[WikiEN-l] A bold fix needed to the "omg backlog" problem

Sun Dec 4 14:52:51 UTC 2005

On 12/1/05, Alex Schenck <linuxbeak at gmail.com> wrote:
> I will copy what I wrote to David here...
>
> That's right!
>
> I want to ask for your opinion here. I was feeling brave this morning and
> decided to see if I could make a dent in Category:Wikipedia
> backlog<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_backlog>.
> After looking at about 25 articles with the wikification tag attached to
> them, and being so disgusted with the lot as to be unable to make a *single*
> change, something major hit me.
>
> We need to, as one might say, flush the crap down the toilet. Allow me to
> explain.
>
> A LOT of the articles in Category:Articles that need to be
> wikified<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Articles_that_need_to_be_wikified>are
> so poorly written and so obscure that they have
> *no possible use, worth or value to anyone!* Jimbo himself made it clear in
> that interview that although Wikipedia does have some gems of articles (ie
> our Featured Articles), there is a rather poor signal to noise ratio. We all
> know that backlogs need to be cleared out, but no one is going to be able to
> do it without a.) time that reaches beyond time itself, b.) unlimited
> patience and c.) endless knowledge. In other words, to clear out the
> backlogs would be akin to an act of God.
>
> I know you know what I'm thinking, David. I want to nuke a ton of articles
> in the backlog. Things like
> this<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help_the_Aged>may have a place on
> Wikipedia, but *not* in their current form. If these
> things are important enough, they can be tagged as such and someone can be
> given it to work with. But I want to delete a lot of articles.
>
> I know I'm going to get a lot of flak from other users concerning this. They
> will kneejerk to "OMG ABUSIVE ADMIN LALALALLA" and "DELETIONIST! OMG
> DELETIONIST!". But, we *need* to do something about the absolutely wretched
> backlogs.
>
> Get back to me on this. Thanks. Alex
> Schenck<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Linuxbeak>(that's
> Linuxbeak <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Linuxbeak> to you) 16:40,
> 1 December 2005 (UTC)
>
>
> Now, with that said, I need feedback. Please provide.
>
> --Linuxbeak

I think these articles are perfect for the pure wiki deletion process.
 They're somewhat useful as starting points for articles, but a lot of
work still needs to be done.  It'd be nice if there were a place to
keep them until they get more fleshed out, but not bless them as an
actual article worthy of Wikipedia.  PWD allows for that.

Of course, moving all the crap to the talk page and replacing the mess
with a really short stub would work too.  That solution probably
wouldn't stick, though.  For one thing, ripping out lots of
information is often reverted, and for another lots of people like to
turn short stubs into redirects (which tend to create circular links
and not be expanded due to this and other technical issues).