Featured topic of the year

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The Signpost asked User:Wizardman to review the year in featured topics and to choose what he feels was the stand-out promotion.

"In the past year, the featured topics process has evolved significantly. The raw numbers are as follows for 2010: 21 featured topics were promoted, 65 good topics were promoted (including 18 in October, a record), 16 topics were demoted, and there were 16 supplementary additions.

The numbers have shifted from 2009, during which there were 32 promoted FTs, 50 promoted GTs, 13 demotions, and 15 supplemental additions. However, this reduction in numbers is despite a major change in the process: as of September 1, a new requirement has been that at least half of the articles in a featured topic must themselves be featured (up from a third); if this is not the case, the topic is eligible instead for good topic status. As a result, 23 topics went from featured to good, bringing the total number of featured topics to below the 100-mark (currently there are 94 FTs and 141 GTs). Beyond that, a shift in running the process was made, as I have mostly taken over from User:Rst20xx, who became inactive about halfway through 2010.

As for specifics on what areas have been strongly represented in promotions, most have come from the MILHIST project—particularly as a result of Operation Majestic Titan—and many promotions have been of music albums and discographies. In many areas, topics remain non-existent; examples are economics, math, business, and engineering, to name a few.

Of the topics promoted in 2010, what was the featured topic of the year? That was one of the first topics of 2010, the Australian cricket team in England in 1948, which currently contains 42 articles, 24 featured and 18 good. It's one of the largest topics we have, and even for someone who could care less about cricket, I found it to be a great read, and enjoyed watching the progress the topic made.

As featured topics are not an oft-traveled area of wikipedia, I wanted to note about the value of the process. Namely, creating a topic allows a group of similar articles to become examples of our best work, since people interested in one article may be interested in another article in that topic. Those wishing to read about 30 Rock (season 1) and modify it, for example, would be the same people wanting to modify and read 30 Rock (season 2). Since many articles in a topic might use the same sources, it also makes it easier on one's time or on one's wallet if they already have the sources to work on a cluster of articles. Having an article featured is great; having a group of articles featured can provide a much greater benefit, especially if it's on an important topic. (If U.S. presidents or UK prime ministers were ever featured topics, that would be amazing)

If you want to contribute a topic but need ideas on one, I can always provide some help. You can find topics in anything if you look hard enough, which is one of the joys of working on them."

Eleven articles were promoted to featured status:

• Peveril Castle (nom), a small castle standing over the Hope Valley in England (Nev1; picture above)
• Suillus spraguei (nom), an attractive, edible mushroom of eastern North America and eastern Asia (nominator Sasata).
• Southpark (season 13) (nom), from the American animated television comedy series, originally aired in the US on Comedy Central in 2009 (Hunter Kahn and Nergaal).
• Round Church, Preslav (nom), an early 10th-century Bulgarian church building, known only from studying its ruins. The only written reference to its existence in medieval sources does not amount to certain identification (TodorBozhinov).
• Sigi Schmid (nom) (born 1953), a German-American soccer coach who became one of the most successful collegiate coaches of all time in the US (Cptnono).
• Governor of Kentucky (nom), the office of the chief executive of the US state of Kentucky, and the centrepiece of a new featured topic (Acdixon).
• New York's 20th congressional district special election, 2009 (nom), a battle between Democrat Scott Murphy, a private businessman, and Republican Jim Tedisco, the minority leader of the New York State Assembly (Gyrobo).
• Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis (nom), a condition featuring attacks of muscle weakness in the presence of an overactive thyroid gland (Jfdwolff).
• Henry J. Wood (nom), a major figure in British musical life in the first half of the 20th century; his influence continues in London's annual series of The Proms, which he conducted for nearly 50 years (Tim riley; picture at the right)
• Bernard Bosanquet (cricketer) (nom) (1877–1936), a cricketer who was transformed from a very average batsman into an international, match-winning all-rounder through his invention of the googly, a completely revolutionary style of bowling, in which the ball is spun in the opposite direction to normal without the appearance of anything abnormal (Sarastro1).
• Salanoia durrelli (nom), a mongoose-like member of a family of carnivoran mammals unique to Madagascar (Ucucha; picture at the right).

The Signpost asked FA regular DrKiernan to select the Choice of the week:

"Once again, all the articles are of the highest quality. I have chosen Henry Wood as my favorite this week because of the number, density and quality of references to off-line print sources. Who can fail to agree with Wood's wise words: "I do not like ladies playing the trombone or double bass, but they can play the violin!" However, I do find myself sympathising with the critic who described a third of Wood's audience at a performance of Schoenberg as hissing, another third "not hissing because it was laughing, and the remaining third ... too puzzled either to laugh or to hiss." "

Three featured articles were delisted:

• Halloween (1978 film) (nom): referencing and prose
• Herbig–Haro object (nom): referencing and prose
• History of the Philippines (nom): referencing and MoS compliance.

Six images were promoted. Medium-sized images can be viewed by clicking on "nom":

• Golden toad (nom; related article), a male of this strikingly coloured species, which has been considered extinct since around 1989, part of a world-wide decline in amphibian populations (created by Charles H Smith).
• Hoary-headed Grebe (nom; related article). Said one reviewer: "The background looks really funky. Have you cloned something out? Also is that fuzz in its mouth, or something optical?" Creator's response: "No and fuzz." (created by Noodle snacks)
• Red-necked Stint (nom; related article), shot on Christmas Day at Ralph's Bay, Tasmania (created by Noodle snacks).
• Orange-lined triggerfish (nom; related article), promoted after considerable debate about sharpness, piscine mucus, and the blurring effects of water (Hans Hillewaert (photography), Papa Lima Whiskey (editing to sharpen the image); picture at the bottom)
• Maasai woman (nom; related article). An interesting debate ensued on whether the subject had consented to appearing on the main page. Reviewer Chick Bowen said, "Such consent is not necessary, either legally or ethically, as long as the photograph is taken in a public place and is not demeaning or intrusive, which this image is not. See Commons:Photographs of identifiable people." (created by William Warby; picture at the right)
• Großbottwar town hall (nom; related article), a 16th-century building noted for its half-timber construction and decoratively carved façade, in a town of some 8000 people in south-western Germany (created by Felix König, shadows brightened by GreatOrangePumpkin).

Three sound files were promoted:

• The US Navy Band plays Inno e Marcia Pontificale (nom), composed in 1869 by Charles Gounod (nominated by Fridae'sDoom).
• Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (nom), an 1899 recording of the Welsh national anthem, composed in 1856 by James James and here sung by Madge Breese for the Gramophone Company in London. It is the first known recording in the Welsh language (nominated by Bencherlite).
• Ave Maria (nom), composed in 1859 by Charles Gounod on the harmonic structure and texture of a solo keyboard prelude by JS Bach. This performance on cello is by John Michel, who is on the music faculty at Central Washington University. The pianist is not named. (nominated by Sven Manguard)