User:Karanacs/Texas Revolution

I've been a member of the English Wikipedia since October 2006. Like many new editors, I was first attracted to topics close to me. When several more experienced editors called for volunteers to bring the article about my alma mater to featured article status, I joined the collaboration ... even though I had no idea what they were talking about. Before long, I was in love with Wikipedia - with the research, the writing, the teamwork, the satisfaction of knowing that something I helped create would help assuage someone else's curiosity, and, hopefully, dispel some of their misunderstandings of the topic.

I set goals for myself: a) improve the coverage of the US state of Texas pre-statehood (1845) and b) create a featured topic of articles related to the Texas Revolution. I'd get bogged down in Texas history, wander into other topics for a change of pace, then back to my history books.

Over the next four years, I became an admin, brought almost 2 dozen articles to FA status and was a Featured Article coordinator. Yet there was still sooooo much work to be done, I was almost the only one writing articles about this topic, there was drama in the FA process and POV-pushers in other articles I edited... and in December 2011, I quit.

In December 2014, I received an email from Maile asking nicely if I would consider returning to Wikipedia. She pointed me towards a discussion at WikiProject Military history ([1]). The HISTORY Channel had approached the WMF, asking if it would be possible for the article on the Texas Revolution - my pet project - to be featured on the main page of the English Wikipedia on Memorial Day, in conjunction with the release of their new miniseries, Texas Rising. Maggie Dennis of the WMF asked for volunteers.

I was intrigued. I had long wanted this article to be improved but had focused on smaller sub-articles that were easier to write. Now I had guaranteed interest in the article - from a cable station!, a deadline (that wasn't too aggressive), and other editors willing to help.

Maile and I developed a plan of attack on the article talk page and divided up the work. We basically scrapped the existing article and started from scratch. This took hundreds of hours. Between us we read more than a dozen books (on top of the dozens I'd read previously) and countless journal articles. On the talk page, we outlined the "new and improved" article and discussed which facts ought to be included, which theories were widespread and which were fringe, which sources were considered the best for which sections of the article, how much background needed to be in the article, etc. Our goal was a comprehensive and NPOV stand-alone article. While we were at it, we also created more sub-articles and improved others.

During our research and writing, we got invaluable feedback from iridescent, whose only exposure to the topic was through popular culture. When the first draft was finished, we brought the article to peer review. Mike Christie provided some copyediting and helped edit images, Dank provided a lot of copyediting, and both asked good questions that pointed us towards other changes that needed to be made.

When the article was nominated for FA status, several reviewers helped further polish the prose. P.S. Burton provided hours of "gnome" work, helping to ensure that the article met all of the Manual of Style guidelines. It was promoted on April 18, a full month before our deadline. It really did take a village. HISTORY Channel historians looked over the article after we were finished and were pleased with the work we had done.

I am extremely proud of this project. First, that we created one of the best short(ish) yet still comprehensive overviews of this topic that exists anywhere on the web (IMO). Second, that we brought an article that is on a broader topic - an entire war, rather than a single battle - to FA status. Third, that real paid historians thought we did a good job, and, fourth, that we achieved this through a collaboration, rather than as individual editors.

Once again, I'm hooked on WP, and for the same reasons - pride in a job well done, the joy of teamwork, and pure nerdiness. I enjoy crafting an article from scratch, all by myself, and I am continuing to do that. However, my most enjoyable times as an editor have been in collaborations. My next collaboration (Battle of San Jacinto, the final battle of the Texas Revolution) has already begun, this time with Maile taking the lead and me in a more supporting role. It is beginning to look like my goal of creating a Featured Topic for this war will be met sometime next year!! The best part is that now it will be an "our" accomplishment instead of just "my" accomplishment.

I'm looking forward to future collaborations and to meeting new goals in my life as an editor.