[WikiEN-l] Re: Poll on templates

[Michael Turley]

On 7/14/05, Haukur Þorgeirsson <haukurth at hi.is> wrote:
> > I'm appalled by the idea. The articles are part
> > of Wikipedia; a project's work should be *invisible*
> > except the results themselves.
> 
> As I said I don't care as strongly about placement
> of the WikiProject tags as the other metadata tags
> under consideration.
> 
> I'd like to note that one of the things that
> initially pulled me into Wikipedia was the humble
> {{stub}} template.
> 
> "... you can help Wikipedia by expanding it."
> 
> I can? Really? Where do I sign up?!
> 
> Regards,
> Haukur

Exactly my point.  The stub tag is perhaps the best of the lot, as it
is a very clear invitation to participate, and implies that the new
editor's contributions would be appreciated by someone out there in
Wikipedia-land.  It's also what drew me into the project.

Full creation invisibility is, in my opinion, the very worst way we
could possibly present data to our readers.  Other encyclopedias
already do that; they say "Here's the article, never you mind where it
came from.  We're the authorities, you just read.  And don't come
complaining if it doesn't cover all you think it should; we make the
editorial decisions here, not you."  If Wikipedia wasn't fundamentally
different than that, I wouldn't bother to contribute.

You involve more users by having a few loose ends showing, and you're
honest with the readers who won't get involved if you admit up front
that yes, those are loose ends you see there.
-- 
Michael Turley
User:Unfocused