Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Appalachia

The state of the project

Hey y'all, from what I'm seeing this wikiproject is... a little inactive. I'm not sure what it would take but I'd love it if we could have a bit of a rallying effort for the region we all love. I'll be trying to edit within this project's scope for a while and would love to pretty up the main page here and/or participate in some discussion on this project's best moves!

The only way to gain activity is to be active with who we have, and I'll do my best on my end. Yinz have done a great job and make some great edits. Appalachia is the most beautiful and culturally place in the world that barely anybody from outside it know about, and it deserves the best. Dionysius Miller (talk) 16:33, 5 January 2024 (UTC)

Announcement of overhaul

One month and four days since my recent topic here, there are none since. The last non-bot post on this talk page was on 4 June 2022 by @In actu. The last non-minor, non-participant list user-edit on the main page was on 1 June 2019‎ by @Bohemian Baltimore.

The project lacks an importance scale and has no remaining structure or coordination. It has not been updated with changing standards. I am, unfortunately, willing to say that there are no in-project active users and no coordinated efforts.

I love this region, this culture, this history, and these people. I grew up in Appalachia, I studied in Appalachia, I live in Appalachia, and God willing I will die in Appalachia. I am going to overhaul this project, if anyone sees this or my efforts, join in the conversation. I'd be more than happy to be collaborative and find consensus for the benefit of the documentation of Appalachia.

The greatest attempt I can muster to make something out of this, I will make. We can make a difference, but only if we put in a great effort in the beginning which is strong enough to achieve the sisyphean task of WikiProject relevancy, and consistent enough for long enough that we find momentum enough to survive. Dionysius Miller^talk 21:50, 9 February 2024 (UTC)

Sound good. I don't think importance is all that important, but I won't stand in yinz way -- Guerillero ^{Parlez Moi} 23:12, 16 February 2024 (UTC)

Importance isn't important. But it is helpful for prioritizing which stubs to expand first (and it makes that fun assessment chart possible). Dionysius Miller^talk 23:19, 16 February 2024 (UTC)

I am glad to see something coming of this. It was quite dead when I arrived and I have been quietly revising an article near and dear to my heart in Appalachian temperate rainforest but would be very happy to put more concerted effort towards some of the other more science-y articles in the list. This is the area I know best, and I think I will move on to tackling another one soon, specifically Appalachian balds.

I am really good with mapmaking and GIS software, as well as anything Earth Science related (this is my education) but can certainly dabble in history and other fields. Welcome and I hope we can grow something out of this!! Brooklaika (talk) 21:33, 19 February 2024 (UTC)

I'm so happy to hear this! I think we've got a good base of content and users committed to this region. I wholeheartedly appreciate all the dedicated editors such as yourself who have done a lot more than me for a lot longer than I've been doing it. Dionysius Miller^talk 01:56, 20 February 2024 (UTC)

Appalachia Portal

How would y'all feel about the possibility of creating an Appalachia Portal akin to Portal:Pacific Northwest? I think it wuld be a good step towards aggregating Wikipedia articles about Appalachia in one place, though I'm not sure how one gets a Portal approved. Brooklaika (talk) 08:05, 23 February 2024 (UTC)

I think that would be a wonderful addition, though I'm completely unfamiliar with the workload associated. In theory at least it is an easy yes. If you want to look into it further feel free, though there's some more work, maybe a few days worth, to be done on the project proper before I can lend a hand. Dionysius Miller^talk 18:51, 23 February 2024 (UTC)

@Brooklaika As you may have noticed, I started to work on a portal. Still a lot of work to do obviously but the idea is an amazing one!

On a separate note, I was wondering how willing and able you might be in the realm of participation encouragement? As in the process of convincing users to be a part of this effort. I'm not sure how to go about that, personally.

Additionally, any notes, comments, questions, and/or concerns regarding how everything looks as it stands? Dionysius Miller^talk 21:55, 6 March 2024 (UTC)

I would support the idea of a portal. 🌀 Hurricane Clyde 🌀 (talk) 19:47, 24 August 2024 (UTC)