[Wikisource-l] Smaller languages on the Main Page

[Dovi Jacobs]

Hi, I'm changing the subject line because as Thomas wrote there are two separate issues here: How to rank the 10 largest, and how to rank all the rest.

As I pointed out in the wikisource.org Scriptorium discussion, I do not understand why Thomas sees the current arrangement as "clutter." Thomas also calls the ranking a "hall of fame" and doesn't see the justification for it.

I don't think either point is justified. The current arrangement for the full list of languages is similar to the lists on other project portals such as Wikipedia or Wiktionary (but also formatted a bit more nicely than the others). None of them consider it clutter. In fact, you don't even see it until you scroll down.

As far as ranking, why even rank the top 10 or give them a special display? Why not just a simple alphabetical list and that's it for the portal, if a "hall of fame" is to be avoided? I suggest an alternative rationale: The point of ranking is not a "hall of fame" but to give visitors an idea of how developed each language-project is and how much material it contains. People find this sort of thing interesting even for languages they don't speak (and certainly for those they do speak); it serves to give them a picture of what Wikisource really is, in all of its colorful variety.

In addition, there is nothing wrong with giving due credit to languages that have flowered through lots of hard work by volunteer contributors (whether we call this a "hall of fame" or not).

To my mind these are the justifications for displaying the top ten in a special way, and also the reason for ranking the rest. Why is it important to give an idea of the size/content of a Wikisource for a language spoken by hundreds of millions, but not for a smaller one? Let the portal provide for all.

An additional suggestion: The alphabetical list that Thomas created (http://wikisource.org/wiki/Main_Page_alt) is another useful tool, but not the only one. It could be added to the current Main page easily as an additional alternative to the numbered lists, rather than in place of them. I'll create an example of that now on the actual Main Page portal since it doesn't disrupt any of the current content there.

Dovi



      
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