User blog:Kwiksilver/Wiki Database Review

Hello, it's me. After a while, I got bored and went back to the wiki, but only as an observer. I have surveyed the database and here are the results, coming from your average viewer.

UPDATED ON 3/03/10!!!!!

The Wiki Is Broke
You all know it is. There is an endless amount of unlinked, useless articles, unmarked stubs and LQAs that have been shunned to the back of the database, never to be edited again. The wiki would not appeal to anyone other than experienced users who know where everything is. Heck, I can't even find my articles! I've compiled a list of things you have to improve on.

Stubs
I know from personal experience that stubs make up at least 40% of this wiki's content. Almost all users on this wiki, including Explorer and TS, don't edit them, even though it is a mandate. Also, many new articles and stories are abandoned when a new idea crops up. My suggestion is that you make it that a user must expand at least 3 stubs a month or receive a three day ban. (Yes, I know you're all protesting against that, but think of all the visitors that have been turned off by our stubs.

The Great Stub Debate
I've been reading the comments. Zonekill has a point. Adding a reward to the stub scheme would be beneficial. A small template at the bottom of the article saying "User:____" cleaned up this stub!" would be good, plus a user page template. Thank you Turtleshroom!


 * @TS: I'm sorry but not deleting some of them just won't work. I know, trust me, most users will just forget about them.
 * @Explorer: DON'T DELETE THEM ALL!!! Do you remember my "Wiki Burger" analogy? Some of those stubs are Core articles, and deleting them all is a sure-fire way to disorganisation. Before deleting an article, ALWAYS check if it is an essential part of a HQA article. If so, expand.
 * @ZW: DPL sounds brilliant! Could you get that for the wiki?
 * @TS: Merging the Dianas sounds great.


 * THIS is a very good article, funny, informative, and lots of pictures. I think this is the highest fanon article standard.

What?!?
Inside jokes and user-oriented articles must be kept to a minimum. Currently, we have a lot of articles where the main focus is a user's character (example), and these articles do not always make sense and lack details. See the example. Who is 12yz12ab? Who are his puffles, and what role do they play? Have there been any break-ins, as 12yz12ab is obviously a famous inventor. Who built the lab and for how much? These are all questions a viewer asks when they view a page.

Grammar, Spelling, etc.
The wiki and it's stories are riddled with bad spelling and grammar. It would be beneficial if an experienced user went through and cleaned that all up. You know who you are.

Abandoned Stories
You've all seen them. Heaps of stories piled up in the corners of the database, all with "Under Construction" on them. The truth about stories is that even though the initial rush of ideas you get at the beginning of a story seems that it will be finished quickly, you will hit a wall of Writer's Block soon after. Explorer knows what I'm talking about. In fact, there are way more incomplete stories on the database than complete ones. My suggestion is that all stories that the writers no longer wish to continue are piled into one article, an "Omnibus" article, and the stories are then deleted and redirected to the omnibus. It's better than deleting them. Then, great ideas and works of art are available to new users, if they wish to take them up as stories of their own.

Great Darktonian Pie Rant
I've talked about this before on numerous occasions, but it never seems to get any actions taken. This story is just simply TOO LONG. Of course, it started well, as all stories do, but soon became an unmanageable mess of writing and bad grammar, hastily scribbled down by users to secure their characters a spot. Once a great story, now a wreck. This is precisely what happens when a story is not planned out. The plot strays off course. Where now can we put Pogopunk's Glorious Contribution? It just doesn't fit. I suggest a major rewrite, add a heap to Archived Inclusions and add the unadded stuff to the rest of For Great Justice. EVERY STORY SHOULD HAVE A CLEAR BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END.

Explorer suggested this:
 * "How about this? We cut out all unfinished AND unimportant story arcs (not just unfinished arcs like the SPC battle) and move them into a subpage of For Great Justice for possible rewriting into another story. Then we use the planner page and cut off all access to the Pie War so that no one clutters it up again. Users can only add what's on the planner, nothing else."

Good idea!

Article Ratings
UPDATE: I'm not so sure about this. I think we should just classify the articles first, then correct the system. We need to reassess them. It's not okay to label an article a HQA when the writing quality is of MQA standard. I have devised these improvements, But I need examples. Feel free to suggest improvements:


 * LQA|1 - Blank stubs, no organization, bad spelling, etc. Should be deleted if it is not expanded within a month. EXAMPLE
 * LQA|2 - Still a pretty bad article, some organization, redlinks, very short sections. And lists. EXAMPLE
 * LQA|3 - Better than a LQA|2 but the writing quality is poor. May have picture. EXAMPLE

Will complete soon....
 * MQA|1- May or may not have picture, good grammar, but not very detailed. Needs some work.