[WikiEN-l] Userboxes: A rational proposal

[Geoff Burling]

On Fri, 17 Feb 2006, Philip Welch wrote:

> Stop worrying about userboxes and write an encyclopedia already. If
> and when userboxes interfere with encyclopedia-writing activities,
> react in an appropriately minimalist fashion and proceed with the
> encyclopedia-writing.
>
> Quite frankly, the userbox fans are *not* the people disrupting
> Wikipedia with an unhealthy fixation with userboxes. This isn't to
> say that they don't *have* an unhealthy userbox fixation, but rather,
> that they engage in that fixation in a way that doesn't really
> prevent the rest of us from writing an encyclopedia.
>
> The people disrupting Wikipedia—that would be us, writing dozens of
> messages to this listserv about them. Aren't we the people who
> actually care about writing an encyclopedia? Then why don't we do
> that, instead of wasting our time compiling statistics about
> userboxes, trying to delete them, and debating the right way to do that?
>
> You want to end the userbox war peacefully without screwing up the
> community? Repeat after me: "It's not worth it, and I should go
> mediate an NPOV dispute or do some research and write one of our
> requested articles, or bring an article to FA status instead of
> jousting with userbox-happy newbies."
>
> And then actually do it.
>
Well said.

Geoff