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End-of-drive newsletter

The first draft of the end-of-drive newsletter for the Guild of Copy Editors July 2011 drive is available for editing here. The UtahraptorTalk/Contribs 14:52, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Can you recheck please, I had 2 ecs and want to make sure I haven't altered it too much from your edit. Sorry about that. Chaosdruid (talk) 16:08, 31 July 2011 (UTC)
It looks good. Diannaa has also checked it. We just need to adjust all the figures at the close of the drive to make sure that they are correct. Otherwise, it looks good to me. – SMasters (talk) 17:04, 31 July 2011 (UTC)
Hello, SMasters. You have new messages at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Newsletters/August 2011#Figures.
Message added 17:41, 31 July 2011 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

--The UtahraptorTalk/Contribs 17:41, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Hey SMasters, it looks like the newsletter is ready to go. The UtahraptorTalk/Contribs 14:08, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

OK, will send it out in a day or two. Cheers. – SMasters (talk) 03:24, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
Yah, I have finished the final results attachment so whenever you have a minute it's all good to go. Thanks very much. --Dianna (talk) 20:37, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 01 August 2011

Work It Out (Beyoncé Knowles song)

Thank you very much for the copy-edit. Jivesh • Talk2Me 18:55, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. I enjoyed reading it. Good work! – SMasters (talk) 16:51, 5 August 2011 (UTC)

Requests page backlog

I have come up with a way to reduce the backlog on the Guild's Requests page. Each of the Guild's coordinators will copy edit one article per day for however long it takes to completely reduce the backlog. We should start with the oldest requests first, then work our way to the more recent requests. As it has happened before, there are probably several users who requested a copy edit of an article in July that are dissatisfied because their request hasn't been taken care of yet. Also, to prevent this from ever happening again, I think at least one of our coordinators and several volunteers should keep a constant eye on the Requests page in between Backlog elimination drives. What do you think? The UtahraptorTalk/Contribs 21:35, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

I think we can't rely on the coordinators alone. Why don't we offer a Working Man's barnstar to anyone who does 2 or more from the Requests page this month? No need to make it so formal. Maybe an ombox on the RP and an ad on the Reward Board will be sufficient. We can look at all articles archived at the end of the month and we can see who has done what. This will give everyone an opportunity to help out, and not restrict it to just coordinators alone. Of course, as coordinators, we should also pitch in. But I know that even one a day for me is currently impossible with my current workload in RL. If you agree, we should move this discussion to the Coordinators' talk page. – SMasters (talk) 21:42, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

GOCE drive report

Guild of Copy Editors July 2011 backlog elimination drive report
GOCE July 2011 backlog elimination drive progress graphs

Greetings from the Guild of Copy Editors July 2011 Backlog elimination drive. Thank you for participating! Here is your end-of-drive report.

Participation

50 people signed up for the drive, of which 39 participated. Thanks to all who copy edited articles and helped us reduce the backlogs in both the total articles and requests. We offered a bonus for copy edits from the Requests page, and have been somewhat successful in reducing that backlog, as a record 89 new requests were received in the month of July.

Progress report

During the month of July we reduced the backlog by 338 articles, or by about 8.5%. We did not reach our goal of a 10% reduction, but we came close, and did very well considering the small size of the group participating. Since our Backlog elimination drives began in May 2010, we have reduced the backlog by 4,708 articles. End-of-drive results can be found here. We will be handing out barnstars within the next week or two.

Requests page

Please remember that the GOCE Requests page is receiving a high number of requests, with the number of August requests already above three per day. Any assistance to help keep the backlog down would be greatly appreciated.

Our next drive will be in September. We hope to see you there!

Your drive coordinators – Diannaa, Chaosdruid, The Utahraptor, Slon02 and SMasters

Sent on behalf of the Guild of Copy Editors using AWB on 16:43, 5 August 2011 (UTC)

GOCE Barnstar July 2011 drive

The Modest Barnstar
This barnstar is awarded to SMasters for efforts during the GOCE July 2011 copy edit drive. Thank you for participating! -- Chaosdruid (talk) 01:40, 7 August 2011 (UTC)
Thank you! – SMasters (talk) 03:49, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

Design Management

Would you be interested in helping out with our group effort to copy edit the article Design management? The sections remaining to be done are the lede and the "Business" section. If you don't have time, please let me know, and I will give it a try. Thanks --Dianna (talk) 13:22, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

I'm really busy at work this week, and I have an outstanding GA article that I'm helping with. I can only do it much later in the week. I have a suggestion here to address the RP issue. Perhaps it's something you might want to consider? I feel that relying on coordinators alone may not solve the problem. Opening this up to all members may just be the solution. – SMasters (talk) 02:51, 8 August 2011 (UTC)
Okay, thanks for considering it; I will finish the article and review your suggestions tomorrow. --Dianna (talk) 04:07, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 08 August 2011

Thanks for the barnstar

Thank you very much for the barnstar. It feels good to know that all the work i do on Beyonce's articles do not go by unnoticed. Thank you very much for your precious contribution as well. It badly needed a copy-edit and you did it amazingly. Jivesh • Talk2Me 15:15, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. And congrats again on the GA! – SMasters (talk) 16:21, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

WP Animation seems pretty excited

The folks at WP:Animation are so excited to be interviewed by the Signpost, they even posted themselves as a recommendation unaware that they're already scheduled. -Mabeenot (talk) 00:32, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

That's great! I have started the interview, and will start the LT one soon as well. Cheers. – SMasters (talk) 08:44, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

Notifying users at the GOCE Requests page

It may interest you to have a look at this page. I'm not sure how often users are notified when their requests are completed, so I decided to create a template for that purpose. What do you think? The UtahraptorTalk/Contribs 20:26, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

This looks more like a personal note rather than an official notice from the Guild. Perhaps leave this up to individual editors if they want to use something like this? – SMasters (talk) 08:17, 12 August 2011 (UTC)
I agree. And Slon gave me the link to another template that is used for this purpose: Template:GOCEtb. And...
Hello, SMasters. You have new messages at The Utahraptor's talk page.
Message added 17:58, 12 August 2011 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

--The UtahraptorTalk/Contribs 17:58, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

To Creates a Trinidad and Tobago Barnstars

Hi Mr SMasters, we like you to creates a Trinidad and Tobago Barnstars (all in gold, gary and red), with this instead of having the Trinidad and Tobago Flag, we like to have a HummingBird in the middle and have a tail that have red, white, black strip. And also we to have a ribbon. Thank you for listerning ( Kylekieran (talk) 15:03, 19 July 2011 (UTC) ).

OK, I will have a look at it this weekend. Cheers. – SMasters (talk) 02:08, 20 July 2011 (UTC)
Hello, I have created the barnstar. I'm not sure if it is OK for you. Look forward to your feedback. If all is well, then I will do the ribbon next. Cheers. – SMasters (talk) 04:15, 24 July 2011 (UTC)
That is good. Thanks you for doing this. Thanks again (Kylekieran (talk) 11:41, 25 July 2011 (UTC))
Sorry, I just re-read your original note, and noticed that there's supposed to be gold. Do you want me to change the star to a gold colour? – SMasters (talk) 11:51, 25 July 2011 (UTC)
Do one in Gold but called the image 'Trinidad Tobago barnstar 2.png' (Kylekieran (talk) 11:55, 25 July 2011 (UTC))
OK, will do. I will also do the ribbons this week. – SMasters (talk) 11:59, 25 July 2011 (UTC)
Sorry for the delay. Will get to it by this weekend. – SMasters (talk) 03:25, 3 August 2011 (UTC)
Did you do it - Kylekieran (talk) 23:10, 8 August 2011 (UTC)
Sorry, give me a few more days. – SMasters (talk) 16:20, 9 August 2011 (UTC)
Ok, they have all been uploaded. – SMasters (talk) 08:14, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks you for making the Ribbon and the star, thankyou very much. WikiProject Trinidad and Tobago Members like to say thanks and thanks for helping this award is up and running. Thanks again ---- Kylekieran (talk) 10:22, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

You're most welcome. – SMasters (talk) 01:43, 14 August 2011 (UTC)

Splitting the Guild

A proposal to split the Guild has been brought up here. If this proposal were to go through, one part of the Guild would contain members who work on the copyedit backlog, and the other part would contain members who work on higher quality articles (GA, FA) as well as the copyedit backlog. Please see the talk page thread (link above) for more details. The UtahraptorTalk/Contribs 18:35, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

Noooooo! People confuse copy editing with writing. We never claimed to be a Guild of writers. I have to go out, but I'll try to address this over the weekend. Thanks for alerting me to this. – SMasters (talk) 01:45, 13 August 2011 (UTC)
Actually this is just a concern over one part of the FA criteria, 1(a): "Its prose is engaging, even brilliant, and of a professional standard". Also see this discussion on Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. It looks like we've leaned away from the split and we now have two possibilities:
  1. Create a subpage for Guild members who can copy edit FACs or GANs to make their prose "engaging, even brilliant, and of a professional standard".
  2. Put a banner on the Requests page advising users not to copy edit potential FACs or GANs unless they have a substantial amount of copy editing experience.
Also, I proposed that we combine the two; that is, we create a subpage for Guild members who can copy edit FACs or GANs and we put the link to the subpage on the Requests page banner. Dianna seems to like the idea, but I would like to hear what you think about it. The UtahraptorTalk/Contribs 01:52, 13 August 2011 (UTC)
I've made some comments about this already. My concern is, as we are NOT a Guild of writers, we may be opening us up to more attacks by doing this. Copy editors in the real world are never expected to do this, so I don't know why Wikipedians expect this . Let me think about this a bit more before I comment. Thanks again for alerting me to this. – SMasters (talk) 02:15, 13 August 2011 (UTC)
A list of proposals has been posted regarding this matter, and your input is requested. Thanks. --Dianna (talk) 16:26, 14 August 2011 (UTC)

Malaysia prose

Hello SMasters,

A long time ago in a wikihistory far far away, you took it upon yourself to wade among the filth of my edits and mould them into a beautiful mosaic of text. In all seriousness, you did a good job and I appreciate it. However, I do wish to try and take Malaysia to an FAC soon, and (of course) a note was raised in the Peer Review about the prose. Now, I understand it's basically impossible to actually meet criterion 1a, but if you are willing to take another look at it sometime (no hurry) it would again be very appreciated. One of the peer reviewers specified the article had an "overuse of "with + -ing" constructions", and I'm not entirely sure what that means; I hope you have an idea. Sorry to bother you, but although I consider myself not bad at copyediting, I find that my own work forms a blind spot for me. If you can not do this due to time or something like that, I wouldn't mind. I only thought to ask here before because I was unsure whether I should take this back to the Requests page, as it has already been edited by a member of the guild upon a request of that page. Thanks for your time, Chipmunkdavis (talk) 19:09, 13 August 2011 (UTC)

I will try to work on this but I'm really quite swamped with work in RL. I will have to do it section by section and it will probably take some time. It might also be worth putting it on the Reward board so that you have extra eyes on the article. – SMasters (talk) 01:47, 14 August 2011 (UTC)
I fully understand RL issues. I've actually never heard of the Reward Board, I'll look into it. Thanks, Chipmunkdavis (talk) 05:35, 14 August 2011 (UTC)

September drive

I've created the September Backlog elimination drive here. Feel free to make any changes you feel necessary. The UtahraptorTalk/Contribs 14:41, 14 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. – SMasters (talk) 03:05, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

Question

Is there a reason you are not an administrator yet? I think you should consider it. The conformation process as I am sure you know will take a week of your time but for well qualified and prepared users (like you appear to be) it is not too difficult. Volunteering to be an administrator would be a valuable service to the project; I do see that you hardly need more work though so I will understand if you just don't have the time. jorgenev 03:58, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

Ha, thanks for asking. I have considered it, and am still thinking about it, but some people ask why I need the tools as I don't really work in admin areas (because I'm not one). If I was given the tools, then I would. So, I guess I'm in a cycle where I'm told I should not get the tools because I'm not involved in admin areas, and the reason why I'm not involved is because I'm not an admin. If you have any suggestions, I would gladly listen. – SMasters (talk) 04:52, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
(talk page stalker) I've always thought of nominating you to be an administrator, SMasters. If you'd like I'll look over your contributions and see what qualifications you have, what concerns may pop up, etc. The UtahraptorTalk/Contribs 23:29, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
Thanks so much! Yes, I would love for you to have a look at it and give me any advise. Cheers. – SMasters (talk) 00:41, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 15 August 2011

September Backlog elimination drive invitation

Sorry, I forgot to tell you about the September Backlog elimination drive invitation. Take a look at it, and whenever you think it's ready, send it out. Thanks and again, sorry I forgot to tell you. The UtahraptorTalk/Contribs 13:08, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

GOCE drive newsletter

Invitation from the Guild of Copy Editors

The Guild of Copy Editors invites you to participate in their September 2011 Backlog elimination drive, a month-long effort to reduce the size of the copy editing backlog. The drive will begin on September 1 at 00:00 (UTC) and will end on September 30 at 23:59 (UTC). We will be tracking the number of 2010 articles in the backlog, as we want to copy edit as many of those as possible. Please consider copy editing an article that was tagged in 2010. Barnstars will be given to anyone who edits more than 4,000 words, with special awards for the top 5 in the categories "Number of articles", "Number of words", and "Number of articles of over 5,000 words". See you at the drive! – Your drive coordinators: Diannaa, Chaosdruid, The Utahraptor, Slon02, and SMasters.

Sent on behalf of the Guild of Copy Editors using AWB on 17:03, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

GOCE

Hello SMasters

You keep on sending GOCE newsletters on my talk page, and I'd like to ask if you can stop please. I've taken my name of the members list I think because I need help on how to do Copy Edit and it's too much work for me to try and learn.

My apologies

Thanks RorWiki (talk) 17:08, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

Sorry about that. The process is highly automated. Removing membership templates alone may not be enough as we sometimes also send things out to past participants of our drives. We do have an opt-out page, and I have added you there. – SMasters (talk) 17:32, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

Triple Crown

On August 27, 2011, I will be speaking as a wikipedian at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in conjunction with the August 28 Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial dedication ceremonies. Is there any chance I will have my Ultimate Triple Crown on my mantle before then.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 00:35, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

Yes, I have nearly finished checking them all. Only about 40 left to go! I was thinking of renaming it to the "Marco Polo Ultimate Centurion Triple Crown". All the other major achievements have long, grand names, and yet the Ultimate is so short. What do you think? – SMasters (talk) 00:40, 16 August 2011 (UTC)
Maybe just Marco Polo Centurion. Make 250 ultimate.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 22:10, 16 August 2011 (UTC)
Nudge.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 02:32, 24 August 2011 (UTC)
Thank you very much. If possible can you add all the articles by Saturday.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 05:23, 24 August 2011 (UTC)
OK, I will try. It's a loooong list. :) SMasters (talk) 15:50, 24 August 2011 (UTC)
Done. – SMasters (talk) 16:01, 25 August 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 22 August 2011

Random survey

Hi, This is a random survey regarding the first sentence on the Wikipedia policy page Verifiability.

"The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth—whether readers can check that material in Wikipedia has already been published by a reliable source, not whether editors think it is true."

In your own words, what does this mean? Thank you. Regards, Bob K31416 (talk) 05:35, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

To me, this means that as long as a statement comes from a verifiable source, we can quote it. Of course, if it is controversial, editors would normally say, "According to [source]...". It doesn't matter if an editor thinks a statement is true or not. If they believe otherwise, it is up to them to find a source that support their POV. – SMasters (talk) 09:11, 28 August 2011 (UTC)
Thank you. Regards, Bob K31416 (talk) 13:05, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

Meaningless image names

Well done for tidying up lots of meaningless image names. Two suggestions: 1) rather than just moving them, if they have an appropriate licence, why not use the Commons helper to transfer them to a sensible name on the Commons; 2) if you are only moving them within Wikipedia, then db-re dirty po is a better deletion reason than F1. — RHaworth (talk · contribs) 18:52, 27 August 2011 (UTC)

See these three edits to encourage you. — RHaworth (talk · contribs) 19:21, 27 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the tips. I tried using Commons helper, but there was something wrong with my TUSC password. I will try again. I'll also use R3 instead. Cheers. – SMasters (talk) 02:12, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

Question

I have observed some pretty remarkable contributions from this account. I am curious, why are you not an administrator. Pardon that you have struck me as the kind of editor who could be a good one, and that you seem qualified by a cursory review. I am working on an essay, and I believe you are of the adman class. I'd like to see you become an admin. This essay might explain, but you are exactly the kind of editor I had in mind. My76Strat (talk) 07:46, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for your kind words, My76Strat. I was asked this question recently and I answered it above. I guess the first reason is that I am a bit worried about the whole process – I have seen good editors retire soon after they go through it. However, my main reason is what I stated above – the concern that my main stumbling block will be "why do you need the tools?". I am currently working on many CSDs. Perhaps I will have a reason to "need the tools" in 3-4 months' time. I read your essay, which I enjoyed. And you are correct, I guess I am an adman. – SMasters (talk) 09:25, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

Input needed

Hi

It seems I have caused a problem with an editor and they have posted on the coordinators talk page. I have replied but it has hit me a little personally and I cannot continue discussion. I already had a great feeling of guilt about the mistaken edits on the Ducie article when they were reverted, hence my lol on their talk page (meant as a "wow how could I have done that, must have been an off day"). As something else seems to be driving the editor on to reverse their seemingly cordial discussion and strike out their previous comments I feel others should comment as I am too close to the matter.

The conversations that brought this about are [[1]] User_talk:Stfg/Archive_1#Boldface (used to be one but were later split) and User_talk:Chaosdruid#Boldface. Discussion on coordinators talk - Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Guild_of_Copy_Editors/Coordinators#GOCE_culture

(copied to all coordinators pages) Chaosdruid (talk) 18:07, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

Let me think about this. I think it's better for Diannaa to comment as the Lead. Let me mull over it first. – SMasters (talk) 12:40, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

Nomination of Davison Associates for deletion

A discussion is taking place as to whether the article Davison Associates is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Davison Associates until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on good quality evidence, and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion template from the top of the article. Edcolins (talk) 19:21, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

My involvement with this article is 1 AWB edit a long time ago. I will have a look at it over the next few days. – SMasters (talk) 12:42, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 29 August 2011

King National Memorial speech

I was rained out by Hurricane Irene (2011). All Saturday and Sunday events were cancelled/postponed pending further announcement of rescheduling.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 11:24, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

Oh, that's such a shame. Hope they can reschedule it. – SMasters (talk) 12:41, 30 August 2011 (UTC)
I am hoping so too. Thanks for the announcement.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 14:08, 30 August 2011 (UTC)
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