Template talk:Featured article/archive1

Suggestions?
The new main page mockup is at User:Guppymomma/sandbox; it's not all that different, just has two additional icon'ed sections. The idea is that what's currently in the spot talking about Arrrrrt will become a featured article spot. We're looking for suggestions of what folks think would make a good featured article. Something that will catch the interest of a firs-time wiki browser (or even a new player) to draw them into exploring the wiki and/or game further. Also, if you have suggestions for other links in the icon sections, let me know (remember that those links should be more general or broad, don't want to overwhelm folks). --Guppymomma 10:48, 7 March 2006 (PST)


 * Maybe the swordfighting or Puzzle pages would make an appealing Featured Arrticle. --Icex05 11:13, 7 March 2006 (PST)


 * The swordfight article seems a little skimpy though. The puzzles one is okay, but I was hoping for something that was less general and more specific (with a nice little picture too of course). --Guppymomma 11:22, 11 March 2006 (PST)


 * I'd suggest Rumble, but only when it is released. Or possibly an article on pillaging (if there is a suitable one) --Sagacious 11:45, 11 March 2006 (PST)
 * Rumble would definitely be a wonderful article when it comes out. --Guppymomma 17:26, 11 March 2006 (PST)


 * With the sandboxed mockup, I'd suggest switching round the Art and Community sections, as they'd balance better in respect to the sections above them. Otherwise it looks good to me. Something exciting like blockades or wars would be quite nice featured article, with a decent image. --Featherfin 11:49, 11 March 2006 (PST)


 * Switched those two around. Also changed the formatting to a single table, let me know if it looks unbalanced in any of your browsers.  Blockades could be a good one. --Guppymomma 17:26, 11 March 2006 (PST)
 * Id suggest putting in different arcticles depending on what is currently popular (that has good formatting). --pevarnj (t/c) User Template 17:30, 11 March 2006 (PST)
 * Yep, that's what the "featured article" idea is: a changing featured article :) --Guppymomma 17:34, 11 March 2006 (PST)

Looks nice and balanced to me! --Featherfin 02:48, 12 March 2006 (PST)

Blockades often involve multiple flags, and can be quite large, depending on whether the circumstances of the blockade. Is that a mistake or am I loosing it? --Angelbeaver 15:10, 7 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Well, if you mean the bit about multiple flags, that's not a mistake; there only has to be one flag in a blockade, remember. But if you're talking about the grammar of the second sentence...Yeah, it looks like someone was typing and was thinking two things at once. (Actually, now that I look at it, I'm the one who wrote that section; arr.) We'll need an admin to take out the "whether" part. --Emufarmers 22:25, 7 July 2006 (PDT)
 * I fixed it. --Barrister 00:38, 8 July 2006 (PDT)

New Article?
Is this going to be switched every month or so? It's been about a month since the rumble article was switched in, so now seemed like a good time to ask. :) I was thinking that Hunter Ocean might be a good page to feature, since there's been so much work done on it and all the island and map pages, and it's still fairly new. Or do people think it still needs more work before it's ready to be featured? --Emufarmers 18:37, 7 May 2006 (PDT)


 * We need to finish up the archipelago/island maps first. --Barrister 19:48, 7 May 2006 (PDT)
 * Hoya; I know we're in the middle of all this newstandard business, but it would be nice if the people visiting the wiki could see something new in the featured article space. :) Do we generally want to stick with a very fleshed-out articles, or could we also include articles which are nice, but could use more development (like Ringer, or Ocean Master, or Greenie)?
 * Fleshed out articles. Things that need development we should figure out a nice little spot for a weekly (or biweekly or whatever) group improvement project.  There's space for that in the very little used Community portal link on the lefthand sidebar, but since that's not really looked at by anyone, suggestions on how to do this would be good.  Somewhere on the Main page would be okay, but it would have to be below the normal stuff that's meant to serve as a navigational help for new users of the wiki. --Guppymomma 21:42, 2 June 2006 (PDT)
 * Maybe we should consider revamping the community portal page altogether, since it's so rarely used. And while we're looking at the main page...Maybe we could even have "did you know?" stuff like on Wikipedia. :P Anyway, back on topic, how about we switch the featured article out to blockade?  That's a pretty lengthly article, and something most people would probably be interested in learning more about. --Emufarmers 21:57, 2 June 2006 (PDT)
 * Feel free to take up the cause. Blockade seems like a fine article to feature, let's see if there are other opinions on it.  If it does get used, we'll need an introductory ooooh this is neat style blurb about as long as the rumble blurb that's currently up there. --Guppymomma 22:17, 2 June 2006 (PDT)
 * There are a lot of blockades coming up in the next 6 weeks because new islands are opening. I support having that be the featured article.  --Barrister 23:58, 3 June 2006 (PDT)

I've made a mockup of a blockade featured article: Check it out. (Do you think the picture I've got there is alright?) --Emufarmers 21:49, 4 June 2006 (PDT)
 * Hoya? It's been almost two months now: Let's get this switched as soon as possible. :) --Emufarmers 23:37, 6 June 2006 (PDT)
 * I agree. And it seemed like a good featured article, the one about blockade.--Kinocha 03:50, 7 June 2006 (PDT)
 * Works for me, thanks for the mockup. That picture looks fine to me, they can always view the article for more pictures. --Guppymomma 08:59, 7 June 2006 (PDT)

Time for a new article again? Maby one about OCL, as that is something that is discussed in game a bit? --Kinocha 12:29, 8 July 2006 (PDT)
 * We're prepping one on portraits. --Barrister 12:31, 8 July 2006 (PDT)

Wiki projects?
Maybe it would be useful to outline current or ongoing projects on the wiki in this space on ocassion. I'm thinking a couple days a week we'd switch out the "Featured article" for something akin to the community portal or a listing of articles that need cleanup or history that needs filling in. Good/bad/ugly idea?--Fiddler 23:30, 7 June 2006 (PDT)
 * First, I suspect we need to think about changing the featured article more often, period; we're not the size of Wikipedia, so we probably don't have to change it every day, but getting to the point where we could switch it out once per week would be nice. But that's a slight digression; in terms of having "wiki work" as the featured article, I sort of raised that above, and it seemed like people would rather have "finished" articles be displayed.  Keep in mind, though, there is the "Some ways to contribute" thing right below the featured article: It just so happens that nobody's changed it in ages, but I think utilizing it could be just the thing you're looking for. :) (We could also consider rearranging the main page if we want to give more weight to encouraging general wiki work.)  --Emufarmers 00:11, 8 June 2006 (PDT)
 * The main page needs to have "use the wiki" type stuff at the very top area. The current design (without the voting infobox) has actually been specifically Nemo approved.  The steps are to first suck them into loving using the wiki then suck them into editing the wiki :)  We're open to suggestions for the box below featured articles, so maybe work on that in conjunction with the Community portal so there's something more in depth to point to from the box. --Guppymomma 08:41, 8 June 2006 (PDT)

Portraits
AngelBeaver made a great suggestion that portraits be the next featured article. If people could peruse the main portrait article and its related pages, that would be very helpful. --Barrister 00:41, 8 July 2006 (PDT)

There was a minor error in the text of the article: Pirates in a portrait who didn't commission it do not get copies automatically, they must order them. This has tripped up quite a few people, and I don't think we need to add to that, so I fixed it. --Thunderbird 17:48, 23 July 2006 (PDT)
 * I thought that the discussion ended with it being they did get a copy. Needs tested. Until then, remove completely?--Angelbeaver (talk) 17:59, 23 July 2006 (PDT)
 * No, they don't automatically get a copy. When I had a double done, I petitioned to check beforehand. --Sagacious (talk) 18:05, 23 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Both of the times I've been involved in multi-pirate portraits, the only copies I got were the ones I ordered. --Thunderbird 18:18, 23 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Same here. I thought I rememberd wrong, when I read that article though. --Kinocha 18:24, 23 July 2006 (PDT)

For...Septemberish?
It's early to start thinking about a new featured article, but it's worth bringing out a few ideas well in advance. I was thinking rumors might be a good candidate eventually; the article itself could use a lot of work and refinement, but it would be a featured article both significantly different from the previous ones, and it would be a good "awareness" thing. By bringing this up so far in advance, I hope that someone (or multiple people) will consider buffing that article to be ship-shape in a month. (I might try myself, if I can get up off my booty.) --Emufarmers 22:26, 25 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Hmmm, difficult to get pictures for it. I'm not so sure. It just doesn't seem quite suitable.--Angelbeaver (talk) 04:31, 26 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Drinking could work. Or Avatar artists directory. The latter would be fitting considering the recent demise of the global bazaar. --Featherfin 04:58, 26 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Try to avoid puzzles. But the Avatar Artists sounds good.--Angelbeaver (talk) 05:06, 26 July 2006 (PDT)
 * It's possible to create some sort of graphic for rumours if that's an article folks want to see up there. The Avatar artists directory would also be a good one.  Just start writing blurbs and we can always use them in succession.  For rumors, write the blurb first and then we can figure something out fitting for the text. Even a screenshot of the brigand with the hat among the hatless would work.  --Guppymomma 14:56, 26 July 2006 (PDT)
 * I have some reservations about Rumors, though I don't have a good alternative off the top of my head. Threads about dispelling rumors always draw some pretty heated discussion, even amongst seasoned players. Most of the ones we have linked seem pretty safe, but since they're based on observation, how sure can we be? Do we know that the brigand captain isn't 10% more skilled than his or her mates? --AtteSmythe 15:21, 26 July 2006 (PDT)

Another to put on the list would be familiars since it seems so popular to ask how you get "pets." Why don't we add a comment section with suggestions & voting...I'll do that in a moment. --Guppymomma 09:36, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * I agree familiars would make a good featured article, especially now we have them being given out more often. --Sagacious (talk) 09:38, 27 July 2006 (PDT)

Move?
So should this be moved to the main namespace? (Discussion at YPPedia talk:Featured article) Gail 05:39, 26 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Main or Meta? I don't think we had consensus, except that it probably shouldn't be in Template:. In any case, the discussion is probably better held here than on the talk page of a redirect. --AtteSmythe 08:50, 26 July 2006 (PDT)

Article suggestion voting
Here's a list of suggested articles. Feel free to comment after your vote. --Guppymomma 09:38, 27 July 2006 (PDT)


 * Maneuver - draft
 * Support. Could use a bigger picture. --Guppymomma 17:13, 29 January 2007 (PST)
 * Support - I agree with the picture issue though. --Angelbeaver (talk) 12:12, 30 January 2007 (PST)


 * Avatar artists directory - needs a mockup
 * Support. --Guppymomma 09:38, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Support - Could make an interesting article and make more people use the directory. --Sagacious (talk) 09:54, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Support. Appropriate given the demise of the global bazaar in the forums and our subsequently encouragement of avatar artists to use the YPPedia. --Featherfin 10:14, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Support per FF's comments --AtteSmythe 10:25, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Support --Barrister 13:29, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Support per Featherfin's comments as well. --Yaten talk 13:42, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Neutral --Angelbeaver (talk) 13:53, 18 August 2006 (PDT)


 * Rumors - needs a mockup
 * Neutral. --Guppymomma 09:38, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Oppose. --Featherfin 10:14, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Oppose - see above --AtteSmythe 10:25, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Oppose --Barrister 13:29, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Oppose per uncertainty of article's contents. --Yaten talk 13:42, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Oppose --Angelbeaver (talk) 13:53, 18 August 2006 (PDT)


 * Familiars - needs a mockup
 * Support. --Guppymomma 09:38, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Support - Now more available, more people going to be wondering what they are and where to get one. --Sagacious (talk) 09:54, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Neutral. Too predictable. Perhaps in a few months. --Featherfin 10:14, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Support - because it's predictable. Good article and topical. --AtteSmythe 10:25, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Support --Barrister 13:29, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Support --Yaten talk 13:42, 27 July 2006 (PDT)
 * Oppose, pets would be a better choice. --Angelbeaver (talk) 13:53, 18 August 2006 (PDT)


 * Olympic Champions League - needs a mockup, any volunteers?
 * Support. Since more sign-ups are coming up, this would be a good article to try to call attention to it.  --Guppymomma 09:56, 5 January 2007 (PST)

Looks like consensus on either Familiar or Avatar artists directory, with more support for the AvArtists. Seems to me that the directory needs more of an article to it, though. Thought I'd bring it up, as we're going on the 1-month anniversary of portraits on the main page. --AtteSmythe 13:10, 18 August 2006 (PDT)
 * Bumpity. --AtteSmythe 09:07, 25 September 2006 (PDT)
 * I think the avatar artists directory would be good for after the greeter one. It requires folks going through the directory to update it due to the removal of global bazaar and some artists stopping & others starting.  I'll give bits a go in my free moments, but others should feel free to take up the cause.  --Guppymomma 13:26, 19 October 2006 (PDT)

Successfully voted in featured articles

 * After a suggestion by Guppymomma I've started a draft of one for greeters, here. --Angelbeaver (talk) 10:52, 19 October 2006 (PDT)
 * Support. --Guppymomma 13:26, 19 October 2006 (PDT)
 * Support. --Eurydice 13:28, 19 October 2006 (PDT)
 * Looks good, support. --Fiddler 13:29, 19 October 2006 (PDT)
 * Support. --Thunderbird 13:33, 19 October 2006 (PDT)


 * Blockade pay
 * Support. It's a relatively new feature people are still learning about. --Guppymomma 06:02, 17 November 2006 (PST)
 * Support! It's a well-developed article with a lot of relevance right now. --AtteSmythe 08:57, 17 November 2006 (PST)
 * Support - timely issue.--Fiddler 11:30, 21 November 2006 (PST)
 * Support --Zava 04:02, 6 December 2006 (PST)

Featured Article - Brigand Kings
With blockade pay having been up there for ages and the most recent release involving BK blockades and flotillas, I think this would be an excellent time for a featured article on Brigand Kings. Here's a draft: User:Muffynz/Featured_article_draft. Tell me what you think! --Muffynz 20:47, 24 May 2007 (PDT)
 * Great pick. Yay for someone taking up the featured article torch!  My brain hurts right now, I'll read over the draft tomorrow though.  The quick scan says it looks good.  --Guppymomma 20:49, 24 May 2007 (PDT)
 * One nitpick: subscribed is the wrong word to use, as it makes absolutely no mention of the fact that doublooners must be holding a pirate badge on doubloon oceans. --Thunderbird 23:48, 4 June 2007 (PDT)
 * I don't know if it's intentional Guppy but you have a plus sign (+) after the word badge in the article. Not sure what it could mean if it isn't just a typo. --Muffynz 14:40, 5 June 2007 (PDT)
 * Pirate badge or higher. --Guppymomma 14:47, 5 June 2007 (PDT)
 * Thank you, apparently I have the dumb today. --Muffynz 15:04, 5 June 2007 (PDT)

Featured Article Competiton
So, I like the featured article. It's nice to see a short blurp about an interesting article right there on page 1. An ideal article will have a catchy first few sentences, draw the reader in, and entice them to read the whole article or explore what else the Encyclopedia has to offer. The main wikipedia changes about once a day. Obviously, we don't have the staff or volunteers for that. But we let the blockade pay article run a good almost 6 months. That is just too long. Why not open something like this up to the forum going community, or get some OM assistance and get knowledge about it in-game?

A continuously running featured article competition. Get your article on the front page! See your words in print at the start of the YPPedia. Shoot for cycling an old one out and a new one in once every two weeks to a month or so depending on interest. Heck, I've got PoE coming out my ears on a few oceans, offer prizes for the ones that get their article featured. Have some fun with it and make that an interesting spot. We can add a short byline on the archive page or even at the bottom of the featured article template: This featured article provided by So-and-So so entrants can feel they're getting their 15 minutes of fame.

It's a starting point to trying to get more people to be involved in the YPPedia. I love this resource, it's fantastic, it's accurate to the best of our abilities, and (in my opinion) fun to edit and be a part of. Let's face it though, our editing community based on the population of the oceans is minuscule at best. Some pirates I've talked to are under the opinion that only administrators edit the YPPedia just because they don't know any better and no-one's told them different. This kind of competition for something small and simple can be a way to get the word out that they can edit this resource, they can be a part of this information gathering and sharing, they can have fun with it too. Writing a featured article for the competition can be a good starter for article writing and template usage 101.

So, what do you think? I would be happy to volunteer to do the leg work, forum posting, and OM liaisoning should that become necessary. --Muffynz 20:52, 30 May 2007 (PDT)
 * What kind of OM support do you need for this? Anyone's always been free to suggest a new featured article.  Not many actually write the mockup though.  All in all, it's a nice idea.  Just as long as there are good guidelines about things like good grammar and spelling being required and a general idea of what quality of article merits having it be linked to as a featured article.  I'm not sure about the byline thing though as the wiki is all about group editing and I don't want to encourage the "mine" attitude that already is out there and has caused issues (plus featured articles are based on full articles that have been authored by many).  Selection should be as it's always been, via consensus. --Guppymomma 21:14, 30 May 2007 (PDT)
 * Yes, anyone has always been free to suggest an article topic its just that relatively few have. The byline thing I don't really care about. It probably would be detrimental to get more members into the community but then have them be possessive of their work on an open source, public resource. I agree about the standards and selection process, I just think it would be a fantastic arena to get more information about the YPPedia out to the general public. --Muffynz 22:09, 30 May 2007 (PDT)


 * Goodness recent changes just whizzes by with so many edits these days. Let me know if you need help with anything.  It would probably be beneficial if you popped the draft rules/instructions up on a page here when you've written 'em up to get input in case it needs more detail or clarity.  If you figure out what kind of OM support you want, go through the normal Apollo event channels & also cc: Eurydice as the wiki OM.  If you don't hear back from Eury about it, drop me a note and I'll nudge her about it.  One other note is to take a look at other competitions that've involved the wiki like Jacktheblack's that didn't go over so well, the collision mechanics one that had a single entry, and uhm was it bootlicker's tutorial contest?  Anyhow, it could be that making a list of articles that would be good featured article topics (either limiting entries to those or as possible ones + if they think of others) would make it easier for people to enter.  --Guppymomma 12:06, 1 June 2007 (PDT)


 * Here is a draft of the contest rules, template, and announcement. Tell me what you think! --Muffynz 21:12, 1 June 2007 (PDT)


 * I would love to see something like this I can point my word wise flagmates to. Just pointing them to Wiki alone is a tad intimidating for most but a little carrot of a contest,  with a clear set of how-to's should make it a lot easier to get more to look at this wonderful resource.  Amylo 08:01, 31 May 2007 (PDT)