Grants talk:IdeaLab/Particular areas within each article marked as 'Refined Zones' with edit-protection.

Stat about deterioration of article

Hi Viswaprabha,

I'm a little bit curious, did we have some figures and stats about deterioration of articles? Is it that common? What is the extent?

PS: I've got not enough time to be involved but it's definitely a interesting idea.

Cdlt, VIGNERON * ^discut. 07:43, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

I too am afraid that I may not be able to invest much time into the details. However, the case is relevant at least in small Wiki projects. Many small projects often fall into a slumber in want of regular editors or monitors. It opens up a season for vandals and less knowledgeable /fresh / POV users. One is never sure about the long term stability of a serious article one had written and left it almost forever. I frequently encounter users who ask this question:"How will you ensure that an article is safe (for its already acquired quality and level of sophistication)in the long term?" Most often, I do not have an answer!

If there was a possibility to partially and selectively lock the contents of 'good' articles, I think that will be a nice endowment insurance policy with low premium ViswaPrabhaവിശ്വപ്രഭ^talk 08:19, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

Hi Viswaprabha,

Me too I've been asked the same kind of question very often (I do at least one wiki workshop/edit-a-thon every months and is a frequent question from newcomers) but my answer is usually something like : « don't be afraid, the community is here to make sure it doesn't happen and to fix it in the rare case where it happens ». But I know I'm optimistic (I've seen deterioration here and there) and I've got no concrete numbers on the matter. For me, a good knowledge of the problem is maybe more important than the solution itself.

Cdlt, VIGNERON * ^discut. 18:46, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

Categories are some defined zones

If I had had to ask to someone to write something about my specialties, I would certainly never have contributed to Wikimedia. However in the future it's true that some pages will be considered as complete during several years. So this feature could be linked to categories, instead of to new zones or to each page. JackPotte (talk) 08:12, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

Me too don't think I am into any specialist subjects. (Rather, I often silently boast to myself that I am a polymath). So, what sort of users can be assigned to which all articles is a matter needing wide and thorough discussion.

Categories of any types may not serve this purpose. They are per article. We should not go on locking the entire articles. Even great articles may need fine-tuning over the time due to reasons like better sources, finer details, change in technology, politics or biography etc. So, we will have to consider the 'ZONE' approach.

By the way, for some time, I have been whispering aloud about changing the entire editing interface into some sort of zones (Kind of FB-like small edit boxes), though it was never brought up here in Idea Lab. May be I will add that too as another idea. ViswaPrabhaവിശ്വപ്രഭ^talk 08:29, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

April 12 Proposal Deadline: Is your project ready for funding?

The deadline for Individual Engagement Grant (IEG) submissions this round is April 12th, 2016. If you’ve developed your idea into a project that would benefit from funding, consider applying!

To apply, you must (1) create a draft request using the “Expand into an Individual Engagement Grant” button on your idea page, (2) complete the proposal entirely, filling in all empty fields, and (3) change the status from "draft" to "proposed." As soon as you’re ready, you should begin to invite any communities affected by your project to provide feedback on your proposal talk page.

If you have any questions about IEG or would like support in developing your proposal, we're hosting a few proposal help sessions this month in Google Hangouts:

• April 5th, 16:00 - 17:00 UTC
• April 8th 1:00 - 2:00 UTC
• April 12th 16:00 - 17:00 UTC

I'm also happy to set up an individual session. With thanks, I JethroBT (WMF) 00:38, 2 April 2016 (UTC)