[WikiEN-l] Re: Rebranding VfD

Thu Aug 26 16:57:30 UTC 2004

Fuzheado wrote:

I'm all for reevaluating how VfD works, but I'd like to oppose the
name "Editorial Review."

Not only does it sound Nupedia-ish, but I have a strange image of a
salon with leather chairs, Ivy League professors smoking cigars and
sipping cognac while deciding the fate of articles from commonfolk.
The name "votes for deletion" makes the barrier high, meaning an
article stays unless you put yourself on the record for endorsing a
destructive act.

This may come as a surprise to those who've found me a "deletionist",
but I think adopting the "Editorial Review" moniker makes Wikipedia
less wiki-like. It makes Wikipedia sound really stuffy and formal,
which it really is NOT.

Names like "Author review" or Peer review" may fit the bill better. I used the term
"Authors' circle" when I was teaching writing; this neutral title allowed (and, by
my insistence, required) praise as well as criticism. It's nice to see us getting
back to this one. I also applaud the idea of having some process for screening new
articles as they come in. [[Wikipedia:Recent changes]] is flooded with modifications
to existing articles and additions to talk pages; while the new skin does offer
relief in identifying new articles, it would still be nice to have that list free of
other contributions.