProject pages, their talk pages, placing banners on the talk pages of each list, and including links to these lists in hatnotes on the relevant articles and portals, and placing section links in the see also sections of relevant articles (Geography of x, Military of x, etc.). Lots of AWB work.
The Transhumanist 00:46, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
Raju G. C. Thomas is the Allis Chalmers Distinguished Professor of International Affairs, Marquette University. Among his dozen books, edited and co-edited, are Indian Security Policy (1986); Perspectives on Kashmir (1994); Democracy, Security and Development in India (1996); and India’s Nuclear Security (2001).
The Encyclopedia of India has the above mentioned reference about Raju Thomas.
The article was very hard to edit for me because I still don't have my hands on the latest quotes for newspaper and television yet (The Thomson Gale version of the Encyclopedia of India was released in 2006, and the citations date from that time).
Give me some time, my first effort was to make the article respectable and informative compared to its original state. I'll try and do more as time progresses.
Thanks and regards, JSR ( talk) 18:31, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
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The Working Man's Barnstar | |
From the several pages that I've watchlisted, I noticed your efforts in getting the articles rid of the spam links. In thorough appreciation of your tireless efforts, I present you this barnstar. Regards, Mspraveen ( talk) 19:19, 22 August 2008 (UTC) |
The article I deleted consisted of just "dibo the gift dragon is a dragon that gives gifts to his friends" along with a few characters' names, so it really didn't give enough context to identify the subject as being a kids' TV show. I deleted that version in accordance with Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion case A1, article provides no context. If someone were to recreate the article with more context (like, at the minimum, saying it's a cartoon show that airs on various networks), I wouldn't have any objections to it. -- Elkman (Elkspeak) 03:15, 23 August 2008 (UTC)
Dear ChiragPatnaik,
Thank you for applying for NPWatcher! You've been approved to use it. Before you run the program, please check the changelog on the application page to see if there is a newer release (or just add the main page ( here) to your watchlist). Report any bugs or feature suggestion here. If you need help, feel free to contact me or join NPWatcher.
Gb T/ c 08:37, 23 August 2008 (UTC)
Good job on the navy redirects.
And since we're on the subject of armed forces, the Army of x links on the country lists need redirects too.
I've made you a list for your convenience at: User:ChiragPatnaik/Armies
Have fun. :)
The Transhumanist 00:26, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
Chiragji, its going to take longer for me to edit on Indian media to accurately describe current statistics. I should have the article ready by Tuesday and I'll be asking you to give the article a review then. Allow me till Monday :-) JSR ( talk) 09:08, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
hello! i appologize for the the bothers i have caused you. You have just sent me a vandalising warning. Explanation: I wanted to move the article to a different name and i didn't know about the move option so i simply copied and pasted it. Rokpok ( talk) 17:26, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
I would also like to ask for some help, if you are an admin that is. How can i move an article to a different title if that title already exists and redirects to the article that should be moved. the case is about the secondary schools in slovenia (specifically grammar schools Bežigrad, First in Celje, Poljane, Novo mesto) for which the arguments are: 1.the term gimnazija is specific to the slovene educational system (although similar to gimnazije in the former Yugoslavia or gymnasiums in Germany). 2.official name of the school should be used (that is also the practice for other counties) So they should all be moved to their official names Rokpok ( talk) 17:33, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
When you are done with the armies, User:ChiragPatnaik/Air Forces is waiting for you. :)
The Transhumanist 23:24, 25 August 2008 (UTC)
You are responsible for you actions with Huggle. Please read all revisions you make, as your revision to Oil price increases since 2003 inserted a political ad with no relevance to the article as well as a list of US congressional bills which had nothing to do with market speculation. 98.235.103.32 ( talk) 18:08, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
I have just finished rewriting Indian agriculture. Make sure to read it whenever you find the time :-) JSR ( talk) 13:41, 30 August 2008 (UTC)
that always deleted my personal profile, I'm saving about myself here .. please do not delete that my personal information.. SahiL Khan is my personal tagge with my account .. you please continue with the other tagged defrente
that always deleted my personal profile, I'm saving about myself here .. please do not delete that my personal information.. SahiL Khan is my personal tagge with my account .. you please continue with the other tagged defrente
I've semi-protected your user talk page so the anonymous IP vandals from Australia can't edit it. This will last for a week. If you don't want it protected, let me know, but someone apparently has far too much time on his/her hands. -- Elkman (Elkspeak) 01:59, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
I have just finished rewriting Ayurveda using only the most reliable scholarship. Kindly take a look and let me know if you approve. It would also help if you could point out what more needs to be added to the article (except images of course, to which I get to soon). This edit was made using a draft I had prepared earlier and may not be perfect so please be sure to look and recommend.
Thanks in advance, JSR ( talk) 05:56, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
Hi, I noticed that you'd tagged the article Roebling Point with {{ notability}} last month. I've decided to take the article to AfD. Your participation would be welcomed. —/ Mendaliv/ 2¢/ Δ's/ 18:10, 16 September 2008 (UTC)
I have nominated Navy of Sudan ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) for discussion. Your opinions on the matter are welcome; please participate in the discussion by adding your comments at the discussion page. Thank you. Ron Ritzman ( talk) 00:07, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
I have nominated Navy of Belarus ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) for discussion. Your opinions on the matter are welcome; please participate in the discussion by adding your comments at the discussion page. Thank you. Ten Pound Hammer and his otters • ( Broken clamshells • Otter chirps • HELP) 16:01, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
There's been a little controversy over the navy redirects for the landlocked countries (many of which have no navy), as you can see above. But it's all been worked out. Each country with no navy gets a redirect to wherever it is reported that it has no navy, or failing that, to its "military of" article.
The country lists are coming along slowing but surely. It shouldn't take too much longer before they will be complete enough to move into article space (!), but I can still use all the help I can get. (hint hint).
The Transhumanist 20:46, 23 September 2008 (UTC)
I see the abuse from IPs in Australia is continuing. I've semiprotected your user talk page for two weeks. I'm not exactly sure what this person's problem is, but they have two weeks to find a new hobby. -- Elkman (Elkspeak) 15:20, 24 September 2008 (UTC)
Congratulations on your engagement. I hope you know what you are getting yourself into. :)
By the way, be absolutely sure to watch Eddie Murphy Raw at least ten times before you set a wedding date. (Every man should do this even before he pops the question).
Good luck.
The Transhumanist 21:14, 26 September 2008 (UTC)
P.S.: I'm serious about the film recommendation. It's the best primer on marriage (and divorce) that I've ever come across. And Eddie Murphy gets his point across very effectively.
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The RickK Anti-Vandalism Barnstar | |
Thanks for reverting the vandalism on my user page! Flewis (talk) 11:56, 26 September 2008 (UTC) |
I have just finished a rewrite of Indian astronomy so make sure to take a look :-) This is just a first draft and some errors may be there in spelling and grammar, which I'll correct soon. The Ayurveda article is stable and has been made fully sourced.
Best wishes, JSR ( talk) 21:59, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
Thanks for reverting vandalism on my userpage! DARTH PANDA talk 14:36, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
I've been looking over the army, navy, and air force link lists, and there are still a lot of redlinks, presumably for those countries which lack forces of the respective types.
Well we've got to bluelink them all - when a country doesn't have a navy (landlocked countries for example), the redirect needs to lead to wherever that fact is mentioned. The same thing applies to having no army or airforce. If no mention is made anywhere that there is none, we need to add the fact to the most relevant place (such as on that country's military of article, or the military or defense section of the county's politics of or even in its main article.
I've started doing this with the navy links for the landlocked countries. Each country with a redlink (in the various armed forces redirect lists) need to be looked over, the status of its armed forces determined, and the necessary facts inserted wherever most appropriate and the redirects created.
A bunch of my navy redirects for countries with no navies were put up for deletion, but the consensus was that if somebody were to try to look up a navy for those, they should be taken to the relevant information - that there is no navy. Otherwise they wouldn't be able to tell if there was no navy or if we simply lacked an article on it.
So we've got clearance to go ahead and finish these up. The same principle applies to the army and air force links for countries that have no army or air force.
While looking over the air force redlinks, I created a redir for Air Force of Western Sahara and Navy of Western Sahara, concerning which the article Polisario Front (the defacto armed forces of Western Sahara) says it only has land forces. So I added the statement right at the beginning of the relevant section that it has no navy or air force, and pointed the redirects there.
I'll help out as much as I can, but I'm spread pretty thin - the creation of the 247 country lists is a huge undertaking. I can hardly express how instrumental your help has been in pushing these toward completion.
Keep up the excellent work. It shouldn't be too much longer (by the end of the year hopefully) before the country lists are complete enough to be moved to article space, which will more than double the size of the collection of topic outlines! And this will also make the topic outlines' geography coverage more extensive than that of portals.
I can hardly believe so few managed to put so much work into these. We've come a long way so quickly (the set of country outlines was started in March).
Again, thank you.
I look forward to your next status report.
The Transhumanist 21:31, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
Topic outline of Zimbabwe is now in article space. It still needs images and some bluelinking, and is undoubtedly missing some relevant links.
Please take a look at it. You will no doubt spot things you can easily fix that I overlooked.
The Transhumanist 19:48, 31 October 2008 (UTC)
What was your initial impression when you saw the above image?
Please look at it carefully. What is wrong with it?
In what other ways can it be improved?
I look forward to your reply (on my talk page, please).
The Transhumanist 00:21, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
P.S.: To anyone else who sees the above message, feel free to answer it too (on my talk page please). -TT
I have been trying to bring up mining in India to a fully sourced version and have made some progress. Make sure to take a look whenever you find time :-) JSR 0562 20:53, 11 November 2008 (UTC)
With Best Wishes, JSR 0562 13:34, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
Most recently I have rewritten ISRO, Vainu Bappu, and History of measurement systems in India articles. You are invited to take take a look!
JSR 0562 19:41, 23 December 2008 (UTC)
Development has been slow but continuous:
Penubag has done a fantastic job on the images for the awards we'll be using for our project's collaborations and contests. We now have 3 awards: a medal, a trophy, and a race ribbon. They all look tight. The trophy needs a small adjustment, but other than that, all 3 award images are complete and ready to use to create awards with.
Spartaz has warned us of (threatened to take) G4 (speedy delete) action if we run a competition that resembles the previously deleted Awards Center page. So whatever we do, any contests we run must differ substantially from the methods used there.
One type of competition I've been exploring is edit racing. I'm in the process of working the bugs out of this concept - the first race didn't work as expected - you see, because we only had an award for first place, the opponent didn't think it worthwhile to continue once it was clear who the winner would be. And since editors are in different time zones and usually need to start the race at different times, we need to base winning on personal start times - he who completes his assigned edits in the least time (rather than first), wins. And last but not least is quality control. What good is winning if your edits are ripe with errors? So I'll be exploring possibilities such as using a referee (whoever is overseeing a particular race), having participants watching each other for errors to knock them back, etc. I'm not sure yet.
Rich Farmbrough has been applying his bot expertise to filling in blanks in the country outlines (the population and area entries). I'm amazed at the number of edits he pumps out each day on a myriad of projects - ours makes up but a small time slice of his activity, and yet he has saved us many hours of manual work. Perhaps we should look into how he gets so much done. :)
Zlerman has chosen to work on one outline at a time, and is taking on Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. He also has been keen on noticing and reporting design issues pertaining to the whole set of country outlines. Keep up the good work!
Highfields has been filling in the names of capitals, and is our first race winner. Check out the award on his user pages.
As you probably know, this project has expanded to include working on any and all sets of pages that are linked to from the country outlines. Once the set of country outlines go live (in article space), traffic will likely increase for all the links included on them. The quality and usefulness of those pages will reflect heavily on the country outlines (the outlines, which are essentially lists of links, are only as good as the links they present), and therefore we've branched out to solve the biggest problems with those as well. So far, we've taken on:
Blackadam2 and Thehelpfulone have been helping out with the "demographics of" pages mentioned above.
And we have a couple speed addicts (addicted to wiki-velocity, not drugs)...
Both Robert Skyhawk and Thehelpfulone prefer (and excel at) simple AWB search/replaces. Robert hasn't actually joined our team yet, but he has been helping out quite a bit from the sidelines (via the WP:AWB/Tasks page. Unfortunately, there has recently been a non-AWB chore that has been holding things up on the AWB front - an edit to all the the headings which had to be reverted before too many new edits were made, because any new edits would make the reversion more difficult. The headings have been restored, so now the way is clear for AWB operations, and there are many search/replace tasks in the queue. AWB assignments have started again!
There's a similar bottleneck on the "Demographics of" pages (the "keying" mentioned above), but that's almost cleared too. :)
With my internet access somewhat crippled, I've been finding it difficult to keep up with you guys. However, I expect to be accessing a Linky-capable workstation on a faster server (I'm on it right now, as you can probably tell from my contributions list for today), and so I should really pick up speed. Feels goooooood. :)
Recruiting has been a bit slow (but steady), due in part to my crippled access, and because we've been waiting for the images for the awards to be completed. I expect the team to grow more rapidly as the bottlenecks are removed.
Well that's what's been happenin', and here's what's in the pipeline...
I'm about to begin work on a set of lists that corresponds to all the standard links on the country outlines, and these will be presented on the Topic outline of countries which will be organized exactly like the country outlines. Aside from being an extremely useful navigation aid, it will allow editors to easily see the state of country coverage on Wikipedia. I'll provide you with a link once I get up to speed on this.
In the meantime, keep up the good work!
Cheers,
The Transhumanist 05:30, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
The education in India article, a top importance article under WP: India, has recently been rewritten by me. Though the rewrite is is no way complete I invite you to take a look and see, and if possible contribute. Sincerely, JSR 0562 18:25, 6 February 2009 (UTC)
There has been a flurry of activity on the project as of late - so much so that I felt compelled to write another progress report...
Penubag has completed 4 more award graphics for our upcoming edit races. They look great!
Buaidh has joined the effort to develop country outlines. Like Zlerman, he has chosen specific outlines to work on. Which ones? All the countries of the Americas!
User talk:Thehelpfulone now has a bot, and User talk:Robert Skyhawk has requested approval for one. Work on the country outlines using these should start soon. I feel the technological singularity approaching. :)
Several of us have been trying to figure out how to use regular expressions (regex), in AWB, and once we have done this, we should be able to insert country names into entries for all the outlines using a single search/replace regex.
User talk:Thehelpfulone has successfully used AWB and regex to complete a 2-line search/replace using the \n command.
As a reference aid, I've set up the page User:The Transhumanist/Regexes for reporting the regexes we use. Please post regexes you've used successfully to that page. That way, everyone on the team can learn from each others' successes and we thereby leverage our experience collectively. Thank you.
The Transhumanist 22:56, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
Things have been slowing down again, so it's time for a big push...
This project needed a shot in the arm. Also, its draft pages have been littering Wikipedia's categories for months. The time seemed right to move all the country outline drafts to article space.
WHAT???
Well, the drafts had been sitting in Wikipedia space for a year.
WHAT???
Development has been moving at a snail's pace and we could use the help of the Wikipedia community at large (who are more likely to find these if they are in article space).
WHAT???
Yes, we've gone live. :)
This puts pressure on us to get the blatantly incomplete elements of these outlines done. The only glaring problem is the government branches sections. These need to be corrected ASAP.
I've mentioned THE GOVERNMENT BRANCHES SECTIONS many times to many people over the past year, but the problem just doesn't seem to have been taken seriously. So let me put it another way:
HELP!!! I need your help on this now. Almost all the countries have a government with an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch. The links for these branches need to be completed for each country outline:
If you spot any standardization in links, and ways we can automate parts of this process, or for groups of countries that have links in common, please let me know!
There has been growing pressure on me to write up the administrative pages for outlines - their instructions, guidelines, etc. Therefore, I'm now in the process of composing these. Fortunately, it is mostly a matter of gathering material from messages I've written to you guys over the past year. Still, this is taking up most of my time, and I will be buried in these for the foreseeable future.
The next big task after the government branches sections are cleaned up is link support for the outlines.
There's quite a list of links and notices that need to be put in place around Wikipedia, providing access to them to readers, and alerting editors to the need to develop and maintain these pages. This will keep our bot people very busy (and happy).
But the most important thing right now is to get the government branches sections completed. So please, put your bots aside, roll up your shirt sleeves, and start typing.
Thank you.
The Transhumanist 02:45, 9 March 2009 (UTC)
An article that you have been involved in editing, Paramahamsa Hariharananda, has been listed for deletion. If you are interested in the deletion discussion, please participate by adding your comments at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Paramahamsa Hariharananda (2nd nomination). Thank you.
Please contact me if you're unsure why you received this message. – Shannon Rose ( talk) 13:18, 11 April 2009 (UTC)
In response to a friend on Wikipedia who was wondering about how I've been and what I've been up to, I got to spewing about our little endeavor, and well, I got so carried away I pretty much told him everything. :) The message turned out to be a pretty good summary of what we've accomplished so far and the overall plan.
See User talk:The Rambling Man#What's up?
The Transhumanist 23:08, 11 April 2009 (UTC)
Here's a trivia question for you...
While surveying libraries, their outline-related resources, and our coverage of them, I came across something funny...
What subclass is the Bible in the Library of Congress Classification?
Do you think they'd like this one at WP:DYK?
(Nope. They didn't.) :)
For months, I've been sitting at a terminal in one of the largest libraries in the country, and I haven't even looked around at the available resources.
Until a few days ago.
I'm overwhelmed.
When compared to libraries, Wikipedia is small. (See Digest of Education Statistics 2008, Chapter 7:Libraries and Educational Technology Libraries, and turn to page 617).
But is that a fair comparison?
Yes.
Why?
Because we have growth potential. :)
And we cover everything, including libraries!
Guess what else I found?
I began to study libraries and librarians, since they are experts in organizing knowledge. And of course I turned to Wikipedia to see what we had on the things I came across...
And while doing so I kept running into outlines on Wikipedia that are not (yet) part of the Outline of knowledge.
When I come across non-OOK outlines, generally I rename them, and reformat them to our standard outline format. But there is the occasional exception.
Here are some outlines I just added:
The last 2 are outlines by their very nature, and so our standard outline subheadings didn't seem to fit. So I left them as is.
I renamed the first 2, but the last one is the name of the outline, that is, the topic itself is an outline, and that outline is presented as the article's content, so I left the name as is. For now. This needs more thought.
Of course, that's not all. Concerning those last 2 outlines above...
...not only are they outlines, but they are outlines of knowledge! Well, the top few levels, at least.
Uh, so?
What happens if we linkify them? :)
That is, what happens if we linkify their classifications to Wikipedia's outlines? :) :) :)
Yep.
I challenge you to find some "hidden" outlines.
I dare you to take a look around Wikipedia for hidden outlines (that is, outlines not yet hooked into the OOK), and add your kills to WP:WPOOK#The hunt for hidden outlines.
My trophies are already there.
The Transhumanist 20:32, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
I go away for a couple of months and there is a large amount of hatred posted to the Chron X page as well as my user page. Frustrates me to no end. People like you keep Wikipedia great. Many thanks. =) -- Andrea Shubert ( talk) 02:01, 10 May 2009 (UTC)
The article doesn't say.
I'm interested, because I need to explain the benefits in the guideline on outlines I'm writing. (Outlines are a type of tree structure).
I've also asked the question at various reference desks, and these threads may help to jump start your brain on this question. :)
What benefits have you noticed?
How are Wikipedia's outlines useful to you?
I look forward to your answers on my talk page.
The Transhumanist 04:38, 14 May 2009 (UTC)
This project needs another shot in the arm.
So here it goes...
I've contacted all 59 members of the Countries WikiProject to help in designing and conducting contests for the further development of the country outlines.
You are invited too.
The guidelines and outline article still aren't complete.
Which means you will be needed to help explain to the newcomers mentioned above what outlines are and how to develop them.
Please participate in the discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Countries#Hosting country coverage contests.
The Transhumanist 22:24, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
To promote work on the country outlines, maybe a contest between country WikiProjects could be run, to see which WikiProject could develop the best country outline.
What do you think?
(I look forward to your reply on my talk page).
The Transhumanist 23:53, 18 May 2009 (UTC)
Maybe...
I was experiencing mental block on the article draft for "outline" and on the outline guideline draft. And this was holding the whole project back. Without these (which are intended to explain the type of lists known as outlines in detail), the danger is higher that a controversy could go the wrong way.
I requested help on them, but there was none forthcoming.
So I went ahead and started us on the next phase of operations without those 2 pages...
Our AWB'ers and I have placed about 1600 notices all over Wikipedia. And the plan is to place several thousand more.
This generated only one complaint, but it was a very vocal one, and attracted a few other detractors who seemed unfamiliar with the concept of hierarchical outlines and their benefits. However, just as many or more editors came to the defense of the OOK, and there was no consensus formed. But, dab is still trying to rally opposition to outlines at the Village Pump. See below...
It appears that the banner placed on the talk page of the Outline of Switzerland caught the attention of an editor named Dbachmann who posted a rather forceful message on my talk page, another on WT:WPOOK, another at WP:VPP, and still another at WP:AN!
He went well out of his way to use negative hype to cause a stir.
It appears that Mr. Bachmann doesn't understand the nature of hierarchical outlines and their applications. And though he implied that he has never seen an OOK outline before, he was involved with a discussion on these when they were called "lists of basic topics".
His primary argument is that outlines are content forks of articles, and violate WP:CFORK.
But "topic lists", of which outlines are a type, have been around for almost as long as Wikipedia, and fall under the WP:LISTS and WP:STAND guidelines. They aren't intended as forks, as they are lists, bringing the benefits of lists to the corresponding subjects, such as grouping and navigation.
Someone suggested an MfD, but lists are articles, and are within the jurisdiction of AfD. Only the portal page, which merely lists the outline articles, falls within the scope of the MfD department.
The administrator's noticeboard was considered the wrong venue for the discussion, and the discussion was closed.
But Dab's discussion at the Village Pump is still active. Hopefully level heads will prevail there too.
Am I disheartened or deterred? Hell no. I say "full steam ahead!"
But we really need to finish the article draft and the guideline. Otherwise there will continue to be confusion.
Over the next week or two, we'll be posting another 1600 or so notices. It's a good thing we didn't send out 10,000 of them all at once. :)
The Transhumanist 23:36, 24 May 2009 (UTC)
P.S.: Another related thread has popped up at WP:VPR#OoK's expediency. --TT 04:30, 25 May 2009 (UTC)
Input on the OOK threads at the Village Pump has died down (at both WP:VPP and WP:VPR), and there is currently no consensus on either.
For the number of notices we posted (over a thousand) the number of complaints we received (the two VP threads mentioned above) was quite low.
Considering most of the outlines are orphans, they get pretty good use.
Note that people who are happy with articles on Wikipedia generally don't say anything, so I simply interpret it as positive feedback.
Using Traffic, I compare the traffic of articles, their corresponding outlines, and their corresponding portals from time to time.
Outlines are starting to catch up to portals. Though the main portals, which are included in a navbar menu at the top of most portals are still way ahead of their outline counterparts.
Both outlines and portals are way behind the articles on the same subjects. Articles usually have 20 to 30 times the traffic.
Keep in mind that most outlines are orphans, with the primary link to them being Portal:Contents/Outline of knowledge.
Traffic should improve once we include links on the corresponding subject pages, including the main subject as well as subjects that correspond to subheadings (e.g., History of x, and in the case of countries: Geography of x, Demographics of x, Culture of x, etc.)
I'm convinced the traffic of outlines will overtake portals once we've link-integrated them into the encyclopedia. And since outlines serve as tables of contents for each subject, it seems most fitting to place links to them in the form of hatnotes at the top of each subject's main articles (and the sub-subjects mentioned in the paragraph directly above).
By the way, there's another traffic counter called Wikirank, but I haven't tested it out much yet, but will do so in the coming weeks.
Once the traffic of outlines has overtaken portals, it will be time to replace portals on the Main Page, even if we need to spearhead a new main page redesign! This isn't a far-fetched idea. I was the one who jumpstarted and led the project responsible for the current main page design (until it hit critical mass and attracted other leaders), and I was also the most active editor on that project. I even created the WP:CBB on the Community Portal to promote the main page election. The second time around should be easier.
Targetting the Main Page is a few months off.
Right now, we need to continue posting notices and start link-integrating the OOK into the encyclopedia.
I have a whole slew of AWB tasks to assign. I hope you are ready. :)
WP:WPOOK needs members. Tell all your friends about the OOK, and get them to join.
The Transhumanist 02:53, 27 May 2009 (UTC)
Wikipedia:Outlines was growing so large that I split this section off as a separate page.
I look forward to your feedback and improvements.
The Transhumanist 22:34, 29 May 2009 (UTC)
WP:WPINDEX is the sister project of WP:WPOOK. (Outlines are tables of contents, which go hand-in-hand with indexes).
And because indexes are prominently linked to from the outlines, we've been cleaning them up. (Outlines have an uncanny ability to reveal problem areas that need tending to, but that's a good thing).
What I need you to do is, make a list using AWB (with its "What links here" feature), of all the articles that link to the alphabetical templates listed at Category:TOC templates. (You can use "make list" to input the links from more than one page). There are some non-alphabetical ones in there - please do not include those (which means you'll need to spot check some pages that link to each template before you include them in the list). Also, do not include the ones for category pages. Just the ones for alphabetical list articles.
Then save the list you've made to a file, and covert the links to talk space links.
Set AWB to skip pages that include "{{WikiProject Index}}" (without the quotes)
Also set AWB to skip non-existing pages (just in case).
Then clear the list in AWB, and load your converted list. Use AWB's list filter feature to filter it so that it only includes links to pages in the talk namespace (article talk pages only).
Set AWB to prepend this: {{WikiProject Index}}
Then run AWB on the task.
This is a big task, affecting thousands of pages, so be careful. Look at some pages that link to
Template:WikiProject Index before you start the task, to see the desired result. This banner should only be placed on the talk pages of articles which are alphabetical lists.
Thank you.
Good luck.
Have fun.
The Transhumanist 21:10, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
P.S.: If you have any questions, definitely feel free to ask (on my talk page). ;)
P.P.S.: Be sure to select "prepend" and not "append".
The big push continues.
And it seems to be working!
The good news is that there's growing support for outlines, and there are more editors than ever editing them!
The bad news is that the complainers are disproportionately represented on the project's various talk pages. While many editors work diligently on the front end, a handful of complainers are trying to tear down the project behind the scenes. Fortunately, barely enough supporters have been watching those pages that no consensus for moving or merging the outlines has succeeded. So far...
Most of the opposition seems to be unaware of the complete range of what outlines are used for. They just don't get it.
This is why it is important to complete the outline article draft. An article with a comprehensive treatment of outlines would be the perfect place to refer anybody unfamiliar with outlines to.
Opposers also don't seem to understand how outlines differ from some other page type that they prefer. Some think articles are good enough as an overview, others think portals are more in-depth, still others think categories or navigation boxes are the most efficient and useful way to organize and present topical information. Some have simply never seen an "Outline of" page before and think they are a new type of page (they've been around under other names since 2001).
If you run across anyone who doesn't understand the role of outlines on Wikipedia, Wikipedia:Why do we have outlines in addition to...? might help reduce their misconceptions or uncertainties about outlines.
To add the outlines and related support pages to your watchlist (takes less than 30 seconds), cut and paste them from Wikipedia:WikiProject Outline of knowledge/Watchlist into your raw watchlist. For a way to improve the display of your watchlist - by namespace (very useful) - see Watchlist sorter, or use the "super fast upgrade" at WP:OTS.
Or go to Wikipedia:WikiProject Outline of knowledge/Watchlist using Related changes (currently without the talk pages) and click on "Related changes" in the toolbox menu on the sidebar on the left side of your screen.
The big push started with about a thousand banners and notices being placed on article talk pages all over Wikipedia.
But it didn't stop there...
The following Wikipedians have joined the OOK team.
Be sure to stop by their talk pages and introduce yourselves.
I asked a bunch of mentors at WP:ADOPT for advice. Several of them answered on my talk page. Most of those who replied were happy to help, and posted some very good ideas. A couple even joined the project.
Here are their ideas, and what is being done about them. A few of the tasks still need volunteers:
To the tops of about 30 subject articles, I placed a test batch of hatnotes leading to the corresponding outlines. The hatnotes look like this:
The rationale for the hatnotes is that each outline is a topical guide for its subject, and since tables of contents go at the front of a book, a link to each outline should be placed at the front of its subject.
Unfortunately, not all editors agree. Some of the hatnotes have already disappeared. :(
Note that the "Lists of topics" are of two types, including outlines and indexes, so discussions to remove, move, or merge those are usually relevant to the OOK. Also, outlines are a type of list, so discussions that affect lists in general also pertain to outlines. We've got to be on our toes!
I've excluded links to live discussions, out of respect for WP:CANVASS.
Here's a directory of outline support pages:
The Transhumanist 03:25, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
Penubag needs feedback.
I've posted a few changes for him to make to it.
Please post additional comments and suggestions for him at User talk:Penubag#Chocolate banner.
Thank you.
The Transhumanist 02:06, 9 June 2009 (UTC)
As you know, Penubag is working on a banner to advertise the Outline WikiProject. And he's almost done.
The banner prominently presents the "Outline of chocolate", which of course will become the most widely advertised outline as soon as the banner goes live. The first thing many editors will do after seeing the banner is look for that outline.
The problem is, we don't have one.
So that's our first outline collaboration!
I started a draft this morning.
It needs to be finished and moved to the article namespace before we can start using Penubag's banner ad!
Come join in on the fun. It's chocolate!
The Transhumanist 21:48, 9 June 2009 (UTC)
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Is it perfect? Can it be improved?
Penubag loves feedback. Please let him know if it can be further improved.
Thank you.
The Transhumanist 22:56, 15 June 2009 (UTC)
Several members of the WikiProject have been hard at work.
Buaidh has been building and refining the outlines on the U.S. States, the states' historical outlines, and the Historical outline of the United States. Lately, his edits have dominated the project's watchlist readout. (I think he's overdue for a barnstar or two. hint hint)
Penubag has been working on medals for all the main branches of the OOK, and has completed the OOK WikiProject's animated advert banner (see below).
Highfields has been filling in the currencies for each country on their respective outlines.
NuclearWarfare and Thehelpfulone have been busy with WP:AWB, posting banners and notices, and helping our sister project, the Index WikiProject, get established. Indexes work hand-in-hand with the outlines and are prominently linked to from the top of most of them. And the outlines, which serve as tables of contents, are only as good as the pages they link to.
Since we started integrating (linking) the OOK and its support pages into the encyclopedia and into the Wikipedia community, activity on outlines has been increasing. Though there's still much left to do.
But I digress. There are a couple more...
Stefan is building the Outline of sharks.
MacMed has joined our advanced wiki-tools team, and is currently adding links to outlines in the corresponding subject articles' see also sections.
Be sure to stop by their talk pages and say "hi".
Penubag has finished this WikiProject's animated advert banner, and it is now being displayed on the Wikipedia ads template which in turn is displayed on about 2000 user pages. Each time someone access one of those pages, there is a 1 in 184 chance of them viewing this:
![]() | |
Wikipedia ads | file info – #184 |
If you'd like to display the banner on your userpage locked-on to the ad as above, use the following code:
{{Wikipedia ads|ad=184}}
(By the way, it's been awhile since we've barnstarred Penubag).
If you haven't already, please add the entire project's watchlist to your watchlist. Here's how:
I forgot to mention this step above. :)
I can't make heads or tails of 'em, but these links were on Portal:Contents/Outline of knowledge:
I discovered an AfD discussion on possibly the first article named "Outline of", which was called Outline of Islamic and Muslim related topics, and which was created 4 years ago. Of course they deleted it. But now it has many friends, and so it has risen from the dead. :)
See the DRV discussion at Wikipedia:Deletion review/Log/2009 June 7#Outline of Islamic and Muslim related topics.
Recruiters needed. Drop me a note if you are interested.
I'm impressed with the level of enthusiasm and work going into the outlines. I'm proud to be working with each of you.
The Transhumanist 23:22, 18 June 2009 (UTC)
I noticed on the noticeboard for India related topics, that you wanted to categorise indian cuisine related topics. I notices the existing template for Indian cuisine Template:Cuisine of India is very large, and only links to regional cuisine pages. Also, it is vertical, and hence takes up most of the page, also making it difficult to use infoboxes. I have made a new template Template:Indian Dishes that removes these problems. I have put this up for discussion on various portal talk pages so that the new template could replace the existing one. Would like your comments as well.
Shravan.Iyer ( talk) 06:12, 20 June 2009 (UTC)
This outline is approaching completion.
I added a bunch more links, finding them with the following Google site-specific searches of Wikipedia:
(You can use the wikicode for the links above as the basis for new searches - just replace "Gibraltar" with any other country or region name).
The redlinks need to be bluelinked where possible. The most useful way is to create redirects leading to the material (which is usually included in a section of an article - see Wikipedia:Redirect#Redirects to page sections. That way, when the redirect pages are replaced by the actual articles, the links will already point to the right places.
Please take a crack at it, and bluelink a few.
Thank you.
Good luck.
Have fun.
The Transhumanist 01:07, 23 June 2009 (UTC)
P.S.: on an unrelated matter, where should the Outline of chocolate be placed on the OOK? -TT
That was fun. :)
The Transhumanist 23:55, 23 June 2009 (UTC)
Work is proceeding apace...
The current consensus is that we can't place a hatnote leading to an outline at the top of a subject articles unless the outline being presented is of at least the same quality-level as the article.
Improve outline quality by completing them.
Place hatnotes for the outlines of high enough quality.
Guidelines pertaining to outlines need to be updated. Outlines emerged as a class of pages only a few months ago, and most of the relevant guidelines don't cover them specifically. For example, Wikipedia:Stand-alone lists is incredibly out of date.
Invite wikignomes, wikielves, and wikifairies (all 2500+ of them) to help on the outlines .
Identify 600 more subjects with coverage extensive enough to justify outlines, create rudimentary drafts for them, and post notices to the corresponding WikiProjects and subject talk pages to help build them.
Convert outlines titled "List of" to outline articles, and add them to the OOK. There are a few hundred of these. Conversion instructions are needed.
Add a description of outlines to About Wikipedia and Wikipedia:Basic navigation, and add tips about outlines to the WP:TOTD and Tips library.
The Transhumanist 20:27, 25 June 2009 (UTC)
Minnecologies has done an incredible amount of work on Outline of forestry and posted a note to me on my talk page requesting feedback.
I've posted my observations at Talk:Outline of forestry#Finished outline review.
Please take a look at the outline and let Minnecologies know what you think of it on the outline's talk page.
Thank you.
The Transhumanist 19:37, 29 June 2009 (UTC) Delivered by JCbot ( talk) at 20:14, 29 June 2009 (UTC).
I'm sorry that I haven't been available to assign tasks lately. For the past 3 days (not including today) I've been almost totally consumed in discussions concerning the location and very existence of outlines. Today I finally broke free and got back to work on outlines. Felt good.
A great deal has been happening with outlines and behind the scenes. I just don't have time to tell you all about it this time around. Here's the best I can do...
If you'd like a bird's eye view of everything that's happening with respect to outlines, see this page:
Or go to these pages (and click on "Related changes" in the sidebar's toolbox menu):
These outline articles, which were named "List of...", have been converted to an OOK format:
There are a lot of "List of" articles that are outlines. Some of them are on the same subjects as the "Outline of" articles. The following one have been recently merged:
The Transhumanist 01:14, 10 July 2009 (UTC)
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Phase two of outline integration (de-orphanizing outlines by adding links leading to them into article see also sections) is nearly complete. The better that outlines are integrated into the encyclopedia, the more use they will be to readers.
Due to greater exposure through outline integration, and with most of the OOK team on school summer vacation, development activity on outlines has increased a lot...
Thank you.
Here's what else has been going on...
There are a lot of contradictions in guidelines related to outlines. I'll be turning my attention to fixing those.
The number of "Outline of" articles is rapidly catching up to portals, and will probably pass them by the end of the summer!
Keep up the excellent work.
The Transhumanist 01:22, 28 July 2009 (UTC)
...to award Buaidh for all his hard work.
It's at User:Penubag/Sandbox3.
But it's not done yet. Feel free to help improve it.
I'm hoping that everyone involved with the WP:WPOOK will sign it (please sign without a timestamp).
Thank you.
The Transhumanist 23:00, 29 July 2009 (UTC)
Delivered by – Juliancolton | Talk at 21:40, 31 July 2009 (UTC)
ChiragPatnaik,
User:abutorsam007 has smiled at you! Smiles promote
WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Spread the
WikiLove by smiling at someone else, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Go on, smile! Cheers, and happy editing!
Smile at others by adding {{
subst:Smile}} to their talk page with a friendly message.
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