This is an archive of past discussions with User:Alansohn. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.
Thanks for adding the citation for that factoid. I added the info in about 2004. My best friend used to mow Milnes's lawn...lived across the street from him. Milnes came to the high school madrigal rehearsals from time to time. I have not been able to find a citation in all that time. Thanks for turning my OR into a verified fact. --Nemonoman (talk) 03:36, 28 December 2010 (UTC)
I've seen some of these unsourced notables in other New Jersey places, and every once in a while I try to go through these articles and make sure that I can clear out as many of the "citation needed" tags as possible. I was glad to finally find a reliable source for Milnes. Thanks for noticing. Alansohn (talk) 03:47, 28 December 2010 (UTC)
On 30 December 2010, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Frank Bessac, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that American anthropologistFrank Bessac was fleeing China when his group was attacked by Tibetan border guards, killing three of his party, including the first CIA agent to be killed in the line of duty? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.
Per an OTRS ticket, I've revdel'ed a number of revisions that contained a link to a document that appeared to be a Rabbinical court proceeding that listed real people's names. If you need to see what was zapped to repair it, let me know and I'll send it to you. If you can find another source for the same sort of thing that doesn't actually involve particular people, it would be fine to readd. Cheers, Jclemens (talk) 02:32, 30 December 2010 (UTC)
That article goes back a few years, but I do recall some details of what it was I was trying to add. I had hoped that a sample version of the Rabbinic court order would provide the best example of what is included therein. While the document that I had linked to was one that remains publicly available on the Internet, I could understand why someone would want to see it removed and will add this to my list of articles that can use some additional sources. Thanks for the notification. Alansohn (talk) 02:38, 30 December 2010 (UTC)
Yeah, it wasn't something I would have thought that big of a deal, since it's still out there for all the world to see, but if someone cares enough to email OTRS, it's apparently a big deal to them. Obviously, you're not out to introduce problems on purpose, so absolutely consider this just a heads up. Jclemens (talk) 07:20, 30 December 2010 (UTC)
We have reached the end of the year, and what a year it has been! The Guild of Copy Editors was full of activity, and we achieved numerous important milestones in 2010. Read all about these in the Guild's 2010 Year-End Report.
Highlights
Membership grows to 503 editors
2,589 articles removed through four Backlog elimination drives
On 31 December 2010, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Morris L. Cohen, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that Morris L. Cohen, described by The New York Times as "one of the nation's most influential legal librarians", wrote a six-volume summary of all law sources published in the U.S. before 1860? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.
On 1 January 2011, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article John Warhola, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that before his death, John Warhola's father told him to take care of John's younger brother, Andy Warhol, and "make sure he goes to school, because he's going to be successful someday"? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.
Hello, happy new year and welcome to the 2011 WikiCup! Your submissions' page can be found here and instructions of how to update the page can be found here and on the submissions' page itself. From the submissions' page, a bot will update the main scoresheet. Our rules have been very slightly updated from last year; the full rules can be found here. Please remember that you can only receive points for content on which you have done significant work in 2011; nominations of work from last year and "drive-by" nominations will not be awarded points. Signups are going to remain open through January, so if you know of anyone who would like to take part, please direct them to Wikipedia:WikiCup/2011 signups. The judges can be contacted on the WikiCup talk page, on their respective talk pages, or by email. Other than that, we will be in contact at the end of every month with the newsletter. If you want to stop or start receiving newsletters, please remove your name from or add your name to this list. Good luck! J Milburn and The ed1712:55, 1 January 2011 (UTC)
It is possible that the bot is confused and found similarity where none actually exists. If that is the case, you can remove the tag from the article. The article will be reviewed to determine if there are any copyright issues.
If substantial content is duplicated and it is not public domain or available under a compatible license, it will be deleted. For legal reasons, we cannot accept copyrighted text or images borrowed from other web sites or printed material. You may use such publications as a source of information, but not as a source of sentences. See our copyright policy for further details. (If you own the copyright to the previously published content and wish to donate it, see Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials for the procedure.) CorenSearchBot (talk) 05:11, 3 January 2011 (UTC)
Hello, Alansohn/Archive 38! WikiProject United States, an outreach effort supporting development of United States related articles in Wikipedia, has recently been restarted after a long period of inactivity. As a user who has shown an interest in United States related topics we wanted to invite you to join us in developing content relating to the United States. If you are interested please add your Username and area of interest to the members page here. Thank you!!!
You may want to consider using the Article Wizard to help you create articles.
Thank you for experimenting with Wikipedia. Your test worked, and the page that you created has been or soon will be deleted. Please use the sandbox for any other tests you want to do. Take a look at the welcome page if you would like to learn more about contributing to our encyclopedia.
If you think that this notice was placed here in error, you may contest the deletion by adding {{hang on}} to the top of the page that has been nominated for deletion (just below the existing speedy deletion, or "db", tag; if no such tag exists, then the page is no longer a speedy delete candidate and adding a hang-on tag is unnecessary), coupled with adding a note on the talk page explaining your position, but be aware that once tagged for speedy deletion, if the page 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 page that would render it more in conformance with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. If the page is deleted, you can contact one of these administrators to request that the administrator userfy the page or email a copy to you. Mhiji02:01, 4 January 2011 (UTC)
Generally nice article, thanks. Do you think it needs a separate lead section? It sort of seems to be now, but is in that gray area of larger than a stub, but not much more to say I suppose. Maybe just move a detail or two down into the body. W Nowicki (talk) 21:14, 3 January 2011 (UTC)
I created the article after seeing him listed on Deaths in 2010 and followed up on the sources. I had been assuming that more substantial obituaries covering his life and career would be published, but haven't found anything yet. I do intend to beef up the article and view it as a work in progress that meets DYK standards but that would benefit from further expansion. Alansohn (talk) 22:19, 3 January 2011 (UTC)
You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{proposed deletion/dated}} notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.
On 5 January 2011, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Paul Calle, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that while in space, Apollo 11 astronauts hand canceled the die proof of a stamp (pictured) designed by Paul Calle to commemorate the first manned moon landing? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.
On 6 January 2011, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Grant McCune, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that after getting his start in Hollywood creating a model of the great white shark in Jaws, special effects artist Grant McCune designed R2-D2(pictured) as chief modelmaker for the Star Wars films? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.
How is that a "more comprehensive" discussion? We already had a discussion on that point here. That discussion went on for two months, from August to October 2009. That's pretty comprehensive. Not surprisingly, the decision was to include only information relevant to each city in each article. Nightscream (talk) 17:12, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
Difficult as it may be to admit this, my off-time research shows that you were right, and I was hasty in editing re who that was on the Gemini double-stamp. White was, in fact, already dead, and thus A-OK on a U.S. stamp.
--Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 18:36, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
No need to apologize. You knew the general rule on U.S. stamp images of living individuals and I just wanted to make sure that the article conformed to the sources I had. The additional research on the Ed White stamp clarified the issue for me and matched the description in Calle's obituary. I'm glad that we've resolved the issue and are in agreement on the wording in the article. Thanks for the note. Alansohn (talk) 19:00, 6 January 2011 (UTC)
Is there a tradition or common practice with regard to the use of digits or letters when numbering political divisons? Thank you. (PS. was uncertain as to where raise this question, but as you most familiar I trust you are best informed) Djflem (talk) 00:54, 12 January 2011 (UTC)
I think that numbers are the preferable standard, but New Jersey does seem to have a bit of district numbers spelled out in words, probably based on editing decisions of mine that I can no longer recall or explain. If you are looking for a MOS preference, 13th is probably more correct than Thirteenth, for example. Alansohn (talk) 01:12, 12 January 2011 (UTC)
I nominated an article for DYK in December and it was no where near a DYK nomination. Will you mentor me on DYKs? WAYNESLAM23:31, 8 January 2011 (UTC)
Sure. The best thing is to find a topic you have some comfort with for which there is no Wikipedia article or only a stub exists. It could be about a place near you, about sports, or anything that interests you, as long as there is coverage about the topic in reliable and verifiable sources such as newspapers, magazines or books. I'd suggest creating a new article in userspace if you're unfamiliar with the process of creating a new article, and then you can move it to mainspace and nominate the article once you're ready. I can't help with a topic, but I'd certainly be more than willing to provide some tips once you are ready to get started. Alansohn (talk) 23:37, 8 January 2011 (UTC)
This is the article I tried to nominate for DYK as an expanded article. Many articles I've seen you created have been nominated for DYK. When I created an article (the last one was Ford vs. Chevy) I need help creating articles like you do. WAYNESLAM23:42, 8 January 2011 (UTC)
Remember that DYK articles need to be at least 1,500 characters long (or expanded five-fold, if existing) and the number of characters is calculated without including bulleted text or data in an infobox. Pick a topic and I'll be happy to help from there. Alansohn (talk) 23:50, 8 January 2011 (UTC)
DYK is intended to cover new and recently expanded articles that have been created within the past five days. NBA 2K11 is too old to pass as a new article and the expansion has not been five-fold in those five days. Alansohn (talk) 00:06, 9 January 2011 (UTC)
I should have told you earlier but the article wasn't as large as it is now. I don't know what article should I create or expand. Do you have any suggestions? WAYNESLAM00:12, 9 January 2011 (UTC)
The NBA 2K11article has not been expanded enough to meet the five-fold requirement in the past five days. I can't tell you *what* to write about, but I can certainly help you with the details of creating, sourcing and nominating the article once you've picked a topic. Alansohn (talk) 00:24, 9 January 2011 (UTC)
Sounds like a good choice. If you can create and expand it quickly you can create it in mainspace, or you can create it as an article in userspace and then move it in when you're ready, which gives you more time. Alansohn (talk) 00:42, 9 January 2011 (UTC)
Will you make some changes on that page too? I want to create a notable article like you have created your articles. WAYNESLAM00:44, 9 January 2011 (UTC)
I know little about auto racing, but I'd be happy to help once you've gotten started. Just let me know when you're ready to have me take a look. Alansohn (talk) 00:50, 9 January 2011 (UTC)
I just created it a few moments ago. Thanks. It's a lot work since I want to make it a DYK article. It's now ready. The Kenny Francis article is now ready too. WAYNESLAM00:53, 9 January 2011 (UTC)
The articles are fine. Now you need to come up with a "hook", under 200 characters, that would draw readers to the article and written in the form of the question "did you know that...?" Take a look at T:TDYK to see sample hooks from other articles. I will read through the articles and see if I have any suggestions. Alansohn (talk) 00:49, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
Will you make a comment about this on the Problems with DYK section on my talk page? A few users had helped me. WAYNESLAM17:08, 12 January 2011 (UTC)
The article will be discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Marlton Circle until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on good quality evidence, and our policies and guidelines.
Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion template from the top of the article. Dough487201:30, 13 January 2011 (UTC)
Your comments at the AfD regarding other sources was on target. I had seen sources about Olga's Diner and I will do my best to make use of the sources you identified and those available elsewhere. Thanks for the heads up. Alansohn (talk) 15:12, 13 January 2011 (UTC)
And I have responded to your message. You have not established that there is a "consensus reached". Stop assuming facts to be established by mere flat assertion. They aren't. They are determined by evidence and reason. Nightscream (talk) 19:35, 14 January 2011 (UTC)
South Bound Brook
If you like the issue with the Attorney to be placed in a different category, I’m ok with that. However, those documents were taken directly from the NJ Elec site and therefore are reliable as well as independent sources. Thanks, SBBMatters. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sbbmatters (talk • contribs) 20:54, 14 January 2011 (UTC)
WAYNESLAM has bought you a whisky! Sharing a whisky is a great way to bond with other editors after a day of hard work. Spread the WikiLove by buying someone else a whisky, whether it be someone with whom you have collaborated or had disagreements. Enjoy!
Spread the good cheer and camaraderie by adding {{subst:User:HJ Mitchell/WikiScotch}} to their talk page with a friendly message. Message received at 17:54, 15 January 2011 (UTC)
Thanks and will you continue to help me be better at DYK? I got help, though on that article. Can I nominate one or more of your articles for DYK? WAYNESLAM03:36, 16 January 2011 (UTC)
GOCE January 2011 backlog elimination drive progress graphs
So far, 43 people have signed up for this drive. Of these, 25 have participated. If you signed up for the drive but haven't participated yet, it's not too late! Try to copy edit at least a few articles. Remember, if you have rollover words from the last drive, you will lose them if you do not participate in this drive. If you haven't signed up for the drive yet, you can sign up now.
Progress report
We have eliminated two months from the backlog – January and February 2009. One of our goals is to eliminate as many months as possible from the 2009 backlog. Please help us reduce the size of this part of the backlog if you haven't already. Another goal is to reduce the entire backlog by 10%, or by 515 articles. Currently, we have eliminated 375 articles from the queue, so if each participant copy edits four more articles, we will reach that goal.
Thank you for participating in the January 2011 drive. We anticipate it will be another big success!
The intention is that DYK recognizes new or expanded articles that you have created or ones that have been developed by others that would not otherwise come to reader attention. You're best off working on new articles like the one you just had approved. Alansohn (talk) 21:07, 16 January 2011 (UTC)
As I read through the newspaper and the Internet I'm always on the lookout for an interesting topic that could be the topic for an article. You've found a niche in race drivers that may well have plenty of more prospective articles. Alansohn (talk) 21:15, 16 January 2011 (UTC)
Well, I need to learn about article creation since I want to be an autoreviewer. I want to work on New Jersey articles like you do. Do you have any suggestions? WAYNESLAM21:17, 16 January 2011 (UTC)
There are always articles for politicians and historical figures that could be created or expanded. Start wherever you feel most comfortable. Alansohn (talk) 21:20, 16 January 2011 (UTC)
I'm just giving some examples. Even with 3.5 million articles on Wikipedia, there is still no shortage of prospective articles for people (dead or alive), places or things. Alansohn (talk) 00:31, 17 January 2011 (UTC)
Hawaii artists
I created the category "Hawaii artists" for visual artists who were born in, have lived in, have worked in or been involved with Hawaii. 31 January 2009 Cydebot renamed the category "Artists from Hawaii", even though most of the artists listed are not FROM Hawaii, and some visited only briefly. I have no objection to the category “Artists from Hawaii", but it would be conceptually different from "Hawaii artists".Wmpearl (talk) 18:39, 17 January 2011 (UTC)
DYK for B. H. Friedman
On 18 January 2011, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article B. H. Friedman, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that art critic and novelist B. H. Friedman wrote about his experiences using psychedelic drugs with Dr. Timothy Leary in his 2006 memoir Tripping? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.
On 19 January 2011, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Ruth Cavin, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that Ruth Cavin edited hundreds of works of mystery fiction in a career that began in her 70s, and was described by Sue Grafton as "soul mother to mystery writers for years"? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.
Hi. At the AfD discussion at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/David Merkow, I took your comment to mean that the particular sport standard is "a [non-exclusive] standard for inclusion of articles, not a justification for deletion." And that if an article meets GNG, that suffices. Though those who disagree at the AfD may of course continue to do so, but (if I am correct) then clarifying that point might at least perhaps dispel some of their apparent confusion. Best.--Epeefleche (talk) 23:49, 20 January 2011 (UTC)
On 21 January 2011, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Husk Power Systems, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that a system created by Husk Power Systems uses rice hulls, a waste product of rice milling, to generate power for under US$2 per month for thousands in India with no access to the electrical grid? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.
Sorry for my randomness. I am not really sure how IP addresses are allocated. My IP address is apparently changed without my knowledge, which caused me receiving a warning given by you back in 2009 before I logged in to an edit that I did not do [1]. This is the first time this kind of thing happening to me since I joined Wikipedia some years ago. To be honest, I do not want my username tarnished because of an edit I did not do. I just want an assurance that other users experience this as well, and my record is clear. Thanks. w.tanoto-soegiri (talk) 11:37, 21 January 2011 (UTC)
You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{proposed deletion/dated}} notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.
I think there's an opportunity for some expansion and a great hook or two at Phyllis Robinson. Especially the latter is not my strong suit. Would be nice if you felt like taking a look.
Wikipedia Ambassador Program is looking for new Online Ambassadors
Hi! Since you've been identified as an Awesome Wikipedian, I wanted to let you know about the Wikipedia Ambassador Program, and specifically the role of Online Ambassador. We're looking for friendly Wikipedians who are good at reviewing articles and giving feedback to serve as mentors for students who are assigned to write for Wikipedia in their classes.
If that sounds like you and you're interested, I encourage you to take a look at the Online Ambassador guidelines; the "mentorship process" describes roughly what will be expected of mentors during the current term, which started in January and goes through early May. If that's something you want to do, please apply!
You can find instructions for applying at WP:ONLINE. The main things we're looking for in Online Ambassadors are friendliness, regular activity (since mentorship is a commitment that spans several months), and the ability to give detailed, substantive feedback on articles (both short new articles, and longer, more mature ones).
If you did this because the references should be removed from the article, you have misunderstood the situation. Most likely, the article originally contained both <ref name="foo">...</ref> and one or more <ref name="foo"/> referring to it. Someone then removed the <ref name="foo">...</ref> but left the <ref name="foo"/>, which results in a big red error in the article. I replaced one of the remaining <ref name="foo"/> with a copy of the <ref name="foo">...</ref>; I did not re-insert the reference to where it was deleted, I just replaced one of the remaining instances. What you need to do to fix it is to make sure you remove all instances of the named reference so as to not leave any big red error.
If you reverted because I made an actual mistake, please be sure to also correct any reference errors in the page so I won't come back and make the same mistake again. Also, please post an error report at User talk:AnomieBOT so my operator can fix me! If the error is so urgent that I need to be stopped, also post a message at User:AnomieBOT/shutoff/OrphanReferenceFixer. Thanks! AnomieBOT⚡22:56, 26 January 2011 (UTC) If you do not wish to receive this message in the future, add {{bots|optout=AnomieBOT-OrphanReferenceFixer}} to your talk page.
Note that the missing ref that needed to be repaired was the result of edits that removed sourced content. Once the content was restored along with the original references the orphaned ref was no longer an issue. Alansohn (talk) 01:29, 27 January 2011 (UTC)
WikiCup 2011 January newsletter
We are half way through round one of the WikiCup. Signups are now closed, and we have 129 listed competitors, 64 of whom will make it to round two. Congratulations to The Bushranger (submissions), who, at the time of writing, has a comfortable lead with 228 points, followed by Hurricanehink (submissions), with 144 points. Four others have over 100 points. Congratulations also go to Yellow Evan (submissions), who scored the first points in the competition, claiming for Talk:Hurricane King/GA1, Miyagawa (submissions), who scored the first non-review points in the competition, claiming for Dognapping, and Jarry1250 (submissions) who was the first in the competition to use our new "multiplier" mechanic (explanation), claiming for Grigory Potemkin, a subject covered on numerous Wikipedias. Thanks must also go to Jarry1250 for dealing with all bot work- without you, the competition wouldn't be happening!
A running total of claims can be seen here. However, numerous competitors are yet to score at all- please remember to submit content soon after it is promoted, so that the judges are able to review entries. The number of points that will be needed to reach round two is not clear- everyone needs to get their entries in now to guarantee their places! If you are concerned that your nomination will not receive the necessary reviews, and you hope to get it promoted before the end of the round, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. However, please remember to continue to offer reviews at GAC, FAC and all the other pages that require them to prevent any backlogs which could otherwise be caused by the Cup. As ever, questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup and the judges are reachable on their talk pages, or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn and The ed1722:25, 31 January 2011 (UTC)
Looking for your input on Mountain Dew
'Evening Alansohn,
I've made a few edits here and there on the Mountain Dew article, and noticed that you have been among the more frequent non-IP editors involved. The article has its merits, but much of the content is unsourced, or referenced to non-reliable sources. The Flavors and varieties section - while critically important to the topic at hand - is not easily readable, and most of it seems to be based on original research.
I posted some initial thoughts for improvement on the article's Talk page 22 days ago, and in the meantime began to chip away at an updated version of the article. My updated draft is complete (saved here in my user sandbox); however the article's Talk page is not seeming to prompt any response. It isn't 100% perfect, but I feel that the draft is a significant improvement in bringing Mountain Dew up to/closer Wikipedia standards, but wanted to get your take on it. What do you think -- would it be a solid step forward to implement the sandboxed version? Cheers, Jeff Bedford (talk) 00:07, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
I haven't done much to edit the article and I'm no expert on the subject, but I will do my best to take a look at the article. Alansohn (talk) 00:24, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
Thanks very much. If there are any simple tweaks that you have in mind, you are more than welcome to directly edit the sandbox draft at User:Jeff_Bedford/Dew. No obligation intended--if you'd prefer to respond in text form here, I can implement any recommendations/feedback you have. Jeff Bedford (talk) 00:35, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
I see the issues you've been dealing with. The page has been semi-protected due to the level of vandalism which should cut down on the problems. I will keep an eye on the article and try to chime in if there are any further issues. Alansohn (talk) 00:40, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
Much appreciated to have you keeping an eye on the article - I will try to do so as well (in a way that is still welcoming to newcomers). Safe to say that I should go ahead and implement my proposed revisions into the article today? Jeff Bedford (talk) 00:55, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
February Disambig challenge
Greetings! I've challenged my fellow disambiguators to help knock out more than a thousand disambig links a day for the month of February, and every bit helps. Please check out the list at Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages with links and see if you can get in the game for this month. Cheers! bd2412T03:36, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
Greetings from the January 2011 Backlog elimination drive! We have reached the end of the month and the end of another successful drive; thanks to all who participated.
Statistics
54 people signed up for the year's first Backlog elimination drive. Of these, 40 participated.
One of our goals was to reduce the size of the backlog by at least 10%. We managed to reduce the backlog by 633 articles, or about 12%.
Another goal was to eliminate as many 2009 months as possible from the queue. We eliminated January, February, March, and April—4 out of 12 months is not bad! In addition, we eliminated 37% of all remaining 2009 articles from the queue.
Chaosdruid copy edited Kutch Gurjar Kashtriya for 32,711 words, which is the largest single article completed in one of our drives so far. This article counts as six 5000-K articles, and Chaosdruid wins the "most 5000-K articles" leaderboard category. Way to go! A complete list of individual results is here.
Barnstars
If you copy edited at least 4,000 words, you qualify for a barnstar. If you participated in the November 2010 Backlog elimination drive, you may have earned roll-over words (more details can be found here). These roll-over words count as credit towards earning barnstars, except for leaderboard awards. We will be delivering the barnstars within the next couple of weeks.
Thank you for participating in this year's first Backlog elimination drive! We hope to see you in March.
I have a list of a few thousand New Jersey articles that I regularly monitor and I'm spending much of my time going through these articles and cleaning them up. Let me know what you have an interest in working on. Alansohn (talk) 03:25, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
When I go through an article like the one for Newton, I was going through "What links here" to see if there were any articles for people with a connection to Newton who were not listed in the article for Newton. I only added those people where the article stated that they had lived in Newton (not worked or went to school there) and only where I could find a reliable source to make the connection. I had just made my last edit to the Newton article, but you can pick any one of the articles for the 565 other municipalities and do the same thing on your own. I will be happy to monitor your changes, provide some pointers and answer any questions you might have. Alansohn (talk) 03:45, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
The article will be discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Oxford Furnace, New Jersey until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on good quality evidence, and our policies and guidelines.
Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion template from the top of the article. -- Uzma Gamal (talk) 05:40, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
Hi Alan, I was going through a number of articles on the WPNJ cleanup list, and found that a lot of the town articles were showing up in the "dated statements" maintenance category. It was being included from the Freeholder templates in a lot of places because of the {{As of}} template being used. I have changed them all to use the {{Update after}} template and placed it at the end of the information inside the noinclude tags. This will keep the individual town/county articles from showing as needing updating when it is only the templates that actually need to be updated. The templates don't show up in the categories, but I am looking for a solution to that issue. I also updated the Salem and Hunterdon templates for the current officers. Jim MillerSee me | Touch me17:09, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
First off, I want to extend my appreciation for all of the work you have been doing on updating and cleaning up New Jersey-related articles; Your name is constantly cropping up on my watchlist in a good way. I knew that there were a couple of templates that still needed updating because the counties had not updated their websites in the initial weeks after January 1 to reflect the latest membership and roles, and I had thought yesterday that I needed to cycle through the templates and make sure that they were all up to date. The way I understand Wikipedia:ASOF, we should be labeling statements using the {{asof}} template. I agree that this means that this means that the municipal articles that use these Freeholder templates will appear to be dated, but it also gets across the fact that the officials are there "as of 2011". I'm not as familiar with the {{Update after}} template, but I will try to do some research to better understand the differences. Thanks again for all of your excellent work. Alansohn (talk) 18:03, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
