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Would you like to swing on a star?

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By Adam Cuerden
This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted in November. Quotes are generally from the articles, but may be abridged or simplified for length.

Well, here we are! While the featured content promoted in December won't appear until our January issue, this marks the end of the featured content we'll be reporting on this year. We used to try to work a bit less behind, but, well, I've not been a consistent Signpost contributor, but I have done it over many, many years....

Tell you what, here's a peek behind the writing process, and why things are the way they are:

When The Signpost was published weekly or thereabouts, the amount of featured content in that week was small, and you could just copy-paste the lead in the worst case scenario. If you missed a week, having two or even three weeks in one article isn't that bad. You also have seven days to write about seven days of content; this isn't that bad.

But with monthly publication, if you miss a month, you just miss a month. Two months of content is simply too much to fit in one article. So it really needs to get out on time.

However, we publish around the 25th of each month. So, for example, let's say this month we covered things promoted from, say, November 15 to December 15. That gives ten days from the time the list of content meant to appear in the article is complete to publication time. Now, you can start preparing a bit in advance, but the period just before publication of an issue is full of a lot of other things that happen, like everyone trying to copyedit everyone else's articles and trying to get everything ready for publication. So that first ten days is probably lost, at the minimum. It's a lot harder, and it gets harder from there.

First off, unlike weekly publication, it's important to keep the writeups of the content short, so the article as a whole isn't too long. There used to be a huge push on Wikipedia to always make sure the first paragraph of the lead summarised the article as whole, after which the rest of the lead was meant to go back and fill in detail. Some featured articles are still written this way. Very few featured lists are. So you can't just copy the leads, you have to spend some time editing them down. So you need the time.

Of course, the way I set these up, at least, involves a search and replace on entries from WP:GO. So, for this month, I went to Wikipedia:Goings-on/October 30, 2022, Wikipedia:Goings-on/November 6, 2022, Wikipedia:Goings-on/November 13, 2022, and so on, and compile everything into one big file, keeping articles and lists seperate.

Here's the last few entries for this month in featured articles, as taken from there, using the editor so we get them in wikitext:

* [[Theodora Kroeber]] (28 Nov)
* ''[[Zork]]'' (28 Nov)
* ''[[Dime Mystery Magazine]]'' (28 Nov)
* [[Prince Alfred of Great Britain]] (29 Nov)

The list would be a lot longer, of course. I delete the dates at the end, then do a series of searches and replaces:

Search for Replace with Why?
"* " ";" Starting a line with a semicolon is how you make a description list.
"]]" "]], nominated by [[User:|]]:" Sets up the rest of the basic formatting

This gets us:

;[[Theodora Kroeber]], nominated by [[User:|]]:
;''[[Zork]], nominated by [[User:|]]:''
;''[[Dime Mystery Magazine]], nominated by [[User:|]]:''
;[[Prince Alfred of Great Britain]], nominated by [[User:|]]:

...And, with a bit of fixing of the italics that moved to the wrong place, we're done with the first step. There's ways around having to fix the italics, but are only really worth doing as code, not something you type anew each time.

I then go to Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Featured log before pasting these in, and fill out the user(s) responsible for each nomination before that [[User:|]] gets evaluated. Paste that into the featured article section, and the lists (which I process at the same time, since it's the same formatting) into the lists section, and I can move to images.

Now, if I had this set up as a simple press a button and the search and replace gets done thing, it wouldn't be big deal to do multiple batches. But I haven't done this. So instead, I.... type out all those search and replaces, and the variant ones used for featured pictures anew every month. Or, if I want to do multiple batches, then... every time I do a batch. Not ideal. Also, there's some polishing up to do after writing all the descriptions: Space the featured articles with illustrations so the images don't crowd, adjust the featured pictures to alternate tall and wide images so they look better on various screensizes (and ideally get a pleasant colour balance as you scroll down), and so on.

So it's better to do everything at once. And that means I want as much time to do it in. And that means I need to start work as soon after the last publication of the Signpost as possible, so that I don't get busy and miss completing it.

Anyway, with that overly-detailed explanation of simple regular expressions that I should probably just break down and write a bot to do, this is your Signpost correspondent, signing off!

—Adam Cuerden



Nineteen featured articles were promoted in November.

Margaret Rhea Seddon
Rhea Seddon, nominated by Hawkeye7
Margaret Rhea Seddon (born November 8, 1947) is an American surgeon and retired NASA astronaut. After being selected as part of the first group of astronauts to include women in 1978, she flew on three Space Shuttle flights: as mission specialist on STS-51-D and STS-40, and as payload commander for STS-58, accumulating over 722 hours in space. On these flights, she built repair tools for a US Navy satellite and performed medical experiments.
Growing Up Absurd, nominated by Czar
Growing Up Absurd is a 1960 book by Paul Goodman on the relationship between American juvenile delinquency and societal opportunities to fulfill natural needs. Contrary to the then-popular view that juvenile delinquents should be led to respect societal norms, Goodman argued that young American men were justified in their disaffection because their society lacked the preconditions for growing up, such as meaningful work, honorable community, sexual freedom, and spiritual sustenance.
This Year's Model, nominated by zmbro
This Year's Model is the second studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 17 March 1978 through Radar Records. Embracing new wave, power pop and punk rock, the songs draw from bands such as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. The lyrics explore subjects such as technologies of mass control and failing relationships, but in a manner that some reviewers found misogynistic. In later decades, This Year's Model has been acclaimed as one of Costello's best works, some critics commenting on its influence on punk and new wave.
"To Be Loved" (Adele song), nominated by MaranoFan (NØ)
"To Be Loved" is a song by English singer Adele from her fourth studio album 30 (2021). The song is about the sacrifices one must make upon falling in love and addresses Adele's divorce from Simon Konecki, attempting to justify to her son why their marriage did not succeed. The song received rave reviews from music critics, who highlighted Adele's vocal performance as one of her best, and one of the best of the year.
Science Fiction Monthly, nominated by Mike Christie
Science Fiction Monthly was a British science fiction magazine published from 1974 to 1976 by New English Library. It was launched in response to demand from readers for posters of the cover art of New English Library's science fiction paperbacks, and was initially very successful, its circulation reaching 150,000 by the third issue. It reprinted artwork by Chris Foss, Jim Burns, Bruce Pennington, Roger Dean, and many others. Well-known writers who appeared in its pages included Brian Aldiss, Bob Shaw, Christopher Priest, and Harlan Ellison. The high production costs meant that a high circulation was necessary to sustain profitability, and when circulation fell to about 20,000 after two years NEL ceased publication.
1905–06 New Brompton F.C. season, nominated by ChrisTheDude
During the 1905–06 English football season, New Brompton F.C. competed in the Southern League Division One. The team began the season in poor form; they failed to score any goals in six of their first eight Southern League games. By the midpoint of the season, the team had won only three times and were close to the bottom of the league table. The team's form improved in the new year, with three wins in the first seven Southern League games of 1906, but they ended the season in similar fashion to how they had started it, failing to score in eight of the final nine league games. New Brompton finished the season in 17th place out of 18 teams in the division.
Cover of the August 1934 issue of Dime Mystery Magazine
Dime Mystery Magazine, nominated by Mike Christie
Dime Mystery Magazine was an American pulp magazine published from 1932 to 1950 by Popular Publications. Titled Dime Mystery Book Magazine during its first nine months, it contained ordinary mystery stories, including a full-length novel in each issue, but it was competing with Detective Novels Magazine and Detective Classics, two established magazines from a rival publisher, and failed to sell well. With the October 1933 issue the editorial policy changed, and it began publishing horror stories. Under the new policy, each story's protagonist had to struggle against something that appeared to be supernatural, but would be revealed to have an everyday explanation. The new genre became known as "weird menace" fiction; the publisher, Harry Steeger, was inspired to create the new policy by the gory dramatizations he had seen at the Grand Guignol theater in Paris. Stories based on supernatural events were rare in Dime Mystery, but did occasionally appear. In 1937 the emphasis on sex and sadism in Dime Mystery's stories increased, but in 1938 the editorial policy switched back to detective stories.
"Sweetheart" (Rainy Davis song), nominated by Heartfox
"Sweetheart" is a song originally recorded by American singer Rainy Davis. It was written by Davis and Pete Warner, and they produced it with Dorothy Kessler. The track was released in 1986 by independent record label SuperTronics as a single from Davis's 1987 studio album Sweetheart. A freestyle, hip hop pop, and synth-funk song, "Sweetheart" appeared on R&B and dance music-based record charts in the United States.
Matthew Quay, nominated by Wehwalt
Matthew Stanley "Matt" Quay (September 30, 1833 – May 28, 1904) was an American politician of the Republican Party who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1887 until 1899 and from 1901 until his death in 1904. Quay's control of the Pennsylvania Republican political machine made him one of the most powerful and influential politicians in the country, and he ruled Pennsylvania politics for almost twenty years. As chair of the Republican National Committee and thus party campaign manager, he helped elect Benjamin Harrison as president in 1888 despite his not winning the popular vote. He was also instrumental in the 1900 election of Theodore Roosevelt as vice president.
Ulf Merbold, nominated by Kusma
Ulf Dietrich Merbold (born June 20, 1941) is a German physicist and astronaut who flew to space three times, becoming the first West German citizen in space and the first non-American to fly on a NASA spacecraft. Merbold flew on two Space Shuttle missions and on a Russian mission to the space station Mir, spending a total of 49 days in space. Between his space flights, Merbold provided ground-based support for other ESA missions. He continued working for ESA until his retirement in 2004.
"Water Under the Bridge" (song), nominated by MaranoFan (NØ)
"Water Under the Bridge" is a song by English singer Adele from her third studio album 25 (2015). Adele wrote the song with its producer, Greg Kurstin. Inspired by her relationship with charity founder Simon Konecki, who Adele dated for seven years and married in 2018, the song speaks of forgiveness and details the crucial point in a courtship of determining whether one's partner is willing to put in the work to make it succeed.
Project Waler, nominated by Nick-D
Project Waler was an unsuccessful Australian defence procurement exercise which sought to replace the Australian Army's M113 armoured personnel carriers with more capable armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs). It was initiated in 1980 and cancelled in 1985 without any vehicles being procured. The M113s used by the Army's armoured reconnaissance units were replaced by ASLAV wheeled armoured fighting vehicles that were similar to the designs considered under Project Waler. Most of the remaining fleet of M113s were upgraded. The M113 upgrade project was also unsuccessful, with the resultant vehicles being unfit for combat, and the Australian Government launched a new project in 2018 to replace them.
"Alejandro" (song), nominated by FrB.TG, IndianBio, and Sricsi
"Alejandro" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga from her third extended play (EP), The Fame Monster (2009). A synth-pop track with Europop and Latin pop beats, it opens with a sample from the main melody of Vittorio Monti's "Csárdás". The song was inspired by Gaga's fear of men and is about her bidding farewell to her Latino lovers named Alejandro, Roberto and Fernando.
Ai-Khanoum, nominated by AirshipJungleman29
Ai-Khanoum is the archaeological site of a Hellenistic city in Takhar Province, Afghanistan. The city, whose original name is unknown, was probably founded by an early ruler of the Seleucid Empire and served as a military and economic centre for the rulers of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom until its destruction c. 145 BC. Rediscovered in 1961, the ruins of the city were excavated by a French team of archaeologists until the outbreak of conflict in Afghanistan in the late 1970s. The onset of the Soviet-Afghan War halted scholarly progress, and during the following conflicts in Afghanistan, the site was extensively looted.
Zork, nominated by PresN
West of House.
You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door.
There is a small mailbox here.
>
"Love Story" (Taylor Swift song), nominated by Ippantekina
"Love Story" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released as the lead single from Swift's second studio album, Fearless, on September 15, 2008. Inspired by a boy unpopular with her family and friends, Swift wrote the song using William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet as a reference point. The lyrics narrate a troubled romance that ends with a marriage proposal, contrary to Shakespeare's tragic conclusion
Fatima Whitbread, nominated by BennyOnTheLoose
Fatima Whitbread (née Vedad; 3 March 1961) is a British retired javelin thrower. She broke the world record with a throw of 77.44 m (254 ft 3⁄4 in) in the qualifying round of the 1986 European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, and became the first British athlete to set a world record in a throwing event. Whitbread went on to win the European title that year, and took the gold medal at the 1987 World Championships. She is also a two-time Olympic medallist, winning bronze at the 1984 Summer Olympics and silver at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Theodora Kroeber, nominated by SusunW and Vanamonde
Theodora Kroeber (March 24, 1897 – July 4, 1979) was an American writer and anthropologist, best known for her accounts of several Native Californian cultures. She published The Inland Whale, a collection of translated Native Californian narratives in 1959. Two years later she published Ishi in Two Worlds, an account of Ishi, the last member of the Yahi people of Northern California, whom her husband, Alfred Kroeber, had befriended and studied between 1911 and 1916. She also collaborated with her daughter, Ursula K. Le Guin.
Prince Alfred of Great Britain, nominated by Unlimitedlead
Prince Alfred of Great Britain (22 September 1780 – 20 August 1782) was the fourteenth child and ninth and youngest son of George III and his queen consort, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. In 1782, Alfred became unwell after his inoculation against the smallpox virus. His early death, along with the demise of his brother Prince Octavius six months later, deeply distressed the royal family. In his later bouts of madness, King George had imagined conversations with both of his youngest sons.

Twenty-six featured pictures were promoted in November, including the ones at the top and bottom of this article.

Nine featured lists were promoted in November.

Amorphophallus titanum, the corpse flower, is one of the alismatid monocots.
List of alismatid monocot families by Dank
Alismatid monocots are a group of 15 interrelated families of flowering plants. Like the earliest monocots, many of them are aquatic, and some grow completely submerged.
List of Lionhead Studios games by PresN
The now-closed video game studio behind such 2000s-era hits as Fable and Black & White.
List of accolades received by Drive My Car (film) by Harushiga
Drive My Car is a 2021 Japanese drama film based on the short story of the same name by Haruki Murakami from his 2014 collection, Men Without Women. It follows Yūsuke Kafuku (Nishijima) as he directs a production of Uncle Vanya, while still grieving over the death of his wife.
List of Coppa Italia finals by Dr Salvus, Foghe, and Snowflake91
The Coppa Italia is an annual football cup competition established in Italy in 1922. The competition is open to all Serie A and Serie B clubs, as well as four teams from Serie C.
List of FIA World Endurance champions by EnthusiastWorld37
The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) is an endurance auto racing series administered by the governing body of motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series awards international championships, cups, and trophies to the most successful drivers, teams, and manufacturers in each of the series' categories over the course of a season.
List of accolades received by CODA (2021 film) by Birdienest81
CODA is a 2021 coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Sian Heder. An adaptation of the French-Belgian film La Famille Bélier (2014), it stars Emilia Jones as the titular child of deaf adults (CODA) and the only hearing member of a deaf family, who attempts to help their struggling fishing business while pursuing her desire to be a singer.
List of international cricket centuries by Babar Azam by CreativeNorth
Babar Azam is a Pakistani cricketer and current captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. A century is when a player scores 100 runs in a single game of cricket. Azam has done this impressive feat tweny-six times in international matches.
List of Billboard number-one R&B songs of 1957 and List of Billboard number-one country songs of 2022 by ChrisTheDude
The magazine Billboard published its first chart, a list of popular sheet music, in 1913. Since then, it's become the American standard for lists of the most popular music, both as a whole and by genre. You can probably guess which genres and years these ones are for.
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1 January 2023 (all comments)
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