Talk:Timeline of the Anglophone Crisis (2021)

Lead section of the Timeline of the Anglophone Crisis articles do not give any context

Lead section of the Timeline of the Anglophone Crisis articles from 2017 to 2021 do not give any context or summary of the Anglophone Crisis. To be encyclopedic a lead section should introduce the article for any reader to make it accessible to as broad an audience as possible. Readers should not be dropped into the middle of the subject from the first word; they should be eased into it. The subject should be placed in a context familiar to a normal reader, not one already familiar with the the Anglophone Crisis. It doesn't need to be long or involved, just answer a few simple questions a reader might have, like:

• What is the Anglophone Crisis? - Is it an ongoing terrorist insurgency or a civil conflict? Or has it become a civil war?
• Where is the Anglophone Crisis? - in the Cameroons, in Africa
• Who is involved in the Anglophone Crisis? - the Cameroon government and the Ambazonian nationalists, who want independence from the rest of the Cameroon state
• When did the Anglophone Crisis start? - back in the 1980s when separatists leaders wanted the English speaking part of Cameroon to be a separate county or state after unconstitutional elections occurred
• How did the Anglophone Crisis arise? - After the First World War, German Kameroon was divided between British and French colonial powers. In the 1960s when Cameroon was decolonised the British and French parts were united as a single country of Cameroon.
• Why is this article about the Anglophone Crisis notable or needed? - these are annual timelines of events reported in the news because there is no historical research or analysis available yet.

It would be great if this sort of information could be summarised in less than 25 words, but if it needs more than 50 words I think the lead paragraph would be starting to get too long. The same explanation could be used in each timeline article, too. A summary of the events for the year indicating if it is getting worse and becoming more like a war or the parties are holding peace talks and things are looking hopeful might also assist the reader working out what is going on, so they can decide to read on further, or not, could be another sentence or maybe even a paragraph in the lead. Wading through the internecine details of Anglophone Crisis article is not something most people want to do, so keep the lead very brief and tell readers the essential things they need to know within 10-15 seconds of reading effort. - 203.96.84.33 (talk) 05:17, 11 March 2021 (UTC)

This is a draft introductory lead suggestion. It aims to inform the reader about the basic background to the crisis and link them into other relevant articles where they can read more. It tries to set the overall background context.

The Anglophone Crisis is an ongoing armed conflict in the Republic of Cameroon in Central Africa, where historically English-speaking Ambazonian separatists are seeking to restore the autonomy they had under the British colony of Southern Cameroons, before becoming part of the historically French-speaking republic in 1961.

This first sentence could be followed by another that touches on some key high points about how the crisis evolved between 1961 and 2021, such as a change in the constitution in 1994 resulting in loss of autonomy and subsequent abuses and escalation on both sides. Basically: How did we get here? Any comment? - 203.96.84.33 (talk) 01:02, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner. Personally, I don't think there's a need for a lead section, as this is only a timeline and readers will have gotten here through links from other articles. See Timeline of the 2006 Lebanon War for another example of this. Mikrobølgeovn (talk) 10:43, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Actually, it is required by the manual of style. While you might not see a personal need for it, consider the reader who comes across this article with no prior knowledge of the subject, say, as a result of being served a random article or via a Google search, or, as happened to me, an assessment page list. Each article should be able to stand alone, otherwise why have it? Besides, I think an extra introductory sentence makes for a far better article. - 203.96.84.33 (talk) 00:04, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Fair enough. I'll add it to the other timelines as well. Thanks for taking interest in this topic! Mikrobølgeovn (talk) 04:38, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Citation templates

Consider using Citation templates to make citations look more professional and follow a standard format. The template forms available in the wikitext mark-up editing window collect the necessary available information, such as the author of a new item, if named, and allow for brief quotes too. The citation template forms partly automate citing sources by allowing details from URLs to be obtained automatically. This makes it easier to cite websites and is particularly useful when citing news websites or newspapers because the same form can be used for both. - Cameron Dewe (talk) 08:24, 13 March 2021 (UTC)