Wikipedia:April Fools' Main Page/Featured Article/Archive 2010

Please use this page for discussions surrounding the creation of a Featured Article for April Fool's day 2010

Areas of work needed to complete the front page are:

Ground rules for this activity along with a list or participants may be found on the Main talk page.

Mission

In the past, various unusual articles have been improved to featured article status. These include exploding whale, heavy metal umlaut, Japanese toilet, spoo, Joshua A. Norton, George Washington (inventor), Ima Hogg, and the Museum of Bad Art. People seeing some of these articles listed on the Main Page sometimes believe that it is a joke, when in fact, these articles are well-written and quite deserving of featured article status.

An unusual article (such as exploding toad or Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch) will be edited up to Featured article status and listed on the Main Page on April 1, 2010. The "recently featured" sentence could be changed to "other featured", and link to the above-mentioned unusual featured articles.

Given the amount of time it takes to bring an article up to Featured article status, an alternative solution would be to use an article that has already been made a Featured article, but has not yet been listed on the Main Page.

Requirements

Raul is willing to consider any article for April fools day, as long as it meets three requirements:

It must be a featured article by April 1, 2010
It must not have already been used as the main page featured article.
It is not too risqué (more so than any other article that would be used on the front page)

Action items

What are we going to write/promote? We need to pick either a new topic or an existing article to nominate for FA. I think we need half a dozen nominees - then we vote/get consensus on which one is most suitable.
We have to work hard to get it up to featured status. This may be very difficult and might take several attempts.
We have to usher it through all of the phases leading up to FA.
We need to make sure it's on the front page on April 1st. This means starting in on it fairly soon.

Proposals

Harry Randall Truman - In 2010, it'll have been three years since we used a false name for an article. I would be willing to lead the collaboration. I've posted this on the FAC talk page as well. Ceranllama chat post 16:50, 11 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
- That would be a hard article to expand to FA completeness standards. You have just under a year. Royal broil 17:07, 11 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
  - I'd oppose it; George Washington and George W. Bush worked because they both had instant name recognition, whereas I doubt most people outside the US have more than the haziest notion who the "real" Harry Truman was. Besides, every single April Fools TFA since the tradition began (2007, 2008, 2009 – before that they were just "standard" articles) has been about the US. – iride scent 18:26, 11 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
    - do they ever put featured lists on the front page? because if you want something great from England check out Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office.--Found5dollar (talk) 19:35, 12 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
      - No, they don't, as interesting as that one might be. Majorly talk 19:49, 12 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
        Can that list be run on the MP for 1 April anyway? Per WP:IAR --A More Perfect Onion (talk) 17:43, 18 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo –Juliancolton | ^Talk 20:56, 11 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Bad King John losing the Crown Jewels in the Wash? The story needs a lot of expansion but it includes a Forgotten French invasion by King Louis of England and a lot of subsequent attempts to recover the crown jewels - including Hanoverian & Victorian concern at what would happen if the real crown of England was recovered and worn by someone.Ϣere SpielChequers 20:30, 12 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Adolf Lu Hitler Marak - Could be a short FA. Ceranllama chat post 20:38, 12 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
- Due to the stubbiness, I think it would be better as a DYK ("... that Adolf Hitler lives in Meghalaya, India with Stalin, Lenin, and Frankenstein?") -kotra (talk) 01:02, 14 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Samuel Johnson. The look on Ottava's face alone would be worth it. I'm sure WP:UKT could whip a decent size article up between us. (Yes, I know 90% of our readers wouldn't get the joke). Or if we want to go back to the "weird subjects" theme (which is, after all, what the header of this page says we're after) Bubbles (chimpanzee) is well on the way already. – iride scent 21:07, 13 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The idea of the group is to have a group of editors collaborate to bring an article to FA status. It's not as fun when there's only one. Ceranllama chat post 21:16, 13 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Concrete Cows? Definitely worth a DYK but potential for expansion possibly to FA standards. Ϣere SpielChequers 22:26, 20 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 or Ima Hogg, the latter is already featured, or anything listed on this page. mynameinc (t|c|o|r) 02:55, 3 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Ima Hogg has already been TFA (look three paragraphs up). And if you can get Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 to FA status, I will personally change my name to it. – iride scent 22:27, 3 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

In discussion elsewhere, User:Parrot of Doom advised about their work on Mary Tofts, a woman who perpetuated a hoax that she gave birth to rabbits.Manning (talk) 07:29, 9 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Bigipedia, a comedy series on BBC Radio 4 which is a spoof of Wikipedia. The series is currently on the BBC iPlayer and is also currently a nomination for DYK? ISD (talk) 15:01, 26 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Bigipedia has now appeared in the DYK? section. I plan to make it a GA after the series has finished then hopefully it can be made an FA. ISD (talk) 14:24, 5 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sound intriguing! I would love to see an article from somewhere besides the U.S. I hope you can get it to FA standards. Royal broil 21:54, 5 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Why thank you. If you'd like to help, please do. ISD (talk) 07:51, 6 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The Bigipedia article is currently a GA nomination, for anyone interested in reviewing it. The sooner it is, the quicker the process of getting it to FA will be. ISD (talk) 18:10, 15 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Good news - Bigipedia has been promoted to GA status. I've now put it forward for a peer review to get it ready for FA nomination. If anyone wants to help review it, please do. ISD (talk) 07:17, 9 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The PR for Bigipedia has been completed. It is now nominated for FA. Please contribute here. ISD (talk) 11:49, 4 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I realize that it's now out of contention for the April 1st front page, but today's (21-Oct-2009) Front Page story Mary Toft would have been an excellent choice... oh well. Thomas Dzubin (talk) 14:46, 21 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

0.999..., This article is already featured, so it should be on the main page on April 1, 2010. December21st2012Freak (talk) 18:08, 28 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Please check the rules. It fails Rule #2. Royal broil 19:14, 28 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Just Nuisance, the only dog ever to be enlisted in the Royal Navy as an Able Seaman. It is triply appropriate because he died (by euthanasia) on 1 April 1944; popular legend has it that he was born on 1 April 1937; and 1 April is celebrated each year as Just Nuisance Day in Simonstown, with a parade of dogs through the city. Zunaid●for your great great grand-daughter 10:10, 9 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Some suggestions.... As i take it we are looking for some thing out there, but from outside the US, preferably in the U.K. Here are some suggestions i have.

From the UK

Principality of Sealand - It was a featured article at one point and was on the front page, so not sure if we re-write it if it could even go back up there
Superlambanana - an outrageous sculpture in Liverpool

From Elsewhere

Fallen Astronaut - The only sculpture on the moon
War rugs - Tribal rugs in Afghanistan with tanks and AK-47s weaved into the patterns

--Found5dollar (talk) 15:04, 10 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If Bigpedia passes FA I vote it, but otherwise another article probably of sufficent length is Centralia, Pennsylvania. ResMar 01:00, 15 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Update

Interesting discussion, but nothing mentioned so far is an FA, likely to become an FA this late in the game, or hasn't already run on the main page. Several candidates, that are already FAs, are under discussion at WT:FAC#April Fools. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 01:04, 27 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]