Wikipedia:Portal peer review/Archive/January 2008

This archive contains the peer review requests that are older than one month, have received no response in the last two weeks, are not signed, have become featured portal candidates, or did not follow the "How to use this page" principles in some way. If one of your requests has been moved here by mistake, please accept our apologies and copy it back to the main peer review page with your signature (~~~~).

What would it take for this to be a featured portal? Request for portal peer review submitted by Bedford (talk · contribs) and formatted by [sd], 18:14, 21 December 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Spebi

Wow :) A really good start. Just a few comments (well, perhaps not a "few" ;))

  • The pronunciation notes in the Intro are unnecessary. Consider removing them. Another thing I notice about the intro is that it appears to focus on the population statistics rather than the important points of Louisville. Louisville, Kentucky is a featured article, so I'd also consider using the first two paragraphs in that for the intro (excluding inline citations, of course).  Done
  • Do not thumbnail images, i.e., the code |thumb to reduce the size to a thumbnail, take a look at Portal:North West England, for example, and the way it formats its images.  Done
  • Selecte pictures require a brief description of what the object in the picture is. See other featured portals for examples on selected pictures. On a side note, the footer should usually contain a "Read more..." link, linking to the article in question.   Done
  • Remove the == header from the Did you know section.  Done
  • The quotation section is good, but use which results in an en dash, "–" instead of the double dash, --.  Done
  • Remove the "web resources" section completely – the point of portals is to provide a gateway to content relating to its subject on Wikipedia, not to provide a gateway to content outside of it.  Done
  • Add a "Show new selections" link just below the Intro. For an example, see Portal:Environment.  Done
  • Not mandatory, but if you wish and you are willing to update it (or know someone who is willing to do so), you can add an "In the news" section containing various news items relating to Louisville, and link to a specific article with the news item updated. Of course, if there isn't enough recent news to justify one or it's too much work to update it, then it isn't needed to be put in.  Done

Great start, honestly, this is not too far from featured portal status. Spebi 05:05, 24 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

All problems mentioned fixed. Other than increasing the number of pictures and articles for Sunnyside, do you think it's ready to be featured?--Bedford (talk) 09:53, 31 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

sd1 December

Review by [sd]

Good work. A few comments:

  • Since What are portals? | List of portals | Featured portals is included in the table, I would suggest including the browsebar as well.  Done (I think)
  • Here, the Jump to the nominations link doesn't work.  Done
  • For all the boxes, Archive... could be changed to Archive/Nominations... to show that you can nominate there, too.  Done
  • A few more selected pictures would be nice.  Done
  • In the Did you know... box, the Did you know... isn't needed (for example, see this portal).  Done
  • Portal:Louisville/Did You Know/Archives should be moved to Portal:Louisville/Did you know/Archives  Done
  • For uniformity, ArchivesArchives... in the DYK box.  Done
  • Louisville listsRelated lists  Done
  • Could you explain what Sunnyside is?  Done
  • As you remarked above, more items are needed for the Sunnyside section.  Done

Happy editing! — [sd] 17:32, 31 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Also, the to do section should be expanded.  Done [sd] 20:42, 31 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sunnyside refers to the Indiana suburbs of Louisville; it probably needs a better name, but I can't think of one. Until I come up with one, I'd better not make any more so that I won't have a massive renaming process. I'll get more pictures once it's no longer as overcast.--Bedford (talk) 21:09, 31 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Filled Sunnyside out to 10 article, and photos to 12 (need a clear day to take better pictures of Louisville, otherwise is failrly well done).Is this ready for feature status?--Bedford (talk) 19:26, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Late January

Now have 18 select pictures. I must say, I've learned a lot. When I'm ready for the KY and Indy Portals to be reviewed, it won't be so difficult. I think I'm ready for a feature review.--Bedford 21:03, 21 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Looks great. A few more comments:
  • The color of Show new selections should be changed so it doesn't blend into to the background.  Done
  • Currently the two columns are balanced with widths of 60% and 39%. In my opinion, it would be better with 50% and 49%.  Done
  • The width of the selected picture should be reduced so it doesn't leak off the side of the box.
  • If you visit the candidates page, you'll find many portal reviewers dislike red links outside the tasks box.  Done
  • Sister Portals/WikiProjects should be changed to Sister portals/WikiProjects for uniform capitalization.  Done
  • The Things you can do section would look good with an icon, such as this— .  Done
Happy editing, [sd] 23:02, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I am not noticing this "leaking"? Also, I am having trouble figuring out how to change the color for "Show new selections". Thanks for the review--Bedford 23:42, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

In small window sizes, the picture overlaps with the side of the section. I would recommend an image size of 300px. I changed the color of the Show new selections. Cheers, [sd] 12:06, 23 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I saw what you meant. However, I tried 300px and hated the result. I did shrink those that were 450px to 400px. Thanks for doing that to the Show new selections; I applied it to my Kentucky and Indianapolis portals as well, to get them ready for their eventual peer review.--Bedford 17:23, 23 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Just a few more comments before a featured portal nomination (since I believe that's what you're going for):
In my humble opinion, this portal is very close to a nomination. Best regards, [sd] 23:43, 23 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. I think I'm ready for the nomination.--Bedford 05:30, 26 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Searchme/Joe did a great job of getting The Indiana Portal up and running. I went ahead and filled some spaces to move it along. What else does it need to get it ready for a featured portal nom? RichardF (talk) 20:49, 21 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Comments
  1. The multiple pictures in the Intro could be randomly displayed one at a time, like in Portal:Iceland. Cirt (talk) 00:14, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Portal:Indiana/Selected article/1 blurb is a little short compared to the length of the others in that section, maybe cut the others down to an arbitrary size so they are all uniform, or expand that one? Cirt (talk) 00:14, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Personally I think it looks better if all images in Did you know... are at the top, w/ accompanying hook at the top. Cirt (talk) 00:14, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Could stand to display a couple more 'Related portals as clickable images, not just text links, besides just the two. Cirt (talk) 00:14, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Topics icon could be moved to upper right corner. Cirt (talk) 00:14, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Just my thoughts, overall the portal looks great. Excellent work. Cirt (talk) 00:14, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, :-) RichardF (talk) 03:38, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


Looking for some good ole Pre-WP:FPORTC feedback. This time I went with the magic number 20 before bringing this portal up for a Portal Peer Review: (20) Selected articles, all of WP:GA or WP:FA status, (20) Selected biographies, all with accompanying free-use images, (20) Selected pictures, all free-use, (20) Did you know entries, all initially appeared on the Main Page at T:DYK, and (20) Selected quotes, all with accompanying free-use images. News is updated regularly by the Wikinews Importer Bot. Cirt (talk) 09:25, 17 January 2008 (UTC).[reply]

Comments by RichardF
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

I would like to know what needs doing to make this portal a featured portal. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Jhfireboy Talk 12:54, 19 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'd like to know what I can do to it to improve it, possibly to featured status sometime soon. The only major problem I can see is the lack of quality pictures available, but I'm sure I can find a solution. Thanks, Spebi 05:38, 15 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Withdrawn. Spebi 06:23, 22 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I revamped this portal quite a bit, it now contains (25) Selected articles, all of WP:FA quality status, (11) Selected biographies, all of either WP:FA or WP:GA status, (12) Selected pictures, all with free-use images (two of which are actually WP:FP quality), (16) Selected quotes, all with accompanying free-use images and links to notable individuals with existing articles on Wikipedia, and (41) Did you know entries. All of the above sections are randomized. Feedback/comments to help improve the quality of this portal further before heading over to WP:FPORTC would be most appreciated. Cirt (talk) 18:35, 8 January 2008 (UTC).[reply]

Comments.

Everything looks fine to me (minus the stuff we disagree on you don't want to change ;-). I assume you're considering updating the news with the Wikinews bot. It would be nice if it would show dates. I think that's a weakness for featured portals, even though I won't bring it up there. RichardF (talk) 16:18, 9 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Greetings, portal peer reviewers! The Iceland Portal currently has 12 selected articles (most either featured or good article status), 13 selected pictures, 11 selected biographies, 10 DYK hooks (all mentioned content randomized with {{Random portal component}} and {{Random subpage}}). The images shown in the introduction are also randomized, and the news section has recent headlines. I would greatly appreciate feedback on the portal. Thanks for your time! Happy editing, [sd] 04:02, 5 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

  • It's excellent, much better than the Portal:Iceland I stopped editing months ago :-P. In fact, I think I should adopt the randomizer to other portals, coz it's a practical solution for most of them that hardly see their selected content renovated. Anyway, I think that everything's perfect and this could be a good candidate for featured status. Could have a "Quote" section though, but I think that's a not an essential presence. Kudos to User:Sd31415 for his excellent work. Húsönd 04:11, 5 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Happy new year, Husond, and thanks! I agree a quote section would be good, but Wikiquote seems to have little about Iceland. I have a question — should a selected quotes section have quotes said by Icelanders or quotes about Iceland as a country? Cheers, [sd] 04:19, 5 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Overall, a really good portal! :) In fact, I think the only thing I can suggest is to reduce the dates in the News section from January 4, 2008 to something like Jan 4: only. I like how the picture in the side of the Introduction changes from Flag to Coat of Arms and to the location map, a nice idea. I think this will do well at a FPOC. Spebi 21:41, 5 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comments.
  • Polish up that gold star! ;-)
  • When in doubt, add more images! Main topics could use one or two. I would show the featured picture in the box where it's listed. If I could change one thing, I would use the Selected quotes style used in Portal:Sustainable development for the images. It's also somewhat easier to balance out columns when the variable lengths quotes box spans the full page.
  • I've added an image to the Main topics section and have shown the featured picture in the Featured and good content section. I've also used the Selected quotes style you mentioned. [sd] 13:15, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • "Current news" is a "baby puppy." :-) "News" would be sufficient.
  • :) Okay, I'll remember that from now on. Thanks for the good comments! The portal has really improved. Cheers, [sd] 13:15, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

RichardF (talk) 04:48, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Comments

Overall, great job!

  1. Could use at least an additional five randomized hooks in the Did you know section.
     Y Done. [sd] 13:15, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Have you considered using the new bot, User:Wikinews Importer Bot, in the In the news section?
    The bot's great, but the Iceland Portal on Wikinews isn't regularly updated (the latest story there is from October). [sd] 13:15, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Categories section could use some sort of creative little related icon in the upper right corner.
     Y Done. [sd] 13:15, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Main topics section, same as Categories section, could use creative icon.
     Y Done. Is it creative enough? :) [sd] 13:15, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Associated Wikimedia could be reformatted with bottom text below each entry, per example Portal:Religion.
     Y Done. [sd] 13:15, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  6. Related portals section could be expanded to include Portal:Norway, Portal:Scotland, Portal:Ireland.
     Y Done. [sd] 13:15, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  7. Featured and good content -- Show the featured pictures using <gallery></gallery>.
     Y Done. I added the image using [[Image:Iceland Grimsvoetn 1972-B.jpg|75px]] because the gallery took up too much space. Thanks for all your helpful comments! Cheers, [sd] 13:15, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comments - A good portal. But I just have a few things to voice.
  1. How come the Die Another Day selected article doesn't have a picture. Could this one be used?
    I've added the image. [sd] 15:06, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  2. I'm not sure about the Read more... in the Selected Quote section, I'm sure it can be overlooked if it has only one entry. (Which I think is already mentioned)
    I've changed it back to the previous format (linking to the person). [sd] 15:06, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Could the Related Portals section be made smaller? There is a good number in there at the moment (which is good), but just reducing the size of images can make the box smaller.
    The size of most images is 80px, same as other featured portals, like the North West England and Basque Portals. I would put them on one line, but that wouldn't fit in some resolutions. [sd] 15:06, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Could the Selected Quote section be moved somewhere else, currently there seems to a big gap between the biography and panorama?
    I've archived some news, which helped. [sd] 15:06, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  5. And one last thing, could the portal be reduced itself anyway?, it's seems slightly lengthy at the moment. Rudget. 14:14, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    The largest section was Main topics, I've shortened that quite a bit. Thanks for your comments—much appreciated! [sd] 15:06, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    No problem. If you ever need any more reviewing, get in touch. :) Rudget. 15:42, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    Will do. Thanks again, [sd] 20:00, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Any comments on how this portal could be improved are appreciated. (Any section). --Bolonium 03:35, 22 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Add archives to "Selected Article", "SP", "News", "SB" and "DYK". Remove the self-referential "Portal Information". Fix "Associated Wikimedia" links (and the odd [2] there). Remove multiple wikilinking to Serbia in "Did you know...". Change "News" section, Portal:Trains has a good example of a nice layout? Add the standard "Topics" (move the current People box here), "Related portals", "Things you can do" boxes? List the portal's subpages in the talk page. Otherwise it looks good. feydey 10:20, 1 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Remove Portal information, when it was created and who created? I do not think it is good to mention the web resources. You can make Cities in Serbia section little shorter by consolidation or some other means. Thanks, Shyam (T/C) 13:24, 19 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This Portal was abandoned for a while but I improved it a little . I want to know how the portal can be improved some more, or is it okay already ?Bewareofdog 03:45, 14 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

  • Comment -- Try using {{Random portal component}} to make the portal a bit more dynamic. Take a look at Portal:Sustainable development for an idea. Also, missing a Main Topics section. Big amount of empty space on the left-hand side. The scrolling image at the top of the header should be modified to just fit in the box without the need for scrolling. Selected article should have a link to Archive/Nominations. Cirt (talk) 16:25, 16 December 2007 (UTC).[reply]
    If possible, use a picture in the every selected articles. December in the history of Mexico is looking insane. Make it shorter. It is portal of Mexico. So, I believe, One short paragraph (4-6 lines) is sufficient. Shyam (T/C) 13:18, 19 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • A few comments at a glance — Show new selections is not showing up correctly for me (I'm using Firefox). Purge server cache isn't needed at the bottom anymore. Selected event and Recent news sections need to be updated. — [sd] 13:05, 1 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


Hello portal peer reviewers. Portal:Journalism has (11) Selected articles, all of WP:FA or WP:GA status, (13) Selected biographies, all of WP:FA or WP:GA status, (30) Selected pictures, all free-use, (20) Did you know entries, all that have appeared on the Main Page, and (58) Selected quotes, of which 42 have an accompanying free-use picture. All of the above-mentioned sections use {{Random portal component}}. Would appreciate general feedback on the portal, as well as comments on how to further improve its quality. Cirt (talk) 05:27, 4 January 2008 (UTC).[reply]

  • Review: Looks good!
Response to review
  •   Done - Addressed all points from above, except for :
  • Here — {| width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="10" style="background: gainsboro; border-style:solid; border-width:2px; border-color: steelblue; "class="plainlinks" could be added.
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

I am looking for an overall peer review before I place this up for a Featured Portal nomination.--Chef Christopher Allen Tanner, CCC (talk) 22:25, 25 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

  • Review: Good job. A few suggestions —
  • Overall:
  • More items need to be created before this is placed up for a featured portal nomination. I've seen that, generally, reviewers like to see at least 10 items of each (example: picture, article).
  • There are large gaps between the News and Person, and Person and Picture boxes.
  • Setup: Currently, the portal updates itself every month. In case you were ever to stop updating the portal, {{Random portal component}} comes in quite handy. However, it is not a requirement for featured portals.
  • News:
  • More news...News archive, for uniformity.
  • Wine newsRecent news, News, or Current news
  • Instead of linked to the newspapers like this: # December 21: [1] Fine wines beat stock market with 39% gains, I think it would be better to write the name of the newspaper as well: # December 21: Fine wines beat stock market with 39% gains (Independent) (example of use).
  • DYK: white Manseng (Pictured) winewhite Manseng (pictured) wine (example)
  • Winery:
  • Selected WinerySelected winery
  • There's a large space between Chile (Viña Calina). and Selected winery archive.
  • Quote:
  • Selected QuoteSelected quote
  • More quotes from 2008...Quotes archive
  • I would suggest using the format here.
  • Lists: Wine related listsRelated lists
  • To do: Things you can do...Things you can do
  • Person: The title needs to be italicized.
  • Topics: Wine topicsMain topics or Major topics
  • Picture: I would suggest not bolding the text and left-justifying it. Happy editing, [sd] 00:49, 30 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Comment
  1. I'd cut the amount of entries in the News section down by half.
  2. The news section would also look nicer if you used <noinclude></noinclude> around the hyperlinks, that way the references for the info would still be there, but would only show up on the subpage.
  3. I agree with Sd31415 (talk · contribs) about the recommendation to use {{Random portal component}} in at least one area somewhere.
  4. Missing: A link to "More..." or "Read more..." or "More about X subject..." is missing from several sections, namely Selected article, Person of the Month, and Selected Winery.
    I'm not sure, I think Chef :) thought linking it in the paragraph (for example, Zinfandel is a variety of red grape) would be enough. [sd] 19:42, 31 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Nah, from what I've seen, this is the standard practice among many featured portals, to have some sort of footer links in the section boxes. Cirt (talk) 21:48, 31 December 2007 (UTC).[reply]
    I agree. [sd] 22:39, 31 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Selected picture could have something in the text description wikilinked and bolded, if the reader wants to find more info on Wikipedia about what is displayed in the picture.
  6. Associated topics should be "Main topics".
  7. Surely there are more than just two other Related portals?
    "Food (Beer, Wine)" are all that's at Portal:Contents/Portals. So, the food and beer portals would be the only two related portals. [sd] 19:42, 31 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    Okay.   Done. Cirt (talk) 21:48, 31 December 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Cirt (talk) 19:07, 31 December 2007 (UTC).[reply]

  • I've fixed up some uneven image sizing. That featured image has been up since this time last year, so the "2007" page from the "more featured pictures" link is a bit redundant. Maybe replace this one with a new Jan 2008 pic and assign the existing one to Dec 2007? --mikaultalk 13:01, 1 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
The current featured image was put up last week for the month of Jan.--Chef Christopher Allen Tanner, CCC (talk) 16:09, 5 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Looking for some pre-WP:FPORTC feedback. Stats rundown: (15) Selected articles, all WP:FA, (11) Selected biographies, all WP:FA, (20) Selected pictures, all free-use, (50) Did you know hooks, all that originally appeared on the Main Page, (31) Selected quotes, all with free-use images. All of the above sections use {{Random portal component}}. Of note, the French Wikipedia already has a Featured Portal version, Portail:Télévision.

Thanks for taking a look. Cirt (talk) 01:51, 31 December 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Any comments and/or suggestions intended to provide useful information for future decisions and development would be appreciated. Thanks, Chris.B (talk) 15:29, 17 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

  • A few comments:
    • First are the symbols in the header boxes. With the italicized titles, the last letter and >> kinda blend together, try a space between them.
    • The images in the intro have alittle room to be a bit bigger.
    • With the randomized selected content a "Show new selections" button should be used.
    • I would suggest removing (2006 constitutional referendum) from topics, as it juts outside of the box, and that is the only year listed.
    • Topics - is there some order precedence? There should be one, either alpha or chronoligical or something.
    • News- Headlines should be linked to the news story either on wikinews(preferable) or an outside news agency.
    • Cats- the "More at Category:Gibraltar" is redundant to the first entry of the category tree.
    • Quotes- I prefer a template such as {{cquote}} for consistancy. It has parameters for who said it, when and where. But you seem to have things set up well.
    • Portals- the spacing seems to be off, with the EU portal left of center.
    • The things you can do box can be cut off a bit to give the wikiprojects box alittle more room.
  • These are mostly small things and the portal looks fairly good. Joe I 09:53, 30 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  Mostly done. Many thanks, your comments are most appreciated. Chris.B (talk) 21:27, 30 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • A few suggestions —
  • Topics:
  • The History section should be left aligned like the other sections.
  • In my opinion, the topics section would look better not in the columns.
  • Biography:
  • At least three more biographies would be nice.
  • In all the biographies, the paragraphs with only one sentence should be merged with the other paragraphs.
  • News:
  • Gibraltar newsRecent news (example of this)
  • The hyphens, December 29 - , should be changed to en dashes, December 29 – . Alternative, a colon format, December 29: , can be used.
  • (archive...)Archive, per the Did you know section.
  • DYK: I don't think the second question mark image isn needed.
  • Quotes: Here, the double-dash, --, should be replaced with an en dash, .
  • To do: More tasks should be added. Good work so far! [sd] 21:28, 31 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  Done. Many thanks! Chris.B (talk) 20:49, 1 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]