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List of plantations in West Virginia

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List of plantations in West Virginia (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

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Nominator(s): Caponer (talk) 19:09, 5 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I am nominating this list because it gives an exhaustive listing of former plantations once operational in the present-day U.S. state of West Virginia, and provides a comprehensive introduction. The list also features images of the majority of the plantations accounted for. I am also nominating this list because I feel it meets most FL criteria and can easily be improved to meet the criteria not already achieved. -- Caponer (talk) 19:09, 5 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

  • Quick Comments - I didn't read the text yet, just skimmed for obvious problems
  • Lists shouldn't start with "this is a list of" any more than articles start with "this article is about"
  • You can't use just color to differentiate things in a table- use dagger symbols or the like as well
  • If you think the number is useful to have in the table, then just do symbols - like "03000346†" for NHL, and "03000346‡" for NRHP. If you don't think the numbers are useful, just stick the symbols after the name and drop the column entirely. Your call. --PresN 04:14, 12 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Your table isn't sorting names that start with "the" correctly- see the {{sort}} template for a way to fix it
  • The notes column is completely empty- why is it there?
  • You don't need access dates on real book souces- unlike websites, they don't change
--PresN 03:18, 12 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
PresN, have I properly addressed all your above concerns? -- Caponer (talk) 00:12, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Another quality, interesting article from Caponer, I see. :) One (easily remedied) concern I noticed is your long sentences, which could be split or at least injected with a semicolon to ease readability. I've included a few of these below, along with a few other minor issues:

  • Plantations initially developed in the counties lying within the Northern Neck Proprietary of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron within the Shenandoah Valley and South Branch Potomac River valleys, carrying over the practice of slavery from the plantations of the Piedmont and Tidewater regions of Virginia, where plantations had become the foundation of society and industry -- can this be split at all? It's a bit long and consequently confusing.
  • The Washington family sentence is also long; it could do with another comma at least.
  • You mention the American Civil War in the paragraph after the discussion of secession and statehood. This seems odd, especially for readers unfamiliar with the war or its dates. I recommend making this a bit more chronological.
  • The article is written in chronological order, but the link to ACW should definitely be moved up in the text, so I've moved the full link to the section discussing the Reorganized Government of Virginia. Good catch! -- Caponer (talk) 21:02, 21 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • You end the lead a bit abruptly with the ending of slavery. Could you add some more information on what became of some of the houses? Something like, "Since then, many of the plantation houses have acquired places on the National Register of Historic Places, an official list that includes sites, buildings, and structures deemed worthy of preservation..."? Also, who owns these houses? (are they largely privately owned still, or does the government have ownership now)? I realize some of this information might be difficult to find. Thanks, Ruby 2010/2013 15:13, 21 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Ruby, thank you for suggestion an extension to the lead as it was quite abrupt. I've added a modified version of your suggested sentence, and have also added a sentence about many of the houses serving as private residences. I'm not sure what citation would go here, as this information is gleaned from the NRHP registration forms and the sources listed at the bottom of the page in the bibliography. Few, if any, are owned by a government entity, with the exception of the mansion at Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park, which was rebuilt by the state of West Virginia. Ruby, as always, thank you so entirely much for taking the time to review this list and to provide your incredibly valued guidance! It's always a pleasure working with you on Wikipedia! -- Caponer (talk) 21:14, 21 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Thanks for the speedy reply. Your changes look great, though I did make one small one and move the NRHP content to the end of the lead -- this just seems to fit better there (especially as you bring it all the way up to 2014). Also, it looked weird in the opening paragraph due to the lack of a transitioning sentence. I am happy to now support this list for promotion. Thanks, Ruby 2010/2013 00:46, 25 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Ruby2010, thanks again! Did I address all your above concerns properly? -- Caponer (talk) 00:12, 31 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Comments by Cirt (addressed) — Cirt (talk) 00:48, 9 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
Comments by Cirt
  • Comment: (having stumbled here from my FLC discussion page). A few comments to hopefully help improve the page's quality a bit:
  1. NOTE: Please respond, below entire set of comments, and not interspersed throughout, thanks!
  2. Not sure what the standard is on using {{Dynamic list}} template at the top of Featured List pages. I'm not averse to it, whatsoever, just was curious what the current practice is on that.
  3. The lede intro sect has a total of eight (8) paragraphs. Per WP:LEAD, the lede intro sect should have a maximum of four (4) total paragraphs.
  4. The paragraphs in the lede intro sect are a bit short, some are one-sentence-long-paragraphs or two-sentence-long-paragraphs. Best to merge these if possible, to help deal with too many total paragraphs in lede sect, as noted, above.
  5. Please watch out for overusage of commas in lede sect, this can cause potential for run-on sentences, or if not run-on sentences then just sentences that are a bit too long in general, for the most part, and it might be a good idea in some of those cases to split up those sentences in two, of course retaining the relevant citations at the end of the relevant parts afterwards, and I think that will help with readability as well. :)
  6. There's a bit of empty white space after the Plantations subsection header. Perhaps using {{Clear}} would help fix this issue if placed at the end of the Key subsection.
  7. Per WP:LAYOUT, the See also sect should go above the References sect.
  8. See also sect could do with perhaps three to four more entries.
  9. References - suggest changing coding in sect from {{Reflist|2}} to instead be {{Reflist|33em}}.
  10. Would be nice to see a few more relevant external links added to the External links sect, if possible.
  11. Overall, very nice work, shouldn't be too hard to address above. Ping me or message me on my user talk page if I forget to revisit, please.
  12. NOTE: Please respond, below entire set of comments, and not interspersed throughout, thanks!

— Cirt (talk) 22:53, 3 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Cirt, thank you for your review! I hope to have each of these addressed within a day or so. Stay tuned! -- Caponer (talk) 02:01, 5 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Okay, great, no rush, keep me posted, — Cirt (talk) 02:03, 5 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Cirt, I've finished addressing your above comments and suggestions. I've removed the dynamic list template from the top of the article, as this is a very comprehensive list completed after extensive research. Should another property that formerly functioned as a plantation be identified, it will be added. I've also removed unnecessary information from the lede, and after some reformatting, I was able to whittle it down from eight to four paragraphs. I've also added a clear template at the end of the "Key" subsection. "See also" has been moved above "References." I added National Register of Historic Places listings in West Virginia to the "See also" section. The references have been reformatted to {{Reflist|33em}}. I've also added West Virginia Division of Culture and History State Historic Preservation Office to the "External links" section. Thank you again for your very thoughtful and comprehensive review of this list, and please let me know if there are any outstanding issues to be addressed. -- Caponer (talk) 23:07, 8 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]


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