Forum:CT Archive/Star Wars Blog

In 2013, we ratified a CT that established a basic system for how to list StarWars.com Blog posts within our articles. We agreed 1) to list all Blog posts that contain new canon information in articles' Sources lists, and 2) added a general note stating that all other Blog posts are to be listed in articles' External links sections. This system worked well for us for a time during the era of Star Wars: Blogs, but SW.com has since completely overhauled their site. The old Blogs page has been turned into the Star Wars Blog, which in turn has been combined into a single "News + Blog" section. This has blurred the line between official site news and informal Blog posts, as SW.com embraces an increasing emphasis on generating fan-centric content and has hired a number of freelancers to write regular Blog entries.

The effect this has had for Wookieepedia is requiring us to sort through a much higher volume of Blog posts, many of a trivial and often irrelevant nature with respect to our purposes, and deciding what should or shouldn't be listed in External links. Or, more accurately, it has required Hanzo to do this, as he's really the only one who takes the time to go through new Blog posts. Hanzo has expressed a dissatisfaction at how outdated our system is and how unnecessary it is to list virtually every Blog post in External links sections, and I agree. I therefore propose modernizing our system in the following ways:

1) We will no longer be required to list every Blog post in our in-universe articles. We will continue to list in Sources lists Blog posts that contain new canon information, and we will only need to list in External links any other Blog posts that may contain critically relevant information of a behind-the-scenes nature. 2) For out-of-universe articles, we will likewise no longer be required to list every Blog post in the External links section. We will define for ourselves what constitutes "official news" coming from SW.com, which will determine whether a SW.com article is listed in the Bibliography or the External links.

I present these proposals in the following votes.

Vote 1: In-universe articles
As explained above, this proposal is designed to limit the number of Blog posts we list in our in-universe articles to only those that are relevant to our documentation purposes.

In Layout Guide, I propose this policy clause, "Star Wars Blog entries are only listed in the Sources section if they contain unique canonical information. Otherwise, they are to be listed in the "External links" section.", be changed to the following: 'Star Wars'' Blog posts are only listed in the Sources section if they contain unique canonical information. Other Blog posts may be listed in the "External links" section as appropriate.'''

In Layout Guide, I propose replacing the current mention of Blogs to the following: 'Star Wars'' Blog posts may be listed in the External links as necessary to supplement an article's coverage, but restrict Blog listings to posts of critical relevance. Any Blog post that is cited in the course of the article must be listed in the External links if not already listed in the Sources section.'''

Support

 * 1) Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 21:56, March 8, 2015 (UTC)

Vote 2: Out-of-universe articles
This proposal will similarly update our system for listing both SW.com official news articles and Blog posts in out-of-universe articles, between both the Bibliography and External links sections. Note that the idea here is that OOU articles have been and will continue to list more Blog entries than in-universe articles do, simply because Blog posts are much more relevant to the real-world scope of OOU articles.

In Layout Guide/Out-of-universe, I propose the following clause be added: '''Only StarWars.com articles and Blog posts that present news and official information may be listed in the Bibliography. Other articles and Blog posts may be listed in the "External links" section as appropriate. Because StarWars.com combines news and Blog posts into a single section, care must be taken to identify articles and Blog posts that are relevant to the Bibliography. Typically, articles and Blog posts written by StarWars.com Team and Dan Brooks (Lucasfilm's senior content writer) constitute those that are appropriate for the Bibliography. Certain posts from primary Star Wars authors or Lucasfilm employees, such as Jason Fry, Abel G. Peña, or Jennifer Heddle, may also be appropriate.'''

In Layout Guide/Out-of-universe, I propose the following:
 * The first line will now read: Links to unofficial sources, such as Wikipedia articles, Internet Movie Database pages, and news articles.
 * A second line will read: Star Wars Blog posts that do not contain official news, as defined in the preceding "Bibliography" section. Note that External links sections need not list all Blog posts pertaining to a given subject. Restrict Blog listings only to the most critically relevant posts with respect to an article's coverage. Blog posts from the Pop Culture, Quizzes, and Films categories are typically prime examples of those that are not appropriate for the External links. Any Blog post that is cited in the course of the article must be listed in the External links if not already listed in the Bibliography.

Support

 * 1) Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 21:56, March 8, 2015 (UTC)