Forum:CT Archive/Showcasing Good articles: Final round!!

Hey everyone,

We're so close to getting Good articles on the Main Page! A huge thanks to everyone for their thoughts, ideas, support, and suggestions throughout the Mofference, Senate Hall thread, the first CT, and the second CT. We have a few more items to vote on before this becomes a reality. Some items are pretty basic, others a little deeper. Bear with me and give them all a read-through and a vote --- with your help, we can finally get this show on the road. Menkooroo 02:57, March 27, 2012 (UTC)

First vote: New pages and templates
This one is a bit complicated. Please read it carefully and ensure that you understand. If not, feel free to ask for clarification. Some new pages need to be created. We just need to approve them as a community.

This vote is for approving the creation of Wookeepedia:Good article queue, Good articles/History, Agricorps/Old GAs, GoodOn, and NewGAs, as well as some proposed updates to Good article nominations/instructions.


 * 1) The basics:Wookeepedia:Good article queue and Good articles/History will be identical to their FA brethren. They keep track of GAs that will soon and have already been showcased on the Main Page, respectively. GoodOn is the GA equivalent of FeaturedOn. It goes on GAs' talk pages and states when they will be/have been showcased.
 * Now, the slightly more complicated ones: Agricorps/Old GAs will be a list of all of the oldest GAs. It will be a handy shortcut for Agricorps to know which old GAs will be showcased on weekends, and it will basically look like the top of this page. The AC will strike out old GAs after they're placed on the queue. Any old GA that needs heavy cleanup will be marked as such and will be brought to the Agricorps' attention rather than being placed on the queue. If it passes AC review, it will be added to the queue at that time. See the proposed updates for more details; they let the AC know how to peruse and update the list.

NewGAs will be a number from 0 to 7. It's modelled after Legacyfac. It will initially be set at 5, since we voted to showcase 5 new GAs per week. If the Agricorps votes to change that number, all they need do is change the number in this template. View the proposed updates to see where this template will appear.
 * 1) And finally, here are the proposed updates to Good article nominations/instructions. Check out here to see exactly what will change. Please read the changes carefully. They include instructions on how to add both old and new GAs to the queue, how to add them to the GA history, how to update the "Old GAs" list, and exactly what to do with old GAs that need heavy cleanup. If you have any questions at all about these proposed changes, feel free to ask them in "Discussion" below.

===Approve the creation of Wookeepedia:Good article queue, Good articles/History, Agricorps/Old GAs, GoodOn, and NewGAs, and the proposed updates to Good article nominations/instructions.===
 * 1) Menkooroo 02:57, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 2) Darth Trayus ( Trayus Academy ) 03:37, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 3) Heck yes.  Trak Nar  Ramble on 04:05, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 4) Jonjedigrandmaster  ( Talk ) 04:10, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 5) Well, how would we do this without these pages? &mdash;MJ&mdash; Jedi Council Chambers Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 04:16 UTC
 * 6) So many redlinks.  nayayen ★talk  11:13, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 7) Definitely. Corellian PremierRobotech.jpg along the watchtower 15:56, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 8) Per Master Jonathan. None of these items require community consensus to ratify. The first CT already established the creation of a Main Page queue. All of this is simply necessary technical matter that needs to exist for the queue to function. Toprawa and Ralltiir 18:33, March 27, 2012 (UTC)

Second vote: When do we start?
This is pretty simple. Do we wait until May 1st, or do we get this party started as soon as possible?

Showcase the first GA on Monday, April 16

 * 1) May 1st may be a nice even number for the history books, but why wait any longer than necessary? If this CT passes, and if the Agricorps are cool with a non-AC doing it, I'm volunteering to get the queue up-and-running as soon as this CT closes. If they're not cool with that, I'm volunteering to offer them support! :D Menkooroo 02:57, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 2) Get the ball rolling! Darth Trayus ( Trayus Academy ) 03:37, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * Eh, why not? At least it's on a Monday.  Trak Nar  Ramble on 04:06, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 1) Honestly, I'm good with whatever on this one. Voting here because: why not? Jonjedigrandmaster  ( Talk ) 04:10, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 2) Entirely per Jon. &mdash;MJ&mdash; Council Chambers Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 04:16 UTC
 * 3) No point waiting.  nayayen ★talk  11:13, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 4) Definitely. Corellian PremierRobotech.jpg along the watchtower 15:56, March 27, 2012 (UTC)

Third vote: A float
We need to give the queue a float. Otherwise it will be a mad, mad, mad, mad rush to pass as many new GAs as possible so that the queue doesn't dry up immediately. How long of a float do we need? These are my suggestions. A four-week float, for example, would consist of the twenty most recently passed GAs (weekdays) and the first eight old GAs (weekends).

Twelve weeks

 * 1) Starting with a three-month-long queue is, IMO, a good course of action. It will give us a good amount of time to see how quickly we're adding to it without the worry of it drying up. Menkooroo 02:57, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 2) Although I also think eight weeks would be enough. Darth Trayus ( Trayus Academy ) 03:37, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 3) If only my savings account would have a nice queue like this...  Trak Nar  Ramble on 04:07, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 4) Seems reasonable. Jonjedigrandmaster  ( Talk ) 04:10, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 5) Per Menk. &mdash;MJ&mdash; War Room Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 04:17 UTC

Fourth vote: Aesthetics
Trak suggested that we take some steps to distinguish the GA box from the FA box --- specifically, align images to the right instead of the left. Make them visually different.

Align images to the right

 * 1) I think this is a great idea. The casual reader will automatically realize that they're different. Additionally, two consecutive left-aligned images are frowned upon in articles for visual reasons; front page should be the same. Menkooroo 02:57, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 2) Because I suggested it and because the eye looks for distinct contrast when skimming a page. For articles without images, the bold text header will simply have to do.  But with the alternate image placement, there will be a clear and distinct contrast without actually having to read the page.  Since the advent of the casual Internet sub-culture, we have all learned to skim.  We glance over a page, pick out key words, and determine a context with that.  We do it without realizing it.  It saves time.  I can assure you that i didn't sit down and read this whole CT in the traditional sense as one would read a book; I skimmed it for contrast and context.  That's what my eyes and brain have learned to do and I can reasonably assume that you do the same.  Without contrast, the blocks of text will blur together.  Alternating the image will help prevent that.  It's the same reason why we do it in articles.  Why not on the front page?  Trak Nar  Ramble on 04:03, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 3) Per Menk and Trak. &mdash;MJ&mdash; War Room Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 04:19 UTC
 * 4)  nayayen ★talk  11:13, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 5) Definitely. Corellian PremierRobotech.jpg along the watchtower 15:56, March 27, 2012 (UTC)

Keep them on the left

 * 1) I much prefer uniformity on the main page. Plus, I think the bolded "Good Article" bar above the text will be a bit of a dead give away to our readers regarding what the following text will be. Darth Trayus ( Trayus Academy ) 03:37, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 2) Though honestly I don't care that much one way or the other. Jonjedigrandmaster  ( Talk ) 04:10, March 27, 2012 (UTC)

Fifth vote: Themed weeks
There was a lot of discussion about allowing room for themed weeks. ie, once every month or so, do an entire week of old GAs that follow the same theme, eg Stormtrooper week, Planet week, DarkStryder week. Since we have over 1400 existing GAs, this would be a fun way to showcase them with more frequency with minimal disruption to our regularly-scheduled queue. If this passes, we can work out the logistics in a later CT.

Do themed weeks

 * 1) I like this idea. I don't think we should start right away --- we should get the queue up and running first --- but, beginning a few months from now, I think that doing this once every month or two would be fun. Menkooroo 02:57, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 2) Yes! Darth Trayus ( Trayus Academy ) 03:37, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 3) Can't wait for Insect Week! :D  Trak Nar  Ramble on 04:05, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 4) I think this'll increase interest in the site for readers and users alike, and that can only be a good thing. Jonjedigrandmaster  ( Talk ) 04:10, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 5) Per Jon. &mdash;MJ&mdash;</b> Jedi Council Chambers</b> Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 04:20 UTC
 * 6)  nayayen ★talk  11:13, March 27, 2012 (UTC)
 * 7) If only as an excuse to keep doing themed noms for myself. Corellian PremierRobotech.jpg along the watchtower 15:56, March 27, 2012 (UTC)