Portal people on potent potables and portable potholes
This week, the Signpost's featured content section continues its recap of 2012 by looking at featured portals, a small yet active part of the project. We interviewed FPOC directors Cirt and OhanaUnited.
Cirt
We've had a bunch of portals promoted to Featured Portal quality in 2012 among a diverse group of subjects, including: Animation, Arts, Conservatism, Indonesia, History, Maryland Roads, and New England. So far in 2013, we've promoted portals Bollywood, Cheshire, Massachusetts, and Society. I've personally worked on two of these: Arts and Society, as part of the Main Page Featured Portal drive. This is an effort to improve all portals linked from the top-right navigation of the Main Page to Featured quality. We've only got two more portals left to improve all the way up to Featured status in this quality improvement drive, Geography and Technology; the former is almost there and the latter is coming along nicely. It's been fun helping out with the quality improvement process of portals in the past year. Hopefully it won't take too much longer to complete the Main Page Featured Portal drive, and that will serve as a good model for future contributors to portals.
OhanaUnited
Being a small project is a double-edged sword. On one hand, we rarely (if ever) have to deal with vandals and other wiki-drama. On the other hand, our target audience is not as much as some article pages and therefore portals are less frequently maintained even though the articles showcased in the portal may be more up to date. Often there is a lot of inertia from the community and we have less capital to work with when the total number of votes matter a lot in a discussion. Just over a year ago, there were a number of good ideas presented to increase the visibility of portals. Including Cirt's idea of improving the portals listed on the main page to featured status, most of the ideas presented have received strong support and implemented. The one idea, championed by myself, would involve changing the standard bullet points on the main page to diagrams that reflect the portal. Even though it has already been implemented in German Wikipedia's home page (where the idea of portals originated), the effort involved in getting this implemented in English Wikipedia would be far too much. At this point, we're aiming for more participants in the featured portals candidate process.
Featured articles
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Seven featured articles were promoted this week:
- "The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati" (nom) by Gen. Quon. "The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati" is a 1999 episode of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The second part in a trilogy, the episode follows FBI agents Mulder and Scully after the former falls into a coma from contact with an alien spaceship. Inspired by The Last Temptation of Christ, it has been considered the series' best episode.
- Journey (2012 video game) (nom) by PresN. Journey is a PlayStation 3 game developed by Thatgamecompany in which the player controls an unnamed robed figure in a journey to a mountain. For the indie game, which began development in 2009, the developers sought to evoke a sense of smallness and wonder. Journey was a critical success, winning numerous video game awards and a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.
- Elephant (nom) by LittleJerry. Elephants are large herbivorous mammals found in Africa and Asia. The largest extant land animals, they can be as tall as 4 m (13 ft) and up to 7,000 kg (15,000 lb). Two species are generally recognised: the larger African elephant species is classified as "vulnerable", while the Asian elephant is smaller and "endangered". Their relationship with humans dates back thousands of years.
- Fortress of Mimoyecques (nom) by Prioryman. The Fortress of Mimoyecques was a Second World War military complex built underground by Nazi Germany between 1943 and 1944. Intended to house a battery of V-3 cannons aimed at London, the complex was never completed: the Allies considered it a major threat and began bombing it in late 1943, destroying part of the complex. After the war it was further demolished and served as a mushroom farm. It is now a museum.
- 2005 Qeshm earthquake (nom) by Ceranthor and Mikenorton. The earthquake on Qeshm Island off Southern Iran (November 27, 2005) was the second major earthquake to strike the country that year. Measuring 5.8 on the moment magnitude scale, it was followed by 400 minor aftershocks. It killed 13 people and devastated 13 villages.
- John Le Mesurier (nom) by SchroCat and Cassianto. Le Mesurier (1912–1983) was an English actor best known for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the sitcom Dad's Army. He became an actor while still a youth and studied at the Fay Compton Studio of Dramatic Art. During his fifty-year career he appeared in numerous theatrical and film roles, often taking smaller roles. A self-described "jobbing actor", Le Mesurier took a relaxed approach to his profession.
- Mycena aurantiomarginata (nom) by Sasata. M. aurantiomarginata is a species of fungus widely distributed, but most common in North America and Europe. The mushrooms, which can measure up to 6 cm (2.4 in) in height, are named after the bright orange gill edges on the underside of their bell-shaped or conical caps. They can be distinguished from other mushrooms in the genus by differences in size, color, and substrate.
Featured lists
Four featured lists were promoted this week:
- List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Sydney Barnes (nom) by Harrias. English cricketer Sydney Barnes claimed 24 five-wicket hauls during his fourteen-year career. He made most of them towards the end of his career.
- Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Music Album (nom) by Status and Hahc21. The Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Music Album has been presented annually since 2001 for "vocal or instrumental merengue house, R&B, reggaeton, rap and/or hip hop music albums containing at least 51 percent playing time of newly recorded material."
- List of international cricket centuries by Allan Border (nom) by Vensatry. Australian cricketer Allan Border scored centuries in 27 Test and 3 ODI matches during his fourteen-year career. His highest score was 205, against New Zealand.
- List of Billboard Social 50 number-one artists (nom) by Status. The Billboard Social 50 is an American popularity chart which ranks musicians based on their social networking. Since its inception in December 2010, Justin Bieber has spent the most weeks at number one.
Featured pictures
Eleven featured pictures were promoted this week:
- Map of the Battle of Jutland, 1916 (nom; related article), by Grandiose. The Battle of Jutland, between the Royal Navy of the British Commonwealth and the Imperial German Navy, was the largest naval battle of World War I. It lasted for two days; 14 British and 11 German ships were sunk.
- The Lady of the Camellias poster (nom; related article), created by Alfons Mucha, restored and nominated by Adam Cuerden. The Lady of the Camellias,a novel by Alexandre Dumas, Jr., has been adapted for the stage and film numerous times. This poster is for a late 19th century production starring Sarah Bernhardt.
- Buff-banded Rail (nom; related article), by Toby Hudson. The Buff-banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis) is a bird found in much of Australasia and the south-west Pacific. It is highly territorial.
- Barrow Offshore Wind Farm (nom; related article), created by Andy Dingley and nominated by Elekhh. The Barrow Offshore Wind Farm, located in the East Irish Sea, consists of 30 turbines which provide a total of 90 megawatts.
- Young Woman Drawing (nom; related article), created by Marie-Denise Villers and nominated by Crisco 1492. Villers (1774–1821) was a French painter best known for her portraits. Young Woman Drawing is her best known work and may be a self-portrait.
- Schloss Johannisburg (nom; related article), created by Rainer Lippert and nominated by Tomer T. Schloss Johannisburg is a castle in Aschaffenburg, Germany, which was constructed in the early 17th century. It is considered a landmark of the city.
- Cupha erymanthis (nom; related article), created by Jkadavoor and nominated by Ceranthor. Cupha erymanthis is a species of butterfly found in forests of tropical South and Southeast Asia. It sometimes drinks liquids from carrion.
- Harlequin beetle (nom; related article), created by Archaeodontosaurus and nominated by Alborzagros. The harlequin beetle (Acrocinus longimanus) is a tropical beetle most common in Central and South America, native to the Americas. They are quite large, measuring up to 76 millimetres (3.0 in) in length.
- Space Shuttle Enterprise (nom; related article), created by NASA and nominated by Hahc21. Enterprise was the first Space Shuttle, designed by the American space agency NASA in the 1970s to perform test flights before Columbia became the first Shuttle in space. Here it is pictured while gliding.
- Malaysian Plover (nom; related article), by JJ Harrison. The Malaysian Plover (Charadrius peronii) is a small bird which is found at beaches and salt flats in Southeast Asia. It is classified as near-threatened.
- White-necked Laughingthrush (nom; related article), by JJ Harrison. The White-necked Laughingthrush (Garrulax strepitans) is a species of bird found in forests in China, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.
Featured portals
Four featured portals were promoted this week:
- Society (nom), by Cirt, with 20 SAs, 20 SBs, 20 SPs, 20 DYK sets, 20 selected quotes, 20 selected sounds, an ITN section, and an in this month section. Society relates to interpersonal relations in large social groupings.
- Bollywood (nom), by Bill william compton, with 15 SBs, 16 SAs, 15 SPs, and 7 DYK sets. The informal term Bollywood is popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai.
- Cheshire (nom), by Espresso Addict, with 32 SAs, 23 SBs, 34 SPs, 14 FLs, 45 sets of DYK hooks, 16 selected quotes, 20 selected sounds, and an in this month section. Cheshire is a ceremonial county in the North West of England.
- Massachusetts (nom), by Sven Manguard, with 20 SAs, 20 SBs, 11 SPs, 10 sets of DYK hooks, 15 selected locations, and an in this month section. Massachusetts is a state of the United States.
Discuss this story
Aww. I saw expecting a Portal reference in the title. GamerPro64 01:51, 6 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]