Talk:Mongalla, South Sudan/GA1

GA Review

Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch

Reviewer: GRAPPLE X 22:10, 18 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

GA review – see WP:WIAGA for criteria

Never done anything on geography for GAN before, so forgive me if I miss anything.

Is it reasonably well written?
A. Prose quality:
You've just both "Muslim" and the archaic "Moslem". If "Moslem" is from a quoted source, then use it in quotation marks, otherwise stick to the more commonly-used "Muslim". There's also a few references to "the Muslim religion" or "the Moslem faith" which could just be shortened to "Islam" for better prose flow.
"... with a combined area twice that of Britain." -> "Britain" is a bit of an ambiguous term. It properly refers to one island but is used synecdochically to refer to the United Kingdom. If it's the former, pipe link it; if it's the latter, use that term instead.
I'm wondering if this article should perhaps be written in British English as opposed to American English. I assume that Sudanese English is closer to the former due to the colonial history?

B. MoS compliance for lead, layout, words to watch, fiction, and lists:
MOS seems fine.
Is it factually accurate and verifiable?
A. References to sources:

B. Citation of reliable sources where necessary:

C. No original research:
Citations and referencing are good, no problems there.
Is it broad in its coverage?
A. Major aspects:

B. Focused:
Scope seems okay. Are there any major landmarks or anything physical to mention, though? It would be a good addition if it was relevant but it's alright if there's nothing notable nearby.
Is it neutral?
Fair representation without bias:
Neutral and unbiased.
Is it stable?
No edit wars, etc:
Stable and uncontroversial.
Does it contain images to illustrate the topic?
A. Images are copyright tagged, and non-free images have fair use rationales:

B. Images are provided where possible and appropriate, with suitable captions:
Images are used appropriately and all are from commons, so no problems here.
Overall:
Pass or Fail:
Going to put this on hold for now. The 1A stuff needs looking at. I don't mind either way which English dialect is used but it might be worth considering. It won't influence this GAN, though, but the other points will need addressing. GRAPPLE X 22:10, 18 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I have never been involved in a GA review, so this may be the wrong way to comment... I have fixed Moslem -> Muslim and linked Britain, although on this I am guessing that is what the source meant. I have left American spelling because my spell checker is set that way and I don't know how to change it - but I agree that English spelling would be more appropriate. I am more concerned about 3B. The article says on the east bank of the Nile, with a region of open grassland to the east. But for an article about a town, there is a real lack of detail about the physical town itself. I am also not too sure about the history either. The town obviously had a turbulent history during the very long civil war, as did most key points in South Sudan. Seems like a gap to me. I will see what I can find in this area. Aymatth2 (talk) 02:02, 19 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
If there's anything to be found on the physical town itself that would be great. The civil war history would be a good addition, although for GA it's not necessary to be exhaustive, just of a suitable quality - it's okay to have a few gaps if there's sufficient content to be satisfactory, so if you can add that it would be nice but don't sweat too hard about it if you can't. There's plenty of time to see what you can turn up, though. GRAPPLE X 02:21, 19 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Remember though Aymmath that this is Sudan from an earlier period, its very difficult to find a full coverage of history with no gaps!! Given that this is on a small town in South Sudan I think we are lucky to have what we have on it! This is why I nominated it for GA because if you actually do a google search for Mongalla this is by far the most comprehensive article on this and seems to be about as good as it can be in coverage given what exists at present. I think history is already detailed enough. Looking on google maps this appears to be more a village than a town and there are unlikely to be any notable buildings or "education" which you could write about extensively as there are in cities in the Anglosphere. The most important information about this town is its history and geography. It simply doesn't have many other aspects. One of course could write about the ethnicity of the people but it would likely be a generic account of the region not specifically Mongalla (given the sources).♦ Dr. Blofeld 08:43, 19 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Fair enough - and it may be hard to find more material. The place was important as a colonial/military center until 1930 when the administration moved to Juba, but was not large since the provincial administration operated on a shoestring budget. There may have never been any major buildings or much of an economy. The civil war would have contributed to the decline. The article mentions that the people are mostly Bor Dinka, who should have a separate article. I will leave it for now. Aymatth2 (talk) 13:28, 19 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Grapple I've given the article a minor copy edit and bit of expansion and a little reworking and I think it is now of an acceptable quality of prose.♦ Dr. Blofeld 13:20, 19 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Well, the article was close to passing to begin with, and the overhaul has just gone over and above that. I'll pass this one now. Well done you two! GRAPPLE X 14:23, 19 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Many thanks for your review Grapple. Regards.♦ Dr. Blofeld 14:24, 19 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]