Forum:CT:The Future of the Main Page Queue

Forums > Consensus track archive > CT:The Future of the Main Page Queue

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The result of the debate was implement proposal. 1358 ^(Talk) 21:52, December 23, 2015 (UTC)

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As most of us know, production on the status article nomination systems is not what it once was. For a variety of reasons, we are putting out fewer new Featured and Good articles than ever before. We have reached the point that we can no longer sustain either a daily or weekly FA or GA queue on the Main Page. The burden to review and pass articles fast enough to keep the queue going has become too much for reviewers, and it's beginning to sap overall interest in the system.

However, I know from speaking with several users most involved in article reviewing that there is still an interest in seeing status articles on the Main Page. And, of course, article writing is something that we all enjoy doing, so that will always remain, as will the need to maintain a high level of article quality. I am therefore proposing a new format for the Main Page status article queue that will a) allow the nomination review systems to continue as normal, while b) removing the burden of constant production.

The proposal

1. Rather than a daily or weekly queue for both Featured articles and Good articles, FAs and GAs will be combined into a single randomized queue
   • Once a new FAN or GAN is passed, members of the Inquisitorius/AgriCorps will create a new queue page, in the same format we do currently, and add it to the random queue pool, much like we do now for Wookieepedia:Featured articles/Random, etc. However, the following status articles will not be included in the random queue:
     • Articles without a main image
     • Unidentified articles (Note that other conjecturally-titled articles will still be permitted)
2. This randomized queue will replace the Main Page's current "Random articles" box; that box will now be removed completely
3. The Inquisitorius and AgriCorps will need to a) update the FAN and GAN instructions pages to reflect this new queuing procedure; b) Go through and update/clean up all existing queue pages, while making sure to create any relevant queue pages for status articles that do not already have them
   • The administration will be responsible for any other minor formatting changes necessary on the Main Page to put this into effect

As stated above, this new queue format will allow FAN/GAN writing and reviewing to continue operating exactly as it is now. The reviewers will just now be free of the burden of keeping the queues going. We will be free to review at a more comfortable and enjoyable pace. This will also free up extra room on the Main Page for us to put new things as we continue to explore redesign options.

As for not including imageless and unidentified articles in the queue, this is done because these types of articles simply are not marketable. The Main Page is already far too text-heavy, and we've had many days in the past where there wasn't a single image on the Main Page just because both queues had no pictures. This will ensure that there is always an image there, and I expect this to have the added effect of encouraging our writers to write articles that our readers will be more interested in reading, if they want to see their work advertised on the Main Page. Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 17:47, December 15, 2015 (UTC)

Voting

Support

1. Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 17:47, December 15, 2015 (UTC)
2. Sounds good. <-Omicron^{(Leave a message at the BEEP!)} 17:54, December 15, 2015 (UTC)
3. AV-6R7^{Crew Pit} 18:01, December 15, 2015 (UTC)
4. I support this regardless of the current status of the queue, because it's a more dynamic reader experience. That being said, this CT mentions that reviewers are now free to review at a more comfortable pace. We also need to acknowledge that the review process needs to be sped up regardless of the state of the queue. Nominations are languishing and there's really no good reason for that. - Brandon Rhea^(talk) 18:09, December 15, 2015 (UTC)
5. Agreed, though I'm personally not a fan of barring articles without a main image. Supreme Emperor (talk) 19:42, December 15, 2015 (UTC)
   • SE and I just now discussed the possibility of implementing a sort of featured topic section in our future redesign, which would be one option for still highlighting imageless status articles on the Main Page. So not including them in the queue doesn't necessarily mean they have no place. Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 20:00, December 15, 2015 (UTC)
6. IFYLOFD ^(Talk) 23:07, December 15, 2015 (UTC)
7. Exiled Jedi (talk) 23:20, December 15, 2015 (UTC)
8. ProfessorTofty (talk) 01:42, December 16, 2015 (UTC)
9. Gah. Didn't I ask for a week off? Cade Calrayn 03:27, December 16, 2015 (UTC)
10. Per Brandon. grunny@wookieepedia:~$ 08:37, December 16, 2015 (UTC)
11. Coruscantfan ^(Talk) 09:31, December 17, 2015 (UTC)
12. Hanzo Hasashi (talk) 02:30, December 23, 2015 (UTC)
13. Makes sense. Corellian Premier^{The Force will be with you always} 02:35, December 23, 2015 (UTC)
14. Ayrehead02 (talk) 19:57, December 23, 2015 (UTC)
15. Cwedin^(talk) 20:00, December 23, 2015 (UTC)
16. Don't really agree with not show casing articles with no main images, but I'll support. A lot of the GANs/FANs from book series such as NJO, LOTF, FOTJ, etc will most often not have images, which leaves out of lot of articles. Maybe it would be possible to have the main page implemented so that at least one of the two featured articles has an image, instead of both? 501st dogma^(talk) 20:03, December 23, 2015 (UTC)