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.
Steve
On 3/24/06, Guettarda guettarda@gmail.com wrote:
I haven't seen a portal that really achieves what I am talking about - they are good entrees to the subject, but they are really information guides. One of the best WikiProjects I know is the Cricket WikiProject (which actually has a pretty good Editors Guide, though not exactly along the lines of what I am thinking of, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Cricket/contribute. The Cricket Portal is really impressive, and it points to the WikiProject, but only secondarily. In addition, creating a Portal simply for the purpose of pointing readers towards an "editors' guide" dilutes the Portal idea. Even starting a WikiProject just to create an editors' guide seems to be a bit cart-before-horse.
Ian _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@Wikipedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l