Another month has flown by as they are wont to do. But, this month has an on-time report. And a cool new rolling news banner. So, let’s get to it!

Staff Openings

Last month we ended up losing one of our Wiki staffers to the dreaded monster of Real Life, so we’ve been down a hand (at the least) of late. That being the case, I’m going to open up applications for at least one additional wiki staff member. I see a lot of conversations out there on the subject of promotions, especially Equite ones, and the lack of opportunity to work on things above the Clan level. Things like service on the wiki staff while making verifiable contributions is one of those opportunities, so don’t let this one pass you by. When I first opened up applications six months ago, while I got some really excellent applications, I didn’t get many applications. Then, very shortly thereafter, I saw people who hadn’t even applied complaining about shortage of DJB-level posts to hold in order to make the transition from consumer to producer. Well, this is your chance once again.

Just like the last time I opened applications, I’ll likely be looking to assign specific members to specific tasks or job areas on the wiki. If you have any interest in or ideas about ongoing wiki projects listed below, make sure to include that in your application. Also, if you have any new ideas for projects, feel free to include that, too. I’m always a fan of people with ideas.

If you feel like joining the wiki staff is something you'd be interested in, applications will be open until Friday, December 18th. Please send an email to me with the subject "Wiki Staff Application" and outline your experience and any examples of your work (either on our wiki or elsewhere). I would prefer that applicants have passed at least the Wiki Basics course if not Wiki Editing as well, but exceptions to that can be made for the right candidate.

Updates

Last month’s clan prospectus and unit page name changes have rolled out in a seemingly painless manner. I’d be interested in hearing back from anyone, in leadership or not, to see if these changes have the positive impacts (specifically with new folks) that I was hoping to see. Or, if you’ve got an opinion on the subject in general, feel free to share it in the comments below.

WotM

Another month, another Wikipedian of the Month. (Atty is still Featured Article. It was so long we had to leave it up until the end of the year for people to get the full effect.)

This month, our Wikipedian of the Month is mostly about featuring his article to the Brotherhood even though it’s not a “Featured Article”. Yacks (or Keirdagh if you’re feeling especially formal) created the News Page Policies and Best Practices article recently, and it’s a great example of what the wiki can be used for in the realm of “real life” articles. Besides, it’s got some really good advice on how to use the news page for those people with the access, so I’d encourage everyone to give it a once over. You never know when you might be in position to make use of that information.

Projects

• Clan Pages: Lead: Andrelious. This project is basically complete with the movement of all the Clan pages. The aftermath of this, and working with the Clans in order to update their pages if they so desire, has been handed off to Andrelious.
• Accessibility: Lead: V’yr. The first phase of this project which will consist of developing the magazine style table of contents system for our Clan category pages. Once a tentative plan is in place for a standardized system, we’ll be working with the Clans to make sure their specific concerns aren’t steamrolled by the march of progress. Work will also be proceeding on a redesign of the wiki’s front page to meet the same goals for the overall wiki itself. V’yr’s been a bit distracted by the massive mountain of HRLD work, so I think we can excuse him. A mockup of how the Clan page table of contents may be formatted can be seen here.
• Tutorial/Policy Organization: Lead: Andrelious. Right now our wiki has a lot of duplicated and, often times, contradictory data when it comes to policies for such things as character page creation. With the help of the staff, I will be looking towards taking the current information and condensing it into single articles, as well as placing all the disparate pages together into specific categories. Additionally, development of the Manual of Style document will be part of this project.
• Archivist: Back burner for now. I feel that making the wiki easier to learn, navigate, and use is a higher priority at the moment than recording event plots. That isn’t to say that clans and their members can’t take some of this project on for themselves, as that sort of work is often a really great option for Dark Jedi Knight promotion requirements. hint hint
  

Wiki Tip of the Month

This month’s tip is less about how to wiki, and more about how to use the wiki staff (in a specific instance, and echoing last month’s Final Words). On the subject of wiki character page approval, I would encourage anyone who is looking for that in order to get their promotion requirements handled to include the entire wiki staff in their emails. All members of the staff are empowered to grant that approval based on meeting the criterea listed in the Character Wiki Checklist. Our staff is spread across the globe, and therefore timezones, so they’re available at all sorts of different times. I’m usually pretty fast with getting emails back on the subject of approvals, but if you include everyone you might get a response from Andrelious in Europe while I’m still sleeping on the US west coast. That, and you can make the rest of the staff feel like you remember they are alive, and that’s always good for staff morale.

Additionally, make sure to include your master and direct unit leadership on the email chain. When approval is given, we usually like to make sure we’re informing your leadership so we can sidestep the issue of them just having to take your word for it that it was approved. Including these people on your initial email saves us a bit of the hassle of having to dig out your unit leader’s and/or master’s email addresses from the site, which is just something else slowing the process down.

Final Words

Just another reminder that the wiki staff as a whole is always here to give you a hand with wiki questions. Hit us up on telegram (many of us are on there often/always/too much), and even if the staffer you catch doesn’t know the answer they’ll track me down and make sure you get an answer. We’re there to help you guys out, so don’t hesitate!