On 24 Mar 2006, at 23:21, Steve Bennett wrote:
Interesting conversation topic! Speaking for myself, I have never, ever used a portal. I have *seen* them, and thought "that's not for me". Categories...well...occasionally in moments of boredom they're good for finding similar information, but the sub-category problem almost totally defeats their worthfulness IMHO.
For me, infoboxes are totally where it's at. An example I know well is the {{queen}} template, which links to every Queen album and member, and some of their more popular songs. That's the kind of direct link from this page to another similar page that I appreciate for *browsing* Wikipedia, rather than specifically searching for something.
As for an "editor's guide", I think the Wikiprojects are probably the closest you get. Thinking about contribution something about a music group? Check out Wikiproject:Music. Contributing about Melbourne? Wikiproject:Melbourne. They set standards, track progress, guide people to areas that need better coverage, and generally are the place to ask questions about a whole broad area.
Odd. I occasionally look at portals, but categories are my first choice.
As far as I can see infoboxes really suck and I hate them, and will never add or edit one.
Projects are rather variable, mostly informal interest groups seem to arise.
But hey in an infinite encyclopaedia anything can happen...
Justinc