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Image/source check requests

• Misplaced Pages:Featured article candidates/Thomas Ellison/archive1 -- source review and image check would be great thanks. - Shudde 05:13, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

• Image check Done - all OK (i usually don't like PD-because, but with the complex situation for the infobox image it's probably a good solution). GermanJoe (talk) 07:01, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

• Misplaced Pages:Featured article candidates/Diamond Trust of London/archive1 -- source review pls. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 15:53, 22 June 2013 (UTC)

Dup link tool

Is there a duplicate links tool? Does it know to ignore duplication between captions, infoboxes or references and the main text?--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 15:17, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

I see the sidebar link now. I forgot I had it.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 15:19, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages:Featured article candidates/Jainism/archive4

I have removed the above nomination from the list, as it has been deleted. I am noting it here in case anyone believes that it should be restored and formally archived. No one but the nominator (who requested that the page be deleted) edited the nomination. J Milburn (talk) 18:10, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Tks for that. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 11:23, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Most FACs for a single article?

Does anyone know what the record is? (Successful or unsuccessful) —Designate (talk) 22:55, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

I don't know what the record is but Misplaced Pages:Featured article candidates/Juwan Howard/archive5 passed not so long ago. I have seen some 7s (don't recall if they passed), but I don't know what the highest passing number is.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 23:18, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

A quick search reveals Misplaced Pages:Featured article candidates/May Revolution/archive7 (successful) and Misplaced Pages:Featured article candidates/Ralph Bakshi/archive9 / Misplaced Pages:Featured article candidates/Real Madrid C.F./archive9 / Misplaced Pages:Featured article candidates/S&M (song)/archive9 (unsuccessful). None of the latter three have an "archive10". I cannot find an "archive8" or "archive9" apart from these three. Bencherlite 23:36, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages:Featured article candidates/Priyanka Chopra/archive2

Delegates requested to check any issues related to canvassing. I don't doubt that most of, if not all, of these support !votes were made without any undue influence, but I am concerned over the possibility of a tainted process. If the delegates consider my concerns to be a bit too conservative, I will strike my oppose !vote. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 16:39, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

I have commented there, but I can't speak for Ian who might have a different opinion. Graham Colm (talk) 20:08, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

Depth of reviews

I happened to read the TFA tonight and right away, several statements that looked "off" caught my eye; an examination of the sources revealed issues. I'm concerned that these sorts of issues should be picked up at FAC (Misplaced Pages:Featured article candidates/Hiram Wesley Evans/archive1). (Thank you Crisco for the quick corrections, but my concern is that a more thorough review for accurate representation of sources should be undertaken.) SandyGeorgia (Talk) 04:13, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

• Have checked three sources in that article, found a couple issues (one was a pagination issue) but generally accurate. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 05:00, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
  • Kudos on you for getting on this so quickly and further reviewing the sources !! Could someone fix one last thing while it's still on the mainpage? There are synonyms for "damage"; can we not use it twice in one sentence in the TFA blurb? I would also like to suggest that three supports has historically been a minimum for promotion, it is not a given, and random spot checks for prose and accurate representation of sources can be helpful, particularly in an environment of declining reviewers. In this particular case, I was alarmed to find on the mainpage statements that stood out like sore thumbs as items that needed to be checked vs. the source. Thanks again Crisco for resolving this so quickly, regards, SandyGeorgia (Talk) 13:04, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
    • Sorry I missed your post here (looks like it came at a time I was sleeping). — Crisco 1492 (talk) 00:47, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

Can anyone please comment?

It's been two months since I nominated this article. It currently has three supports and one oppose; who has failed to revisit after s/he requested a c/e which was performed in a timely matter. I would really like to see this nomination end very soon since it already has a consensus of passing, but it needs more supports/comments from the community. Thanks, jona 00:31, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

Post your concerns directly on Graham Colm's talk page. PumpkinSky talk 00:36, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

I did and s/he did not replied. Best, jona 00:50, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

I have replied on the FAC page. Graham Colm (talk) 06:13, 26 June 2013 (UTC)

"Who is in charge of the clattering train?" (ack. E. J. Milliken)

Can someone advise me of who is in charge of featured articles these days? The system is working well on a day-to-day basis; Ian and Graham are doing sterling service on the FAC, as is Bencherlite at TFA and, I am sure, other delegates at FAR. But they all have specified responsibilities, and cannot be expected to take on work beyond the range of their duties. However, the nominal FA director has shown no involvement or interest in the project for the past five months. I have a specific suggestion, not within the delegates' remit, which could require executive action, the sort of thing that a couple of years ago I would routinely have taken up with Raul. I see no point now in posting my query on his talk; he is not responding to any postings, not even to the gift of a pie. So what would be my most productive course of action? Brianboulton (talk) 19:08, 1 July 2013 (UTC)

I would be interested in your suggestion. Perhaps here might be a good place to start? Graham Colm (talk) 20:02, 1 July 2013 (UTC)

• I agree with Graham. I think this is the place to float suggestions, and personally I don't see why consensus can't be reached here - before the train runs away, so to speak. Victoria (talk) 20:16, 1 July 2013 (UTC)

• OK, my general suggestion is that there should be a concerted drive to extend the current free JSTOR access available at present to selected editors. Further, as a general policy aim, we should seek to acquire access through other paywalls, such as Cambridge Journals and Oxford Journals and should begin investigating this as soon as possible. The latter suggestion may not be tenable at present, but we should have an aim and a strategy. With regard to JSTOR, I have a few specific concerns:

• The pilot scheme whereby 100 editors were given free access to the JSTOR archive expires in November 2013. Are any steps in hand to extend this? If not, it's important that there should be some speedy action in this respect. November is only four months away.
• Has any monitoring taken place to determine the extent to which this facility has been used by the editors with free access? Do we have any "sleepers" sitting on wasted accounts?
• Do we know whether any of the editors who signed up here below the 100-place mark have been given access?

• Raul654 is nominally the WP community's JSTOR contact. Whatever the future of the Featured Article Director title, someone needs to replace him in this specific role, with authority to speak on behalf of the community in any negotiations that may be necessary. Brianboulton (talk) 23:26, 1 July 2013 (UTC)

Well, it seems that I am alone in worrying that the complimentary JSTOR access might be withdrawn in November and that there is no obvious leadership in position to renegotiate this arrangement. I'm not interested in another marathon argument about who or what should succeed Raul as FA director, but rather in who is going to take responsibility for this specific task. Brianboulton (talk) 15:37, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

Sorry Brian, didn't notice your earlier comment. Yes, I am worried because I'm a slow editor, real life gets in the way at times, and I recently thought I should either go on a mass downloading spree or something, because I'll be unhappy when we lose access to JSTOR. I think that a year isn't long enough to gauge how effective it's been - bringing an article to FA takes a fair bit of time (at least for me), so I can only point to a few from this year, but all have relied on Jstor. Victoria (talk) 15:57, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

I thought Stephen Walling at the WMF had actually dealt with JSTOR. He's currently no doubt stressed-out dealing with the introduction of the Visual Editor, but might be the best person to ask. Johnbod (talk) 16:42, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

Hi Brian, as John says, it was Steven Walling at the WMF who was dealing with JSTOR. My understanding at the time this was set up is that the first 100 would have access for one year, then the next 100 would. It would be great if that could be renegotiated so that lots of us, not only 100, will have continued access, but given how long the first negotiations took, trying to extend the subscriptions could be lengthy too. I'd therefore suggest that you contact Steven asap with your concerns, although he's likely to be tied up with the Visual Editor at the moment. SlimVirgin 19:38, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for the ping. Today is a holiday in the U.S. but I can answer all of Brian's questions tonight or tomorrow. (I am still in touch with our contact at JSTOR from time to time.) Steven Walling (WMF) • talk 19:46, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

I've been doing a bit of reading lately on the federal judiciary in the US, so that may have influenced my opinions here. I see the role of the FA Director in two lights:

1. He or she assures the smooth functioning of the overall FA process by keeping the subprocesses (FAC, FAR, TFA) staffed with the appropriate decision makers.
2. Rarely, he or she adjudicates any controversies that rise above the level of decision making by the delegates at those subprocesses. This could involve closing FACs/FARs where the active delegates have to recuse, etc.

To keep those roles impartial, I've felt that the FA Director needed some level of independence as well as a level of accountability to the community. Serving in the role "during good behavior" and as long as the person was "willing and able" gave that independence. That the delegates' appointments were insulated from a direct popular vote also gave them the independence needed to truly decide whether or not an article merited promotion or demotion without the potential political fallout at election time. That isn't to say that the community couldn't replace the director, when circumstances warranted, or petition to have a delegate removed as needed.

At this time, I think circumstances warrant some action. I propose that the greater FA community proceed to elect a new FA Director. Interested candidates for the job should have a reasonable period to come forward with a nomination statement, and then the community should have a reasonable period to vote. Thoughts? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Imzadi1979 (talk • contribs) 21:05, 1 July 2013 (UTC)

• What about naming Graham and Ian co-directors? They seem to have been doing all the work for a while. Any thoughts about setting up an RFC to do that? Looie496 (talk) 21:07, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
  • Nothing against that, but remember that the FA director also oversees FAR and TFA, so I don't know that this would be the best solution organizationally. --Rschen7754 23:37, 1 July 2013 (UTC)
    • I have to ask this one simple question. Why is Raul654 still listed as the FA Director when he has not shown up in 5 months? He should be removed immediately, whether or not a suitable replacement is currently available. Not to do so makes the whole concept of even having a FA Director look like a complete farce. For the time being, the current delegates can continue to go on doing what they are doing and be called delegates. Whether there is one person called a "director" at the moment is insignificant. Raul654 should be removed immediately without any further delay. Rreagan007 (talk) 22:55, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

Comment

Sorry Brian for not responding earlier. A few of the other delegates and I have communicated on the JSTOR subject and I don't think we can add much to what's already been written above. I think JSTOR and the FA Director position were always separate issues, i.e. two different hats that Raul's worn, but since the question of Raul's absence as FA Director has been brought up again, let me offer a few thoughts on that at least -- my colleagues can jump in any time...

I'm in no hurry either to put someone new into the FA Director's role, or to eliminate it. Given Raul's great service to Featured Content over the years, I'd like to see him retain the title even if only in an honorary sense. The delegates were always supposed to take on all the responsibilities of the FAC Director bar appointing further delegates, and making the final decision if there was any issue about whether an article might or might not appear as TFA. Bencherlite has demonstrated that in Raul's absence he’s prepared to take – in consultation with the community -- the final decision re. controversial TFAs, so I consider that a non-issue now. I think there are also enough Featured Content delegates in total for them to consult and allocate responsibilities between themselves if there's risks to a job being performed. For instance Bencherlite is effectively running TFA single-handledly at the moment, but I understand now that Nikkimaria is prepared to make herself available to provide backup at TFA in addition to her FAR duties, which should mitigate that risk. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 06:06, 5 July 2013 (UTC)

I endorse Ian's approach and his analysis of the limited role of the FA Director as it had become over time (i.e. to appoint the delegates to do the day-to-day work and to be the person with the final say on TFAs). I agree that the community is able to discuss the issue of controversial TFAs in a way that enables me (as the only active TFA person at present) to close such decisions based on consensus e.g. Misplaced Pages:Today's featured article/requests/History of Gibraltar. I also agree that there are sufficient delegates available to deal with matters if there are problems at another branch of FA-land. I also agree that there is no bar as I see it to Raul retaining his title as FA Director as an honorary or emeritus position to recognise the work that he did here over many years, with no need to cast around for a successor. I welcome Nikkimaria's offer to assist at TFA, and would also note in this context that Dabomb87 has been in touch to say that he no longer feels able to be a TFA delegate given his current absence from Misplaced Pages. Bencherlite 12:38, 5 July 2013 (UTC)