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Hi,
I need help from an experienced Wikipedian, and I saw your name over at WP:ADOPT.
I need your advice concerning WP:WPOOK, which I've been coordinating. The set of pages the project concerns is listed atPortal:Contents/Outline of knowledge and Wikipedia:WikiProject Outline of knowledge#Projected outline, and has grown to about 500 articles in the encyclopedia.
The goals of the WikiProject are:
I was hoping you could comment on how to achieve the goals above.
Also I'm interested in every possible way of reaching readers and editors of Wikipedia. How can I get the most eyes and typing fingers on Wikipedia's outlines? Contacting editors directly without a reason relevant to them is spam, which I'd like to avoid. There are 75,000 regular editors on Wikipedia, and I want to contact all of them. So how do I do it? Directly or indirectly, I don't care which, piecemeal or all-at-once, all methods are fine with me. But I've got to find ways. I need your help.
I would also like to know how to find or attract editors to create new outlines. And I need advice on finding editors to help write the new outline article mentioned above (it needs to be fleshed out, completely referenced, and brought to featured article status).
Please recommend anyone you know who might be interested in sinking their teeth into a project like this. Or ways to reach groups of editors. Or ways to reach all editors. I welcome any and all recommendations and advice you might have.
And any thoughts on attaining the WikiProject goals above.
I look forward to your reply on my talk page.
The Transhumanist 03:40, 1 June 2009 (UTC)
Hi, I saw your post on my talk page about WP:WPOOK. I am very interested in this project, as I think the outlines will increase traffic. I do have a few ideas on how to acheive the goals which you've requested. I like how the exsisting outlines are structured, but think we could expand with a few words about each sub-topic, to give readers info about what they're looking at. The best way of advertising the OOK is of course, the main page, which I thought could be organized like portals are. Each general topic could link to the actual outline of the subject. I will help out in any way I can. I look forward to expanding the current outlines and, in time, leaving portals forever. Thank you! T-95 (talk) 17:34, 1 June 2009 (UTC)
(eom = end of message)
The Transhumanist 18:58, 2 June 2009 (UTC)
Just to let you know I removed the speedy tag as she seems to be a world bowling champion. If you still think that she isn't sufficiently notable, feel free to take this to an AfD. Passportguy (talk) 15:38, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
Welcome to the team!
Here's your first WikiProject update...
(Feel free to bounce any ideas or feedback off me.)
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 fromWikipedia: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 03:29, 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 02:07, 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 21:52, 9 June 2009 (UTC)
It may take a while, but i'll give it a try. Dlohcierekim 20:43, 12 June 2009 (UTC)
sent Dlohcierekim 20:39, 14 June 2009 (UTC)
Is it perfect? Can it be improved?
Penubag loves feedback. Please let him know if it can be further improved.
Thank you.
The Transhumanist 22:57, 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 withWP: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 theWikipedia 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 21:46, 18 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 00:41, 23 June 2009 (UTC)
That was fun. :)
The Transhumanist 23:30, 23 June 2009 (UTC)
Here's a draft, tell me what you think:
To Whom it May Concern,
A while ago, I was asked by a user to join Wikiproject Outline of Knowledge, a project which he coordinates. However, the index of outlines is a little hard to find for the newcomer. Therefore, I request that a link ofthis page be added to the 'portals' section of the main page. If you have any questions, feel free to contact The Transhumanist or myself Thank you, Tarheel95 (talk) 14:57, 25 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 20:17, 29 June 2009 (UTC).
Tarheel,
The government branches sections are in error on many of the country outlines. This is an urgent problem.
Since those are in article space, we need to fix those ASAP! This is our most important task right now.
Here's a list of links that goes right to that section: User:The Transhumanist/List of country outline government sections.
I'm working on U-Z.
Your task is to correct and complete these:
WP:LINKY is especially useful for this.
Do more if you can.
Thank you.
Good luck.
Have fun.