Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2013-10-02/WikiProject report
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U2 Too
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- WikiProject Articles for Creation is holding a Backlog Elimination Drive this month with barnstars and brownies up for grabs
- The 2013 WikiCup has entered its final round
- With a variety of celebrations and observances coming up the next three months, the folks of WikiProject Holidays could use your help
This week, we revisited the enthusiastic editors at Miss Bono.
- What motivated you to join WikiProject U2? Have you contributed to any of the project's Good or Featured Articles?
- Melicans: I've been a fan of U2 since I heard "Two Hearts Beat as One" a decade ago. I edited the U2 articles sporadically after joining Wikipedia, so when the first iteration of the project opened it was a natural thing to become part of. Over time the numbers dwindled to only about two or three active editors in the WikiProject, but with the recent push to rejuvenate it I am excited about what new blood can bring to these articles. I hope to be a part of that again in the near future. I've been a primary contributor to four Featured Articles in the project, and an additional six Good Articles; and I hope to add to both those categories in the future.
- Pjoef: I have joined the WikiProject U2 in February 2008, but haven't been as active as I wanted to be. I first knew of this band when a LP dropped on my turntable, it was their debut album, Boy in late 1980, … and decided that "I Will Follow" this band with interest. The first impression is often the best impression, and Boy was followed by October (1981), War (1983), and The Unforgettable Fire (1984), just some favourites of mine. I am a long time member of the WikiProject U2, but, except for marginal and sporadic interventions, I have not contributed much to any of the project's best articles. Maybe one day some of our newest collaborative efforts will become featured articles.
- TheOriginalSoni and Mark Miller are two of the no-members that helped me a lot) – we could activate it and revamp it. I wanted to say thank you to my mentor and Pjoef for their entire support. I've been involved in one Good Article, in fact, it was my very first article – with the help of several users – Morleigh Steinberg was promoted very fast to GA. Now Ironholds is making a full revision to Ali Hewsonto see if it can reach FA-Class.
- How much has changed since we last visited the project three years ago? What are the project's current goals and initiatives? How have you kept the project's momentum going?
- Miss Bono's efforts to reactive the Project so that editors work together as one unit, rather than as individuals. The Project's goals will always remain the same; to share our love and knowledge of U2 with the world.
- Miss Bonoin late 2012 – early 2013. In April 2013, there was a roll call, in order to keep the project up-to-date on our number of active members. Project's pages and portal have been redesigned and reorganized. Finally, after many years, a new newsletter has been published and other newsletters are in preparation. Also, there have been several good results in the main namespace: some articles have seen a marked improvement and new articles have been created while others are in the process of being published. We need to do much more, but the vast majority of the credit goes to Miss Bono, without her active participation, and the hard work she put into it, this would never have happened.
- TFA on 9 August, two of the top importance articles were updated and we are working on an upcoming one. We have several things left to do, but that's a good start. Well, what else can I say? The goal is elevation...
- Are some eras of the band's existence better covered than others on Wikipedia? Has it been difficult to find sources for the production details of albums or tours that occurred years ago?
- Melicans: There are definitely some eras that have more coverage. The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, arguably U2's best albums, have much more overall detail for their eras than, say, October or Pop. Half of our FAs and a hefty chunk of GAs come from those two albums alone. Because of their popularity it is not very difficult to find information on them, even though they are from the pre-internet era. Would "Mothers of the Disappeared" be FA if it was from The Unforgettable Fire? I really don't think it would; Fire may be one of their better known albums, but it simply isn't a Joshua Tree in terms of press coverage. There is always information to be found for the big songs ("Sunday Bloody Sunday", "Pride (In the Name of Love)", etc.), but for hidden gems like "Mothers", "Gloria", and even internet-age songs like "Original of the Species", that information can be very hard to come by; even for the most well-equipped U2 fan.
- Pjoef: The project currently has eight featured articles but only two are from the “eighties”, and more precisely two songs: "One Tree Hill" and "Mothers of the Disappeared", both from the album The Joshua Tree (1987), which is itself a good article. All other albums released before The Joshua Tree are rated as "B-Class", except for October (1981), which has been assessed as C-Class. With the exception of the War Tour, which took place in 1982–1983 and is a good article, all articles about their tours until The Joshua Tree Tour are Start-Class articles. And that says it all! But the problem of finding source and materials for articles regarding albums and torus released before the “Internet era” (circa 1991 onwards) is not a problem that only affects our WikiProject, but it is common to many other projects and articles about music, entertainment, popular culture, and many other area.
- Miss Bono: I think that Joshua and Achtung's eras are better covered than the others. The Joshua Tree was a decisive step for the band, it sets U2 in a high position in regard to their previous albums; several of U2s hits not all of them comes from that album: "With or Without You", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Where the Streets Have No Name"; same happens with Achtung Baby. After Rattle and Hum, the band had been misunderstood, because of their foray into the American music, so at the end of Lovetown Tour they decided to "go away and... dream it all up again". The result was one of the best albums of the band – in my opinion – I guess that's why it is easier to find on-line sources about the two of them, and therefore they are better covered on Wikipedia. I do think that we at WikiProject U2 and editors in general must work towards covering others not so well known eras of the band as well, like in 1981 when October was released and U2 went through this "faith vs. being in a rock and roll band" conflict. It is good to have well covered gems like "One", "Still...", because when people who are not familiar with U2, comes looking for information about the band, they surely will look for those songs, but what about those who are already steeped themselves and want to go deeply into the band's career? What about those who wants to know about "Fire", "Kite", "A Man and A Woman", "Miami", "If You Wear That Velvet Dress" or "The Wanderer"?, that's one of the goals I am personally pursuing.
- WikiProject U2 also covers philanthropic ventures launched or supported by the band. Have you seen other music-related projects include philanthropy in their focus or is this unique to WikiProject U2? How is the format and focus of these articles different from the project's music-related articles?
- Melicans: I don't know of any other musical WikiProject that includes philanthropic projects in their areas of focus. That isn't to say that WikiProject U2 is unique in this regard; there are obviously many philanthropic musicians and multiple ventures launched by them, and I admit that I've never really looked to see if other band or singer WikiProjects cover these ventures or not. If the WikiProject is unique in this regard among bands, it may be because this philanthropy has been so essential to U2's character since the mid-1980s (and yes, that means more than just Bono; every U2 member has been significantly involved in philanthropy). Not covering this aspect of U2, including the criticisms, would be detrimental.
- remember that there are more Wikipedia's readersthan editors. Readers and editors often use Wikipedia as a starting point of their researches and studies expanding their knowledge and also the number of contributions to Wikipedia in the fields of their everyday life. And, as in everyday life, you cannot live on U2 alone.
- Has the project run into any issues with notabilitywith regards to U2-related subjects? What can be done to help the band's fans contribute to Wikipedia in constructive ways?
- Melicans: Any issues with neutrality usually centre around the article for Bono. There used to be a criticism section in the article, but having that is as much a violation of neutrality as a section centred on recognition (which was also present). So both were merged into the most applicable pre-existing section, and I think that helped to give the article a more neutral balance. Articles on albums, songs, tours (so basically everything not-Bono) have rarely had issues with neutrality. Notability is certainly a more problematic issue for the WikiProject, and a few years ago most of the song articles were redirected to their respective parent albums because there was so little information available. That isn't to say that the coverage isn't out there; "Exit (song)" was one of the redirected articles, and it is now a GA that is not far from an FAC. If there are any fans reading this who would like to contribute, adding information to an article is never a bad thing! If there are fans out there who aren't reading this, we'd still like your help! Everyone reads Wikipedia, so try a little editing every now and then. It's fun! And taking an article from a stub to an FA is an incredibly rewarding experience.
- NPOV dispute started in March 2011. It is a criticism or contorversy about its Criticism or Controversy section; in fact, a matter of controversy. Joking a part, no "notability" issues are known currently. U2's fans that want to contribute to Wikipedia (and to Wikipedia's articles related to U2) can ask for help at the project talk page or by contacting any of the active members of the project— we would be glad to help in any way we can.
- TheOriginalSoni, and Fylbecatulous, have done a lot of great work, and I am taking this opportunity to thank all of them for their help and support. Regarding fans of the band, I believe it is possible to be a fan and contribute to Wikipedia in constructive ways, believe me. We would like having fans sharing their knowledge with the world and helping us to cover U2 related topics. So, if you are out there and you are a fan and you would like to be part of this great adventure, do not hesitate we need you. You can make the difference!
- What are WikiProject U2's most urgent needs? How can a new contributor help today?
- Melicans: The number one need is constructive activity. We've done a lot of impressive work over the years, but WikiProject U2 is small in number and there is too much to do. So even the little things like fixing typos, formatting references, fixing dead links, and of course the ever-necessary addition of information, would be a huge help. Your efforts could be what we need to make "With or Without You", "One", or "Lemon" (just to throw an incredibly obscure song into the mix) into the FAs that they deserve to be.
- FA-Class. At the moment, we have 67 articles rated as top or high importance; some of them list editors who are available to help with them and have specific "to-do" lists; you can find both of them in their talk pages. New contributor, and all other editors, are encouraged to contribute and review articles within the scope of the WikiProject U2, and also to share their thoughts, ideas, suggestions and concerns via discussions on talk pages. A to-do list for WikiProject U2 is also available. Please consider joining us, WikiProject U2 needs your help!
- Live8, EDUN, Chernobyl Children International, among several others. Looking for free pictures on-line and adding them to the articles. There are so many things left to do. We need your input, your enthusiasm and your ideas. Let's start turning stubs into FA-Class stuffs!
Next week, we'll head off on a road trip in the outback. Until then, take a pit stop in the archive.
2 October 2013 (all comments)
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Great report this week. Thanks to