Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Maryland/Archive 3

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Maryland High School Athletics

I am interested in providing high school sports information to this project. I would like to contribute High School sports relatad stats/scores/records/news to "School" pages, for the high schools in my area. I have access to an enormous amount of data, that is near real time, so its growing. I would be willing to update this information regularly, if that was required, to maintain something valuable on the pages I update. I am seeking direction as to what type of information would be relevant, significant, and desired. If there is a better way to do this, I'm all ears. What I am seeking is a way to bring high school sports to light and make high school pages more robust/relevant. I would like to start in the Baltimore City region, specifically the MIAA and IAAM conferences and move out. I would also like to place an external link to each school's atheltics site or each team's athletics site should, one exist that is autonomous to the school's site. These sites often gather media coverage, so they obviously have up a volume of relevant and recent data that would likely make sense to simply post as a link. Any thoughts, desires, recommendations? Thanks for your help! Digitalsports (talk) 15:54, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for your offer. Most of the Maryland high school pages have very little information. I would suggest taking a few of the schools at first and adding the relevant information. I say a few schools because you may find that the task could be too burdensome to maintain on a regular basis. It would not help much if you started inputting information that only you have easy access to and then, for some reason, you couldn't continue. The most extensive sports information on any high school in Maryland appears to be in the Baltimore City College and the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute articles. If I can help, let me know. Marylandstater (talk) 20:21, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Those are good suggestions, although the first hurdles are going to be WP:SPAM ([1]), WP:COI and Wikipedia:Username#Inappropriate_usernames (given that the user works for a company which compiles sports info/statistics as its business). There are probably good ways for this user (who has requested the username GregSkipper (talk · contribs)) to help out, but it would also be easy to trip up on various wiki policies (or existing editors assumptions of what is going on). Starting with a small number of articles and asking for feedback would be a good way to start. Having said all that, the user does show signs of wanting to learn the ropes, and so if that happens, I'm sure we can find out a way to get productive contributions out of this. Kingdon (talk) 23:45, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Definitely. Thanks. I am in the process of changing out my username. Once this is accomplished, and I think I can actually contribute, without having to endure any further redtape, I will keep you posted on my activities. I am trying to be as transparent as possible, so nothing gets misconstrued. And I'm quite open to feedback, so please don't hesitate to reach out to my talk page. Digitalsports (talk) 19:56, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

Columbia Air Center

Does anyone have any thoughts on how [2] can be used for an article, or portion of one? Is starting Columbia Air Center the way to go? Or Cloud Club flying club? (Cloud Club II, mentioned in the article, has a web page at [3]). Or some larger article (although the closest one I found was Tuskegee Airmen which doesn't directly discuss civilian aviation at all)? I could also see discussing the site at Patuxent River Watershed Park. I don't know, I'm just finding redlinks and I'm not sure I have the time or interest in writing a huge set of articles. I was hoping to find a place to put a paragraph or two... I'm also willing to start a stub, but if so I'd rather pick one with decent prospects for attracting contributors, rather than one which is likely to be forgotton. The web page [4] would make a good external link (and has some leads for library research, like a reference to a Washington Afro-American newspaper article from August 16, 1941). Kingdon (talk) 16:38, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

Requested Photos

Is there any way for the to pick up the requested photos that are tagged "needs-photo=yes" in the Wikipedia:WikiProject Biography template if the article is also in WikiProject Maryland? A good example would be 3-time governor Samuel Ogle. Toddst1 (talk) 08:13, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

I don't think there's a way for one template to detect another's parameter unfortunately. We would have to add a needs-photo parameter to the WPMD banner. I'll go ahead and add it now.-Jeff ^(talk) 03:59, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

What happened to the assessments that were done?

I know I assessed a lot of articles, and I had those two unassessed folders cleaned out or nearly cleaned out, see this section on this page. Where did all of those edits go? I don't want to think about all the time that I spent assessing those articles being a waste of time. This really irks me. - LA @ 08:13, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

It's probably from someone tagging articles that weren't tagged before without assessing them. I know that not all Maryland-related articles were tagged before, so someone must have been hard at work to fix that. If only they could have assessed them while they were at it, but I don't mind helping out with that when I have the time.-Jeff ^(talk) 03:32, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

We need an assessment team. I will pitch in too, but we should have a group of people doing this. What do you think of an assessment team sign up list somewhere? - LA @ 04:57, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Featured and Good Article promotions

I've tagged Royal Blue (B&O train), recently promoted to FA, as a Maryland Project article because much of its history is closely bound to Baltimore.

Also, Hampton National Historic Site was promoted last month to GA. JGHowes ^talk - 18:37, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject Maryland: Articles of unclear notability

Hello,

there are currently 16 articles in the scope of this project which are tagged with notability concerns. I have listed them here. (Note: this listing is based on a database snapshot of 12 March 2008 and may be slightly outdated.)

I would encourage members of this project to have a look at these articles, and see whether independent sources can be added, whether the articles can be merged into an article of larger scope, or possibly be deleted. Any help in cleaning up this backlog is appreciated. For further information, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Notability.

If you have any questions, please leave a message on the Notability project page or on my personal talk page. (I'm not watching this page however.) Thanks! --B. Wolterding (talk) 16:24, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

I did some work on Gwynn Oak Amusement Park. Some of the articles (like most of the schools) probably should be deleted. Others I didn't know about. Glad to hear about Wikipedia:WikiProject Notability; could be a better place to address these things than Articles for Deletion. Kingdon (talk) 17:21, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for bringing that list up, it looks like it would be a good thing to add to the links on the project page, I'll go ahead and do it.-Jeff ^(talk) 03:40, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Article promoted to GA

Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church (Baltimore, Maryland) has just been promoted to Good Article as a "Religion, mysticism, and mythology" topic. JGHowes ^talk - 04:10, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Baltimorese user boxes

Since other cities and regions of the US have their own language userboxes, I decided to start working on some for Baltimorese. I have the text for each of the boxes at user:Jeff02/test page#Baltimorese_userboxes. If anyone likes them I'll go ahead and make the templates.-Jeff ^(talk) 03:27, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Meetup - May 17th, Washington, D.C.

For those who haven't heard - please see Wikipedia:Meetup/DC 4 regarding a meetup scheduled for May 17th, at Union Station. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 01:32, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Need assistance with a dispute related to external links for Maryland article

I come to you all today about a conflict related to the Silver Spring, Maryland article, which I have previously brought up directly at Talk:Silver Spring, Maryland and also filed an RFC, and got nothing save for an anonymous user whose independence from the user I am in conflict with is questionable. We presently have a conflict about whether an online news site violates WP:EL. The site is Silver Spring Penguin. I consider it to be no more than a fancy news-oriented blog, and against WP:EL, while the other user considers it otherwise.

The previous attempts to start discussion are at Talk:Silver Spring, Maryland#Silver Spring online news sites and Talk:Silver Spring, Maryland#RFC for Silver Spring Online News. Could anyone on WikiProject Maryland help us figure this one out? SchuminWeb (Talk) 13:10, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Oh, I don't know, it seems fairly valuable, although the bar for WP:EL is ordinarily high (I'm not sure whether the other sites listed would pass either). I'd lean towards letting it in, although I'm not sure I have much energy for trying to wikilawyer the subject. Kingdon (talk) 16:05, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Maryland star

I decided to create a barnstar award for those who have contributed significantly to Maryland-related articles or to any of the Maryland-related WikiProjects (such as doing a large number of assessments, etc.) I'm hoping that this award will be able to encourage hard-working people who have been contributing to this project and its articles to keep up the good work. The star is Image:Maryland star.svg. And looks like this:

It was originally going to be a 5-petaled black-eyed susan, but it didn't look right with so few petals, so I fixed it up and added the red and white star based on the crosses from the state flag. Of course I'm open for suggestions if anyone has a better idea, but that's what I came up with.-Jeff ^(talk) 04:00, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

Hey I tried to make a few barnstars. I uploaded two, one that has the black-eyed susan and another without. If you have any other ideas too we may be able to play around with it. I like the idea so thought I would jump in and participate.

These are the two images:

Tell me what you think.... -Dave

I like them, mostly because they'd be more recognizable as barnstars than my idea. I can't say which one I like better though. I've seen plenty of barnstars both with and without a symbol in the middle so either one could work.-Jeff ^(talk) 15:03, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

I was thinking maybe we could add a different middle logo, I could work on one that matches more towards the current barnstar. I just thought it would be cool with the superimposed logo to be part of it. I think it is unique, but still has some of the classic look of the other barnstars. Also what other center logo's are out there? I could play around with a few of them. -Dave

I'm not sure what you mean by other center logos, but commons:category:Barnstars has other barnstars, which can be used to get some ideas. If you mean other things that could be used as the center image, List of Maryland state symbols should be able to help out.-Jeff ^(talk) 15:03, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

I love the idea of a Maryland barnstar... other states have them (cities, too)! Perhaps it may look better with the star containing the Calvert seal and the center logo as the Crossland family crest. Good job on the barnstar!--Sallicio^{$\color {Red}\oplus$} 04:10, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for your input. I like your idea, someone just needs to implement it. What I'd like to do is, once we get a few designs created, poll the project members on which one they like the best.-Jeff ^(talk) 04:40, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Assessment heads up

The 1.0 team has recently been discussing the addition of a new C class to the assessment scale. It looks like it's going to be for the lower end of the current B-class spectrum. So for anyone involved in assessments, that's something to be aware of.-Jeff ^(talk) 02:19, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Steny Hoyer dispute

Hello everyone. There is a bit of a dispute going on at Talk:Steny Hoyer regarding his Congressional record. If anyone would like to contribute, it would certainly be welcome. Thanks. --Tom (talk - email) 15:27, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

The disputed section can be found here. Looks like the decision to remove it was correct: the NPOV problems were serious. If someone wants to try again, it might make for a less bland encyclopedia, but that's hard to do for WP:BLP. Kingdon (talk) 18:57, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Articles flagged for cleanup

Currently, 533 of the articles assigned to this project, or 18.2%, are flagged for cleanup of some sort. (Data as of 18 June 2008.) Are you interested in finding out more? I am offering to generate cleanup to-do lists on a project or work group level. See User:B. Wolterding/Cleanup listings for details. Subsribing is easy - just add a template to your project page. If you want to respond to this canned message, please do so at my user talk page. --B. Wolterding (talk) 18:00, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Changes to the WP:1.0 assessment scheme

As you may have heard, we at the Wikipedia 1.0 Editorial Team recently made some changes to the assessment scale, including the addition of a new level. The new description is available at WP:ASSESS.

• The new C-Class represents articles that are beyond the basic Start-Class, but which need additional references or cleanup to meet the standards for B-Class.
• The criteria for B-Class have been tightened up with the addition of a rubric, and are now more in line with the stricter standards already used at some projects.
• A-Class article reviews will now need more than one person, as described here.

Each WikiProject should already have a new C-Class category at Category:C-Class_articles. If your project elects not to use the new level, you can simply delete your WikiProject's C-Class category and clarify any amendments on your project's assessment/discussion pages. The bot is already finding and listing C-Class articles.

Please leave a message with us if you have any queries regarding the introduction of the revised scheme. This scheme should allow the team to start producing offline selections for your project and the wider community within the next year. Thanks for using the Wikipedia 1.0 scheme! For the 1.0 Editorial Team, §hepBot (Disable) 20:55, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Input requested for a few Maryland politicians' articles

I've recently been expanding some of the biographies of Maryland politicians, specifically Rogers Morton, Joseph Tydings, and Charles Mathias, Jr. I nominated the latter for GA so I can get some feedback, but I was wondering if any of you would be willing to add anything to these articles or critique them. Thanks. --Tom (talk - email) 19:49, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

FYI, Rogers Morton was promoted to a good article. I am also looking for some feedback on Charles Mathias, Jr., as I feel there is enough content for it to become featured. However, I would like any input regarding its prose, whether or not anything is discussed in too much/too little detail, or if there is any POV in the article, etc. Thanks. --Tom (talk - email) 02:34, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Looked over Charles Mathias, Jr. and it looks like featured article material to me (I didn't get out the fine toothed comb, though, so I have no detailed comments for you). Kingdon (talk) 02:42, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Peer Review Request

While doing some Maryland related article talk page assessments I came across Union Arch Bridge. I assessed it "B" class and thought with a little work, it could be a good article. Therefore, I have listed it on the project's peer review section and I am requesting any active members to take a look at it. --«Marylandstater» ^«reply» 15:30, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Use of New Template

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed use of an animated template. Please do not modify it.

I have created a template using a commons image that could be used on the front page of the Maryland project. As you can see, I have configured it to fly behind the wiki-puzzle-world logo in the upper left portion of your screen. I will leave it here for a couple of days and invite your comments as to whether we should use it on our front page, or not.--«Marylandstater» ^«reply» 16:32, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Please leave Support or Oppose comments here:

Support: (3)

1. I support the template use and like the flag's splash of color. The continual waving of the flag can be distracting, however; perhaps the image can be set to wave for only a few seconds then stop. —Adavidb 03:50, 10 July 2008 (UTC)
2. SUPPORT: I whole-heartedly support the flag...waving or not. However, I think that some would poo-poo the idea because it may go against WP:MOSFLAG...but I would still support the flag based on WP:IAR.--Sallicio^{$\color {Red}\oplus$} 04:07, 10 July 2008 (UTC)
3. Provisionally support the use of the Maryland flag on the WikiProject Maryland page as long as it is the only place it is used. It should not be used on articles or other non-project pages, not even the portal. - LA @ 05:48, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Neutral: (3)

1. Neutral. Since this is being proposed for the project page, then Wikipedia guidelines don't apply here (they only apply to article space). I don't have an opinion on it really. On one hand, it adds something neat and unique to the project page, but on the other hand it can be distracting and can't be turned off for individual users.-Jeff ^(talk) 04:22, 10 July 2008 (UTC)
2. Heh, that's pretty nifty. I'm not a big fan of animations, though, but I like the idea in general so I put the static flag on my page. I agree with JeffP about any animation on the main WikiProject page. Perhaps a static image would be better. --Tom (talk - email) 02:17, 10 July 2008 (UTC)
3. Neutral I do like the flag and think it should stay, but I'd also prefer a static version of it. Wildthing61476 (talk) 12:03, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Conclusion

Since I initiated the discussion, I will go ahead and conclude it with the result being a consensus to use the Maryland flag on the project page but in a static format. Thanks everyone for contributing to the discussion. --«Marylandstater» ^«reply» 11:35, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a WikiProject Maryland debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments can be made in a new section below. No further edits should be made to this section.

Improving "on this day"

The portal's "on this day" feature is looking pretty empty right now. About 40% of the dates have anything written for them, and most of those don't have much. I'm asking anyone who is familiar with events in Maryland's history that occurred on a particular date to go to Portal:Maryland/On this day and see what you can add.-Jeff ^(talk) 18:34, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

Requesting input on Chesapeake Bay Bridge

I nominated this article about a year ago for GA status. It wasn't ready back then, but after a year of improvements I think it's definitely closer. I'd like it if anyone would care to look over it or even help improve it.-Jeff ^(talk) 05:17, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia 0.7 articles have been selected for Maryland

Wikipedia 0.7 is a collection of English Wikipedia articles due to be released on DVD, and available for free download, later this year. The Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team has made an automated selection of articles for Version 0.7.

We would like to ask you to review the articles selected from this project. These were chosen from the articles with this project's talk page tag, based on the rated importance and quality. If there are any specific articles that should be removed, please let us know at Wikipedia talk:Version 0.7. You can also nominate additional articles for release, following the procedure at Wikipedia:Release Version Nominations.

A list of selected articles with cleanup tags, sorted by project, is available. The list is automatically updated each hour when it is loaded. Please try to fix any urgent problems in the selected articles. A team of copyeditors has agreed to help with copyediting requests, although you should try to fix simple issues on your own if possible.

We would also appreciate your help in identifying the version of each article that you think we should use, to help avoid vandalism or POV issues. These versions can be recorded at this project's subpage of User:SelectionBot/0.7. We are planning to release the selection for the holiday season, so we ask you to select the revisions before October 20. At that time, we will use an automatic process to identify which version of each article to release, if no version has been manually selected. Thanks! For the Wikipedia 1.0 Editorial team, SelectionBot 22:33, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

FAR notice

Government of Maryland has been nominated for a featured article review. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. Please leave your comments and help us to return the article to featured quality. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, articles are moved onto the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Remove" the article from featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. Reviewers' concerns are here. Cirt (talk) 18:03, 25 October 2008 (UTC)

Maryland articles needing geographic coordinates

37 articles in Category:Maryland articles missing geocoordinate data do not have geographic coordinates. Coords are useful for making the article appear on Google Maps & many other mapping services; and they allow our users to click through to see the article subject location on a map. There's a short guide to on how to add geocodes to articles ... it really is very easy to do. I hope you'll take some time to ensure that Maryland is as well represented as it can be on wikipedia by fixing up the listed articles. thanks --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:15, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

One year comparison

• At the end of November last year there were 1300 articles in the Md. Project
• At the end of November this year there were 4000 articles in the Md. Project
  

An increase of 2700 articles.

• At the end of November last year there were 7 featured articles in the Md. Project
• At the end of November this year there were 10 featured articles in the Md. Project
  

An increase of 3 articles.

• At the end of November last year there was 1 (one) A-class article in the Md. Project
• At the end of November this year there was 1 (one) A-class article in the Md. Project
  

An increase of 0 articles.

Just put that out there for the project's consideration.
--«Marylandstater» ^«reply» 03:02, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia:WikiProject Cumberland, Maryland

I think that this WP can be deleted. There was never any discussion in the page and the revision history doesn't show any content-oriented edits for over a year. Aaronw (talk) 22:57, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

This project has no business deciding whether another one should stay or go. Contact the project, or members of it to get their opinion first. If they agree then you should delete it.-Jeff ^(talk) 02:36, 19 December 2008 (UTC)