On 1/8/06 9:02 AM, "wikien-l-request@Wikipedia.org" wikien-l-request@Wikipedia.org wrote:
From: "Alphax (Wikipedia email)" alphasigmax@gmail.com Reply-To: English Wikipedia wikien-l@Wikipedia.org Date: Mon, 09 Jan 2006 01:14:34 +1030 To: English Wikipedia wikien-l@Wikipedia.org Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] Userbox fads
Here's my solution to the userbox problem.
Any "userbox" (aka. babel-like template) which does not
- Inform the reader about the languages (human) that one can understand
and edit in
- Inform the reader about the languages (computer) that one is
proficient in to some degree and can use those skills constructively towards editing
- Inform the reader about what browser/operating system they use so that
they can be consulted wrt. technical issues with the wiki
- Inform the reader about what musical instruments they play so that
Free music can be recorded for articles
- Inform the reader about what WikiProjects they are part of so that
other editors can consult them about articles related to that wikiproject
should be deleted. WikiProject Userboxes should ensure that userboxes remain as things which are useful to other editors, in the task of building an encyclopedia. Such silly things as "This user is a dickbrain with no respect for consensus, policy, copyright issues, or the task of writing an encyclopedia" should be deleted, and the user banned for wasting everyone's time and bandwidth.
I could live with and support this.
--Guy (User:Wgfinley)
On 1/8/06, W. Guy Finley wgfinley@dynascope.com wrote:
On 1/8/06 9:02 AM, "wikien-l-request@Wikipedia.org" wikien-l-request@Wikipedia.org wrote:
From: "Alphax (Wikipedia email)" alphasigmax@gmail.com Reply-To: English Wikipedia wikien-l@Wikipedia.org Date: Mon, 09 Jan 2006 01:14:34 +1030 To: English Wikipedia wikien-l@Wikipedia.org Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] Userbox fads
Here's my solution to the userbox problem.
Any "userbox" (aka. babel-like template) which does not
- Inform the reader about the languages (human) that one can understand
and edit in
- Inform the reader about the languages (computer) that one is
proficient in to some degree and can use those skills constructively towards editing
- Inform the reader about what browser/operating system they use so that
they can be consulted wrt. technical issues with the wiki
- Inform the reader about what musical instruments they play so that
Free music can be recorded for articles
- Inform the reader about what WikiProjects they are part of so that
other editors can consult them about articles related to that
wikiproject
should be deleted. WikiProject Userboxes should ensure that userboxes remain as things which are useful to other editors, in the task of building an encyclopedia. Such silly things as "This user is a dickbrain with no respect for consensus, policy, copyright issues, or the task of writing an encyclopedia" should be deleted, and the user banned for wasting everyone's time and bandwidth.
I could live with and support this.
--Guy (User:Wgfinley)
This is the kind of policy or statement that we need. Anything that wastes time and valuable server resources (such as "This user considers himself to be an expert player of Bridge") can be canned.
-- Ben Emmel Wikipedia - User:Bratsche bratsche1@gmail.com "A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees." -- William Blake
On 1/8/06, Ben Emmel bratsche1@gmail.com wrote:
This is the kind of policy or statement that we need. Anything that wastes time and valuable server resources (such as "This user considers himself to be an expert player of Bridge") can be canned.
I personally suspect that more time (of those who actually contribute to the encyclopedia) is being wasted by arguing over these things. Userboxes such as this are largely pointless, but IMO non-harmful.
I think by and large userboxes are silly, and a self-written self-description on a user's page is much more interesting and useful, but I think there is nothing so objectionable about non-factionalizing userboxes that requires so draconian a policy, or its enforcement.
Substing userboxes is probably a good idea, though, to reduce potential server load if commonly used userboxes are updated.
-Matt
On 1/8/06, W. Guy Finley wgfinley@dynascope.com wrote:
On 1/8/06 9:02 AM, "wikien-l-request@Wikipedia.org" wikien-l-request@Wikipedia.org wrote:
From: "Alphax (Wikipedia email)" alphasigmax@gmail.com Reply-To: English Wikipedia wikien-l@Wikipedia.org Date: Mon, 09 Jan 2006 01:14:34 +1030 To: English Wikipedia wikien-l@Wikipedia.org Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] Userbox fads
Here's my solution to the userbox problem.
Any "userbox" (aka. babel-like template) which does not
- Inform the reader about the languages (human) that one can understand
and edit in
- Inform the reader about the languages (computer) that one is
proficient in to some degree and can use those skills constructively towards editing
- Inform the reader about what browser/operating system they use so that
they can be consulted wrt. technical issues with the wiki
- Inform the reader about what musical instruments they play so that
Free music can be recorded for articles
- Inform the reader about what WikiProjects they are part of so that
other editors can consult them about articles related to that
wikiproject
should be deleted. WikiProject Userboxes should ensure that userboxes remain as things which are useful to other editors, in the task of building an encyclopedia. Such silly things as "This user is a dickbrain with no respect for consensus, policy, copyright issues, or the task of writing an encyclopedia" should be deleted, and the user banned for wasting everyone's time and bandwidth.
I could live with and support this.
--Guy (User:Wgfinley)
WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@Wikipedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
While I agree mostly with this, I think allowing for no sense of humor in the boxes at all would be sending the wrong message.
Also, I don't see a category for things such as "This user is an administrator" or "This user likes to help new users." Reading your rules to the letter, things like that which are VERY nice to have so a user knows what they can and can't ask for help with will be outlawed along with "This user hates Republicans".
-- I'm not stupid, just selectively ignorant.
Jay Converse wrote:
On 1/8/06, W. Guy Finley wgfinley@dynascope.com wrote:
On 1/8/06 9:02 AM, "wikien-l-request@Wikipedia.org" wikien-l-request@Wikipedia.org wrote:
From: "Alphax (Wikipedia email)" alphasigmax@gmail.com Reply-To: English Wikipedia wikien-l@Wikipedia.org Date: Mon, 09 Jan 2006 01:14:34 +1030 To: English Wikipedia wikien-l@Wikipedia.org Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] Userbox fads
Here's my solution to the userbox problem.
Any "userbox" (aka. babel-like template) which does not
- Inform the reader about the languages (human) that one can understand
and edit in
- Inform the reader about the languages (computer) that one is
proficient in to some degree and can use those skills constructively towards editing
- Inform the reader about what browser/operating system they use so that
they can be consulted wrt. technical issues with the wiki
- Inform the reader about what musical instruments they play so that
Free music can be recorded for articles
- Inform the reader about what WikiProjects they are part of so that
other editors can consult them about articles related to that wikiproject
should be deleted. WikiProject Userboxes should ensure that userboxes remain as things which are useful to other editors, in the task of building an encyclopedia. Such silly things as "This user is a dickbrain with no respect for consensus, policy, copyright issues, or the task of writing an encyclopedia" should be deleted, and the user banned for wasting everyone's time and bandwidth.
I could live with and support this.
--Guy (User:Wgfinley)
While I agree mostly with this, I think allowing for no sense of humor in the boxes at all would be sending the wrong message.
Also, I don't see a category for things such as "This user is an administrator" or "This user likes to help new users." Reading your rules to the letter, things like that which are VERY nice to have so a user knows what they can and can't ask for help with will be outlawed along with "This user hates Republicans".
As with all rules on Wikipedia, it's the spirit of the rules, not the letter of the rules, which should be followed (think 3RR). I'll reproduce one of my closing remarks:
WikiProject Userboxes should ensure that userboxes remain as things which are useful to other editors, in the task of building an encyclopedia.
That is to say: any userbox which is useful in getting Wikipedia written can stay. Everything else can die.