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Highfields
USER • TALK • UPLOADS • SANDBOX • CONTRIBUTIONS
ARCHIVES: 1 • 2 (This page is 198,204 bytes...)

Archive 1Archive 2


Bondpedia

"Why was I blocked, I don't even have a blog, what do you meen you found porn linksa?"

a) I gave my reasons in the block log, and in the community portal.

b) The links in question were found at the link you put in the "be sure to visit section", link: http://007isback.blogspot.com/ (and don't deny it, you can find it in the relevant pages history

At this moment, I feel no need to revert the blog and you may find "Tom2" blocked, too. And this time I'll disallow a/c creation.

TommyXKR (talk) 14:18, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

Bondpedia

Hi SOunds good but is it really necessary surely wikipedia has its own sub bond encyclopedia? User:Chrislk02 may be interested. Ernst Stavro Blofeld 19:03, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

Your Bondpedia has the potential to cover every tiny bit of everything to do with Bond. I would like to see complete transcripts of the films and articles on sub sections of the films etc. But the bondpedia looks like part of wikipedia? I guess admin didn't want it officially?Ernst Stavro Blofeld 16:01, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

Admin Nomination

Thankyou for nominating me for an administrator it means a lot that you have noted my editing and contribution and help I give people. A number of people have suggested it to me because of my coordination of the project. However I would prefer not to be formally attatched as I feel less obligation to commit to the project that way. Ernst Stavro Blofeld 18:11, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Ah I rememebr you are the bondpedia guy. Great idea its a shame wikipedia won't accpet it offially. I may help you out some time as I am a major bond film buff. Ernst Stavro Blofeld 18:12, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

World Flags

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. I moved the list to project space, since it duplicates information found in other lists on Wikipedia, and because you stated in your first edit that it was for use by the Wikiproject. As for the text, it looks right to me. Lexicon (talk) 18:54, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Barnstar

Wow, thanks! I'm happy to help. Lexicon (talk) 17:01, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

WP:007

It reminds me not to send you the new template. SpecialWindler talk 07:57, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

Bondpedia

Of course I'll help wherever possible MusicaLucas 19:57, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

I accept your adoption offer.

Thank you! FuzionZero 19:01, 25 September 2007 (UTC)


Bondpedia

Whats cracking of with Bondpedia, It doesn't appear to be working on my computer Highfields (talk) (contribs) 15:14, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

Ya, its not workini on mine either. Servers probably down. Do you know a way we could contact PC? --Ncusa367 22:53, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

POTD scheduling

Hi and thanks for your efforts in scheduling the Picture of the day. However, the image you selected, Image:Herbeumont JPG02.jpg is not a Featured Picture. The Pictures of the day are selected from the existing Featured pictures in a roughly FIFO order. If you are interested in nominating this image for Featured status, please do so at Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates. If you would like to help out with the POTD, please be sure to read Wikipedia:Picture of the day/Guidelines. Thank you and let me know if you have any questions. howcheng {chat} 18:16, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

October 2007

Welcome to Wikipedia. It might not have been your intention, but your recent edit removed content from Wikipedia. When removing text, please specify a reason in the edit summary and discuss edits that are likely to be controversial on the article's talk page. If this was a mistake, don't worry, as the text has been restored from the page history. Take a look at the welcome page to learn more about contributing to this encyclopedia, and if you would like to experiment, please use the sandbox. Thank you. Do not erase messages from the others. It seems that you're the user that he is talking about, so help him but don't beat him. And you don't have to edit his user page unless he ask you for, but I don't think it is the case, he just asked you to adopt him. Martial BACQUET 15:32, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

response

  • In what way am I a sockpupeteer, what are you on about, I have one account and I've never vandalized any pages! Unles you have any proof I think you should give up before you make my life a misery because a mate as a dare pretended that I was vandalizing his page and that I am stalking him! Highfields (talk) (contribs) 16:27, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

You have not logged in to remove the message from your supposed friend. It's considered as vandalism and user account abuse. Why did you not logged in? To mislead us like if it wasn't you? Martial BACQUET 16:35, 16 October 2007 (UTC)
Which comment? I didn't delete anything. Martial BACQUET 16:37, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Comments removed

Hello. I deleted your comment from Arothi's talk page. Please do not introduce personal information to Wikipedia. Thanks. -- zzuuzz (talk) 16:38, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Please see WP:HARASS#Posting_of_personal_information. Please note that posting an editor's real name is taken very seriously, and don't do it again. Thanks. -- zzuuzz (talk) 16:46, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Personal details

Highfields, giving out personal details like someone else's name or age is about the worst thing you can do on Wikipedia. I've asked at WP:AN/I for your mistakes in this regard to be oversighted (deleted for real). I have no doubt this is just a mistake. But if you don't learn right now not to give out Wikipedia editors' names and other personal details, you might be blocked from editing until you are a year or so older and wiser. Please talk to your teachers and parents about what information is appropriate for you to give away about yourself on the internet. Anything you want removed from even the history pages about yourself (oversighting) can be done. Just ask at WP:AN/I. Thanks for helping make Wikipedia better. But learn about internet safety. WAS 4.250 16:47, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

User space images

This is just in case you did not know. User space images at Wikipedia must be copyrighted by you or be copy left copyrighted. Fair use images on wikipedia are sometimes ok on articles, but never allowed in user space. I noted that you are creating a user space gallery, which is allowed; and I just wanted to be sure you knew the rules. Nice choice of images, by the way (no I didn't check their copyright status by reading their wiki page; I know I can trust you to do that). WAS 4.250 17:36, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

License tagging for Image:Highfieldsschoollogo.JPG

Thanks for uploading Image:Highfieldsschoollogo.JPG. Wikipedia gets thousands of images uploaded every day, and in order to verify that the images can be legally used on Wikipedia, the source and copyright status must be indicated. Images need to have an image tag applied to the image description page indicating the copyright status of the image. This uniform and easy-to-understand method of indicating the license status allows potential re-users of the images to know what they are allowed to do with the images.

For more information on using images, see the following pages:

This is an automated notice by OrphanBot. If you need help on selecting a tag to use, or in adding the tag to the image description, feel free to post a message at Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. --OrphanBot 20:07, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

School article

The school article is a bit like a local web site. Would you expect to find this information in a paper encyclopedia? Can you delete some of the lists? .... something about history and notable students would be good. Its only advice, but wiki articles are never meant to be more than about 40% list and this one is 90% or so Victuallers (talk) 17:20, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

The lists do not need to be deleted; some of our articles are 100% list. But it is recommended to turn lists into sourced paragraphs that discuss and illuminate rather than merely enumerate. But that is hard work and Wikipedia is an encyclopedia in progress - we are never a finished product; so bit by bit it would be best if the article were improved by sourcing (such as to a handbook given out to the students?) and by fuller explanations rather than mere bullet-points. By the way, Highfields, thank you for helping to improve Wikipedia. WAS 4.250 (talk) 19:05, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

Penwith Wikiproject & Cornwall Wikiproject

Hi, I see you are a member of the Cornwall Wikiproject. A proposal has been made to merge the Penwith Wikiproject into it. You can join in the debate here. Best wishes, DuncanHill (talk) 12:24, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

WP:AIV

Hi. I've removed your two vandalism reports from AIV. They involved vandalism from Anarulesmenow (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) and Iliketehturtles (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log), neither of whom has edited since December. If they vandalise again, by all means - feel free to report them. Unfortunately, AIV is only for active vandalism, which this isn't. Thanks, UltraExactZZ Claims ~ Evidence 17:38, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Your signature

Hey Highfields, per this policy you cannot transclude your signature. You need to change your signature so the code goes directly into Your Preferences. After you do this, you need to change the pages where your signature is transcluded onto so that there is no more transclusion. After that, you can leave the page as it is or request deletion (I can do that if you want). Thanks and if you have any questions feel free to ask. « Gonzo fan2007 talk ♦ contribs 21:26, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

 Done Pages are deleted, thanks for changing it quickly, cheers! « Gonzo fan2007 talk ♦ contribs 20:17, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

Adoption

I accepted Milks Favourite cookie's adoption. Only because they were first to offer, naturally. I appreciate your offer. Thanks! The more people want to help the better and I wish to help in a similar manner in the future. :-) Fribbler (talk) 02:15, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

Your RfA

Hello Highfields. I'm sorry to inform you that I have closed your recent RfA as unsuccessful. The general consensus was that you need more experience here in Wikipedia, and once you have gained such then feel free to throw your hat into the RfA ring once again. All the best, The Rambling Man (talk) 15:32, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

Re:Admin coaching

Hi there. I will agree to coach you, but the way I coach you will be slightly different than what I normally do. This is because you simply need more experience, and questioning you won't help you right now. I will give you assignments pertaining to editing for a while, and then I will begin coaching you normally. We can get started at User:Highfields/Admin coaching. Malinaccier (talk) 15:46, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

NI flag

I just seen that, the other editor is pro-flag and I have had a few debates with him before on this issue, yet he fails to accept WP:RS that the flag is not the flag is not and never was the flag of Northern Ireland and thinks we should use the Ulster Banner for the lack of an alternative, but the link I provided from the British government makes the issue very clear, so the use of the flag for Northern Ireland today is POV.--Padraig (talk) 17:04, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

  • Look I don't want to argue, while I see and accept your point and the proof I agree with the other guy but as I say, I am going to stay out of this so you will have to debate it yourselves... Highfields (talk) (contribs) 16:15, 18 March 2008 (UTC)
    • (Honestly, if the NI government just ran a competition or picked a neutral flag it would be far easier for everyone!)

Re: Bangladesh Districts

Blimey! I did not notice this. I created the district articles by clicking the red links in List of cities and towns in Bangladesh. In List of cities and towns in Bangladesh, the word "district" is omitted. If the articles already exists as "X District", then these should be redirected to the "X District" articles. Otolemur crassicaudatus (talk) 16:21, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Image source problem with Image:Vatican 1669 flag.JPG

Image Copyright problem
Image Copyright problem

Thanks for uploading Image:Vatican 1669 flag.JPG. I noticed that the file's description page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you did not create this file yourself, you will need to specify the owner of the copyright. If you obtained it from a website, then a link to the website from which it was taken, together with a restatement of that website's terms of use of its content, is usually sufficient information. However, if the copyright holder is different from the website's publisher, their copyright should also be acknowledged.

As well as adding the source, please add a proper copyright licensing tag if the file doesn't have one already. If you created/took the picture, audio, or video then the {{GFDL-self}} tag can be used to release it under the GFDL. If you believe the media meets the criteria at Wikipedia:Non-free content, use a tag such as {{non-free fair use in|article name}} or one of the other tags listed at Wikipedia:Image copyright tags#Fair use. See Wikipedia:Image copyright tags for the full list of copyright tags that you can use.

If you have uploaded other files, consider checking that you have specified their source and tagged them, too. You can find a list of files you have uploaded by following this link. Unsourced and untagged images may be deleted one week after they have been tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If the image is copyrighted under a non-free license (per Wikipedia:Fair use) then the image will be deleted 48 hours after 16:44, 10 April 2008 (UTC). If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. Sdrtirs (talk) 16:44, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

Edit summary

Don't forget to try to use an edit summary for every edit. Keep up the good work, Malinaccier Public (talk) 16:51, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

TfD nomination of Template:WikiProjectU2TV

Template:WikiProjectU2TV has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for Deletion page. Thank you. –Dream out loud (talk) 03:47, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Speedy deletion of Image:Highfields school 01.jpg

A tag has been placed on Image:Highfields school 01.jpg requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under section I3 of the criteria for speedy deletion, because it is an image licensed as "for non-commercial use only," "non-derivative use" or "used with permission," it has not been shown to comply with the limited standards for the use of non-free content. [1], and it was either uploaded on or after 2005-05-19, or is not used in any articles. If you agree with the deletion, there is no need to do anything. If, however, you believe that this image may be retained on Wikipedia under one of the permitted conditions then:

  • state clearly the source of the image. If it has been copied from elsewhere on the web you should provide links to: the image itself, the page which uses it and the page which contains the license conditions.
  • add the relevant copyright tag.

If you think that this notice was placed here in error, you may contest the deletion by adding {{hangon}} to the top of the page that has been nominated for deletion (just below the existing speedy deletion or "db" tag), coupled with adding a note on [[ Talk:Image:Highfields school 01.jpg|the talk page]] explaining your position, but be aware that once tagged for speedy deletion, if the article meets the criterion it may be deleted without delay. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag yourself, but don't hesitate to add information to the article that would would render it more in conformance with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. Lastly, please note that if the article does get deleted, you can contact one of these admins to request that a copy be emailed to you. Sdrtirs (talk) 18:09, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

New User

Hi there. Thanks for replying to my adoption request. I would probably be editing popular media (books, films, music) and science (in particular brain science). Do let me know if you think you'd be able to help TheArgonaut (talk) 15:07, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Possibly unfree images

An image that you uploaded or altered, Image:Matlock 2.jpg, has been listed at Wikipedia:Possibly unfree images because its copyright status is unclear or disputed. If the image's copyright status cannot be verified, it may be deleted. You may find more information on the image description page. You are welcome to add comments to its entry at the discussion if you are interested in it not being deleted. Thank you. J Milburn (talk) 10:53, 11 August 2008 (UTC) --J Milburn (talk) 10:53, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

An image that you uploaded or altered, Image:Matlock 1.jpg, has been listed at Wikipedia:Possibly unfree images because its copyright status is unclear or disputed. If the image's copyright status cannot be verified, it may be deleted. You may find more information on the image description page. You are welcome to add comments to its entry at the discussion if you are interested in it not being deleted. Thank you. J Milburn (talk) 10:54, 11 August 2008 (UTC) --J Milburn (talk) 10:54, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

An image that you uploaded or altered, Image:New.Bondpedia.Logo.jpg, has been listed at Wikipedia:Possibly unfree images because its copyright status is unclear or disputed. If the image's copyright status cannot be verified, it may be deleted. You may find more information on the image description page. You are welcome to add comments to its entry at the discussion if you are interested in it not being deleted. Thank you. J Milburn (talk) 11:00, 11 August 2008 (UTC) --J Milburn (talk) 11:00, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Image Copyright problem
Image Copyright problem

Thanks for uploading Image:Wikpedia Sword.jpg. I noticed that the file's description page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you did not create this file yourself, you will need to specify the owner of the copyright. If you obtained it from a website, then a link to the website from which it was taken, together with a restatement of that website's terms of use of its content, is usually sufficient information. However, if the copyright holder is different from the website's publisher, their copyright should also be acknowledged.

If you have uploaded other files, consider checking that you have specified their source and tagged them, too. You can find a list of files you have uploaded by following this link. Unsourced and untagged images may be deleted one week after they have been tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If the image is copyrighted under a non-free license (per Wikipedia:Fair use) then the image will be deleted 48 hours after 11:01, 11 August 2008 (UTC). If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. 

 J Milburn (talk) 11:01, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

I have just deleted a few images of schools that you had uploaded with the claim that they were public domain (when the source website clearly claims copyright) and an image of a diver that you had taken from Flickr. Simply cropping a photograph does not suddenly give you the right to release it as your own work. J Milburn (talk) 11:03, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Until you have permission, you should not upload them- especially not as public domain, cropping off the copyright notices- that's just deceptive. Note that permission for Wikipedia to use the images is not enough- instead, they should be under a free license or public domain. Some of the images are now at PUI- if you want to contest their deletion, do it there. J Milburn (talk) 11:07, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
It wasn't, it was clearly the same picture. In any case, you can't just take a copyrighted picture, edit it and call it your own. That's not the way copyright works. J Milburn (talk) 11:09, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
Well, right now, you don't have enough. The images need to be released under a free license or into the public domain. If you receive permission for images to be released under those licenses by email, you can forward the email to the Wikimedia OTRS team as explained here so that there is proof of the permission. J Milburn (talk) 11:33, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
Yeah, that's the right link- forward the email with the permission to the address on that page with a note about where you have uploaded the image. A member of the OTRS team (after it is read- give it a few days) will then go to the image and add a note along with a link (only usable by those with OTRS permission) to the ticket, verifying that the permission exists. J Milburn (talk) 11:45, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
Hold on, let me verify this for you, as it seems like forwarding a useless email is a waste of everyone's time. Could you please copy and paste the relevant section (the section where the copyright holder gives permission) to me? J Milburn (talk) 11:55, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
I'd rather not throw my email address about- you can copy and paste the email permission to me using the 'email this use' fuction, if you would prefer. J Milburn (talk) 12:04, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
Not enough, I'm afraid. You are (vaguely) given permission to post the images onto Wikipedia, but the images are not released under a free license (for instance, the GFDL) or into the public domain. Forwarding that email will not result in the images being restored. J Milburn (talk) 12:29, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

No- forwarding the email with a note about where you've uploaded the images should be enough. I've deleted the images you were happy to be deleted. Thanks for seeing this through. J Milburn (talk) 22:10, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

Oh, I misunderstood. Yes, feel free to re-upload with a note saying that you have sent the email permission to OTRS, then forward the email with a note about where the images have been uploaded. J Milburn (talk) 11:25, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Main page redesign

Hello, Highfields! Wikipedia:2008 main page redesign proposal was recently cleared of all design entries. You may want to re-enter your design(s), based on the details here. (You can see the old list of designs here). NOTE: A survey was conducted on what users wanted to see in the new main page, you can see the results here. NickPenguin(contribs) 01:54, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

Secret Page

I was surfing through Ryry's Autograph book, and you said that it was the best secret page challenge in all of Wikipedia. I, therefore, challenge you to find my secret page! Good luck! Vinson 01:13, 7 September 2008 (UTC) Don't give up, it's there all right!

I updated my secret page by adding many extra pages and using <span style"color=black"> </span> to cover up my tracks! I really don't think anyone is going to find it. Cheers Vinson

Hi! I'm Vinson and I invite you to post in my shoutbox! You can post anything you want and get a chance to communicate with others. It is located at User:Vinsfan368/Shout. I hope to see you there! Vinson 02:51, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Are you looking for a project you can really sink your teeth into?

I noticed you are a member of the Geography WikiProject, and that you are familiar with maps. We could sure use your help...

A huge collaboration is underway, in which participants all work on 247 pages at a time. That's right, there are 247 pages in the set, and we're all working on all of them! We kind of cheat, by using advanced wikitools like AWB and Linky that let you load or switch between pages quickly (and other tricks).

We're building a geography reference aid for Wikipedia covering every country of the world. Organized as topic outlines (a type of structured list), these pages present maps, pictures, basic information on each country, and links to essential articles about each country on Wikipedia. We have created 247 drafts (one for every country of the world), 28 of which have been completed enough that they've been moved to article space already (so people can make use of them, even though they're still under construction). The rest are getting pretty close.

Each of these pages in turn form part of Wikipedia's outline of knowledge, and when completed, this branch of the outline will be the best general navigation aid for browsing country-related information on Wikipedia.

We're looking for users who love geography, and who use or would like to start using:

...to edit many pages fast.

While some of us work on completing one country page at a time, most of the work we do entails completing a particular knowledge item on all of the pages. For example, filling in the population figures for each country, or creating redirects to "bluelink" standard link names used throughout the set, or placing a specific type of map on each page, etc. etc.

Working in this way is kind of like traveling around the world, since you get to visit the page of each country of the world to work on it.

Tasks range from the simple (filling in blanks, search/replace, copy/paste) to the more complex (Customizing sections to each country, Google searches of Wikipedia to find relevant articles, etc.).

This project is very important, because information is only useful if you can find it, and these pages show you what's here on Wikipedia without you having to guess at what to type in a search box.

To give you an idea of what these pages will look like when complete, here are the most complete ones so far:

If you are interested in joining in on the fun, please drop me a note.

Sincerely,

The Transhumanist 03:06, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

I really like the idea and I think it's great but I'm not sure I'll be that much use, but I'm willing to help on minor things if you need any doing... Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 15:14, 6 October 2008 (UTC)
Are you registered to use WP:AWB? If not, please sign up.
Also, Linky will be invaluable, but you need to use Firefox to take advantage of it.
Let me know when you've taken care of these two things.
Then I'll give you a really easy task to get your feet wet.
The Transhumanist 20:23, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

We need your help at the Geography WikiProject, cuz we're working on something BIG...

We've been steadily developing the set of country outlines, and they are getting close to being ready to move to article space. There's over two hundred of them, so when the move takes place it will be a pretty big event.

Penubag has been hard at work creating the images for awards for this project, in preparation for a collaborative contest we will be hosting that is expected to attract new editors to the team.

In the meantime, I and a few others have been working on 3 fronts:

  1. On the 28 country outlines that have already been moved to article space to complete them so they will be the best examples that they can be for editors working on the rest of the set.
  2. Adding or correcting other data (fixing redlinks, filling in blanks, etc.) in the overall set. This is the main type of work participants in "the contest" will be doing. The reason we're doing some of this now is to get a feel for it, to develop the fastest methods for each type of task.
  3. Improving the overall design and implenting changes on all 247 pages, whether in article space or not.

The main thing that needs to be done to the outlines so that they can be moved to article space is correct and complete the government branches sections, many of which include incorrect information that was placed there as temporary data by a template when these pages were created (in order to match the most countries and cut down on the work load). But there are plenty of other tasks too.

We're looking for editors who love to work on lots of pages fast, who use or would like to use advanced tools like AWB and Linky. Most of the tasks entail working on a specific item on all of the pages in the set.

We're having a blast, but we're spread pretty thin and could sure use your help.

If you'd like to join in on the fun, drop me a note.

The Transhumanist 00:52, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for "The Photographer's Barnstar"

Thank you for your Barnstar, it gives me great pleasure.--Luc Viatour (talk) 10:46, 2 November 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject James Bond New Collaboration of the fortnight

WikiProject James Bond
Collaboration of the fortnight (two weeks)
WikiProject James Bond:Collaboration of the fortnight
The collaboration has returned!!

THE COLLABORATION OF THE FORTNIGHT (6 September 2011 - 20 September 2011) is

Production of the James Bond films
Please contribute by editing this article, in an attempt to get it to good article status
For more information see the page here or contact SpecialWindler.
Get in and Participate

 The Windler talk  21:13, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

License tagging for File:Kinder Downfall.jpg

Thanks for uploading File:Kinder Downfall.jpg. You don't seem to have indicated the license status of the image. Wikipedia uses a set of image copyright tags to indicate this information; to add a tag to the image, select the appropriate tag from this list, click on this link, then click "Edit this page" and add the tag to the image's description. If there doesn't seem to be a suitable tag, the image is probably not appropriate for use on Wikipedia.

For help in choosing the correct tag, or for any other questions, leave a message on Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. Thank you for your cooperation. --ImageTaggingBot (talk) 18:05, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

License tagging for File:Chatsworth House.jpg

Thanks for uploading File:Chatsworth House.jpg. You don't seem to have indicated the license status of the image. Wikipedia uses a set of image copyright tags to indicate this information; to add a tag to the image, select the appropriate tag from this list, click on this link, then click "Edit this page" and add the tag to the image's description. If there doesn't seem to be a suitable tag, the image is probably not appropriate for use on Wikipedia.

For help in choosing the correct tag, or for any other questions, leave a message on Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. Thank you for your cooperation. --ImageTaggingBot (talk) 18:07, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Edit summary

Don't forget to try to use an edit summary for every edit. Keep up the good work, Malinaccier Public (talk) 16:51, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia ad for Help:Edit summary
Wikipedia adsfile info – #2

I challenge you to a race

I noticed that both you and User:Blackadam2 mentioned at the Geography WikiProject that you can name the capitals for every country of the world.

There's a task that needs to be done that is perfect for the two of you.

The pages at User:The Transhumanist/Country list each present the country's capital twice. But for most of the pages, these links is are temporary one that was generated by template. These links (two in each outline) need to be completed by adding the actual capital name.

The links that look like this:

* [[Capital]] of x: [[Capital of x|Capital of x]] ''(where "x" is the country's name)''

need to be changed to this:

* [[Capital]] of x: [[Capital of x|capital name]]

The reason the capital name is a pipe is because the "Capital of x" links are all redirects, and will probably be more quickly updated if a capital's name ever changes.

So I propose a race. You work backwards from the bottom of the list, starting at the letter "Z", and User:Blackadam2 can start at the top and work his way down the list. Both links must be fixed on each page you edit.

When you meet somewhere in the middle, the race is over and whoever completed the most pages is the champion.

Contact Blackadam and decide on a start time for the race.

May the better editor win.

The Transhumanist 05:49, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

  • Hello Highfields, I am kind of confused on what The Transhumanist is asking us to do. I know he wants us to race but I was completely confused on everything he was asking during this message that he sent the two of us. Please write back on my talk page to help me understand. If I can understand then I will probably do it. Also, tell me what times are good for you to do the race. Remember that I am a kid and I have School ☺. Thanks and I will look over the message again. Remember to write back.

Sincerely,

Madadude (talk) 22:07, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

  • Hello Highfields, I was thinking about this and I realized this contest it virtually impossible. I first realized that it would be impossible when I logged on 10 minutes ago and saw that you haven't written back yet. I found this strange. Then I realized that I read on your homepage that you live in England. I then thought of times in my time zone (Mountain Standard Time) and realized what times they would be in England. As I am writing this for example it would be 5:35 AM in England and I am sure you are not usually awake. Plus, It is 10:35 PM here and I should be asleep. The main times that I could do this race would be from 2:30-10:00 PM, MST which would be 9:30 PM-5:00 AM in your time zone so I would like you opinion on this matter so please go to my talk page and tell me your solution. Also still help me explain WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO DO for the race as I explained above. Please help.

Sincerely,

Madadude (talk) 05:41, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

  • Hello Highfields, The main part I don't understand about the compition thing is what pages we do. I looked on the page The Transhumanist told us to do (User:The Transhumanist/Country list) and there are two different categories and one of the categories only has about 25 countries. Also, I don't know if we are supposed to change it on this page or the individual pages. Please write back, even though I know that it is 9:45.

Also why did you say you hate the U.S. sure our life is completely messed up but America is great, mainly because Obama beat McCain in the election. Go Obama!!!

Sincerely,

Madadude (talk) 21:45, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

  • Yah, if McCain had been elected we would be in Vietnam 2. What sucks is that I live in Arizona (which is McCain's homestate) so all of my friends hate me for liking Obama. Actually I think a 3rd party candidate such as Ralph Nader or Bob Barr should have won. And America did not start the financial crisis. Every country is dieing financially in their own way. And the reason gas prices are so high is because the US and the UK both support Israel, and most of the Islamic countries near them (such as UAE,Iraq,Iran,Saudi Arabia,Jordan ect.) hate us for supporting them. Most of the countrys that pump oil in the Persian Gulf charge us extra money for oil because of that reason. Oh and I know that the financial crisis is just as bad or worse in the UK and other places in Europe because I visited Ireland with my mom over the summer and gas prices were really expensive. George W. Bush led the entire world into this catastrophe and I hate him.

Sincerely,

Madadude (talk) 22:12, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

  • Highfields, I need to ask you a question. On your olympic countdown thing, how do you make it so the number goes down everyday? do you just have to edit it everyday or does it do this automatically? I want to know because I want to make a countdown until Barack Obama is inaugurated as president. THX

Sincerely,

Madadude (talk) 22:15, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

The race is on

I see you've started the race by actually naming some capitals.

That's the spirit.

Good luck.  :)

May the most prolific editor win.

Cheers,

The Transhumanist 02:54, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Your 24 hour head start is acknowledged and accepted, and makes time zone differences irrelevant. You have the advantage, but your opponent (me, or whomever else jumps in) doesn't mind.  ;) Good luck. See ya at the finish line. The Transhumanist 00:44, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
I'm working from the other end, and so far I've completed the Y's. Or, more accurately, the Y.  :) The Transhumanist 01:07, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
The winner of the race will receive a reward, complete with 1st-place ribbon.  :) Like a barnstar, but better. The Transhumanist 20:28, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
By the way, Blackadam2 is back in the race. Good luck. The Transhumanist 20:28, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

I've done my half, shall I carry on and meet with Blackadam2 in the middle of the 2nd half or stop and let him do his half? Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 16:13, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

By all means, keep going! And by the way, congratulations! The Transhumanist 02:26, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Archive 1Archive 2

License tagging for File:User-Highfields Christmas.JPG

Thanks for uploading File:User-Highfields Christmas.JPG. You don't seem to have indicated the license status of the image. Wikipedia uses a set of image copyright tags to indicate this information; to add a tag to the image, select the appropriate tag from this list, click on this link, then click "Edit this page" and add the tag to the image's description. If there doesn't seem to be a suitable tag, the image is probably not appropriate for use on Wikipedia.

For help in choosing the correct tag, or for any other questions, leave a message on Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. Thank you for your cooperation. --ImageTaggingBot (talk) 17:09, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Bondpedia

Hi SOunds good but is it really necessary surely wikipedia has its own sub bond encyclopedia? User:Chrislk02 may be interested. Ernst Stavro Blofeld 19:03, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

Your Bondpedia has the potential to cover every tiny bit of everything to do with Bond. I would like to see complete transcripts of the films and articles on sub sections of the films etc. But the bondpedia looks like part of wikipedia? I guess admin didn't want it officially?Ernst Stavro Blofeld 16:01, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

Admin Nomination

Thankyou for nominating me for an administrator it means a lot that you have noted my editing and contribution and help I give people. A number of people have suggested it to me because of my coordination of the project. However I would prefer not to be formally attatched as I feel less obligation to commit to the project that way. Ernst Stavro Blofeld 18:11, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Ah I rememeber you are the bondpedia guy. Great idea its a shame wikipedia won't accpet it offially. I may help you out some time as I am a major bond film buff. Ernst Stavro Blofeld 18:12, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

World Flags

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. I moved the list to project space, since it duplicates information found in other lists on Wikipedia, and because you stated in your first edit that it was for use by the Wikiproject. As for the text, it looks right to me. Lexicon (talk) 18:54, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Barnstar

Wow, thanks! I'm happy to help. Lexicon (talk) 17:01, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

WP:007

It reminds me not to send you the new template. SpecialWindler talk 07:57, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

Bondpedia

Of course I'll help wherever possible MusicaLucas 19:57, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

I accept your adoption offer.

Thank you! FuzionZero 19:01, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Bondpedia

Whats cracking of with Bondpedia, It doesn't appear to be working on my computer Highfields (talk) (contribs) 15:14, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

Ya, its not workini on mine either. Servers probably down. Do you know a way we could contact PC? --Ncusa367 22:53, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

response

  • In what way am I a sockpupeteer, what are you on about, I have one account and I've never vandalized any pages! Unles you have any proof I think you should give up before you make my life a misery because a mate as a dare pretended that I was vandalizing his page and that I am stalking him! Highfields (talk) (contribs) 16:27, 16 October 2007 (UTC)
You have not logged in to remove the message from your supposed friend. It's considered as vandalism and user account abuse. Why did you not logged in? To mislead us like if it wasn't you? Martial BACQUET 16:35, 16 October 2007 (UTC)
Which comment? I didn't delete anything. Martial BACQUET 16:37, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Hello. I deleted your comment from Arothi's talk page. Please do not introduce personal information to Wikipedia. Thanks. -- zzuuzz (talk) 16:38, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Please see WP:HARASS#Posting_of_personal_information. Please note that posting an editor's real name is taken very seriously, and don't do it again. Thanks. -- zzuuzz (talk) 16:46, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Highfields, giving out personal details like someone else's name or age is about the worst thing you can do on Wikipedia. I've asked at WP:AN/I for your mistakes in this regard to be oversighted (deleted for real). I have no doubt this is just a mistake. But if you don't learn right now not to give out Wikipedia editors' names and other personal details, you might be blocked from editing until you are a year or so older and wiser. Please talk to your teachers and parents about what information is appropriate for you to give away about yourself on the internet. Anything you want removed from even the history pages about yourself (oversighting) can be done. Just ask at WP:AN/I. Thanks for helping make Wikipedia better. But learn about internet safety. WAS 4.250 16:47, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

User space images

This is just in case you did not know. User space images at Wikipedia must be copyrighted by you or be copy left copyrighted. Fair use images on wikipedia are sometimes ok on articles, but never allowed in user space. I noted that you are creating a user space gallery, which is allowed; and I just wanted to be sure you knew the rules. Nice choice of images, by the way (no I didn't check their copyright status by reading their wiki page; I know I can trust you to do that). WAS 4.250 17:36, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

License tagging for Image:Highfieldsschoollogo.JPG

Thanks for uploading Image:Highfieldsschoollogo.JPG. Wikipedia gets thousands of images uploaded every day, and in order to verify that the images can be legally used on Wikipedia, the source and copyright status must be indicated. Images need to have an image tag applied to the image description page indicating the copyright status of the image. This uniform and easy-to-understand method of indicating the license status allows potential re-users of the images to know what they are allowed to do with the images.

For more information on using images, see the following pages:

This is an automated notice by OrphanBot. If you need help on selecting a tag to use, or in adding the tag to the image description, feel free to post a message at Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. --OrphanBot 20:07, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

School article

The school article is a bit like a local web site. Would you expect to find this information in a paper encyclopedia? Can you delete some of the lists? .... something about history and notable students would be good. Its only advice, but wiki articles are never meant to be more than about 40% list and this one is 90% or so Victuallers (talk) 17:20, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

The lists do not need to be deleted; some of our articles are 100% list. But it is recommended to turn lists into sourced paragraphs that discuss and illuminate rather than merely enumerate. But that is hard work and Wikipedia is an encyclopedia in progress - we are never a finished product; so bit by bit it would be best if the article were improved by sourcing (such as to a handbook given out to the students?) and by fuller explanations rather than mere bullet-points. By the way, Highfields, thank you for helping to improve Wikipedia. WAS 4.250 (talk) 19:05, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

WP:AIV

Hi. I've removed your two vandalism reports from AIV. They involved vandalism from Anarulesmenow (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) and Iliketehturtles (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log), neither of whom has edited since December. If they vandalise again, by all means - feel free to report them. Unfortunately, AIV is only for active vandalism, which this isn't. Thanks, UltraExactZZ Claims ~ Evidence 17:38, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Your signature

Hey Highfields, per this policy you cannot transclude your signature. You need to change your signature so the code goes directly into Your Preferences. After you do this, you need to change the pages where your signature is transcluded onto so that there is no more transclusion. After that, you can leave the page as it is or request deletion (I can do that if you want). Thanks and if you have any questions feel free to ask. « Gonzo fan2007 talk ♦ contribs 21:26, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

 Done Pages are deleted, thanks for changing it quickly, cheers! « Gonzo fan2007 talk ♦ contribs 20:17, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

Adoption

I accepted Milks Favourite cookie's adoption. Only because they were first to offer, naturally. I appreciate your offer. Thanks! The more people want to help the better and I wish to help in a similar manner in the future. :-) Fribbler (talk) 02:15, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

Your RfA

Hello Highfields. I'm sorry to inform you that I have closed your recent RfA as unsuccessful. The general consensus was that you need more experience here in Wikipedia, and once you have gained such then feel free to throw your hat into the RfA ring once again. All the best, The Rambling Man (talk) 15:32, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

Re:Admin coaching

Hi there. I will agree to coach you, but the way I coach you will be slightly different than what I normally do. This is because you simply need more experience, and questioning you won't help you right now. I will give you assignments pertaining to editing for a while, and then I will begin coaching you normally. We can get started at User:Highfields/Admin coaching. Malinaccier (talk) 15:46, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

NI flag

I just seen that, the other editor is pro-flag and I have had a few debates with him before on this issue, yet he fails to accept WP:RS that the flag is not the flag is not and never was the flag of Northern Ireland and thinks we should use the Ulster Banner for the lack of an alternative, but the link I provided from the British government makes the issue very clear, so the use of the flag for Northern Ireland today is POV.--Padraig (talk) 17:04, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

  • Look I don't want to argue, while I see and accept your point and the proof I agree with the other guy but as I say, I am going to stay out of this so you will have to debate it yourselves... Highfields (talk) (contribs) 16:15, 18 March 2008 (UTC)
    • (Honestly, if the NI government just ran a competition or picked a neutral flag it would be far easier for everyone!)

Re: Bangladesh Districts

Blimey! I did not notice this. I created the district articles by clicking the red links in List of cities and towns in Bangladesh. In List of cities and towns in Bangladesh, the word "district" is omitted. If the articles already exists as "X District", then these should be redirected to the "X District" articles. Otolemur crassicaudatus (talk) 16:21, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Image source problem with Image:Vatican 1669 flag.JPG

Image Copyright problem
Image Copyright problem

Thanks for uploading Image:Vatican 1669 flag.JPG. I noticed that the file's description page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you did not create this file yourself, you will need to specify the owner of the copyright. If you obtained it from a website, then a link to the website from which it was taken, together with a restatement of that website's terms of use of its content, is usually sufficient information. However, if the copyright holder is different from the website's publisher, their copyright should also be acknowledged.

As well as adding the source, please add a proper copyright licensing tag if the file doesn't have one already. If you created/took the picture, audio, or video then the {{GFDL-self}} tag can be used to release it under the GFDL. If you believe the media meets the criteria at Wikipedia:Non-free content, use a tag such as {{non-free fair use in|article name}} or one of the other tags listed at Wikipedia:Image copyright tags#Fair use. See Wikipedia:Image copyright tags for the full list of copyright tags that you can use.

If you have uploaded other files, consider checking that you have specified their source and tagged them, too. You can find a list of files you have uploaded by following this link. Unsourced and untagged images may be deleted one week after they have been tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If the image is copyrighted under a non-free license (per Wikipedia:Fair use) then the image will be deleted 48 hours after 16:44, 10 April 2008 (UTC). If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. Sdrtirs (talk) 16:44, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

And the winner is...

Capital naming race - 1st Place!
The winner of the Capital Naming Race sponsored by the Geography WikiProject is Highfields! He completed his list before his competitor even left the starting line! As the winner of the race, Highfields has been a great help in the development of Wikipedia's set of country outlines, an important portion of Wikipedia's Outline of knowledge that is currently under development and upon which the capital naming took place. Congratulations! The Transhumanist 03:20, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

Your contribution to the country outlines has been a big help. I look forward to seeing you defend your championship status in the future (to date, you are the only race winner that I know of on Wikipedia).  :)

The Transhumanist 03:20, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

Ooh! Wow thanks, I've been busy over Christmas so haven't actually finished the list yet, but thanks for reminding me, and it was my honour to help, if you need any help in the future with similar mundane but necessary tasks I'm nearly always up for a challenge, thanks again Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 15:58, 13 January 2009 (UTC)
Thank you for the offer. Yes, I could sure use your help on the rest of the capital naming task. The machines I've been accessing lately (at the local library) can take up to a minute or two to load each page. So multi-page tasks are really slow for me here. My time is better spent on developing specific pages to get as many edits per save as possible. If you could finish up the capitals, that would be a really big help!
By the way, I always have lots of tasks that need to be completed. Some of them are perfect for races, and you have a competitor waiting to take you on (Blackadam2). I'll be in touch soon, with race rules adjusted from what we've learned this last time around. Also, there are some other tasks I could use a hand with that aren't really race track worthy - I'll post one of those for you shortly. Thank you for your continued support!
The Transhumanist 20:25, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

Review

Hello. I posted a review of your editing at Wikipedia:Editor review/Highfields. Best wishes in your future editing! --Eustress (talk) 05:33, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

Outline / Geography WikiProject Collaboration: Country outlines

As you know, last spring we started work on the "Geography and places" branch of Wikipedia's Outline of knowledge. (WikiProject Lists of basic topics has been renamed to Wikipedia:WikiProject Outline of knowledge). The geography branch is in the form of a set of outline pages including one for every present-day nation or state in the world. That's 247 pages! This has been a huge undertaking, involving dozens of editors using advanced wiki-tools.

These pages have come a long way, and it won't be long before the whole set is complete enough to be moved to article space into the encyclopedia for the benefit of all. But there's still a lot of work left, and we could use all the help we can get!

While some editors prefer to work on one country at a time, most of our team members take on a particular entry and complete it across all the pages. This has come to be our standard type of task. To facilitate this process, we apply tools such as AutoWikiBrowser, Linky, and WikEd, all of which can be used to process a large number of pages in various (direct or indirect) ways.

In case you are interested in what we've been up to, here's a progress report:

Lately, development has been slow but continuous:

On our recruiting initiative, Penubag has done a fantastic job on the images for the awards we'll be using for our project's collaborations and contests. We now have 3 awards: a medal, a trophy, and a race ribbon. They all look tight. The trophy needs a small adjustment, but other than that, all 3 award images are complete and ready to use to create awards with.

Spartaz has warned us of (threatened to take) G4 (speedy delete) action if we run a competition that resembles the previously deleted Awards Center page. So whatever we do, any contests we run must differ substantially from the methods used there.

One type of competition I've been exploring is "edit racing". I'm in the process of working the bugs out of this concept - the first race didn't work as expected - you see, because we only had an award for first place, so the opponent didn't think it worthwhile to continue once it was clear who the winner would be. And since editors are in different time zones and usually need to start the race at different times, we need to base winning on personal start times - he who completes his assigned edits in the least time (rather than first), wins. And last but not least is quality control. What good is racing if the participants' edits are ripe with errors? So I'll be exploring possibilities such as using a referee (assigned to oversee a particular race), having participants watching each other for errors to knock them back, etc. I'm not sure yet.

Rich Farmbrough has been applying his bot expertise to filling in blanks in the country outlines (the population and area entries). I'm amazed at the number of edits he pumps out each day on a myriad of projects - ours makes up but a small time slice of his activity, and yet he has saved us many hours of manual work. Perhaps we should look into how he gets so much done.  :)

Zlerman has chosen to work on specific outlines, and has taken on Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. He also has been keen on noticing and reporting design issues pertaining to the whole set of country outlines. Keep up the good work!

Highfields is in charge of capitals, adding them to all the outlines. He is also our first race winner. Check out the award on his user pages.

In case you didn't know, this project has expanded to include work on any and all sets of pages represented on the country outlines. Once the set of country outlines go live (in article space), traffic will likely increase for all the links included on them. The quality and usefulness of those pages will reflect heavily on the country outlines. The outlines, which are essentially lists of links, are only as good as the links they present, and therefore we've branched out to solve the biggest problems with those as well. So far, we've taken on:

  • The creation of disambiguation pages for country adjectivals ("German", "French", "Taiwanese", etc.) We're about half done with these.
  • Wikifying the CIA World Factbook statistics on the "demographics of" country pages. We've been renaming those sections to provide a key string that AWB can use for targetting (for skipping and filtering). Once that's done, we'll be able to break the clean-up down into simple AWB search/replace tasks, because we'll be able to target just those pages that include the CIA stuff.
  • We've also been renaming the "Cuisine of" articles to their adjectival forms ("Chinese cuisine", "Italian cuisine", etc.), for consistency and because the adjective-based terms are generally the most commonly-used names for those cuisine types.

Blackadam2 and Thehelpfulone have been helping out with the "demographics of" pages mentioned above.

And we have a couple speed addicts (addicted to wiki-velocity, not drugs)...

Both Robert Skyhawk and Thehelpfulone prefer (and excel at) simple AWB search/replaces. Robert hasn't actually joined our team yet, but he has been helping out quite a bit from the sidelines (via the WP:AWB/Tasks page. Unfortunately, there has recently been a non-AWB chore that has been holding things up on the AWB front - an edit to all the headings which had to be reverted before too many new edits were made, because any new edits would make the reversion more difficult. The headings have been restored, so now the way is clear for AWB operations, and there are many search/replace tasks in the queue. AWB assignments have started again!

There's a similar bottleneck on the "Demographics of" pages (the "keying" mentioned above), but that's almost cleared too.  :)

With my internet access somewhat crippled as of late, I've been finding it difficult to keep up with you guys. However, I expect to be accessing a Linky-capable workstation on a faster server (I'm on it right now, as you can probably tell from my contributions list for the past couple of days), and so I should really pick up speed. Feels goooooood.  :)

Recruiting has been a bit slow (but steady), due in part to my crippled access, and because we've been waiting for the images for the awards to be completed. I expect the team to grow more rapidly as the bottlenecks are removed.

Well that's what's been happenin', and here's what's in the pipeline...

We've got a long list of entries that need to be completed across all the outlines and related page sets. If you would like to dive in with advanced wiki-tools to process this whole set of pages on one or more tasks, drop me a note!

As for me, I'm about to begin work on a set of lists that corresponds to all the standard links on the country outlines, and these will be presented on the Topic outline of countries which will be organized exactly like the country outlines. Aside from being an extremely useful navigation aid, it will allow editors to easily see the state of country coverage on Wikipedia - each list will be one link-set, and each list can be used with our wiki-tools to process the pages listed. I'll provide you with a link once I get up to speed on this.

In the meantime, keep in touch!

Cheers,

The Transhumanist 01:02, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Regex tasks

Using AWB's regex feature and regex wildcards, you should be able to search for the country name on each country outline using a single search string, even though the country name differs on every outline.

Please take a look, and see if you can accomplish that. Perhaps Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/Regular expression and WP:REGEX will be of help.

I have lots of search/replaces that include the country name.

I look forward to your reply with great anticipation.

The Transhumanist 01:51, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

Can I have an example of the sort of task I would be doing, I'm always happy to help but I am a bit busy at the moment, I'll gove it a go though... Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 15:57, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
Yes. This is a hypothetical example only. Let's say the outlines have the "* [[Mammals of x]]" line but do not have the "* [[Birds of x]]" line yet. And I want to add the "* [[Birds of x]]" line to all of the country outlines, with the country name in place of "x". I don't know how to use Regex, and I don't have access to AWB, so I need you to figure this out. However, I am familiar with wildcards and search/replace tricks, so one strategy that would probably work is to search for "* [[Mammals of x]]", using wildcards for the "x", and then replace the whole string with a string that includes both lines ("* [[Birds of x]]" and "* [[Mammals of x]]", using regex's wildcard string matching code to insert the country name twice in place of "x" - that is, the string it found for "x" in the first place.).
If you do this right, AWB will find the desired string with the outline's country name, and use the country name in the replace string as many times as you tell it to.
Assuming this works, we could use this trick to insert new lines into these outlines without having to type in the country name manually. This would make expanding these outlines much easier.
Hint: Figure out how to do simple search/replaces using regex, then search/replaces with "\n" (new line) in them, and then the hypothetical search/replace above.
Good luck.
I look forward to your reply.
The Transhumanist 19:55, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Error Fix

Thank you so much, must have been a typo    World   tcs 21:52, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Country outlines project update

There has been a flurry of activity on the project as of late - so much so that I felt compelled to write another progress report...

More racing award graphics!

Penubag has completed 4 more award graphics for our upcoming edit races. They look great!

New outline developer

Buaidh has joined the effort to develop country outlines. Like Zlerman, he has chosen specific outlines to work on. Which ones? All the countries of the Americas!

Bots!

User talk:Thehelpfulone now has a bot, and User talk:Robert Skyhawk has requested approval for one. Work on the country outlines using these should start soon. I feel the technological singularity approaching.  :)

Regex

Several of us have been trying to figure out how to use regular expressions (regex), in AWB, and once we have done this, we should be able to insert country names into entries for all the outlines using a single search/replace regex.

User talk:Thehelpfulone has successfully used AWB and regex to complete a 2-line search/replace using the \n command.

Regex repository - please add to it!

As a reference aid, I've set up the page User:The Transhumanist/Regexes for reporting the regexes we use. Please post regexes you've used successfully to that page. That way, everyone on the team can learn from each others' successes and we thereby leverage our experience collectively. Thank you.

The Transhumanist 22:38, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

re: regex

If you'd like to see someone else's regex work, check out User talk:Robert Skyhawk/Country Outline task list. (Not all of it is regex, but a lot of it is, and he's included the regexes themselves).

The Transhumanist 01:50, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

New task 02/14/2009

Here's a fill-in task similar to the capital-naming activity you just did.

Please complete the following entry for all the country outlines (where "x" is each country's name), by adding the name of the currency of each country (linked).

Some of them are already completed.

You can find the currency names at List of circulating currencies.

Good luck. Have fun.

The Transhumanist 00:17, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

General Update: Highfields

I have just finished the capital replacing task and at the weekend I will move onto the currencies replace task. For that task do you want me to just link the currencies or put ISO codes too?

On the capitals, as you said some, especially the later ones, only had 1 link to capital so I just did the 1 it had and left it for someone else to replace the other. On Singapore, the capital links have been completely removed, probably because, as a city state, it is it's own capital, but I still think it needs a link, even if it's too itself, so I'll leave them for you!

As for the regex tasks you suggested, my AWB doesn't seem to be working at the moment, I'll have to fiddle around with it so I may not be able to help there!

Over and out - Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 10:51, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

We've got a couple team members with bots, so one of them will be replacing the missing capital links (actually, a whole missing subsection). Then filling in the capitals will be easy, since the look up will be on the same page.
Currently, the bot guys are learning regex, which can do complex search and replaces, but not stat fill-ins. Stat fill-ins will take a scripting or programming language, which is the next step. But I'm going to let them get up to speed with regex before I pile that on them.  :)
Thank you for the heads up on Singapore. I'll fix that.
Before now, I didn't even know what an ISO currency code was (I just looked it up). Very good idea. Thank you for suggesting it. I agree with you, since it is the international standard code, that it should be included. Please add it below the currency entry as an indented bulleted link starting with "ISO currency code: ".
Thank you.
Good luck.
Have fun.
The Transhumanist 20:27, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Please upgrade your AWB usage to include a bot!

Slowly but surely, our team members are upgrading to bot usage. So far, Robert Skyhawk and Thehelpfulone have added a bot (AWB, activated to be a bot) to their tool set.

Bots are incredibly useful, since you don't have to sit there and press the "Save" button for each edit - it just does all the edits and saves automatically, so it can do the work in another window while you are doing something else. The more people on our team who have bots, the better. There is a great deal of bot-work on the country outlines, and you'll find many other uses for your bot after you get up and running.

Please take the plunge and go for bot approval. I'm sure the two guys above would be happy to assist you through the approval process.

The Transhumanist 22:30, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

New team member

Be sure to welcome our newest member, User talk:NuclearWarfare, to the team!

See his talk page for the task he's taking on.

The Transhumanist 00:04, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

The project may be catching on. Take a look at this!

Someone not on the team has come along and moved one of the country outline drafts to article space. This is a great sign, as it means the set of pages is attracting attention.

It's Topic outline of Romania.

Please help complete it ASAP. Here's why:

It's got some awkward stuff in there, including blank links, redlinks (that need to be bluelinked by creating redirects), and apparently irrelevant entries (kept for comparison purposes, that need to be filled in with "none"), etc.

Many editors tend to remove awkward stuff instead of complete it.

We should finish up Topic outline of Romania before they remove anything.

Thank you.

Good luck.

Have fun.

The Transhumanist 03:48, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

In case you are interested

I've recorded much of my wiki-know-how at WP:OTS.

The Transhumanist 00:57, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Country outlines project update - 2009/03/08

Things have been slowing down again, so it's time for a big push...

We've gone live

This project needed a shot in the arm. Also, its draft pages have been littering Wikipedia's categories for months. The time seemed right to move all the country outline drafts to article space.

WHAT???

Well, the drafts had been sitting in Wikipedia space for a year.

WHAT???

Development has been moving at a snail's pace and we could use the help of the Wikipedia community at large (who are more likely to find these if they are in article space).

WHAT???

Yes, we've gone live.  :)

This puts pressure on us to get the blatantly incomplete elements of these outlines done. The only glaring problem is the government branches sections. These need to be corrected ASAP.

I've mentioned THE GOVERNMENT BRANCHES SECTIONS many times to many people over the past year, but the problem just doesn't seem to have been taken seriously. So let me put it another way:

HELP!!! I need your help on this now. Almost all the countries have a government with an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch. The links for these branches need to be completed for each country outline:

Here's a convenient list you can use WP:LINKY on to access and edit these quickly. Please copy the list's link to the top of your talk page so that you can access it easily.

If you spot any standardization in links, and ways we can automate parts of this process, or for groups of countries that have links in common, please let me know!

Administrative support for outlines

There has been growing pressure on me to write up the administrative pages for outlines - their instructions, guidelines, etc. Therefore, I'm now in the process of composing these. Fortunately, it is mostly a matter of gathering material from messages I've written to you guys over the past year. Still, this is taking up most of my time, and I will be buried in these for the foreseeable future.

Traffic control

The next big task after the government branches sections are cleaned up is link support for the outlines.

There's quite a list of links and notices that need to be put in place around Wikipedia, providing access to them to readers, and alerting editors to the need to develop and maintain these pages. This will keep our bot people very busy (and happy).

But the most important thing right now is to get the government branches sections completed. So please, put your bots aside, roll up your shirt sleeves, and start typing.

Thank you.

The Transhumanist 02:44, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Re:Update

Thanks for the update, I personally don't think were ready to go live yet, I'm working on the currencies but I'm afraid I've been a bit slow but my mock exams are over for now so it should only take another week or two, talk to you then...

Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 16:21, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Don't worry. We're live, but not hooked in. That is, most of the outlines are orphans (not linked to from any articles). Nor have I added them to the main outline page (Portal:Contents/Outline of knowledge) yet.  :) A few more people will notice them (in the alphabetical index in the Special menu and in search results), but I think we can handle the slight increase in traffic that will create. Hopefully, they'll help us edit these pages! The Transhumanist 23:29, 10 March 2009 (UTC)

Geography WikiProject update - 03/15/2009

The award images are complete!

After months of toil and attention to detail, Penubag has completed the set of images for this WikiProject's awards!

There are five race ribbons:

There's an engraved medallion:

And by far the hardest to create, a golden trophy:

If you have any ideas about awards these images can be placed upon, and how to award them (to show appreciation and to attract participants), please let me know.

And be sure to pop by Penubag's talk page to let him know what you think of his graphics artistry.

The Transhumanist 20:54, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Nice pics

Thanks for adding the pictures to Tissinton et al. Very good images. Do you know you can add them to commons here so that the French etc can use them too? Victuallers (talk) 17:49, 21 March 2009 (UTC)

Outline of knowledge WikiProject update - 04/02/2009

Hi everyone.

Things are going slow again. Where have you been?!

Maybe what you need to get you going is a little competition...

Who are we competing with?

Encyclopedia Britannica. Specifically, with its Outline of knowledge (presented in its volume called the Propaedia). Currently, they're kicking our asses. You've really got to check out their Outline of Knowledge (available only in the encyclopedia's paper edition - not the online version).

Portals. Informally, of course, just for the fun of it. There are around 600 portals. We're about 100 behind them, with about 500 outlines. Let's blow past them and leave 'em in the dust!

Confusion in editors at large

Now that the country outlines have been moved to the encyclopedia proper (article space), recruiting help on these is of high priority -- it will soon be time to alert all relevant editors to the nature and function of these and how they relate to other country coverage on Wikipedia.

However, I've noticed instances in which editors do not understand the nature and function of outline pages, and complain that they are redundant to articles. Well, ya. (That's the point of an outline - to provide the essentials in a structure for greater understanding, for easy viewing and faster reading, and to provide a topical guide).

A few editors over the years have viewed outlines as redundant to portals, not understanding the purpose and scope of outlines, nor the benefits provided by their structure and standardization.

These problems of misunderstanding need to be solved before "going public", to prevent their expansion as the community's awareness of these pages increases. Consider the response we'd get now if we announced these pages on the talk pages of 500 WikiProjects, 500 article talk pages, and placed links in 500 see also sections, etc.

That could be a nightmare.

So...

Encyclopedic and administrative support

I've been working on a couple things that will help alleviate confusion and hopefully reduce the need for editors to ask questions and seek advice. They're drafts, still under construction. Please look these over and jump in and help complete them (directly or by providing feedback):

First is an Outline article draft, intended to replace the current Outline article.

Next is a guideline on the Outline of knowledge and its outline pages.

Let me know what you think. Do they help you understand outlines better and how to develop them on Wikipedia? What is missing? How can they be improved?

The Transhumanist 04:55, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

Outline of knowledge WikiProject update - 04/06/2009

As the country outlines have been approaching completion and more attention has been given to the non-country outlines and the Outline of knowledge as a whole, I've run into this...

Topic lists

As you know, we've been cleaning up sets of pages the links of which are displayed on the outlines.

One of the most prominent of the sets presented are the "List of x topics" (including "List of x-related topics) pages, and they are in a sorry state.

There's actually 2 different kinds mixed together in the same set: most of them are alphabetical indexes.

The others are non-alphabetical hierarchical lists. That is...

outlines!

So, I've been renaming the indexes to "Index of x articles" or "Index of x-related articles", and wikifying them (especially their lead sections). So far, all the country-related topics lists that are indexes have been renamed. It appears the new name fits so well that nobody favors the old name over the new. It's been over a week since that was done, with no complaints, so I've started on the rest.

As for the topic lists that are outlines, those can be absorbed or merged into the OOK. Even though this would entail a lot of renaming and reformatting, and cutting and pasting, these pages might still save us some work! I'm not sure how many there are, but that should become clear once the index pages are all renamed.

Feel free to join in and help. It's hog's heaven!

The Transhumanist 04:49, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Wikimania 2010 Oxford bid

Thank you for supporting the Oxford bid to hold Wikimania 2010! We're currently in the final stages of the bid process - the jury will be announcing their decision by the 16th April. We're currently putting together the local team for the bid (who will do what if the bid wins); if you're able to be on the local team, please put your name in the appropriate place on m:Wikimania 2010/Bids/Oxford/Team. We'd also welcome anything you can do to help refine the bid in these last few days. If you have any questions, please let me or User:Seddon know. Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 21:52, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Outline of knowledge project summary, and future direction

In response to a friend on Wikipedia who was wondering about how I've been and what I've been up to, I got to spewing about our little endeavor, and well, I got so carried away I pretty much told him everything.  :) The message turned out to be a pretty good summary of what we've accomplished so far and the overall plan.

See User talk:The Rambling Man#What's up?

The Transhumanist 23:06, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Update (Country outlines workgroup) - 04/16/2009

Momentum in the development of the outlines is continuing to build, even though we haven't added any new outlines lately. Plenty of work is being done on the outlines we already have.

Keep up the good work everyone!

Inspiration!

Kudos go to Buaidh, who has dived head first into outline development, continuing improvement of the country outlines, and doing so vigorously. Take a look at his contribs. He has taken the initiative and has been expanding those outlines' design and coverage. Be sure to let him know what you think of his work!

Coming soon: the Super Huge Expansion

Excitement (mine at least) is building as we approach the Super Huge Expansion, during which notices will be placed on thousands of subject talk pages and their corresponding WikiProjects (see below concerning which ones). Though not all on the same day! - this will take place over a period of weeks or months, because it's best not to open the flood gates all at once.

The existing outlines should serve as strong examples for editors who wish to develop new outlines, and so we need to complete them as much as we can before we start to take this to the next level (in about 3 months). The rewrite of the outline article (the draft, which explains outlines in detail), and the guideline on outlines and outline development, also need to be completed before the transcendence begins. These will help guide the decisions and actions of editors, and reduce confusion.

Projected outline, at the OOK WikiProject page

What's next? Where is the Outline of knowledge headed?

Well, it will grow, to encompass all of human knowledge.

But, is there a plan?

YES!!!

Currently under construction on the Outline of knowledge WikiProject page is a version of the outline that will display links to all the outline pages currently in the encyclopedia proper, links to all outline drafts, and redlinks to all planned outline drafts.

You can help. Please place links to the remaining drafts in there (with complete pagenames so we can easily tell they are drafts). Once all the draft pages are placed, please look over the overall outline for gaps in coverage, and add missing subjects. I expect there are thousands of missing subjects extensive enough to benefit from being outlined. New subjects should be included as red draft links. Thank you.

But it's not just an editing task list...

During the upcoming "Super Huge Expansion" (mentioned above), the article talk page and WikiProject for each of the subjects listed on the projected outline will receive a notice requesting the creation and development of the outline page for that subject. Each notice will also explain how a subject's outline will integrate into the Outline of knowledge and into Wikipedia's navigation system as a whole.

See Wikipedia:WikiProject Outline of knowledge#Projected outline.

Topic lists

The nice thing about a reverse outline is that it turns up problems that exist in the publication being outlined, which provides opportunities to fix them. Since we get very little or no opposition to fixing problems even on sets of hundreds of pages, we've been plowing through them.

One of the biggest problems in Wikipedia that our work on the Outline of knowledge has uncovered so far is with the set of topics lists. Their titles, in the forms "List of x topics" and "List of x-related topics" are ambiguous, and they are not the most common terms for describing their content. See WP:COMMONNAME. To make matters worse, the set is divided between 2 competing types/sets of pages: alphabetical indexes, and outlines.

In an effort to sort out this mess, the indexes are being renamed, and the outlines are being reformatted and moved, or merged, into the Outline of knowledge.

So far, almost 300 topic lists have been renamed to indexes. Nobody has objected to the names chosen, but one editor has expressed reservation on the approach - he was concerned it would cause confusion by having 2 title standards in place at the same time for these. Though he himself was not confused, nor did he object to the titles. And nobody else has expressed confusion or dissatisfaction with the new titles either. It has been over 2 weeks since the renaming has begun, and since no confusion seems to have been caused, and since there is no opposition to the new names, I plan to continue with the renaming.

Also, one topic list has been merged into its corresponding outline so far: List of transport topics was merged into Outline of transport. It turned out very good. List of cell biology topics is currently being merged into Outline of cell biology (see the link dump in hidden comments at the end of the outline).

I'm not sure how many lists have "topics" in their titles, but Google turned up 788, and these appear to include the ones that have already been renamed to indexes. Subtracting those renamed so far, there are about 500 more to go.

Watching tips

I thought you might want to compare notes on the methods we use to watch over the outlines. Here's how I keep an eye on things...

My watchlist had so many thousands of articles in it that I finally just deleted them all. Now I have it set so that I have to manually add pages to be watched, and I use it only to watch trouble spots and collaborations I'm participating in.

Because I like to watch specific sets of pages at a time, I use "Related changes" on list pages. That way the results are not watered down with edits from pages I'm not immediately concerned with.

I always use WP:POP and Related changes together. With POP installed, you go to a link list, like User:Buaidh/Country outlines of the Americas, then click on "Related changes" in the toolbox menu, and then hover the mouse cursor over the diff and hist links so you can look at those without clicking on them.

It's pretty fast.

The technique turns Wikipedia's list system into a crystal ball.

Update Scanner

Penubag recommends Update Scanner, which is a Firefox add-on that periodically scans pages and pings you when a change is detected. You can even set its level of sensitivity for each scanned page (e.g., "ignore changes of 100 words or less").

I'd use it, but I don't have a computer.  :(

See also WP:OTS for more power tools and techniques, and User:Penubag/optimum toolsets for some more nice addons, that do a variety of things.

I'm always looking for new power tools and power skills, so if you know of any, please share (let me know)!

The Transhumanist 04:42, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

Outline of knowledge WikiProject - 04/17/2009

While surveying libraries, their outline-related resources, and our coverage of them, I came across something funny...

What subclass is the Bible in the Library of Congress Classification?

Do you think they'd like this one at WP:DYK?

(Nope. They didn't.)     :)

Libraries

For months, I've been sitting at a terminal in one of the largest libraries in the country, and I haven't even looked around at the available resources.

Until a few days ago.

I'm overwhelmed.

When compared to libraries, Wikipedia is small. (See Digest of Education Statistics 2008, Chapter 7:Libraries and Educational Technology Libraries, and turn to page 617).

But is that a fair comparison?

Yes.

Why?

Because we have growth potential.  :)

And we cover everything, including libraries!

Guess what else I found?

Hunting for outlines

I began to study libraries and librarians, since they are experts in organizing knowledge. And of course I turned to Wikipedia to see what we had on the things I came across...

And while doing so I kept running into outlines on Wikipedia that are not (yet) part of the Outline of knowledge.

When I come across non-OOK outlines, generally I rename them, and reformat them to our standard outline format. But there is the occasional exception.

Here are some outlines I just added:

  1. List of energy topics --> Outline of energy (it converted great)
  2. List of Dewey Decimal classes --> Outline of Dewey Decimal classes (no conversion)
  3. Library of Congress Classification --> ??? (no rename, no conversion)

The last 2 are outlines by their very nature, and so our standard outline subheadings didn't seem to fit. So I left them as is.

I renamed the first 2, but the last one is the name of the outline, that is, the topic itself is an outline, and that outline is presented as the article's content, so I left the name as is. For now. This needs more thought.

Of course, that's not all. Concerning those last 2 outlines above...

Alternate outlines of knowledge

...not only are they outlines, but they are outlines of knowledge! Well, the top few levels, at least.

Uh, so?

What happens if we linkify them?  :)

That is, what happens if we linkify their classifications to Wikipedia's outlines?  :)   :)   :)

They become alternate top ends to the OOK

Yep.

What can you find?

I challenge you to find some "hidden" outlines.

I dare you to take a look around Wikipedia for hidden outlines (that is, outlines not yet hooked into the OOK), and add your kills to WP:WPOOK#The hunt for hidden outlines.

My trophies are already there.

May the hunt begin!

The Transhumanist 20:25, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

A couple questions for you...

What are the benefits of a tree structure?

The article doesn't say.

I'm interested, because I need to explain the benefits in the guideline on outlines I'm writing. (Outlines are a type of tree structure).

I've also asked the question at various reference desks, and these threads may help to jump start your brain on this question.  :)

What are the benefits of outlines over articles?

What benefits have you noticed?

How are Wikipedia's outlines useful to you?

I look forward to your answers on my talk page.

The Transhumanist 04:36, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

WPOOK Update - 05/17/2009 - Blockbusting!

This project needs another shot in the arm.

So here it goes...

Countries WikiProject Collaboration - Contests!

I've contacted all 59 members of the Countries WikiProject to help in designing and conducting contests for the further development of the country outlines.

You are invited too.

Houston, we have a problem

The guidelines and outline article still aren't complete.

Which means you will be needed to help explain to the newcomers mentioned above what outlines are and how to develop them.

Please participate in the discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Countries#Hosting country coverage contests.

The Transhumanist 22:23, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

A question for you, concerning a possible contest...

To promote work on the country outlines, maybe a contest between country WikiProjects could be run, to see which WikiProject could develop the best country outline.

What do you think?

(I look forward to your reply on my talk page).

The Transhumanist 23:51, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Contest Question

A WikiProject race - I like the idea - it will hopefully work not only to complete the pages but publicise them. (I noticed the pages have all been WikiProject tagged) Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 15:02, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Ps. I've nearly finished the currency filling in task you gave me ages ago - it's been slow because I've been very busy and will be again very soon but it should be done in about a week.

Cool. Thank you for keeping track of the currency task.
The contest probably won't be a race. It will likely be a cake-baking contest. That is, judges will decide which "cake" is the best. There will be a time limit, probably a month, within which each WikiProject will work on it's respective country outline, and then the best ones will be chosen as the winners.
The discussion to set the details of the contest is on Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Countries.
Only a few of the country outlines have been WikiProject tagged. Most of them still need tagging. Please put that on your task list, right after "currency". :)
(Every little bit helps!)
The Transhumanist 22:01, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Has the shit hit the fan? - WPOOK update, 05/25/2009

Maybe...

We've started the next phase

I was experiencing mental block on the article draft for "outline" and on the outline guideline draft. And this was holding the whole project back. Without these (which are intended to explain the type of lists known as outlines in detail), the danger is higher that a controversy could go the wrong way.

I requested help on them, but there was none forthcoming.

So I went ahead and started us on the next phase of operations without those 2 pages...

Our AWB'ers and I have placed about 1600 notices all over Wikipedia. And the plan is to place several thousand more.

This generated only one complaint, but it was a very vocal one, and attracted a few other detractors who seemed unfamiliar with the concept of hierarchical outlines and their benefits. However, just as many or more editors came to the defense of the OOK, and there was no consensus formed. But, dab is still trying to rally opposition to outlines at the Village Pump. See below...

Admin noticeboard incident & Village Pump discussion

It appears that the banner placed on the talk page of the Outline of Switzerland caught the attention of an editor named Dbachmann who posted a rather forceful message on my talk page, another on WT:WPOOK, another at WP:VPP, and still another at WP:AN!

He went well out of his way to use negative hype to cause a stir.

It appears that Mr. Bachmann doesn't understand the nature of hierarchical outlines and their applications. And though he implied that he has never seen an OOK outline before, he was involved with a discussion on these when they were called "lists of basic topics".

His primary argument is that outlines are content forks of articles, and violate WP:CFORK.

But "topic lists", of which outlines are a type, have been around for almost as long as Wikipedia, and fall under the WP:LISTS and WP:STAND guidelines. They aren't intended as forks, as they are lists, bringing the benefits of lists to the corresponding subjects, such as grouping and navigation.

Someone suggested an MfD, but lists are articles, and are within the jurisdiction of AfD. Only the portal page, which merely lists the outline articles, falls within the scope of the MfD department.

The administrator's noticeboard was considered the wrong venue for the discussion, and the discussion was closed.

But Dab's discussion at the Village Pump is still active. Hopefully level heads will prevail there too.

Now what?

Am I disheartened or deterred? Hell no. I say "full steam ahead!"

But we really need to finish the article draft and the guideline. Otherwise there will continue to be confusion.

Over the next week or two, we'll be posting another 1600 or so notices. It's a good thing we didn't send out 10,000 of them all at once.  :)

The Transhumanist 23:16, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

P.S.: Another related thread has popped up at WP:VPR#OoK's expediency. --TT   04:29, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

WPOOK update - 05/27/2009

Input on the OOK threads at the Village Pump has died down (at both WP:VPP and WP:VPR), and there is currently no consensus on either.

Negative feedback

For the number of notices we posted (over a thousand) the number of complaints we received (the two VP threads mentioned above) was quite low.

Silent majority

Considering most of the outlines are orphans, they get pretty good use.

Note that people who are happy with articles on Wikipedia generally don't say anything, so I simply interpret it as positive feedback.

Traffic, traffic comparison, and increasing traffic

Using Traffic, I compare the traffic of articles, their corresponding outlines, and their corresponding portals from time to time.

Outlines are starting to catch up to portals. Though the main portals, which are included in a navbar menu at the top of most portals are still way ahead of their outline counterparts.

Both outlines and portals are way behind the articles on the same subjects. Articles usually have 20 to 30 times the traffic.

Keep in mind that most outlines are orphans, with the primary link to them being Portal:Contents/Outline of knowledge.

Traffic should improve once we include links on the corresponding subject pages, including the main subject as well as subjects that correspond to subheadings (e.g., History of x, and in the case of countries: Geography of x, Demographics of x, Culture of x, etc.)

I'm convinced the traffic of outlines will overtake portals once we've link-integrated them into the encyclopedia. And since outlines serve as tables of contents for each subject, it seems most fitting to place links to them in the form of hatnotes at the top of each subject's main articles (and the sub-subjects mentioned in the paragraph directly above).

By the way, there's another traffic counter called Wikirank, but I haven't tested it out much yet, but will do so in the coming weeks.

Going for the Main Page

Once the traffic of outlines has overtaken portals, it will be time to replace portals on the Main Page, even if we need to spearhead a new main page redesign! This isn't a far-fetched idea. I was the one who jumpstarted and led the project responsible for the current main page design (until it hit critical mass and attracted other leaders), and I was also the most active editor on that project. I even created the WP:CBB on the Community Portal to promote the main page election. The second time around should be easier.

Back to the here and now

Targetting the Main Page is a few months off.

Right now, we need to continue posting notices and start link-integrating the OOK into the encyclopedia.

I have a whole slew of AWB tasks to assign. I hope you are ready.  :)

Spread the word

WP:WPOOK needs members. Tell all your friends about the OOK, and get them to join.

The Transhumanist 02:52, 27 May 2009

Why do we have outlines in addition to...?

Main page: Wikipedia:Why do we have outlines in addition to...?

Wikipedia:Outlines was growing so large that I split this section off as a separate page.

I look forward to your feedback and improvements.

The Transhumanist 22:41, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Outline update - Good news and bad news - 06/08/2009

The big push continues.

And it seems to be working!

The good news is that there's growing support for outlines, and there are more editors than ever editing them!

The bad news is that the complainers are disproportionately represented on the project's various talk pages. While many editors work diligently on the front end, a handful of complainers are trying to tear down the project behind the scenes. Fortunately, barely enough supporters have been watching those pages that no consensus for moving or merging the outlines has succeeded. So far...

ignorance of what outlines are for and their benefits

Most of the opposition seems to be unaware of the complete range of what outlines are used for. They just don't get it.

This is why it is important to complete the outline article draft. An article with a comprehensive treatment of outlines would be the perfect place to refer anybody unfamiliar with outlines to.

Opposers also don't seem to understand how outlines differ from some other page type that they prefer. Some think articles are good enough as an overview, others think portals are more in-depth, still others think categories or navigation boxes are the most efficient and useful way to organize and present topical information. Some have simply never seen an "Outline of" page before and think they are a new type of page (they've been around under other names since 2001).

If you run across anyone who doesn't understand the role of outlines on Wikipedia, Wikipedia:Why do we have outlines in addition to...? might help reduce their misconceptions or uncertainties about outlines.

On the bright side, you've got to see this...

To add the outlines and related support pages to your watchlist (takes less than 30 seconds), cut and paste them from Wikipedia:WikiProject Outline of knowledge/Watchlist into your raw watchlist. For a way to improve the display of your watchlist - by namespace (very useful) - see Watchlist sorter, or use the "super fast upgrade" at WP:OTS.

Or go to Wikipedia:WikiProject Outline of knowledge/Watchlist using Related changes (currently without the talk pages) and click on "Related changes" in the toolbox menu on the sidebar on the left side of your screen.

The big push

The big push started with about a thousand banners and notices being placed on article talk pages all over Wikipedia.

But it didn't stop there...

Welcome our new members...

The following Wikipedians have joined the OOK team.

Be sure to stop by their talk pages and introduce yourselves.

Enter the mentors!

I asked a bunch of mentors at WP:ADOPT for advice. Several of them answered on my talk page. Most of those who replied were happy to help, and posted some very good ideas. A couple even joined the project.

Here are their ideas, and what is being done about them. A few of the tasks still need volunteers:

Linking to outlines has begun

To the tops of about 30 subject articles, I placed a test batch of hatnotes leading to the corresponding outlines. The hatnotes look like this:

For a topical guide to this subject, see Outline of X.(Hidden: <!- PLEASE LEAVE THIS LINE IN PLACE because it leads to the page that serves as the table of contents for Wikipedia's overall coverage of this subject. Thank you.-->

The rationale for the hatnotes is that each outline is a topical guide for its subject, and since tables of contents go at the front of a book, a link to each outline should be placed at the front of its subject.

Unfortunately, not all editors agree. Some of the hatnotes have already disappeared.  :(

Some past discussions of outlines

Note that the "Lists of topics" are of two types, including outlines and indexes, so discussions to remove, move, or merge those are usually relevant to the OOK. Also, outlines are a type of list, so discussions that affect lists in general also pertain to outlines. We've got to be on our toes!

I've excluded links to live discussions, out of respect for WP:CANVASS.

Here's a directory of outline support pages:

Keep up the great work!

The Transhumanist 04:20, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

P.S. Highfields

I saw your work on the currency task. Thank you!

I'm finally using my watchlist, and have added all the outlines to it. I've posted the watchlist if you want to use it. It's explained in the newsletter above. Cheers. The Transhumanist 04:20, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

My pleasure to help, and I will be glad to continue working on them. If you ever need backup in one of these anti-outline debates be sure to ask me, they have my fullest support. Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 11:08, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
Thank you for the offer to help on the anti-outline debates. But there is something you must know. It's called WP:CANVASS. We can't go around gathering our friends to help on debates. The only legitimate ways that I know of for you to participate in debates is if you find them, or watch pages for them, or are a disinterested 3rd party randomly invited to participate in them.
So in the case of outlines, if you watched or patrolled the pages and showed up on your own, that would be acceptable.
I watch the talk pages very closely these days, and respond to every complaint. But since I'm occasionally the only defender, outlines lose the discussion.
Because of WP:CANVASS, I didn't report the currently active discussions. I wanted to really really really badly, but that would be cheating.
The Transhumanist 21:57, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Watchers needed

Highfields,

Please follow the watchlist editing instructions at #On the bright side, you've got to see this....

Then check your watchlist every time you log on.

Thank you.

The Transhumanist 23:30, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Outline collaboration!

As you know, Penubag is working on a banner to advertise the Outline WikiProject. And he's almost done.

The banner prominently presents the "Outline of chocolate", which of course will become the most widely advertised outline as soon as the banner goes live. The first thing many editors will do after seeing the banner is look for that outline.

The problem is, we don't have one.

So that's our first outline collaboration!

I started a draft this morning.

It needs to be finished and moved to the article namespace before we can start using Penubag's banner ad!

Come join in on the fun. It's chocolate!

The Transhumanist 21:58, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

WPOOK advert banner under development, here's the beta...

Thank you to those who suggested WPOOK have an animated advert banner. Penubag got working on it right away. Here's what he's come up with so far:

Penubag needs feedback.

I've posted a few changes for him to make to it.

Please post additional comments and suggestions for him at User talk:Penubag#Chocolate banner.

Thank you.

The Transhumanist 02:35, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

WPOOK's advert banner is done!

Is it perfect? Can it be improved?

Penubag loves feedback. Please let him know if it can be further improved.

Thank you.

The Transhumanist 23:09, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

Country Outlines: Non-Free Use Coats of Arms

What is the situation on the outlines for using non-free use images of Coats of Arms, it's just that I noticed there are a lot without images. Can they be used or not? Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 13:47, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

I think it falls under fair use. The coats of arms are legitimately used under the articles for their respective countries, and outlines have the same scope as their corresponding articles. "Outline of" just means the type of page, while the subject is the same as for the article. The problem is there is a bot set up that automatically removes those images from all pages except the subject article. It has been slowly but surely removing them from the outlines. To fix this problem, we'll have to take it to WP:BOTS and failing that, WP:COPYRIGHT or WP:VPP. The Transhumanist 18:29, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

WP:CANVASS

Highfields,

Because of WP:CANVASS, users must watch for and find discussions themselves.

We need everyone on WPOOK to be alert for these.

The Transhumanist 20:32, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Outline update - Full Steam Ahead! - 06/18/2009

Several members of the WikiProject have been hard at work.

Buaidh has been building and refining the outlines on the U.S. States, the states' historical outlines, and the Historical outline of the United States. Lately, his edits have dominated the project's watchlist readout. (I think he's overdue for a barnstar or two. hint hint)

Penubag has been working on medals for all the main branches of the OOK, and has completed the OOK WikiProject's animated advert banner (see below).

Highfields has been filling in the currencies for each country on their respective outlines.

NuclearWarfare and Thehelpfulone have been busy with WP:AWB, posting banners and notices, and helping our sister project, the Index WikiProject, get established. Indexes work hand-in-hand with the outlines and are prominently linked to from the top of most of them. And the outlines, which serve as tables of contents, are only as good as the pages they link to.

Since we started integrating (linking) the OOK and its support pages into the encyclopedia and into the Wikipedia community, activity on outlines has been increasing. Though there's still much left to do.

But I digress. There are a couple more...

Welcome our new members! Stefan and MacMed

Stefan is building the Outline of sharks.

MacMed has joined our advanced wiki-tools team, and is currently adding links to outlines in the corresponding subject articles' see also sections.

Be sure to stop by their talk pages and say "hi".

WPOOK's advert banner has gone live!

Penubag has finished this WikiProject's animated advert banner, and it is now being displayed on the Wikipedia ads template which in turn is displayed on about 2000 user pages. Each time someone access one of those pages, there is a 1 in 184 chance of them viewing this:

Wikipedia ad for Wikipedia:Wikiproject Outlines
Wikipedia adsfile info – #184

If you'd like to display the banner on your userpage locked-on to the ad as above, use the following code:

{{Wikipedia ads|ad=184}}

(By the way, it's been awhile since we've barnstarred Penubag).

Watchers needed!

If you haven't already, please add the entire project's watchlist to your watchlist. Here's how:

From the edit window, copy and paste Wikipedia:WikiProject Outline of knowledge/Watchlist into your raw watchlist.
Or go to Wikipedia:WikiProject Outline of knowledge/Watchlist using Related changes and click on "Related changes" in the toolbox menu in Wikipedia's sidebar on the left hand side of the screen.

Check the watchlist every time you log on!

I forgot to mention this step above.  :)

The OOK is in 5 other Wikipedias?

I can't make heads or tails of 'em, but these links were on Portal:Contents/Outline of knowledge:

Resurrected from the grave yard...

I discovered an AfD discussion on possibly the first article named "Outline of", which was called Outline of Islamic and Muslim related topics, and which was created 4 years ago. Of course they deleted it. But now it has many friends, and so it has risen from the dead.  :)

See the DRV discussion at Wikipedia:Deletion review/Log/2009 June 7#Outline of Islamic and Muslim related topics.

A diamond buried in project space

Recruiting

Recruiters needed. Drop me a note if you are interested.

Advice from the mentors

  • Astatine-210, Strdst grl, and Willscrlt - link to the outlines from the corresponding subject articles' see also sections - this is underway by MacMed (non-country outlines) and User talk:NuclearWarfare (counry outlines).
  • Astatine-210 - add a link to the outlines to the disambiguation pages of the corresponding subjects - good idea. Since "Outline" is just the type of page, not the subject, I think these might qualify for inclusion on disambiguation pages. We need someone to look into the relevant guidelines on this.
  • SimonTrew - provide a badge (userbox) for WPOOK members to add to their user pages - Penubag will have one for us soon.
  • Zachary crimsonwolf - create a card explaining outlines, and send it to everyone you know, and make it viral (by including a request for the recipients to send the card to everyone they know) - this task has been split in three:
  1. Creation of a "thank you for your interest" card which introduces (explains) outlines, to send to queriers, new participants to discussions, those who seem to be confused about outlines, etc.
  2. Creation of a thank you card / invitation to the WPOOK, to send to users we see working on outlines, including a request for them to invite others whom they think might be interested
3. Creation of an invitation to Wikignomes, with a brief rundown on the types of tasks there are for them to do on the outlines. The invitation will include a request for them to invite anyone they think would enjoy working on outlines.
  • weebiloobil - add examples to Wikipedia:Outlines - more examples will be added as suitable outlines are completed
  • weebiloobil - add a picture to Wikipedia:Outlines (it doesn't have to be relevant), to provide atmosphere and to break it up visually and add a splash of color - will do, and we'll add a caption to make it relevant, with a link to the outline on that subject. Thank you for the idea.
  • Zachary crimsonwolf - ask Jimbo Wales to bestow the award(s) for the country outlines contest, once you get it going first - we'll give that a try
  • Zachary crimsonwolf - ask everyone in the project to inform their acquaintances around Wikipedia about the OOK - will do, as soon as the cards
  • UzEE - collaborate with all the WikiProjects you share scope with - we've placed a banner on their talk pages, and have placed task notices on some. We'll be posting more tasks, and plan to create a section on contents system development and maintenance for each WikiProject page itself.
  • SriMesh - if you can't get outlines added to next year's WikiCup, then create your own WikiCup-like contest - there's 6 months left to this year to address reservations and work out the details at WikiCup. In the meantime, there's the 200-WikiProject contest, which needs input.

More outline tasks

New outlines in article space

New outline drafts

Main discussion pages

Keep up the great work

I'm impressed with the level of enthusiasm and work going into the outlines. I'm proud to be working with each of you.

The Transhumanist 21:53, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Vandalism on your userpage

Thanks for reverting the vandalism on my page, I was so busy dealing with vandalism to articles by the user in question I didn't notice my page. Thank You Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 17:53, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

No problem, you'd do the same for me. -- RandorXeus. 17:54, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks anyway Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 17:56, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

{{main|Outline of x}}

Just to say, I would be happy to start placing these on pages that haven't got them and the reverse on the corresponding outline. I've got nothing to do now I've finished all my projects!

Is there anything I should know about how to do them before I start?, I noticed some pages have a hidden notice on them: <!-- PLEASE LEAVE THIS LINE IN PLACE as it leads to the page that serves as the table of contents for this subject's coverage across Wikipedia. Thank you.-->. Do they have to be at the top, eg. Japan, or see also, eg. Abkhazia?

Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 10:31, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Ps. Are you sure this is the correct link?, for example, on the Germany article, a link saying

Main article: Outline of Germany

might look wrong, it's not really the main article, that's the Germany article itself. Would a see also link be more appropriate?

Pps. I'll start on the countries then move through the other main topics, it should be quick just posting links on each. Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 10:35, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

I was overruled 2 to 1, here. Nobody else showed up for the discussion, and I of course couldn't (and didn't) invite them, because that would be canvassing. Therefore, the consensus is no hatnotes at the top of articles leading to the corresponding outlines, per WP:RELATED. That includes the {{main}} template.
Now you know why watching is so important.
Note that we did not discuss hatnotes at the top of outline pages, though {{main}} is redundant there, since the main article is linked to at the beginning of the lead paragraph, in most cases. And so {{main}} should be removed from the top of the outlines, because it is a form of overlinking. See WP:OVERLINK.
The consensus currently is to place the link in the See also section, which is where links to "related information" goes. And since the outline is the main article containing related information, we can use the {{main}} template down there in the see also section. And so far, nobody has complained.

Then what's the task?

There are two:

place {{main}} at the top of the "See also" section:

Place {{main|Outline of x}} at the top of the see also section of the article corresponding to the outline. (With some help), I've created a template to help with this. Instead of placing the above code and typing in the subject manually, paste in this:

{{subst:User:The Transhumanist/Sandbox47}}

That will place the subject name automatically, and will adjust it for most cases of "the" and plurals (such as Outline of the Cocos Islands, and Outline of ants).

The countries that haven't been processed yet are listed in User:NuclearWarfare/TranshumanistTaskOf231914June2009. (Nuke has asked that I find someone else to finish the task, and, here you are!).

You should be able to figure out how to make a similar list for the non-country outlines pretty easily.  ;) (hint: use WP:WikEd and its search/replace feature).

remove {{main}} from the top of all outlines (including drafts)

Thank you.

Good luck.

Have fun.

The Transhumanist 20:46, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

Adding main template

I noticed that you were adding this, and of course, this. I wondered why there was the need for all that code other than it's probably a bit quicker to paste it in. So I went to Portal:Contents/Outline of knowledge, copied out the section on geography and places. Using a text editor and doing a simple search and replace to get "Outline of country name" which I then pasted into column B in a spreadsheet. In colmun A I put "{{Main|" and in column C "}}". Then copy the lot back into the text editor, another search and replace to get rid of the tabs between them and User:CambridgeBayWeather/Sandbox is the result. In total it took me about 10 minutes to create that. This could be then be processed by hand or, depending on the total size of the list, by bot and would probably meet with less resistance than all that code. On the other hand it might be an idea to have something like Template:Portal but Template:Outline. Then as your first contest you could ask for image designs for the template. Cheers. Enter CambridgeBayWeather, waits for audience applause, not a sausage 12:53, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Ah, so after saving the above I see that the Template:Outline already exists, and works without any code or the insertion of a page name. You could use {{Outline}}, {{Outline|Subject}} or {{Outline|Outline of subject}}. Using that would probably be a better idea. Enter CambridgeBayWeather, waits for audience applause, not a sausage 13:01, 22 June 2009 (UTC)
It should work with "the" as in Isle of Man, {{outline|Outline of the Isle of Man}}. Cheers. Enter CambridgeBayWeather, waits for audience applause, not a sausage 15:42, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

I spotted and have started using the following template on the pages, feel free to notify me it I've done bad.

For a topical guide, see Outline of x.
Posting this to the see also section = bad. That's because we are pushing for this to be added to the tops of pages, and it will detract from this effort if they are already in the see also section, because then there will be 2 copies of it on each page. I don't think other editors will let that stand, do you?


By the way, to add the page names to {{main}} automatically, use this:
{{subst:User:The Transhumanist/Sandbox46}}
That places {{main|Outline of x}}, and fills in the "x" automatically.
The Transhumanist 17:35, 22 June 2009 (UTC)
Sandbox46 isn't working right. Don't use it! I'll let you know when it is fixed. The Transhumanist 18:11, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Actually I've been given, by a very kind editor, a list of codes in the form of {{Main|Outline of Canada}} but he/she has already filled all the gaps in for all the geography related articles, their on my sandbox which you can find via my userpage Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 18:15, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

WP:SEEALSO states that "the See also section should not contain links to pages that do not exist (red links)."
So we shouldn't add any redlinks there.
The Transhumanist 19:27, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Outline collaboration #2: Outline of Gibraltar

This outline is approaching completion.

I added a bunch more links, finding them with the following Google site-specific searches of Wikipedia:

(You can use the wikicode for the links above as the basis for new searches - just replace "Gibraltar" with any other country or region name).

Request: please redirect the redlinks! (bluelinking...)

The redlinks need to be bluelinked where possible. The most useful way is to create redirects leading to the material (which is usually included in a section of an article - see Wikipedia:Redirect#Redirects to page sections. That way, when the redirect pages are replaced by the actual articles, the links will already point to the right places.

Please take a crack at it, and bluelink a few.

Thank you.

Good luck.

Have fun.

The Transhumanist 00:43, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

I finally got to whack somebody with a trout!

That was fun.  :)

The Transhumanist 23:32, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Outline update - Push push push - 06/25/2009

Work is proceeding apace...

New members
Hatnotes

The current consensus is that we can't place a hatnote leading to an outline at the top of a subject articles unless the outline being presented is of at least the same quality-level as the article.

What's next...

Improve outline quality by completing them.

Place hatnotes for the outlines of high enough quality.

Guidelines pertaining to outlines need to be updated. Outlines emerged as a class of pages only a few months ago, and most of the relevant guidelines don't cover them specifically. For example, Wikipedia:Stand-alone lists is incredibly out of date.

Invite wikignomes, wikielves, and wikifairies (all 2500+ of them) to help on the outlines .

Identify 600 more subjects with coverage extensive enough to justify outlines, create rudimentary drafts for them, and post notices to the corresponding WikiProjects and subject talk pages to help build them.

Convert outlines titled "List of" to outline articles, and add them to the OOK. There are a few hundred of these. Conversion instructions are needed.

Add a description of outlines to About Wikipedia and Wikipedia:Basic navigation, and add tips about outlines to the WP:TOTD and Tips library.

Keep up the great work!

The Transhumanist 20:27, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

{{main}} in comments?

What's up?

What's the purpose of that?

It's an extra task that will just have to be changed later.

Please remove the comment delimiters.

Thank you.

The Transhumanist 23:12, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

P.S.: We can upgrade to another note later. "Main article" fits, as outlines are the main see also reference. (Can you think of a better page that you'd rather see besides the subject article?)

Error: no page names specified (help). in comments?

I'm not sure what you mean, can you explain in simple-english terms? Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 11:30, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

<!-- These things are comment delimiters. -->
<!-- The words between them is a comment. -->
WP:COMMENT
<!--{{Main|Outline of British Columbia}}-->
Comments are invisible.
Placing the "main" link in such a fashion is a superfluous task. What does it accomplish? How is placing an invisible non-functioning link better than waiting to place a real one?
We need to integrate the outlines into the encyclopedia. That is, link to them from articles so they are not orphans. This is our top priority, because outlines are of no use to readers if they don't know the outlines exist.
The Transhumanist 16:06, 26 June 2009 (UTC)
I placed the redlink ones as a hidden comment thing so that after the relevant outlines have been created they can be unhidden Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 16:09, 26 June 2009 (UTC)
I think it would be better to leave them out.
By the way, I admire that you tried to figure out what to do with the redlinks. Trying out solutions is good.
And I'll try to be more specific in future tasks. 'Sorry about the vagueness of that one.
Keep up the good work.
The Transhumanist 19:33, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Addition of "main" templates

Hi, I've noticed that you're adding "main" templates to "see also" sections on Wikipedia. However, is it really the right use for this template? The documentation states that it should not be used as a "see also". Also on Republic of China, there is only one link in the section, so if you move it to the "main" template, the section becomes empty which is a bit weird. Laurent (talk) 17:23, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

Request for feedback

Minnecologies has done an incredible amount of work on Outline of forestry and posted a note to me on my talk page requesting feedback.

I've posted my observations at Talk:Outline of forestry#Finished outline review.

Please take a look at the outline and let Minnecologies know what you think of it on the outline's talk page.

Thank you.

The Transhumanist 19:37, 29 June 2009 (UTC) Delivered by JCbot (talk) at 20:15, 29 June 2009 (UTC).

OOK's highest priority task - here's a piece of it for you

Highfields,

I'm splitting this task up for everyone on the team to work on...

The government branches sections are in error on many of the country outlines.

Since those are in article space, we need to fix those ASAP! This is our most important task right now.

Here's a list of links that goes right to that section: User:The Transhumanist/List of country outline government sections.

I'm working on U-Z.

Your task is to complete and correct these:

WP:LINKY is especially useful for this.

Let me know when you are done, so I can check them over.

Thank you.

Good luck.

Have fun.

The Transhumanist 22:06, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Category:Outlines

I will assume that your revert at Category:Outlines was merely an oversight on your part. You will note that the commons category contains actual outline drawings, not "topic outlines". Outline drawings are also, of course, in no way a "core topic". "Topic outlines" are even less of a core topic, seeing that they aren't a "topic" in the first place but an effort of indexing articles. --dab (𒁳) 11:26, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Lists are a type of article on Wikipedia, and the type of list an article is is included in the title of the article, a standard practice of Wikipedia since its beginning. The type obviously isn't the subject, and the subject generally follows the type. For lists in general, the type is presented as "List of", but there are also "Timeline of", "Index of", "Glossary of", and "Outline of". So, it possible to have multiple articles that cover the same subject, including a core subject, like this:
  1. Education
  2. Outline of education
  3. Index of education articles
  4. Glossary of education-related terms
The Transhumanist 17:15, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Please don't do cut and paste moves

Cut and paste moves disrupt the edit histories, in this case hiding them beneath a redirect. Please use the move tab at the top of the page. See Help:Moving a page.

If the normal method of moving doesn't work, ask an admin to make the move for you. Juliancolton and User talk:Thehelpfulone will be happy to help.

The Transhumanist 17:15, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Here are a couple links for monitoring portal space in case outlines get moved there again:

here's a link to watch for new OOK portal subpages

this one looks for outlines renamed to subpages of Portal:Contents

and this one looks for outlines moved directly to portal space

By the way, do you use WP:LINKY?

(It comes in very handing for looking at multiple pages, like those listed in this message).

The Transhumanist 17:15, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I've replied at Category talk:Outlines

I've posted my 2-cents to yours and Dbachmann's edits at Category talk:Outlines.

The Transhumanist 17:15, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

URGENT: User:Dbachmann

This is probably canvassing but I don't intend it to be, Dbachmann has been moving outlines such as Kosovo and Switzerland into the portal space from the mainspace, I have reverted these but what I actually thought you would be interested in is the 'vandalism' to Wikipedia:Outlines and Category:Outlines and his/her comments at Wikipedia talk:Outlines. As for the first 2, I don't feel confident reverting his/her edits and I wondered if you could. As for the third (almost certainly canvassing), I want to reply by countering the WP:CFORK argument, what reasons other than the obvious are there? Thank You. Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 11:18, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Your contacting me was not unsolicited, and therefore not canvassing. It is well known that I wish to be contacted concerning outlines. But I will post statements on my user page and talk page making it even more clear. Also, bringing a problem to the attention of an administrator, WikiProject coordinator, or an experienced editor for help is not considered canvassing.
Never be afraid of reverting vandalism. WP:3RR does not apply to vandalism. But Dbachmann's edits, while being highly opinionated and bold, were not vandalism. However they were disruptive - see Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines#Changes to guideline and policy pages. If he continues in this way, we'll need to bring the matter before WP:ANI.
Also, keep in mind that WP:3RR applies to edits on a single page. You can revert hundreds of times a day if the reverts are on different pages and they are legitimate reverts (that is, the reverts themselves are not vandalism).
To improve your ability and confidence in confrontations and discussions with opposing editors concerning outlines, you should familiarize yourself with the relevant guidelines, especially WP:LISTS, WP:STAND, WP:OUTLINE, and WP:CLN.
But even more important, you should be familiar with previous discussions (conflicts) related to outlines. They can be found at WP:OOKDISC.
The Transhumanist 18:37, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you

You handled the Dbachmann situation very nicely. You were rational and diplomatic. You'll make a great administrator.

The main discussion can be found at Wikipedia talk:Outlines#move this out of main namespace please, and I've replied there.

The Outline of Kosovo has been moved back to article space, and the edit histories of the two outlines that were moved by cutting/pasting have been restored by Juliancolton.

Dbachmann attempted to venue shop at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents#"Outlines", but that discussion was shut down by an admin.

He also tried messing with the guideline WP:STAND, but I reverted him, and the message thread about this is at Wikipedia talk:Stand-alone lists#sneak addition of various other "types of lists".

I also replied to the discussion at User talk:Dbachmann#Category:Outlines.

Keep up the great work.

The Transhumanist 22:56, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

OOK

You handled the Dbachmann situation very nicely. You were rational and diplomatic. You'll make a great administrator.

You don't know how much that means to me, in all aspects of Wikipedia I try to be civil and diplomatic and where possible make reasonable compromise. And by the way, I think you'd make an even better admin although I guess your too busy with us lot at WP:WPOOK at the moment.

As for your points and questions, I don't use Linky but I shall certainly have a look at the links you posted for me. Indeed I did find it problomatic reverting the moves, sorry about the copy-paste moves, I'll remember to get an admin next time. I also looked through the relevant policies and past discussions at the time and found them extremely useful in countering Dbachmann's arguments, especially the latter.

Thanks for the help. Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 14:38, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

You are welcome.
By the way, you don't need an admin to revert moves. You can move a page back to its original location as long as there's only a redirect there that points to the page you are moving.
Sometimes an editor will be tricky and find an excuse to edit the redirect (once there's more than a single edit in the edit history, you can't move a page over the page), and then you'll need an admin to make the move.
The Transhumanist 16:25, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Linky

Linky is very subtle. The real power is in Firefox. All Linky does is load pages. (You select an area of the screen by dragging the mouse while holding down the left button, then right click for the drop down menu and choose "Linky", then "Open selected links in tabs"). This will load all pages that have links in the selected area into tabs (subwindows in Firefox). Once in tabs, you can use Firefox's tab commands to great effect, like switch between tabs very quickly to inspect pages, or nuke tabs as you are finished with each one (which instantly brings you to the next tab).

You can load up to 99 pages into tabs with Linky. It's how I work on so many pages so quickly.

You should give it a try.

I think you'll like it.

WP:LINKY is a tutorial I wrote to make it easy as pie. If you give it a try, let me know if the instructions are easy to follow.

Good luck.

Have fun.

The Transhumanist 16:14, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Civility tip

If you find that you have to literally precede a sentence with "I don't mean to offend" (as you did here, before saying to another editor that "you just need to get a grip and move on"), then you're probably skirting the edges of WP:CIVIL and should think about rewording the sentence. "I don't mean to offend" rarely helps to make an offensive comment less offensive. --McGeddon (talk) 20:34, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Do you see what I see?

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChangesLinked&limit=500&target=Wikipedia%3AWikiProject_Outline_of_knowledge%2FWatchlist_using_Related_changes

Wikipedia:WikiProject Outline of knowledge/Watchlist works better (copy and pasted into your raw watchlist), when viewed using the Watchlist sorter

Do you see what I see?

The Transhumanist 22:28, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Since this involved you, I'm letting you know...

I've posted a complaint against Dbachmann at ANI.

The Transhumanist 22:23, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Outline Update - Exhausted - 07/10/2009

I'm sorry that I haven't been available to assign tasks lately. For the past 3 days (not including today) I've been almost totally consumed in discussions concerning the location and very existence of outlines. Today I finally broke free and got back to work on outlines. Felt good.

A great deal has been happening with outlines and behind the scenes. I just don't have time to tell you all about it this time around. Here's the best I can do...

How to watch what's going on with outlines

If you'd like a bird's eye view of everything that's happening with respect to outlines, see this page:

  • WP:OOKWL - watchlist for copying and pasting into your raw watchlist.

Or go to these pages (and click on "Related changes" in the sidebar's toolbox menu):

  • WP:OOKRC - a version of the above watchlist for use with "Related changes".
  • WP:OOKDIR - a list of key pages related to the OOK, along with their shortcuts.
  • WP:OOKDISC - list of discussions pertaining to outlines.
Recently converted to outlines

These outline articles, which were named "List of...", have been converted to an OOK format:

Recently merged into outlines

There are a lot of "List of" articles that are outlines. Some of them are on the same subjects as the "Outline of" articles. The following one have been recently merged:

The Transhumanist 01:14, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

Motto of the Day

Hi there, Highfields! Thought you might be interested in Motto of the Day, a collaborative (and totally voluntary) effort by a group of Wikipedians to create original, inspirational mottos. Have a good motto idea? Share it here, comment on some of the mottos there or just pass this message onto your friends.

MOTD Needs Your Help!

Delivered By –pjoef (talk • contribs) 12:16, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Government sections

I have, as you requested, attempted to complete the government sections for the outlines begining with H plus a few more. However, some, such as the more obscure places and the sub-national entities, were very difficult, so I was wondering if you could look at them and see what else needs doing on them.

I know they are not done yet and I fully intend to continue with them but for most there is nothing to put in! Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 13:24, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for working on these. I'll gladly take a look... The Transhumanist 16:58, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
If you can find the names for the various entities, add links to them, even if they turn red. Because of the way Wikipedia expands, they would probably turn blue eventually. The Transhumanist 22:38, 17 July 2009 (UTC)
I've been on a sort of wikibreak, with relatively little access over the past few days. I looked at a couple of the outlines, and will look at the rest as soon as I can. I'm about to be logged off again... The Transhumanist 23:59, 24 July 2009 (UTC)
I'm adding some notes above, under each outline link. The Transhumanist 00:03, 26 July 2009 (UTC)
Interpol's webpage is a good place to look for information on countries' legal systems. See the menu at the top right on this page. The Transhumanist 00:33, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Government Sections

Thanks for the pointers, I'm going to be on somewhat of a wikibreak myself until Wednesday (31st) so if there's anything else I'll deal with it then. Also, I have now had a go at Outline of Greenland

Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 10:33, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Enjoy your vacation!
By the way, Greenland has a cabinet (most countries with prime ministers do). Don't forget to check Google to justify red links. ;)
The Transhumanist 20:49, 26 July 2009 (UTC)


You might also like to have a look at Outline of Palestine as a whole, Tiamut discovered the AfD and has been investing enormous amounts of time and energy making is more politically correct and longer. Highfields (talk, contribs, review) 11:02, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for watching over things, and for contacting me. I've been aware of this particular outline, I've participated in the AfD and I have talked to Tiamut about her contributions.
I am very impressed that you are keeping an eye on the big picture, and that you were the first one to spot and respond to the AfD. Nicely done. You are doing an excellent job.
Please continue to feel free to contact me about anything you consider important. I'm always interested. The Transhumanist 20:54, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Outline Update - 07/28/2009

Phase two of outline integration (de-orphanizing outlines by adding links leading to them into article see also sections) is nearly complete. The better that outlines are integrated into the encyclopedia, the more use they will be to readers.

Due to greater exposure through outline integration, and with most of the OOK team on school summer vacation, development activity on outlines has increased a lot...

New members
Be sure to welcome our newest members to the team:
News: Outline of Palestine survives AfD
The outline was nominated for deletion for being too general in scope. The consensus was overwhelmingly for keeping it.
The most memorable comment was posted by Mandsford: I like the poetic name, anyway. [Outline of Palestine]. "Master Plan of Pakistan" and "Rough Sketch of Bangladesh" would be good too.
Special thanks to Tiamut for greatly improving the outline, and helping to save it from AfD.
To keep track of outline AfDs and other outline-related discussions, see WP:OOKDISC.
Who's active on Wikipedia this summer?
Courtesy of Rich Farmbrough, here's a list of editors by their edit counts over the previous month (8th June to 8th July).
It would be nice to get the most prolific Wikipedians involved with WP:WPOOK. If you can, find a good reason to contact one or more of them, and invite them to work on a relevant outline - or all 500!
Who's been up to what?
  • Buaidh, Highfields, and Gimme danger have been working on the government sections of the country outlines. Being that there are about 240 of these, with critical information being filled in on each, this is by far the hardest and most important chore of this WikiProject right now.
  • Penubag is working on a redesign of the top OOK page.
  • Tiamut has done an incredible job developing the Outline of Palestine.
  • And kudos also go to Eu.stefan for his work on Outline of Buddhism.

Thank you.

Here's what else has been going on...

New outlines
Recently created outlines include:
Recently converted to outlines
These outline articles, which were named "List of...", have been converted to an OOK format and added to the OOK:
Recently merged into outlines
There are a lot of "List of" articles that are outlines. Some of them are on the same subjects as the "Outline of" articles. The following articles have been recently merged into OOK pages:
Outlines that have been tagged
Tags are requests to fix a problem or improve an article in a particular way. Unless we want the tags to sit there for an extended period of time cluttering up the outlines (we don't), it is up to us to fulfill those requests or attend to underlying misassumptions (if any).
I can't stress enough the importance of watching
With so many outlines (now over 500), and a growing number of support pages (guidelines, wikiproject pages, etc.), I can no longer keep up. I need your help watching over it all.
If you'd like to omnisciently view everything "from above", see this page:
  • WP:OOKWL - watchlist for copying and pasting into your raw watchlist.
Or go to these pages (and click on "Related changes" in the sidebar's toolbox menu):
  • WP:OOKRC - a version of the above watchlist for use with "Related changes".
  • WP:OOKDIR - a list of key pages related to the OOK, along with their shortcuts.
  • WP:OOKDISC - list of discussions pertaining to outlines.
What's next?

There are a lot of contradictions in guidelines related to outlines. I'll be turning my attention to fixing those.

The number of "Outline of" articles is rapidly catching up to portals, and will probably pass them by the end of the summer!

Keep up the excellent work.

The Transhumanist 00:54, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for your note, but I should probably be thanking all of you at WP:WPOOK. As I said at the talk there, filling in the outline has been a great way to identify where material is lacking in WP:PALESTINE (my primary area of interest, in case you have not noticed ;)). Anyway, in return, I will be volunteering my time to fill in other outlines for subjects I have some knowledge of. I was thinking of tackling Outline of Syria or Outline of Lebanon for example. Keep up your own great work and thanks again. Tiamuttalk 20:04, 28 July 2009 (UTC)
Thank you again.  :) And speaking of thanks, there is someone we're preparing a special thank you for, who has put in thousands and thousands of edits on the country and state outlines...

Sup Bondpedia

Whats up man. Now you probably don't know who i am but im one of the many contributors at the BF Wiki, the Wiki You basically created. I joined in 2010 while you were still active. I know your done with the Wiki but that doesnt mean you cant stop by once in a while. Deathgod recently returned to say hello and see how things were. Our B-Crat, you know him as Yurikaslov or Vlad, recently left and things have been a but jumpy since then. Until next time, see you on tge Battlefield! --awyman13 (talk) 02:27, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

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(West) German Chancellor

Dear Highfields, the official (German) title of the office is "Bundeskanzler der Bundesrepublik Deutschland", which translates "Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany." Between 1949 and 1990, "Federal Republic of Germany" referred to West Germany only, with the East being known as "German Democratic Republic." Adenauer and Brandt were Chancellors of West Germany. I think this should be clarified at Time Person of the Year. Best regards--FoxyOrange (talk) 18:31, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

December 2013

Hello, I'm BracketBot. I have automatically detected that your edit to Highfields School may have broken the syntax by modifying 1 "[]"s. If you have, don't worry: just edit the page again to fix it. If I misunderstood what happened, or if you have any questions, you can leave a message on my operator's talk page.

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Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited Conisbrough Castle, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Henry II (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ • Join us at the DPL WikiProject.

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Question

Hi Highfields, I noticed that you occasionally revert vandalism. Would rollback rights be of use to you? Please let me know what you think. Best. Acalamari 09:18, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

Done! Don't worry, there's no minimum activity threshold to meet...you can use this tool as little or as often as you like. Good luck with your university degree. :) Acalamari 10:21, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

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