Forum:SH Archive/Showcasing Good Articles

Hey everyone,

At the latest Mofference, we tossed around ideas regarding the showcasing of Good Articles on the main page. There was overwhelming support for the idea (see here and ctrl + f "good articles"). The remaining questions don't seem to be "Should we do this?" but rather "How should we go about it?" Well, that's what this Senate Hall thread is for. There are a few different aspects we'll need to work out, so I'll separate them into their own subsections. Menkooroo 03:47, February 24, 2012 (UTC)

To replace or to supplement Featured Articles?
If we're going to put GAs on the main page, we need to decide if we're going to feature them in lieu of FAs on certain weeks/days of the week/whatever, or if we're going to place them on the main page in addition to the day's FA.

Personally, I'm strongly against the idea of replacing Featured Articles. If we showcase GAs identically to FAs, then all that's left to distinguish them from each other is a meaningless word count. It would essentially make FAs obsolete. I believe that Featured Articles should remain "Featured," with Good Articles being acknowledged on the main page as their also-excellent-baby-brothers of sorts. I don't think we should "Feature" Good Articles so much as we should "Showcase" them --- put a daily GA on the main page, but put it below the FA. Yes, Good Articles are of the same quality as Featured Articles, but I still feel that the largeness of FAs (and the extra effort that goes into writing them) should get the better showcase. I don't think that we should turn FAs and GAs into the same thing.

The queue isn't as big as it used to be, but it's not in danger of drying up, either. Fifteen FAs and four RFAs were added to the queue in January, and so far in February, six FAs and five RFAs have been. Writing and reviewing always pick up in the summer months; by June and July, I can see us being close to queueing thirty a month. If we want new content to be on the main page every day, a daily GA falling below the semi-weekly FA can accomplish that just fine.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. What are yours? Menkooroo 03:47, February 24, 2012 (UTC)
 * I'm also strongly against replacing FAs. Putting them under the FA sounds excellent to me. &mdash;MJ&mdash; War Room Friday, February 24, 2012, 04:09 UTC
 * Ditto. Toprawa and Ralltiir 04:18, February 24, 2012 (UTC)
 * Indeed.&mdash; Cal Jedi Infinite Empire.svg (Personal Comm Channel) 04:22, February 24, 2012 (UTC)

How many per week?
Seven! I say seven. One a day. New content every day. Menkooroo 03:47, February 24, 2012 (UTC)


 * Agreed. Right now there are only two things on the Main Page that update daily: the QOTD, which is only good for a quick laugh and/or smile before the reader moves on, and "On this day", which for the most part isn't "new" content, since the same stuff is recycled every year (except for new additions from the previous year). We need something on the Main Page that both updates daily and encourages readers to dig a little deeper into the site, i.e. by clicking through to the article. The FA used to accomplish this, but it's not daily anymore. Daily GAs would be perfect for that purpose. &mdash;MJ&mdash; Jedi Council Chambers Friday, February 24, 2012, 04:14 UTC
 * Yeah. Daily updates. We have plenty of GA material to do it with. That way, the two FAs a week could remain the same, and viewers would still have something to come back for.&mdash; Cal Jedi Infinite Empire.svg (Personal Comm Channel) 04:24, February 24, 2012 (UTC)

Should they get the full picture and intro treatment?
I don't have a strong opinion on this one. Although I will note a good point that was brought up at the Mofference --- if we just had an unobtrusive note saying "Today's GA: Cad Bane's Hats," it would be no different than the "Random Good Article" button. And it would be a little boring.

So, discuss here where on the main page they should go, and whether or not they should get the full intro and picture treatment. My votes are below the FA and sure, why not? Menkooroo 03:47, February 24, 2012 (UTC)


 * Under the FA sounds perfect. I also like the full intro/picture for the reason you point out in the first paragraph. &mdash;MJ&mdash; War Room Friday, February 24, 2012, 04:16 UTC

Where the hell do we start?
There are over fourteen hundred Good Articles. Uh... wow! How can we possibly catch up? If we start at the beginning and do one a day, we'll start with a four-year-long queue. Yikes.

I'm not crazy about the idea of starting at the beginning. The issue of 2007-quality comes up, and we most definitely do NOT need an RGAN page. The inevitable-slow-movement of that would kind of defeat the purpose of this whole thing.

So, what do we do then? Start now and give a big "Kriff you" to every GA that's already been written? I kind of like the idea of just being random and having fun with it. Do themed weeks. Do a Star Wars: Ewoks week. Do a clone trooper week. Do a Darkstryder month. :P We could have a suggestion page for themed weeks that the Agricorps would need to approve. That's just an idea. Everyone propose ideas of your own! Menkooroo 03:47, February 24, 2012 (UTC)


 * Your idea sounds perfect. Themed weeks is exactly what I was thinking. A suggestion page would be a good idea, but I should note (as an outside observer) that it's possible that the AgriCorps might not like having Yet Another Responsibility&trade; dumped on them. It might be a good idea to take a page from Wikipedia's featured article system and appoint one user to act as "director" of the suggestions page. That user (who could appoint an alternate to act in his/her absence) would be responsible to scheduling GA showcases, both from the suggestions page and at his/her own discretion if the suggestions page is empty. The director would also be responsible for giving each proposed article a cursory inspection prior to scheduling to make sure it's still of reasonable quality; articles which fail that quick read would be rejected and sent to the AgriCorps to review at their next meeting. Does that make sense

Anything else?
Let's figure this out as a community. Menkooroo 03:47, February 24, 2012 (UTC)