Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2013-04-01/WikiProject report

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noincludeWikipediaSignpostTemplateSignpostheadernoincludeWikipediaSignpostTemplate:Signpostarticlestar1Special:sBy User:MabeenotMabeenot1 April 2013 WikipediaSignpostSidebarYour source forWikiProject News Wikipedia:WikiProjectChristina AguileraWikiProjectChristina Aguilera has beenlaunched and they could useyourhelpThe broad scope Wikipedia:WikiProject Animals in mediaWikiProject Animals in Mediarequires the work many editors like youWikipedia:WikiProject U2WikiProjectneeds youSubmit your project's news and announcements for next week's WikiProject Report at theSignpostsPOSTWPWikiProject Desk Instead of interviewing a WikiProject, this week's Report is dedicated to answering our readers' questions about WikiProjects The following Frequently Asked Questions came from feedback at the WikiProject Report's talk page the WikiProject Council's talk page and from previous lists FAQs Included in today's Report are questions and answers that may prove useful to Wikipedia's newest editors as well as seasoned veterans.What is a WikiProjecWikipedia:WikiProject CouncilavigationPer thWikipedia:WikiProjectofficial definition a WikiProject is a group of editors that wish to work together as a team to improve Wikipedia Theseten focus on a topic arealikeWikipedia:WikiProject Tropical cyclonestropical cyclones or a specific taskWikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sortingdeletion sortingThe WikiProject Council maintainsWikipedia:WikiProject CouncilGuideWikiProjecta guidefor starting and maintaining a WikiProject as well as aWikipedia:WikiProject CouncilDirectorydirectory WikiProjectsWhat was the first WikiProjectWikipedia:WikiProject SportsWikiProject Sports was created byUser:Manning BartlettManning Bartlettin September 2001 to illustrateWikipedia:Historical archiveWikiProject proposalhis proposal for the new entity he called aWikiProjectHowever there are a few modern projects likeWikipedia:WikiProject Tree LifeWikiProject Tree Life that existed as loose collaborations prior to the invention the WikiProject concept that were later adapted to serve as WikiProjects How many WikiProjects are thereIt is difficult to get an accurate count of WikiProjects since anyone can create a project at any time and the process for merging and deleting obsolete projects varies Our best estimate comes from the Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial TeamIndex Wikipedia 1.0 assessment system which currently tracks the banners of 2,117 projects. However it should be noted that this number may be inflated by projects that have merged into other projects or were reduced to task force status without updating the project's old banner templatethe other hand this number excludes many WikiProjects that perform important functions but do not tag and assess articles such as theWP:GOCEGuilCopy Editors What's the biggest WikiProjectThe sizea WikiProject depends on how you measure it Looking at thetoolsenwpcgibinreportsrcginumber articlestagged with the project's bannerthe largest WikiProject is clearlyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyWikiProject Biography with over one million articles under its scope. However if we want to know which project has the most participants there isn't a clear answer participant lists are not standardized and many projects rarely update their participants rolls. As a result, the identity the WikiProject with the largest numberparticipants remains a mystery.What's the smallest WikiProjectThere are dozensWikiProjects that have not tagged a single article despite someone at the project taking the time to set up a banner that tracks articles. There are also project participants pages where none the listed editors remain actives there a standard definition a successful WikiProject A successful WikiProject contributes toward Wikipedia's mission building an encyclopedia However each project achieves success in their own way Some projects set goals for themselves and track their progress like Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history|WikiProject Military History]]. Others deal with a continuously changing landscape responding to the concerns editors Wikipedia:TeahouseTeahouse or trying to keep the growth backlogs to a minimumWikipedia:WikiProject WikifyWikiProject Wikify By tracking changes in a project'sWikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost2013-02WikiProject reportrelative WikiWork over time, the productivityprojects that assess articles can be measured. Many projects showcase their successful endeavors by using UserJLBotProject contentJL-Bot to maintain galleriestheir Featured content and Did You Know submissions. Ultimatelythe only unsuccessful WikiProjects are those that don't do anything How do you know if a project is active?Determining which projects have been abandoned can be difficult if nobody was left to turn out the lights A project's automated functions and archiving may still be running even if nobody is watching. Some projects feature outdated participants lists comprising people who have left Wikipedia or otherwise disappeared without much fanfare. Activity on a project's talk page may be the clearest sign of life available, assuming this activity isn't simply unanswered questions from editors outside the projectFurther complicating matters the editorsome projects prefer to work independently or communicate through external methods likeWikipedia:IRCIRC, resulting in an active project with an inactive talk page. The writers the WikiProject Report often struggle with deciding which projects to interview since many interesting projects may look active on the surface, hiding a more depressing reality. Who determines whether a WikiProject is marked as active, semi-active or inactive The terse answer The project does The real answer Having a project determine its activity is like asking a corpse to decide when the deceased became deceased. While a few editors are courteous enough to hang a notice on the project's page when they know they're the last one to leave, most projects tagged as inactive or semi-active were tagged when someone outside the project stepped in Under what circumstances are WikiProjects deleted from Wikipedia rather than marked as defunct or historical Typically projects are only deleted when they arefase startsincomplete projects that never got off the ground serve as a repository for material that infringes on copyright laws, exist solely as an Wikipedia:Attack page attack pageor have no other redeeming valueis more common for semi-active projects to be merged into their parent project sometimes as a Wikipedia:WikiProject Council GuideTask forcestask force Most inactive and defunct projects are simply left intact with the hope that the materials and discussions collected by the project may become useful at a later dateHow do you revive an inactive WikiProjectWeveWikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost20110516WikiProject report| written extensivelyon the subject. Keep in mind that some projects have run their course while others have a scope that is too narrow or too broad to attract a sizable communityeditorsyou still want to revive the project a good way to start is by updating the participants list inviting new participants reaching out to active projects for helpand fixing any broken templates and automation. Start discussions on the project's talk page about how to improve the project's organization goals and collaborationsReviving a WikiProjectten feels like an uphill battle. Just don't get discouragedWho can add articles to a WikiProjectAnyone can add articles to a project by attaching the project's banner to an article's talk page Likewiseanyone can remove banners so don't be surprised if the participants in a project determine that the article you tagged is not within their scopeFurther discussion may be necessary at the project's talk page.Who can assess articles?Anyone can assess articles although it is wise to read and follow any assessment guidelines unique to a particular project before deciding whatclass andimportance should be assigned to an articleFor instance WikiProject Biographies has a unique importance structure with 200Wikipedia:WikiProject Biography Core biographiecor articlesGood Articles, Featured Articlesand Featured Lists are determined through processes independentthe WikiProject, so using those assessments inappropriately may have negative repercussionsIs there a limit to the number projects that can add their banner to an article?

No. Each project determines its own scope and can include whatever articles they like. For instanceElizabeth II is under the scope18 projects and task forces whileBarack Obama is handled by 22 projects and task forces.Some WikiProjects provide a WikiProject Watchlist and some do not. Why
As with all tools available to WikiProjectsnot every project has set up a watchlist and some projects may not desire to have one. There are multiple types watchlists a project can use fromtoolstim135cgibinwikiprojectwatchlistpyTim135s watchlists to User:TedderBotNewPageSearchnew article notificationsto

Wikipedia:Article alertsarticle alerts to hot articles. A project can choose whatever watchlists they want to use or even devise their own unique toolWhat'sthe difference between a sister WikiProject and a related WikiProjecPeople tend to use them interchangeably, but the term "related WikiProjects is broader thansister WikiProjectsThe termsparentsister andchild provide a way categorizing projects. An examplesister projects would be Wikipedia:WikiProject PittsburghWikiProject Pittsburgh andWikipedia:WikiProject PhiladelphiaWikiProject Philadelphia while related projects would also include their parent projects Wikipedia:WikiProject CitiesWikiProject Cities andWikipediaWikiProject Pennsylvania WikiProject Pennsylvania in this case and any child projects or task forcesWikipediaWikiProject National Football League Pittsburgh Steelers subproject WikiProject Pittsburgh Steelers andWikipedia:WikiProject UniversityPittsburgh WikiProject University o Pittsburgh come to mindHoweverone confusing bit about the term Wikipedia:Wikimedia sister projectssister project is that it has also been used to compare different wikis or languages Wikipediaie Wikisource Wikinews Chinese Wikipedia German Wikipedia et which is evidenced by theSignpost's defunct User:OhanaUnited Sister Projects Interviewsister projects columnHow doparticipate in a WikiProjecParticipating in a WikiProject is easy. Most projects have a participants list to which you can add your name. Next you'll want to add the project's talk page to your personal watchlist so that you can keep up to date on the latest discussions and help editors in need Check out the project's Featured and Good Articles for ideas about how to improve articles under the project's scope. Take a look at the project's goals or browse the project's stubs and start-class articles to find areas where you can help today. Projects may offer a userbox you can add to your user page as a sign pride that also doubles as a way to add yourself to categories listing all users who are interested in a particular topicWhat can I do to improve Wikipedia's community WikiProjectsTheWikipedia:WikiProject Council WikiProject Council is welcome to anyone with ideas for building stronger collaborative links between WikiProjectsFeel free toWikipedia: Wikipedia Signpost Newsroom WikiProject desksuggest ideas for interviewsspecial reports news and announcements about WikiProjects for the weekly WikiProject Report in theSignpostParticipatein discussions at a varietyprojects and try to answer the questions newcomers If multiple projects are working on the same article try to recruit participants from these projects to collaborateHost meetups for the participants in projects in a particular geographic area. Create contests and backlog drives that anyone can enter We've interviewed projects that have used social media to recruit participants partnered with educational institutionsand even manufactured their own game Be creative andWikipedia talk:Wikipedia SignpostNewsroom WikiProject desk share your experiences with us Next week's interview will be earthshattering.Until then shake it up intheWikipedia:Wikipedia SignpostArchivesWikiProject report archivenoincludeWikipedia:SignpostTemplatSignpostarticlecommentsendnoincludeCategory:Wikipedia Signpost wikiproject report archives 2013041Category:Wikipedia Signpost archives 2013-0401 WikiProject Category:WikiProjects featured in The Signpost‎

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