Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Coordinators/Archives/2014

2013 Annual Report

I've mostly completed our yearly report here. It still needs the plans section completed by our new lead, User:Jonesey95. Also, if any other coordinator is inclined, they could create some pretty graphs for it, or do the usual copy editing and modifying as they see fit. Anyone that helps out should also add their name to the byline. Thanks everyone for a great year! It was a pleasure leading the guild in 2013. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 18:12, 1 January 2014 (UTC)

Thank you Torchiest, it's good to have a summary of our work and I appreciate the time you and the other coordinators have put into the reports over the past year. I've just been tidying the 2013 request archive page and fixing some table sortation errors and inconsistencies; I think I got them all... Happy New Annum to all GOCE members and coordinators; your work is truly appreciated. :-) Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 21:52, 1 January 2014 (UTC)

Very nice job, Torchiest (as always), and I'll be happy to see you whenever you can get around here. Happy New Year and all the best, Miniapolis 03:29, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

I'd like to put my two cents in, but I'm otherwise occupied for the next 12-18 hours. I'll see if I can squeeze in a little time to say a few words. – Jonesey95 (talk) 04:54, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

I'll add a few sentences about the requests page. I make the total of articles in the archive to be 577; five were declined and four were deleted, making 568 completed requests. The report currently says 555. I've got M$ Excel but I've no idea how to make graphs with it; this might be a good chance to learn! :-) Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 02:03, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

Hm, I just copy pasted the entire list into a text editor and checked how many lines were in it there. I did miscount one because the Zenbook entry listed two editors, which showed up on separate lines. Subtracting that and the nine declined/deleted, I came up with 545. How did you get your count? —Torchiest ^talk_edits 04:45, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

I copied and pasted the table's contents into an Excel 97 page and noted the number of lines in the resulting table. The Excel page had one table entry per line, including those with multiple copy editors listed. My mistake; the Excel page has multiple lines where multiple copy-editors are listed; I think it's finding line breaks. Ah, tech! ;-) Baffle gab1978 (talk) 05:01, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

Sorry about that Torchiest; it was my mistake. After a check in Word using the line count tool I agree with your 554 --> 545 figure. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 05:31, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

I've added my contributions and adjusted the formatting a bit. If someone wants to give the whole thing, including my note, a quick copy edit, I think it's ready to go. Nice work, everyone. – Jonesey95 (talk) 05:58, 4 January 2014 (UTC)

I've read through it and not spotted anything that needed copy editing. Cheers, --Stfg (talk) 09:30, 4 January 2014 (UTC)

• Congratulations! It looks like you all had another great year. Happy New Year to all of you. − SMasters (talk) 03:08, 8 January 2014 (UTC)

January newsletter and drive wrap-up

I will be off-wiki for the next few days. Can one of my fellow coordinators take on the task of wrapping up the drive and drafting a newsletter that closes the drive? Someone also needs to calculate barnstars for the drive. I'll be happy to help distribute them starting late Sunday (US time) or early Monday. Bad timing on my part, but so it goes. – Jonesey95 (talk) 23:06, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

I got the om box updated and uploaded the most recent graphs. -- Diannaa (talk) 00:27, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, Dianna—guess we'll start doing up the barnstar table tomorrow. All the best, Miniapolis 01:34, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

I've created the newsletter and topsheet draft templates. If there's anything you need help with give me a shout, though I may not be online until late evening GMT. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 03:45, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, Baffle--I just created the barnstars page, based on November. I'll leave a note here after I update the table today, and we can tick them off as we do them (it'll be my turn to be busy tomorrow :-)). All the best, Miniapolis 15:45, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

I've added some details to the newsletter but it still needs material on the next Blitz. I will be around to help deliver barnstars once the data is ready. -- Diannaa (talk) 16:58, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks again, Dianna; don't know about anyone else, but I haven't thought that far ahead yet :-). The table is here; anyone who wants to help with the barnstars and awards, just Y what you give out. All the best, Miniapolis 19:44, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Miniapolis gave out most of the barnstars, it appears. They have all been distributed at this point.

The newsletter is ready to go. Thanks for covering for me, everyone. – Jonesey95 (talk) 04:57, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

February blitz theme needed

Good gracious, February is short. Let's get a February blitz going on Sunday. We need a theme. Here's what we have done so far:

• October 2012: WikiProjects Olympics, Albums, Football, and Television
• December 2012: Oldest tagged articles
• February 2013: Requests
• April 2013: Newest tagged articles
• June 2013: WikiProject Military History
• August 2013: Requests
• October 2013: WikiProject Film
• December 2013: Close subcategories of Category:Religion

Any WikiProjects out there that need some love? – Jonesey95 (talk) 04:38, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

I'm going to suggest something which may not have consensus, but here goes. Given our current level of participation (editors and coordinators alike), I'd rather see more attention paid to the requests list during our off months. It seems to be getting long again; for me, six to eight weeks is plenty long enough and I'd love to see it under a month. I don't think most editors requesting a copyedit before a GAN realize they'll have to wait so long for that {{GOCE}} tag. From a coordinator's standpoint, it took a long time to make up the table (thank you, Torchiest, for setting it up!), give out the leaderboard awards and a bunch of barnstars; the thought of yet another contest in two weeks (which would, FWIW, again cut into my copyediting time) is, frankly, unappealing. Thoughts? All the best, Miniapolis 14:51, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

I second that; I'd certainly welcome some shrinkage at the requests page. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 04:02, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

Makes sense. Also, wasn't there a suggestion a while back to reduce the number of concurrent requests allowed? Some requesters make new requests as soon as they can, so reducing the quota might help to achieve shrinkage. It also might help to reduce the proportion of popular culture ("broadly construed" ;)) requests, since these topics tend to be the ones that the multiple-requesters go for. (This is why I take on very few requests now. For the most part, I find the article topics ultra-boring.) --Stfg (talk) 11:40, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

I feel your pain :-). AFAIK, the limit per requester is three but how about two instead? All the best, Miniapolis 14:37, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

I think we'd have to be even-handed about decreasing the limit. I think giving an advanced notice period might be a good plan, something like , "From (say) 16 March the maximum requests will be reduced to two". The danger is the page getting flooded with requests before the limit drops, but it might stop it being used as a "one-stop shop" for copy-editing. OTOH if we don't tell people in advance we might be accused of bad faith, etc. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 20:28, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

Any more ideas about the February blitz theme, other than Requests (or killing the Blitzes altogether, which we can't do this month on short notice)? I'm tempted to go with Requests, unless someone has a brilliant idea in the next day or so. – Jonesey95 (talk) 21:34, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

While we certainly need to give notice about a change in the number-of-requests rule, I don't see any WikiProjects begging us to blitz their articles and we don't need to have a blitz just for the requests page. All the best, Miniapolis 00:48, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

I have updated the blitz page to have this blitz focus on Requests. I also added some instructions about Good Articles, since I have run afoul of the GA criteria at times. The blitz opens in a few hours.

I am open to the idea of changing the theme of blitzes, or of asking people to work on Requests in non-drive months. I do think the blitzes can be a different kind of fun activity for people who might not be as interested in the drives or requests, however, so I'd like to have a discussion here before dispensing with them altogether. – Jonesey95 (talk) 19:33, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

My two cents: the original idea for blitzes was to help us not to lose too much ground in the off months from drives, and find a fun way to do it, with more variety than just the generic drive. The blitzes can serve as a way to target any particular copy editing desire we may have, and have been used multiple times to get a bit more caught up on requests. I hope we can keep it going, even though I haven't had the time to sit down for a lot of in-depth copy editing lately. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 03:43, 15 February 2014 (UTC)

Premature requests

I wonder if we don't need to stomp on the practice of adding a request to GOCE/REQ only to tell copy editors who have started work to hold off because it isn't ready yet. It's discourteous to the copy editor who starts work only to be called off, and it has a flavour of queue-jumping. Maybe best simply to remove requests that the requester wants placed on hold, with the advice to add to the bottom again when ready? --Stfg (talk) 23:56, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

I think it's a good idea; requesters like the latest one have plenty of time to work on articles before getting a copy-edit done. I've no idea what the current 'please place oh-hold' business is about, but luckily the copy-editor who accepted the request hasn't started yet. For what it's worth I've changed my comments to that requester on the GOCE/REQ talk page.We usually decline requests for c/es to articles that aren't stable or where significant changes that affect the c/e occur while it's in progress. I've no objection to requests going 'on hold' for a short while providing the problems are settled before the c/e starts. Perhaps we could set a maximum time window for 'on hold' requests—say a fortnight—before we decline, archive and remove them. IDK what else we can do really. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 02:06, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

I agree with Simon, and left a note on the requests talk page. The list is long enough as it is without confusing things by allowing requests to be put on hold, although I just had a look at the article; I'd jumped to the conclusion that it was a typical Bollywood article, and FWIW I find those editors somewhat demanding :-). This article has encyclopedic value, though, so maybe Baffle's right and we should allow an occasional exception. All the best, Miniapolis 03:51, 13 February 2014 (UTC)

February barnstars and newsletter

February blitz barnstars and newsletter are needed. I posted a note on the Blitz talk page saying that we would work on barnstars starting 12 hours from now. – Jonesey95 (talk) 00:20, 16 February 2014 (UTC)

I've just copied the nl from last year's, updated coords etc. Wikipedia:WikiProject_Guild_of_Copy_Editors/Blitzes/February_2014/Newsletter; data can be filled in as appropriate. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 21:58, 16 February 2014 (UTC)

I've created the barnstars page; just tick 'em off as you award them. I've also updated the newsletter (thanks, Baffle). Miniapolis 00:39, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Please let me know if you would like me to continue to deliver newsletters. Alternatively, newsletters can now be delivered by admin Miniapolis using the new MediaWiki message thingy. Detailed instructions are available here. -- Diannaa (talk) 20:40, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Dianna, thanks to your link I can do it if you want to step aside. I'll holler if I need help :-). All the best, Miniapolis 00:29, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, that would be awesome. I will still be available as back-up and for periods where you are not serving as a coordinator. --Diannaa (talk) 00:56, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

Forgot the damn tildes, but I try not to make the same mistake twice :-). The barnstars are distributed, ahead of the newsletter. All the best, Miniapolis 02:57, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

March drive

I've created the March drive page and an invitation. Feedback welcome. All the best, Miniapolis 02:24, 19 February 2014 (UTC)

Looks good. I fixed the Intro page link to the previous drive's Barnstars page; I always get tripped up by that one. – Jonesey95 (talk) 06:38, 19 February 2014 (UTC)

No barnstars, please

Since we're nearing the end of the drive and will be busy enough as it is, whoever gives out the barnstars and leaderboard stuff doesn't have to give any to me. Virtue is its own reward :-). All the best, Miniapolis 23:43, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

Ditto for me too. ;-) Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 05:53, 27 March 2014 (UTC)

...and with the blitz ending, please consider this a permanent notification :-). All the best, Miniapolis 16:50, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

Same here; my ego is big enough already! :-D Thanks, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 00:43, 23 April 2014 (UTC)

March drive totals

I ran my script on the drive page and posted the results here. The leaderboard still needs to be created though. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 04:04, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Leaderboard has been matched to the results table. I also Y "gave out" barnstars to the two editors who declined them. – Jonesey95 (talk) 04:41, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks very much (and good to see you, Torchiest!); I'll give some out later today. All the best, Miniapolis 13:40, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks to Miniapolis and Diannaa for giving out the barnstars. That's a wrap, less than 24 hours after the close of the drive. – Jonesey95 (talk) 01:29, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

April 2014 Newsletter

I've created the newsletter topsheet here, and the newsletter itself is here. I've left xx where numbers and dates need filling in. Please check the figures; I've probably got something wrong somewhere! I've left the Blitz line in; it can easily be removed if necessary. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 04:46, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, Baffle; both look great (I counted 14 zero-articles from the 42, and changed 29 to 28). We have to decide about the April blitz (you know where I stand; I plan to work on the requests list this month :-)). Let me know when they're ready to go out. All the best, Miniapolis 13:51, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

They look fine. There are 28 rows in the results table, so I think Anne's count is right. --Stfg (talk) 14:18, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

I created the April blitz page. Any date preferences? I'm not particular. Once that is decided, the newsletter can go out. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:57, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

I've no preference for subject or dates either, but I suggest around mid-month to allow folks a short break between drives. Can't work 'em too hard can we? :-) Thanks for checking and fixing the numbers Miniapolis; you see why I haven't been involved with drives before this one! :-D Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 23:33, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Glad to help, and I really appreciate Torchiest doing the table. Think he mentioned a script; I did it by hand last time and almost lost my mind :-). Thanks, Dianna, for giving out a bunch of barnstars and awards. All the best, Miniapolis 23:40, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

You people put me in charge, so I have picked a date and a theme for the blitz. The newsletter is ready to distribute, and I believe that the blitz page is ready for public consumption.

Please remember to close the table on the newsletter this time, or whatever the problem was last month. – Jonesey95 (talk) 01:31, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Closing the April blitz

I have created a draft Barnstars page for the blitz. Can someone please check my math and compare the numbers to the Blitz page? I put it together quickly, so there may be errors.

We can wait for a half-day or so for people to enter their final notes, if there are any.

It looks like we had eight editors copy edit over 109,000 words, completing 28 requested articles. That's a heck of a week, and about as much as we typically get done in a month of requests. Solid work.

We'll need a newsletter and a May drive page. – Jonesey95 (talk) 01:16, 20 April 2014 (UTC)

I created the newsletter; please tweak as needed before I send it (especially the article total, because I got 15 from the blitz page rather than 28). All the best, Miniapolis 23:12, 20 April 2014 (UTC)

...and here's the May drive page (so it'll be bluelinked in the newsletter :-)). Again, please tweak as needed. All the best, Miniapolis 23:33, 20 April 2014 (UTC)

Blitz vs. drive barnstars

I began giving out the blitz barnstars, thinking that the word-count criteria were the same as here. However, to my chagrin I found that the word-count criteria are actually different for blitzes. I don't have the time (or the inclination) to re-correct what I already corrected, and suggest that a given word count should earn a given barnstar wherever. Since there's not a lot of us doing this, it's a good idea to work smart. All the best, Miniapolis 22:37, 20 April 2014 (UTC)

I'd speculate that the reason for the lower awards for blitzes is because blitzes are shorter than drives, which makes sense if one wants to encourage participation in a shorter event. However I can see that having the same award criteria as drives would make coordinators' lives a little easier. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 22:49, 20 April 2014 (UTC)

I'm OK with consolidating the barnstars to a single page, or even to single number thresholds, to alleviate this confusion, but I think that (1) we should give out the correct barnstars this time (I'll be happy to do it) and (2) Baffle gab's speculation is correct that blitzes are short, so word count thresholds were made lower. OK with me correcting the correction and issuing the blitz barnstars? – Jonesey95 (talk) 02:47, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

Since barnstars are already distributed, it may be better to let sleeping dogs lie. Until yesterday, I had no idea that the drive and blitz barnstars had different word counts; only the top of the barnstars list (before the light bulb went on here :-)) is incorrect. On future barnstar pages, it may be a good idea to list the awards (it's easy to copy-paste from the drive or blitz page); it goes much faster when you don't have to bounce back and forth. All the best, Miniapolis 14:10, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

List of easy articles

Please take a look at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Backlog elimination drives/May 2014 with my list of easy articles for newbies. I am sure that more articles can be added, and perhaps some of my choices are not easy enough. I suggest that experienced editors keep an eye on these articles, and help the newbies become proficient copyeditors. Please don't do them until the end of the month. Please make changes there, and comments to me right here.--DThomsen8 (talk) 14:03, 25 April 2014 (UTC)

June blitz, newsletter and election pages

Because June is a busy month, I've created the template pages for the June Blitz, election and newsletter pages. Variables are marked with "xx". Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 23:44, 19 May 2014 (UTC)

I made a couple of minor edits and suggested dates. I'm not tied to them, but they seemed to make sense.

Should we go with Requests as the theme again? It certainly takes a nice bite out of the queue. – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:37, 20 May 2014 (UTC)

I second the dates June 1-14 for the nominations; I think 15-28 is sensible to allow us time to inform successful candidates and a short change-over period if needed. I haven't decided whether to self-nom yet, but I probably will.

I'm all for reducing the Requests queue so I second your proposal. I think next time though we (or incoming co-ords) ought to choose a subject-based theme to avoid stagnation in the blitzes; perhaps they could alternate between a subject-based theme and the Requests page—we need to keep people interested. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 03:57, 20 May 2014 (UTC)

Alternating between requests topics is a good idea. It's great to see the requests getting cleared quicker. Otoh, one of the things Torchiest mentioned when he set up the blitzes was that working on a topic helps to make us visible to the Wikiprojects we've (hopefully) helped. --Stfg (talk) 10:15, 20 May 2014 (UTC)

Indeed. Promoting ourselves to WikiProjects can lead to new copy editors. Clearing out the requests list leads to... more requests. ;-) —Torchiest ^talk_edits 13:23, 20 May 2014 (UTC)

I like working on articles within a theme or project as well. Any suggestions? – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:32, 20 May 2014 (UTC)

WikiProject Politics comes up with 37 results. It's a pretty broad project, so there's a variety of topics. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 03:13, 21 May 2014 (UTC)

I second that; it's an achievable target and a subject that should interest many editors. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 05:03, 29 May 2014 (UTC)

I agree that it is a good subject. Note that some articles are only a section to do, and not a long article. For example, Svoboda (political party) is only the section on "Post-2012 elections and Euromaidan campaign." --DThomsen8 (talk) 17:52, 29 May 2014 (UTC)

OK, let's do it. I have pasted the article list into the blitz page. – Jonesey95 (talk) 00:14, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

Dates? I think June 8–14 or 15–21 are the most reasonable ranges. Any coordinator who wants to pick one of those ranges and put them in the newsletter and the blitz page will hear no objections from me. – Jonesey95 (talk) 00:21, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

Done—15 to 21 it is. I hope everyone's okay with that. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 23:14, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

I think the June newsletter is ready to go. Anyone want to check it? Who will send it out? Thanks. – Jonesey95 (talk) 04:17, 5 June 2014 (UTC)

I have checked it and will sent it out now. -- Diannaa (talk) 12:23, 5 June 2014 (UTC)

Thx

Hi all

Thanks for all your help and support over the last few months, things have been difficult here in RL and I have appreciated all the kind words. Apologies for my last attempt at a copyedit, those RL issues really did get in the way and left me feeling bad about the periods of inactivity whilst trying to complete the CE. I had intimated a return to copyediting and the drives, so rather just disappear without explanation ...

I was supposed to be moving house at the end of August, after an operation in March/April, and was looking forwards to some free time in-between and a return to editing and GOCE. The operation was cancelled as it appeared I was OK by the beginning of March, and the moving date was brought forwards. Due to situations beyond my control the moving date was brought forwards again, and I relaspsed that same week. In short, I am stuffed and am going to have to take a Wikibreak. I will be back at the end of July after the operation and recovery and then my move and settling in period. It is clear that I will just have to limit my activities to editing when I can and that might be as little as once a week for an hour or two (I can sense the withdrawls coming already).

I cannot commit to GOCE as I wanted to until then, and as GOCE and the Robotics Project are my Wikiworld, I thought I should at least explain a little more to you all - you have been wonderful and supportive and I will return in two months! Chaosdruid (talk) 12:01, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

Sorry to hear about all your difficulties! But don't worry about it. Recover, rest, relocate, and return when you're ready. We'll be here, pushing back at the wall of gibberish like always. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 12:12, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

RL comes first. Take care and rest when you can (difficult, I know, when you're moving house :-)); we'll be here when you get back. Wishing you a speedy recovery and all the best, Miniapolis 13:17, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

Best wishes from me also. I wish you good success with your medical condition and hope you come back to us soon. -- Diannaa (talk) 14:08, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

Likewise. Good luck with the operation and the house move. I look forward to seeing you back here well and settled. --Stfg (talk) 14:26, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

Chaosdruid, I echo the sentiments above and wish you well and hope your move and operation go well. Of course real life must come first; please don't feel bad about not being able to edit here. Have a good break from Wiki and look forward to your return. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 21:59, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

May totals finished

I've added the results table here. For Lfstevens, he didn't update his numbers much on the main page, but he keeps separate lists when he does his big push months. He has 602 articles on that list, and I just added 80,000 words to his total, figuring he almost certainly averaged 133 words per article. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 14:04, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

Thanks to Lfstevens epic effort, the number of articles in the backlog is the lowest it's been since we started keeping records in 2009. Kudos -- Diannaa (talk) 14:11, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

I updated the leaderboard (one minor edit) and made corrections to one row (Lfstevens). It all looks good to me. Feel free to give out barnstars. Note that there are a couple of editors who do not want them; see the note at the top of the page. – Jonesey95 (talk) 16:42, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

I did all the easy ones. :P —Torchiest ^talk_edits 18:27, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

The barnstars are done (not by me...). Nice work. – Jonesey95 (talk) 04:15, 5 June 2014 (UTC)

Ombox at the top of blitz and drive pages?

Should we put the Ombox on the blitz and drive pages? It is one of the main ways that we get time-sensitive news out to active copy editors. I think it would be a good idea.

If I were inserting it, I might shrink it a bit, maybe just making the font size 100%. Some sandboxing may be in order. – Jonesey95 (talk) 19:27, 18 June 2014 (UTC)

I'd like to see the Ombox presented there, though considering that editors probably use the Ombox to navigate their ways to the blitzes and drives, it would seem redundant to tell them about an event they're already participating in. I also think it would add extra clutter to the pages, which already have three lines of links with the navigation template. it would be good to see a sandboxed version to see how it would work. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 16:07, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

I agree with Baffle; I think it's redundant, but a sandbox version may prove me wrong. All the best, Miniapolis 00:07, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

Where do people see it, if not the drive/blitz pages? I imagine that those are the most frequently viewed pages by active GOCE members, but I could be wrong. – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:38, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

Obviously I don't know where others see the Ombox or make their ways to the drives and blitzes; I normally navigate to them through the Ombox on the Requests page or through my contribs page. I realise drives and blitzes aren't the only things we promote using the Ombox; elections are pretty important of course! But they are the things I've most frequently been placing there, so it seems to me redundant to tell an editor about a a page s/he's just arrived at from elsewhere. Anyway i'll put a mock-up in my sandbox; see what you think. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 23:49, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

There's a sandboxed version of the March drive page in my sandbox. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 23:58, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

What to do while ...?

I've raised an SPI on the requester of WP:GOCE/REQ#Justin Bieber, but am not sure what we do with such a request pending the SPI being processed. Any ideas? --Stfg (talk) 19:47, 18 June 2014 (UTC)

Innocent until proven guilty? I would let it sit on the list. If there are any Beliebers among us, someone will have fun copy editing the article soon. If not, it will probably sit for a few weeks as it works its way to the top of the queue. – Jonesey95 (talk) 20:00, 18 June 2014 (UTC)

Sounds good. Thanks. --Stfg (talk) 20:14, 18 June 2014 (UTC)

The sock is now confirmed, and as a significant contributor to the article has stated that it needs expansion as well as copy editing, I've gone ahead and archived it as declined. --Stfg (talk) 18:25, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

June blitz barnstar table question

Although the table is sortable, when I tried to sort the "Word count award" column (to make giving out the barnstars easier :-)) the "Overall Totals" row gets mixed in and the only way I can fix it is to refresh the page (which, of course, loses the sorting). If we eliminate that row the table's truly sortable, but if we need to keep track of total words and articles (and I'm not sure we do) maybe we need to lose the "sortable" attribute or whatever it's called. Thoughts? All the best, Miniapolis 00:47, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

I added a {{Hs}} template to each cell in the Totals row, which adds a hidden sort key. There is probably a more elegant way to do it. It works in all of the columns except the Old Rollover Totals; I can't explain that one.

Does that make things work better for you? And thanks for distributing the barnstars! – Jonesey95 (talk) 02:04, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

I tried changing {{Hs|zzzz}} to {{Hs|999999}} in the numeric columns and it appeared to do the trick on preview, but on saving the page it was back to the old behaviour. Maybe something funny about how {{Hs}} works? --Stfg (talk) 07:33, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

It works for what I needed it to do, which was to group the barnstars. Thanks and all the best, Miniapolis 13:38, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

July drive invitation / newsletter

Hi all; I've created the July newsletter page here; please feel free to make any necessary changes. The usual variables are marked with asterisks; I'll have a go at filling in the blitz data. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 01:33, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

Looks good so far. -- Diannaa (talk) 03:17, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

I made some edits. I think it's done. – Jonesey95 (talk) 06:49, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, Jonesey and Diannaa; I've added a thanks for work at the Requests page too. Do we need a topsheet for the NL? Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 14:00, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

Looks like it's ready to go; let Diannaa, Torchiest or me (who will be very careful :-)) know when it is. All the best, Miniapolis 16:18, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

(ec) I made a topsheet, as the newsletter is kinda long. Please review, and I will do the send-out shortly: Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Newsletters/July 2014/Topsheet -- Diannaa (talk) 16:28, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

August Newsletter

I've created the August newsletter page for completion here; variables are marked with X's. This one should be quite short so I've not created a topsheet. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 01:47, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

Looks good, Baffle. Thanks and all the best, Miniapolis 13:24, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

I note from his talk page Jonesey95 will be on wikibreak from 1st to 10th of August. Any suggestions for dates and a theme for the August Blitz, so we can promote and set up the pages? I'm going to Airgate for my hols so I'll be around all month. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 23:34, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

See suggestion below. Maybe not a Blitz.--DThomsen8 (talk) 23:58, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

Yes, I was just about to come over here to post that I'll be away from WP for a week, so I won't be able to do any of the post-drive stuff or discuss a blitz topic (unless we can settle on something in the next 24 hours or so). I might be able to set up the blitz page before I go. – Jonesey95 (talk) 05:10, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

August blitz theme ideas

Some theme ideas:

• Requests (we did this in February and April, and the Requests queue is smaller these days than it has been for a while)
• June 2013 articles (currently 33 articles)
• Some sort of WikiProject. I get an error when trying to run catscan right now, but maybe something broad like Wikiproject Europe or Wikiproject History.
• Some combination of the above. We have edited about 20–30 articles during each blitz so far this year, so don't get too ambitious. – Jonesey95 (talk) 05:27, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

Hello everyone! I'm back from a wikibreak. We need to get an August theme and dates chosen ASAP. I'll do it if nobody else steps up. – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:33, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

Blitz set up, time to distribute the newsletter

I have finished setting up the blitz after being away from serious WP work for a while. The newsletter is done and ready to distribute.

I will be away from WP for the start of the blitz. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:52, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

Articles reviewed by the Guild of Copy Editors - August effort?

My effort so far on the July drive has been the addition of {{GOCEreviewed|user=Dthomsen8|date=July 2014|issues=Awaiting deletion results before copyediting}} on the talk pages of articles with PROD or AfD tag. Articles go in Category:Articles reviewed by the Guild of Copy Editors and disappear from the category if actually deleted. Perhaps the GOCEreviewed tag may be deleted for other reasons by editors who see it and realize it should go, and a copyedit tag placed on the article. Currently there are 826 articles in the category.

My suggestion is an August effort to look over those articles and change them into active copyedit tags where appropriate. Yes, I understand that this will add to our backlog, but at least some of these articles are worthy of our efforts. Perhaps we could place them in a different category from our usual backlog, and count them differently (maybe extra credit?) in the next blitzes or drives. What do you think?--DThomsen8 (talk) 23:54, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

Sounds like a good idea to me. Thanks for the suggestion and all the best, Miniapolis 01:39, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

I replied here. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 03:05, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

GOCE members at Wikimania 2014

Will there be any other GOCE members at Wikimania 2014? I leave for Gatwick on Saturday evening from Newark. --DThomsen8 (talk) 00:53, 2 August 2014 (UTC)

I replied here. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 01:34, 2 August 2014 (UTC)

July drive totals

I've built the table here, but I don't have time to hand out anything right now. Cheers. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 13:34, 2 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks! Miniapolis 14:06, 2 August 2014 (UTC)

Newbies on the requests page (and in drives generally)

I've received two mentorship requests in the last 24 hours. I don't know if new copyeditors are being sent to me or are finding me on their own, but a concern is that they've both signed up for the August blitz (focusing, appropriately, on the requests page). Although there's a caveat (often ignored; I should know, since I ignored it myself when I started :-)) that newcomers shouldn't copyedit request articles until they have some experience, we've had periodic complaints from request-page regulars about copyedit quality by new copyeditors. Another issue is that some copyeditors (not all new) see mainly the "contest" aspect of the drives and blitzes and forget that the object of the game is more than winning a barnstar or leaderboard award. Incentives have their place, but I think that while newcomers shouldn't be discouraged from participating in the drives and (non-request) blitzes, they don't need to be particularly encouraged either. They'll find them on their own, and I hope this groundswell of interest (accompanied by shaky grammar) isn't just to get a barnstar. Thoughts? All the best, Miniapolis 13:40, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

It may be a good idea to have veteran copy editors review all completed Requests before archiving them. I will be happy to review some of them. I added a note to the Blitz page about Requests and the GA criteria. Maybe an additional, more-detailed note on the Blitz's Talk page would be a good idea once the blitz gets started. It could include links to GA and FA prose criteria. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:53, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Thing is, nobody likes to be told their written language skills are shaky and they might not even realise just how shaky they are (see Dunning–Kruger effect). I too hate to discourage newbies, who might turn out to be great copy-editors, and I hate to be prescriptive. We could encourage copy-editors to inform requesters with the {{GOCEstartce}} template, and maybe even make it a prerequisite for drives and blitzes. If you want, I could make a version of the template to be used during drives and blitzes. I'm also happy to check some copy-edits; but what do we say to copy-editors if their c/es are found wanting? As usual, implementing simple QC checks throws up problems. Just my 2d worth. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 22:12, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks to you both for the thoughtful (and thought-provoking) feedback. I'm not sure it's feasible to vet all completed requests before archiving. The archiving alone is time-consuming; I wish there was a way to archive by month instead of scrolling down the extremely-long page. Baffle, you're right that there's no pain-free way to tell someone that their work's not up to par. One of my mentees (much as I dislike that word :-)) took my hint about the requests page and said they'll wait for September (which is only a few days away), and I guess the best thing is to wait for complaints and put the fires out then (as we've been doing). The GA and FA prose criteria are vague, mainly mentioning compliance with the MOS. All the best, Miniapolis 00:11, 23 August 2014 (UTC)

Copy edit needs reviewing

Hi all. I've just returned the "completed" request for Equilibrium (film) to the request page, from which it had been deleted without archiving, and I took a quick look at the "copy edit" done. As noted on the request page and at the copy editor's talk page, there are all sorts of problems with it. Please could one of you take a close look and decide what should be done here? TIA. Simon. --Stfg (talk) 17:24, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

I reviewed the changes and am unhappy with the copy-edit; although there were some good changes, most of them don't seem to have improved the article. The plot section is over-lengthy but the c/e seems to have cut details arbitrarily I've thus reverted to the pre-c/e version here. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 19:20, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

 Done I have copy edited this article after it was reverted. Feel free to review my edits and see what I have missed. Please don't treat my edits differently just because I am a GOCE coordinator.

TheQ Editor: This is a courtesy ping to let you know that your edits are being discussed here. – Jonesey95 (talk) 21:03, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

@Jonesey95: would I ever treat your edits differently just because you're a GOCE coordinator?! I found the deliberate error --Stfg (talk) 22:08, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

@Jonesey95:, thanks for the ping. I looked over the changes and have learned quite a lot from it. It's just that while reading from WP:FILMPLOT, it states that "Plot summaries for feature films should be between 400 and 700 words." I checked over the current version's plot length and it is around 1000. There are still some parts where it includes minor details, some parts the audience doesn't need to know about to understand the plot. Cheers,  ΤheQ Editor  ^Talk? 23:24, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. I have seen that recommendation before but did not focus on it during this copy edit. I'll take another look at it. – Jonesey95 (talk) 23:34, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

More QC blues

This is nuts. I'm afraid to archive anything not done by me or another one of the regulars, and it's just too much work to check every copyedit by our herd of newbies (especially since they're working way too fast on FACs). I finally asked Valfury how they heard of the GOCE, after an FAC critiqued with "clunky prose" in a PR got a lick and a promise. We owe the editors who trust us more than this. Where the hell are all these new copyeditors coming from? Miniapolis 22:26, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

We seem to be being gamed, if not trolled; one editor has a number of requests, with one or two editors (one of whom is Wilhelmina Will) doing all the copyediting. This sucks. Miniapolis 22:47, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

Valfury is out of control; see the bottom of the requests page (I'm not sure if they're working in tandem with Junperson). This degree of disruption is unprecedented in my experience. Miniapolis 22:55, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

On an unrelated matter, the blitz progress page needs updating (hasn't been done since the 26th) but I don't know how to handle the "Daily articles edited" parameter (especially with the requests page the mess it is now). FWIW, I've always had mixed feelings about the blitzes; we obviously can't have another request-page blitz, and in any event (since I enjoy working on requests) this will probably be my last one. Miniapolis 23:51, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

I've checked a few of Valfury's c/es; the ones for the Brazilian swimmers seem to be fine, though they don't seem to need a huge amount of work so I've let those go. After seeing your review of his/her c/e of Loving You (1957 film), I unarchived and returned it to the Requests page. His/her edits there were helpful ones, but as you say they're not thorough enough for a GAN. I spotted some text that needs work, including some WP:SAID fixes—which the GA criteria requires compliance with.

You're right Miniapolis; there's some odd stuff going on around the Guild at the moment. Wilhelmina Will is an old hand and should know the ropes; she's been taking part in drives and blitzes for years. I have some suspicions about Junperson's past and it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to work that one out (check our 2014 request archives), but I'm not sure it's connected to what's going on here. Unless someone's socking, the only thing I can think might be channelling no0bs our way is the Wikimania event that Dthomsen8 attended earlier this month. I wonder if that's anything to do with it. Perhaps the moon is in the wrong sign for copy-editing at the moment... :~\ Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 04:35, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

That may be the reason in some cases, but several of the newbies are from North America. As for the moon ... well, perhaps we didn't ought to attract people to the requests page during the school holidays in future? I agree with you about Valfury. The changes they do make are good; they just need to make more of them. --Stfg (talk) 12:34, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

Yes, I probably came down too hard on Valfury and will apologize. Some of the timestamps (but not all—you're right, Simon) suggest the UK and Baffle, you may be right about the Teahouse sending editors here as well as Wikimania. WW is strange; I remember them being all over WikiProject Wikify when I was active there. I wonder if part of the problem is that the Guild may have become too contest-oriented. When I joined in late 2010 there were just the bimonthly drives, and that and the requests page were enough to keep the regulars amused. We may be sending a different message (do something to an article, win a barnstar) than we intend to. Thanks for the replies and all the best, Miniapolis 15:50, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

I am reviewing the articles marked as  Done during the August blitz. I am restoring a few of them that are still in need of copy editing to the Requests page. It's not all bad – most of the ones I have reviewed so far were improved during the blitz and have been improved more since then. – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:42, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

 Done reviewing. I returned only two articles to the Requests page. Let's put this unpleasantness behind us. – Jonesey95 (talk) 04:36, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

Mentorship program, tabs and proposed housekeeping

Found the reason two editors in two days asked me to mentor them: I'm the only warm body left on the mentorship program page. Since I don't want to be the only "official" mentor and others have been willing to informally mentor (I will too), I'd like to mark the page historical and remove it and WP:GOCE/CEM from the tabs for less clutter. Any objections? I'd also like to mark Wikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Software historical (or G6 it); it was created and edited a handful of times by one editor early last year, with nothing done since. Also, can we G6 WP:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Requests/Potential Featured Articles and its redirect (WP:GOCE/FA)? Both pages haven't been used for a couple of years, since the FACs were moved to the requests page. WP:GOCELOG is a redirect to a single backlog-reduction drive (September 2013). I'd like to get rid of unnecessary drop-down search results when editors type "WP:GOCE". All the best, Miniapolis 20:07, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

Good idea to tidy up. Those all look fine to me, but pinging Dank about the software page and Torchiest about the CEM. --Stfg (talk) 20:58, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

No objection. - Dank (push to talk) 22:16, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for the pings, Simon; Dank, sorry I didn't. No rush here; I'll wait to hear from Torchiest about that page (and am just planning to remove the tab, since it's inactive). All the best, Miniapolis 22:52, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

Oh sorry, I dropped a cog. I don't think removing the tab is controversial, if we're keeping the page (as historical). The CEMs have been inactive for ages, so the tab isn't needed. Cheers, Simon. --Stfg (talk) 23:31, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

I'm fine with all that. We can always re-add it later if there's a groundswell of popular demand (not likely :). —Torchiest ^talk_edits 11:26, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks all. Miniapolis 13:29, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

No objections to tidying up; the mentoring program can always be re-started if any editors think it's needed. I'd prefer that pupils pay attention in their English classes, but we can't have everything. ;-) Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 00:41, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

August blitz barnstars page...

...is here. Miniapolis 15:28, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

October Blitz

What are the planned dates for this month's Blitz? The page is here. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 02:33, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, but after the August fiasco my opinion about blitzes is no secret :-). All the best, Miniapolis 13:46, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Not Requests, certainly. The dates would have to be October 19–25.

I think the Blitzes with project-related themes have been fun. I'm hoping the August Requests blitz was just an anomaly.

Ideas for a theme? I tried a few WikiProjects that came to mind randomly, like WikiProject Albums (13 articles), WikiProject History (15 articles). We have edited about 20 articles in previous blitzes.

We could also just focus on the July 2013 backlog month. There are currently 54 articles there. Preferences? – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:18, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Thanks Jonesey; how about History and Albums? That gives us 28 articles to choose from, and I think it's possible at least one will be completed. Miniapolis, I also hope the August fiasco won't be repeated. I'll put the dates on the page. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 18:58, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

History and Albums works for me. That gives us some variety. – Jonesey95 (talk) 19:15, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

 Done. I think the blitz page is ready for public consumption. We may need to update the article list (use the two catscan links above, if they are functional at the time) just before the blitz opens.

We need a newsletter to close out the September drive (and maybe mention the August blitz) and announce the October blitz. – Jonesey95 (talk) 20:41, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

I'm on it here. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 21:18, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

The NL is ready for checking; I'd have liked to include the graph but it hasn't been updated since June. Topsheet is here. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 22:33, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

(Outdent) Both look good; thanks, Baffle. All the best, Miniapolis 22:55, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

They're ready to send then, unless anyone wants to add or alter anything. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 23:51, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Sending -- Diannaa (talk) 00:14, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

Baffle gab1978, I updated the graph. – Jonesey95 (talk) 01:05, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

Thanks Jonesey; I'll insert it in a bit. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 02:02, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

(←) So who's noticed the deliberate mistake in the topsheet? *facepalm* :-D Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 02:57, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

What mistake? I think we should mention the election results in every topsheet, just to remind people who is responsible for the late newsletters, hastily-constructed blitzes on poorly-chosen themes, etc. Your duly elected Lead Coordinator, – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:59, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

LOL Miniapolis 16:23, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

November drive

I will be away from WP for the start of the drive. Can someone please remember to update the article counts on Oct 31 at 23:59 UTC? Thanks. – Jonesey95 (talk) 17:11, 29 October 2014 (UTC)

I'll try; I need to work out how to do that first! ;-) Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 00:15, 30 October 2014 (UTC)

I should be around too. All the best, Miniapolis 00:58, 30 October 2014 (UTC)

First, load the drive page and click "refresh" at the top of the list of backlog months. Then, manually add the numbers for the oldest three months (the drive's target months). Also make a note of the total number of articles in the backlog (in the same list).

Edit the "Progress chart" section. Find the "GAN changes" row for October 31, and replace the last two numbers with the old article count and the backlog count, respectively. That's what you do on October 31 at 23:59 UTC.

To add a row to the Progress chart at 23:59 UTC each day, copy the row above it, change the day, replace the old article count, and then – this is the tricky part – you need three backlog totals. In order, they are the current backlog total, the previous day's total, and the total at the start of the drive. After a few days, you'll end up with something like this:

{{GAN changes|2014|10|31|330|2484}}
{{GAN changes|2014|11|1|324|2481|2484|2484}}
{{GAN changes|2014|11|2|310|2473|2480|2484}}

Which makes the progress chart look like this:

Progress Chart

Date	Jul/Aug/Sep old articles	Outstanding tags	Change since previous day	Change since beginning
31 October 2014	330	2,484	—	—
1 November 2014	324	2,481	3	3
2 November 2014	310	2,473	7	11

It's not programming, really. Use the Preview button and it won't be too scary. – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:59, 30 October 2014 (UTC)

Hand-holding

Is it just me, or is the GOCE average age falling? In four years here, I've never seen such a need for mentoring (a first copyedit a request article, followed by "Help! Please check this"). We may not be emphasizing enough that WP:GOCE/REQ is for seasoned copyeditors, and I wonder if at least some of our newer copyeditors know that the backlog even exists. I'd much rather copyedit than grade papers, as it were, and don't remember this being as much of a problem in the past. It's hard to get the work done with the need for this much checking. Thoughts? All the best, Miniapolis 21:23, 15 November 2014 (UTC)

I've also wondered where these newbie editors are coming from; is someone or some other project funneling them our way? I'll be doing drive c/e checks this week; I've been doing other GOCE stuff, like article vetting. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 05:35, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Blitz idea: trim the big months

Just an idea that came to me for a blitz: backlog months with over 100 articles in them. Sometimes the oldest months have challenging articles in them, so they may be less fun for a blitz, but picking some of the lower-hanging fruit in the most populated months may be a good activity for newer copy editors. It also provides a diversity of articles.

Thoughts? Feel free to improve on this very rough idea. – Jonesey95 (talk) 18:21, 16 November 2014 (UTC)

I'm in general agreement with this idea, but I'm a little concerned about those "challenging" articles. The ones I've removed from the backlog are totally unsuited for copy-editng in their current state; referencing problems, original research, fancruft, dodgy translations and copyvios abound. Some folk seem to see copy-editing as an article rescue service. If we can have a fortnight's notice of which month(s) will be blitzed, I'll be happy to vet the articles as I've been doing currently. All months except August 2013 have over 100 articles, so there's plenty of choice there! Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 05:46, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Leaderboard updates

Is my brain sputtering, or did the drive-page leaderboard section once have instructions to update our own numbers? I think some of our newer copyeditors may think that someone else does it for them. If no one objects, I'll tack on a note to that effect. All the best, Miniapolis 16:32, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

Hm. They used to be there. See, for example, the May 2013 drive. I don't have time right now to find out when they disappeared. I have restored them. – Jonesey95 (talk) 17:55, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

It's probably my fault, since I created the current drive page. I noticed it's removed when the drive is hatted, so I must have done a copy/paste from a hatted version. Baffle gab1978 (talk) 22:22, 20 November 2014 (UTC)

Editor of the Week

Congratulations to my esteemed colleague, Baffle gab1978, for being named the WP Editor of the Week for the week beginning November 23. A well-deserved honor! All the best, Miniapolis 15:03, 24 November 2014 (UTC)

Thanks again Miniapolis; unfortunately my QC checks review1 don't seem to be too conducive to editor retention: diff1, diff2. :-/ Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 23:49, 24 November 2014 (UTC)

Don't take it personally; frankly, I'm surprised since he seemed to be a big help. Did you get a complaint from Neelix? You may want to warm-and-fuzzy your comments a bit; when I see "Overall improvements" on a POS I've sweated blood over, it is a bit off-putting (and I have a thick skin, largely as a result of having bigger fish to fry :-)). I'll leave a note on their talk page. All the best, Miniapolis 01:13, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

Thanks; I was quite surprised that the user did that too. There was no complaint from Neelix to me but he did make some comments in the edit summaries. I chose the article to review randomly from the user's inventory, and I called it as I saw it. I like to keep review comments short so I don't dump too much text in the lists. "Overall improvements" seemed to be a fairly neutral way of saying, "you did a good job"; it was never intended to be demeaning or judgemental and I'm sorry about that. Now I know why you don't like "grading papers"! Yes it's shocking weather there; I hope it's not too bad where you are. I want to hibernate until March. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 02:06, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, Baffle; today is shaping up better than yesterday (I'm much too old to be dragging wet sandbags around :-)), and we're looking forward to Thanksgiving with family. Didn't mean to be critical at all; you do a job I don't care to, and I was only trying to see things from their POV. All the best, Miniapolis 14:38, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

I would be very happy to receive a grade of "overall improvements", whether the article was in good shape or a POS before I started. I see WP as a effort involving continual improvement, where no single editor is going to bring an article to perfection. If I leave a tagged article considerably better than I found it, I'm happy.

I am sure that I introduce some minor problems to prose in articles that I copy edit, or delete more text than some other editors would prefer that I do, but I try to make the article inarguably better in ten or twenty places for every decrease in quality that my choices introduce. If copy edits make an article worse than it was before an edit, we should note that, as we did in the last blitz, since we need to have integrity in our guild's process. Thanks for reviewing articles, Baffle gab1978. – Jonesey95 (talk) 03:40, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

(←) Thank you both for your comments; they're much appreciated. Jonesey's correct; this project shouldn't let its standards slide and risk its integrity otherwise there's little point being here. And while I realise nobody's perfect and we're all volunteers, I do feel annoyed when someone decides to leave because of something I've done—especially after receiving such a complement as above. I do hope the editor reconsiders his/her stance and doesn't take it personally. And I hope the wet-sandbag-dragging is over! Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 01:51, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

Election time

It's that time again; the page is here. I'll pop an announcement into the Ombox. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 01:51, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

There's a Dec newsletter template here. I've added election dates and times, and Nov Drive and Dec Blitz texts. It needs Blitz dates and targets, and Drive results, and probalby some more work on the prose etc. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 01:15, 28 November 2014 (UTC)

Topsheet here. Baffle gab1978 (talk) 01:26, 28 November 2014 (UTC)

All look good; thanks again (I've been busy with Thanksgiving, hard on the heels of the not-quite-winter storm). All the best, Miniapolis 16:11, 30 November 2014 (UTC)

November Drive results

If everyone has finished updating their totals, I will run my script this evening and post the results to the Barnstars page. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 17:12, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks Torchiest, then I can add the figures to the newsletter. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 20:26, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. I cleaned up the Drive page, so the script should not have any trouble processing the information there. – Jonesey95 (talk) 21:24, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

The totals are now posted. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 10:39, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks again. I'll have time to work on the barnstars in a day or two, unless someone else wants to do them sooner. Miniapolis 14:47, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

 Done. I have distributed all of the awards except for my own, using the new {{GOCE award}} template. It took less than twenty minutes to distribute all of them, including the leaderboard awards! One of our editors has been globally banned by the WMF, so the editor's talk page is locked and I did not distribute a barnstar. – Jonesey95 (talk) 15:44, 6 December 2014 (UTC)

Should we remove "Signing up" sections from old blitz/drive pages?

I just reverted a new editor who "signed up" for the November drive here and the October Blitz here. I know this sounds like pedantry but I wonder whether we should delete the "signing up" sections of these pages when they're hatted once the drive/blitz has finished to stop button-pushers from doing this. I'll be happy to do this in our old pages. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 20:26, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

Go for it if you want, but it seems like too much bother to me. I can't remember this ever happening before. You can't prevent every bad thing from happening; if someone wants to ignore the big multi-colored warnings about editing pages, they're going to do it no matter what we do. That's why we have watchlists, I figure. – Jonesey95 (talk) 21:42, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for your reply Jonesey; yes I know I can't fix everything and I'm not trying to. This was done up until May 2013 with drives, and December 2012 with Blitzes anyway, so it's only few pages and it's something I can do here-and-there. Button-pressers gonna press buttons, i suppose... ;-) Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 22:14, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

I agree with Jonesey, and you've been busy enough :-). All the best, Miniapolis 23:44, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

When I was more active in the GOCE, I used to remove those sections because it did occasionally cause problems. The most common place for it was the now defunct Copy Edit of the Month. I would pull each step of the process out entirely to prevent people from submitting to the wrong month. That was a bit more confusing because there were always two in progress months at a time. —Torchiest ^talk_edits 11:17, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

It's  Done; thanks all for your comments. I hope that signing-up editor wasn't serious! :-) Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 03:00, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

Can you do this for the January 2015 drive?--DThomsen8 (talk) 00:41, 4 February 2015 (UTC)

 Done --Biblioworm 00:51, 4 February 2015 (UTC)

December NL

The December newsletter is partly ready. I've put the Nov drive figures in; feel free to check and change if necessary as always—I've probably made some silly error(s)— though I've not counted one editor who did a poor c/e on two articles. I think people should know the backlog was briefy below 2,000! :-) The NL is waiting for December Blitz dates (or just remove that line), but needs to go out soon because of the election. If I'm bored later this week I'll start prepping the annual report. Also, remind me if there's anything to prep before January since I'm not planning to be around much until April. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 07:09, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

For the December blitz, I don't have any great ideas. Should we work on December 2013, since the articles are a year old? I'm grasping at straws. Last year, we worked on articles related to Religion. A catscan search for Religion articles gives 54 articles, which is plenty to work with. Let's decide something soon, though. – Jonesey95 (talk) 17:33, 7 December 2014 (UTC)

I'll second Religion; it seems appropriate for this time of year. Dec 2013 could perhaps be used as a backup in case we run out or articles again (a good situation!). Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 12:24, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

Please deliver the newsletter. I put in the blitz topic. I'll finish up the blitz page too. – Jonesey95 (talk) 06:20, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

Easy way to give out barnstars?

I've always given out barnstars for drives using manual copy and paste. It takes way too long. Is there a way to subst a template to make it easy? What I'd like to give out is something like this:

		The Most Excellent Order of the Caretaker's Star
		This barnstar is awarded to USER for copy edits totaling over XXX words as part of the GOCE November 2014 copy edit drive. Thanks for all your help! – Jonesey95 (talk) 02:09, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

And for the leaderboard awards, I'd like to give out something like this:

		Guild of Copy Editors Leaderboard Award: Total Articles, XXXth Place
		This Leaderboard Barnstar is awarded to USER for copyediting XXX articles during the GOCE November Backlog Elimination Drive. Congratulations, and thank you for your contributions! – Jonesey95 (talk) 02:09, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

I'd like to be able to type something like this on the user's talk page:

{{subst:GOCE-Drive-Barnstar|award=wordcount|star=Excellent|user=Username|month=November}}
{{subst:GOCE-Drive-Barnstar|award=article-count|place=4th|articles=11|user=Username|month=November}}

and have the two boxes above appear with my signature. Do we have anything like this that I am just missing? If not, do we have template coders in our midst who could rig up something like this? I can take a stab at it myself, but my template-coding skills are not wonderful. – Jonesey95 (talk) 02:09, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

I'm not sure about the rest of it, but you can use the magic word {{PAGENAME}} to add the user's name to the barnstar template. We might be able to combine all the awards we use into a single template and have each award called by parameters. It might be worth trying it out if that's your idea. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 03:18, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

That's my idea. I'll let it simmer for a bit. – Jonesey95 (talk) 05:02, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

Sounds good; I might play around in my sandbox with that. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 05:28, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

I worked up a rough specification at User:Jonesey95/sandbox3. It does not account for blitzes; if we can make it work for drives first, blitzes should be easy. – Jonesey95 (talk) 06:28, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, both of you, since I've found giving out the barnstars very time-consuming. Template editing isn't my strong suit and my couple of attempts at it have been clunky, so additional input is very welcome. All the best, Miniapolis 14:45, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

Progress at User:Jonesey95/sandbox3. It works for leaderboard awards, I think, though I haven't tested it thoroughly. You can subst it into your own talk page or sandbox using {{subst:User:Jonesey95/sandbox3|place=3|award=words|number=40,000}}. Variables that work are |award=, |place=, and |number=. Username, month, and your signature are added automatically. – Jonesey95 (talk) 19:25, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

 Done ! That was fun. The template is available for use at {{GOCE award}}. It needs to be substed. Basically, copy and paste one of the examples to an editor's talk page, change the parameter values, and preview to make sure it looks right, then save. You can give a block of multiple awards by placing multiple "subst" statements one after the other, one on each line. Please try it out and make sure it works for you.

Also, the documentation needs work. I made it mostly for myself, but it needs a clearer explanation of what the parameters do and what the possible values are. For now, there is at least one example that works for any type of award. – Jonesey95 (talk) 01:10, 6 December 2014 (UTC)

Wow, thank you for creating a splendid template! I've just played in preview my talk page and it's working well. That should make things a lot easier in the future! I wouldn't have finished the template so quickly. It should be easy to adapt it for blitzes. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 05:11, 6 December 2014 (UTC)

I should be able to add a |blitz=yes option pretty easily, but I was done programming for the day. I learned a lot, and it did not take as long as I thought it would. Have fun with it! – Jonesey95 (talk) 06:31, 6 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks a million! All the best, Miniapolis 15:46, 6 December 2014 (UTC)

And... now that I've given out the awards, I see that I may have failed to substitute a few things properly. The award boxes look fine, but they still say "CURRENTMONTH", which makes me think that when January arrives, the links will break. I have fixed most of the problems by playing in the sandbox, and I've asked Redrose64, an experienced template editor and a nice person, for a bit of help with one last technical problem. After that, I will re-substitute the templates on the talk pages of drive participants. – Jonesey95 (talk) 17:14, 6 December 2014 (UTC)

OK, I got some help updating the code in the template, and now it is ready to rock. I'll add the blitz code to it before the end of the blitz.

I have re-distributed the barnstars and leaderboard awards for the November drive. I think I'm really done this time. Anyone want to drop a barnstar on my page? Here's the code to copy and paste into a new section:

{{subst:GOCE award|award=participation|barnstar=cleanup}}
{{subst:GOCE award|award=old|place=4|number=nine}}

Try it. You'll like it. – Jonesey95 (talk) 06:31, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

Done, and they're perfect. Thanks again and all the best, Miniapolis 17:14, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

Words from a stranger

Hey guys, it's been a while. How has everyone been? The Guild is looking better than ever thanks to all of your efforts and hard work. I'm very pleased with how everything is being run now. When I left, I knew the Guild would continue to do well, but it's doing better than I ever could have imagined. You're all doing wonderful jobs; keep it up. Regards, The Utahraptor^Talk/_Contribs 05:00, 7 December 2014 (UTC)

Nice to hear from you again! Some changes, but the place is pretty much the same. All the best, Miniapolis 16:17, 7 December 2014 (UTC)

Come on back any time. We're in need of a Lead Coordinator for next year.... – Jonesey95 (talk) 16:22, 7 December 2014 (UTC)

Last call for nominations

Hi all; I've made a quick "last call" reminder to send out, here. Feel free to make fixes, additions, etc. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 21:12, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

Looks good to me. – Jonesey95 (talk) 21:44, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

Sent. -- Diannaa (talk) 22:17, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks folks, I've received my copy. :-) Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 23:04, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

a trenchant question

Why is the first column in the History table headed "Tranche"? I saw pretty quickly what it meant, but the sense was new to me, and it isn't mentioned either in Wikipedia or in Wiktionary. Please {{ping}} me if you comment. --Thnidu (talk) 00:43, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

In the interest of concision, we could eliminate that column entirely. The dates should suffice. Objections? – Jonesey95 (talk) 00:50, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

@Thnidu:, "Tranche" has been in the table since the Guild's first election in 2010 here. The early GOCE borrowed heavily from Wikiproject Military History, including the table in question. You should ask on that other project—I'm sure they'll be delighted to answer your question.

Jonesey, I won't object to losing that column on the basis that it can always be reinstated if necessary. I never liked Roman numerals anyway. ;-) Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 02:13, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

@Jonesey95: You'll get no objections from me on that! --Thnidu (talk) 05:56, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

 Done – Jonesey95 (talk) 21:34, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

LOCE templates?

When I checked Category:Guild of Copy Editors templates to see how many we have, I noticed that there are still a fair number of LOCE tags. Since the LOCE-GOCE changeover was several years ago, I wonder if we still need them. Thoughts? All the best, Miniapolis 20:30, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

No, we don't need them. --DThomsen8 (talk) 20:48, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

I've just been though them all. I quite like {{LOCEcopy}} for its minimalism; perhaps we could use that as an alternative to {{GOCE}}. Apart from that one, I don't think they're useful any more. Cheer, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 21:00, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

Yes, that one is still useful since there's no reference to the LOCE but I prefer {{GOCE}} for its recruiting potential. Some of the LOCE tags seem to have broken syntax (with which I can sympathize, but there's no point in fixing them even if we could :-)). Obviously, I agree with DThomsen8. Thanks for the feedback and all the best, Miniapolis 21:05, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

I'll keep LOCEcopy (with a note on its talk page) and G6 the rest; thanks again. Miniapolis 21:14, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. It feels like we're really getting our pages cleaned up around here. I wish I could say the same about my garage.... – Jonesey95 (talk) 21:35, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

Merge List of participants into members?

I took a look at these pages; Members has only two short sections and I think the table in List of participants could be merged into it without causing any problems. Also, I removed a banned user from the List of participants; banned users cannot participate. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 23:46, 11 December 2014 (UTC)

Support. I would copy content on the Participants page below the two sections on Members, with a new header above a shortened version of the intro to the Participants table. – Jonesey95 (talk) 06:12, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks again, Baffle, and I love the fact that the participant list is a sortable table (so I could look up exactly when I joined :-)). Let me know if you need a G6 for that list-of-participants subpage when you're done. All the best, Miniapolis 14:28, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

Almost  Done—I'm wondering whether the LOP talk page should be merged with the members page; and whether page histories need merging. Also, do drive/blitz participants automatically receive GOCE updates, whether or not they add themselves to the mailing list? Is the text "or if you've participated in any of our past drives or blitzes" old, redundant text? It originated in this diff. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 02:59, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

I'd merge the members page into the longer one (LOP), since LOP is pretty synonymous with membership. Don't think it's necessary to preserve the history in this case (since the pages sort of duplicate each other, and it's not mainspace; the members page looks like it was started but not continued), but redirects after the merge would preserve the project- and talk-page histories—it's up to you. The updates go only to those on the mailing list; it was probably different before Mass Message, so that phrase is no longer accurate. All the best, Miniapolis 03:33, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks Miniapolis; I thought that phrase seemed a little odd. In that case, is the opt-out list redundant? Re: Members / LOP; I agree we don't need to merge or preserve page histories; I could merge the talk pages if that's acceptable. As you suggest, I'm going to copy/paste the current content of Members into LOP; we could then delete Members and move LOP into its place, if that's acceptable. Ah, fun and games ;-). Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 04:13, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

I agree with this last item. It would be nice for the resulting page to be a "Members" page rather than a "List of Participants" page. – Jonesey95 (talk) 04:40, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

(←) I'd say the opt-out list is redundant, Baffle, since my original username (Wi2g) is there and I get the notices. Thanks again for your grunt work—not exactly a lame duck, are you? :-)—and let me know if (or when) you need any mopping up. Best to you both, Miniapolis 15:09, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

Thank you Miniapolis; one tries one's best... :-D I've marked the opt-out page for G6 speedy deletion; inclusion on the mailing list is not compulsory. Unless you'd like to do it, I'll leave the work on the LOP --> Members move until later; I've got some RL stuff to do. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 19:08, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

Deleted the opt-out list, completed the members-LOP merge and redirect (to preserve the history, FWIW) and tweaked WP:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/tabs. All the best, Miniapolis 00:33, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for that; it's appreciated :-) Is there anything else that needs tidying/fixing? Oh, the December NL's ready to send; Jonesey posted in the thread above and I didn't see it until now... (Sorry guys!). :-) Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 01:11, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

Sent the newsletter, in an effort to redeem myself :-). No, Baffle, you've done more than enough; if I forget to say it later, enjoy your sabbatical. All the best, Miniapolis 03:25, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

Plz HELP

I signed up for the december blitz. But how and where am I supposed to find the articles needing copyediting as in the category Religion. I am just a beginner. Please anyone help me to understand how it works.

Learnerktm 06:12, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

The list can be viewed here. Just click "show" on the right hand side of the green bar to see them. -- Calidum 06:15, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, it helped.

06:28, 14 December 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Learnerktm (talk • contribs)

So, I tried to copyedit Mahākāla. what's next? who is supposed to review it???

Learnerktm 08:09, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

Hi Learnerktm. Thanks for your contribution here. I've reviewed the article for you. One thing you should do afterwards is to remove the {{GOCEinuse}} that you placed on the article, and any other tags that you've dealt with, like the {{copy edit}} tag that was on this one. I've done those for you, and also done some further edits to the article, which you can check out here. Hope this helps. Kind regards, --Stfg (talk) 08:55, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

@Learnerktm: also, don't forget to mark working and done as described in the Article list for the blitz section on the blitz page. (I've done it now for Mahākāla.) --Stfg (talk) 19:14, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

Closing the blitz

I will be away from WP when the blitz closes. Can someone please close it? I can give out the blitz barnstars when I return on Monday, if it hasn't been done already. (I have not added the blitz stars to the new award template yet, but it shouldn't be too tricky to do so when I get back.) Thanks. – Jonesey95 (talk) 19:14, 19 December 2014 (UTC)

I'm usually online around midnight, so I'll close it if i'm available. If it's not done by 2 am UTC, I've probably had too much shandy. *hic* ;-) Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 20:37, 19 December 2014 (UTC)

Barnstars

I have calculated the blitz barnstar numbers manually, so it is possible that I have made some mistakes. Anyone want to check me?

I have also added an |award=blitz parameter to the {{GOCE award}} template, so you can give out blitz barnstars in a matter of minutes. Copy and paste a blitz example from the page onto a new section on an editor's talk page, type the appropriate barnstar name, then Preview to make sure it will look right. If it looks good, save your edits. Please report any bugs or quirks; it's getting late at night where I am. – Jonesey95 (talk) 07:30, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

I have given out all barnstars except my own. The new blitz parameter appears to work fine, and I don't think I broke the code for Drive awards. – Jonesey95 (talk) 15:45, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

You've gotten your well-deserved barnstar, Jonesey, and I guess it's time to start thinking about the January drive (thanks, Baffle, for creating the page). Happy holidays and all the best, Miniapolis 23:50, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

December-January blitz-drive newsletter

I whipped up a newsletter here, and will send it out after any additions or corrections in a couple of days (thanks again, Baffle, for creating the January drive page and thanks to Jonesey for making it easier). Happy hollydaze and all the best, Miniapolis 00:34, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

The letter looks good to me.

I proofed the January drive page. I think it's ready for public consumption. – Jonesey95 (talk) 00:57, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

No worries Miniapolis; you've got some groovy templates to play with next time! :-) I'm currently putting some flesh on the bones of the Annual Report. Incidentally, and not wanting to bother anyone with this at the moment, but why are the Annual Reports located at Membership/News? Perhaps that's something to fix next year. ;-) Happy Christmas / Yuletide / Winterval everyone, if you celebrate such a thing. :-) Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 02:25, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Getting rid of the blitzes

I've noticed that there has recently been talk about doing away with the blitzes. I'm personally in favor of this, because as I mentioned on the coordinator elections page, saying "Do as many copy edits as you can in one week and earn barnstars!" is essentially asking for substandard and rushed jobs. Reading through some of the previous discussions on this page (where I've also found out that I was a nuisance for asking for feedback on my copy edits ;)), that theory has proven to be true. Of course, seeing that I cannot unilaterally do this myself, I want to hear the opinions of my soon to be fellow coordinators. --Biblioworm 00:58, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

I hope my comments as an outgoing coord are applicable here. Biblioworm, I do see your point, but i think the potential for attracting new copy-editors should be considered. Blitzes can, and do, produce positive results in terms of backlog reduction; you can go through the archives if you wish. Please don't let the August 2014 blitz cloud your overall judgement of the events; that blitz, held in the northern-hemisphere school holidays, attracted several editors who did bodge-jobs and were later called out for it. One vanished and one is now blocked for socking. I'll support the discontinuation of the blitzes if participation declines in the same way as the Copy Edit of the Month, or the quality of work declines irretrievably. Baffle gab1978 (talk) 01:52, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

You do make some good points. I'm interested in hearing what others think. --Biblioworm 02:06, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

I'll also support discontinuation is the new coordinators feel the "grunt work" of running blitzes is too much. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 05:44, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for addressing the elephant in the room, Biblioworm and Baffle. My sentiments about the blitzes are no secret, so I won't rehash them except to reiterate that it would be easier to keep the requests page from bloating up too much during the off-months if we're not doing blitzes as well. Think Jonesey is still a strong supporter of the blitzes, and I don't know how Phil feels about them. I agree with Baffle that participation should be the deciding factor; they still seem popular and there's only been one fiasco, so although they're a bit of a PITA I'm voting a lukewarm keep :-). Happy New Year and all the best, Miniapolis 14:47, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

If we dropped the Blitzes what would we do in the alternate months instead?--DThomsen8 (talk) 21:08, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

Top of page text

The box at the top of the page, transcluded from Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors/Coordinators/to do says, "Members page, incorporating Welcoming Committee to be developed." It's said that since 21 July 2011; should this box be changed, hidden or deleted? Perhaps that's something for the new tranche of coordinators to discuss. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 20:08, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

IMO, the box and subpage can both be deleted. Thanks for picking up on that, Baffle. All the best, Miniapolis 23:55, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

No worries; I'll do that forthwith. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 02:42, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

I've nominated the sub-page for G6 speedy deletion and i've removed the {{todo}} template. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 02:55, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

and it's gone. Baffle gab1978 (talk) 18:03, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

Annual report 2014...

... is here. I've added the drive and blitz stats, some blather about the Requests page, the big cleanup or our pages, and the election for 2015. Still to be completed: the Outstanding tags table, membership section (text and stats), an introduction (I can do that if you wish), whizzy graphics (don't look at me!) and some words from the new Lead coordinator. Feel free to add, copy-edit, or remove anything and everything. I'll try and get more work done on it before midnight tomorrow when I turn into a pumpkin. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 02:42, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for all the contributions you've made to the GOCE. (Hope you come back one day!) --Biblioworm 03:21, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

No wuckers; I hope you're ready to rock 'n' roll, Mr Bookworm ;-) Baffle gab1978 (talk) 04:23, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

(←) Topsheet here. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) 04:20, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

Both look great; we can fill in the blanks after we change calendars and before the topsheet goes out. We're gonna miss you, Baffle, but you'll have fun IRL after this place :-). Hope to see you before too long. Happy New Year and all the best, Anne aka Miniapolis 14:45, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

Echoing all of that. Thanks for the great copy editing and coordinating. Have fun. Come back soon! Simon. --Stfg (talk) 14:48, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

The finished (more or less) report is here; please look it over and correct as needed before the topsheet goes out (thanks yet again, Baffle, for the heavy lifting :-)). Happy New Year and all the best, Miniapolis 17:57, 1 January 2015 (UTC)

I don't see any issues with it. --Biblioworm 18:29, 1 January 2015 (UTC)

I made some changes, mostly to the backlog table, which I didn't understand. I hope it makes more sense now. I'm ready to let it go out. – Jonesey95 (talk) 17:25, 2 January 2015 (UTC)

Thanks to you both; I got the 2013 numbers from last year's report :-), and will send out the topsheet. All the best, Miniapolis 23:51, 2 January 2015 (UTC)