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The article states that a barn star has "no structural purpose," but the caption beneath the photo read, "a barnstar with hole used as a building reinforcement device." Reinforcement sounds structural, not merely decorative. Which is correct? -- Wordbuilder 02:49, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
Fixed. -- Una Smith ( talk) 21:49, 10 March 2008 (UTC)
Someone else mentioned having pictures of barnstars and similar taken in New Orleans. I live in Charleston, SC, and these (and non-star shaped examples) are very common structural aides in our historic, yet earthquake and hurricane prone city. However, this article only mentions a few cities. I don't think the article needs to mention every place in the world these occur, but I feel there should be some better rationale for what's included and what isn't than just author bias. -- Jhlynes 04:07, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
In Britain, some older terraced houses are held together by steel rods or wires tied at the ends by a large metal S or X on the walls of the end houses. The function of these shapes is clearly identical to that of barnstars, but I don't know of a name for them. It would probably be useful to include them in the article if anyone has any more detailed info on them. Lee M 00:32, 13 July 2005 (UTC)
They're tie plates. The rods are called tie rods. They're usually iron, not steel. You find them on all sorts of UK buildings, including barns. They are usually structural, sometimes decorative. Go ahead and add this if you like. Not in an editing mood. 212.139.203.136 19:55, 17 September 2005 (UTC)
Wall ties or wall anchors as they are sometimes known, are added to improve the support structure of a building or structure in areas where it is failing, or as a pre-emptive action to strengthen weak points. They can run across the outside of a wall, through a wall, or between walls. The ties used between walls consist of a round bar, spanning between the failing wall and the strongest, most favourable point of the opposite wall, with threads at both ends, onto which a plate (the anchor) is fastened. The plate has the function of distributing load across a wider surface area. Where wall ties are used to stabilise a failing wall, it is sometimes preferable to use the wall tie to pull the wall back so that it is vertical or near vertical. There are various methods of doing this, but the two most common are; gradually tightening the tie plate nut, and heating the center of a short rod, causing it to expand, then fastening the tie plate onto the ends - the bar then contracts as it cools, effectively pulling the bulge out of the wall. The tie plate can come in many shapes and sizes, including circular, square, cross, and star shaped.
I suggest this article be merged into an article on wall ties containing the above information, or at least something resembling the above information. -- ▫Bad▫harlick♠ 23:19, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
barnstars meant to represent the mark of the builder.
What stops a registered user from adding an award image to his user page?
They still can be seen on many buildings there. I lived in Richmond, Virginia for six years and constantly saw them.
The explanation preceding this is accurate. I am sincerely impressed with Wilipedia!
In Charlottesville, Virginia where I was born and raised -- until Vietnam -- you can find these stars in the ruins of the old Confederate Clothing Factory.
Traveling on the interstate you can still see the tall chimney still standing, made of bricks. I enjoyed roaming the places I have lived and traveled to learn of their history and culture. -- Maury 21:12, 25 January 2006 (UTC)
This looks like vandalism.
Eric 18:09, 10 April 2006 (UTC)
I removed the section. The added ext link only confirms the suspicion in hoax. Plates are threaded on coupling rods. A star would be a poor stress-distributor. `' mikka 02:23, 29 December 2006 (UTC).
it should say 'in Germany and the United States.' i just find it relevant that chronological and alphabetical order come before population or military power.. and yes i might be a bit wierd and harsh by saying this, flame me at your own desire.. -- Tyriel 11:48, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
I have some pictures of barnstars sighted in/near the French Quarter of New Orleans. Is there some place where these can be uploaded? Perhaps a space could be set aside for Wikipedians to upload images of their barnstar sightings. Terry Yager 21:08, 8 September 2006 (UTC)
It's not a problem! Just use the solution found at
Help and
Cheat sheet and
POV etc. Use the {{
selfref}} template (which is taken out for mirrors). Done :) --
Quiddity 23:43, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
Your input is requested below. Ral315 ( talk) 07:05, 8 November 2006 (UTC)
Inclusion of this text is a reasonable solution:
-- evrik ( talk) 15:03, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
I still think that this tag is a reasonable solution that meets everyone's needs. -- evrik ( talk) 16:39, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
Query: What do wikipedians have against newcomers learning more about wikipedia? Self References are one of the best ways to find out more information about an aspect of wikipedia, especialy since searching the other namespaces can be difficult and confusing for someone who has never done it before. Unless the wikipedia article can encompass every self reference from every other article, we need them to be spread out in places where people would expect to find them. Ill never understand, especialy in the case of Esperanza, why some wikipedians want to keep a solid wikipedia Community from growing. The reader who comes across wikipedia barnstars may then be interested in contributing to wikipedia, going from reader to editor. -- Carterhawk 21:52, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
A thought What about a change to the underlying mediawiki software? What I propose is that the software track any namespaces that are set to cross reference each other. When each namespace has an article with the same name, add a tab button to the top of the article to the right of Watch that takes the reader to the other namespace. It avoids self referencing in the article, and makes related information in other namespaces easily accessible. This approach would, in theory, satisfy both groups, would it not? -- Carterhawk 06:28, 16 November 2006 (UTC)
It is clear to me that there is a major confusion going on here. There are decorative "plaques" that either feature star motifs (PA dutch) or are actually star-shaped (sheet metal?), and steel/iron forgings that function as anchor points for structural tie rods holding two opposing walls together. The image in this article is clearly the latter, yet the text not only makes no mention of the structural purpose, but specifically excludes it.
I'm going to re-write this in the near future. Anybody have a useable image of one of those decorative stars? Pjbflynn 23:37, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
OK, so this has the potential to really upset some people (given the whole "barnstar as wikipedia award" thing), but by what verifiable source is this image being labeled as a "barnster"? From all of my research, I can find not a single reference to a reinforcing plate such as this being called a "barnstar". Indeed, they seem to be used predominantly on urban masonry (brick) buildings.
All that I can find searching for "barnstar" is those sheet metal (tin, copper) decorative types. Lacking a source defining a star-shaped tie rod anchor plate as a barnstar, I think the image(s) need to be renamed. Pjbflynn 01:32, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
Of course you can't find any mention of a structural function for barnstars, because this image does not show a barnstar. It shows a star-shaped tie plate. Pjbflynn 14:12, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
I have already tracked back through the
Meatball Wiki and the
Barnstar Subterfuge origins of the Wikipedia Barnstar. I think it would be useful to restate my concern and see what folks think.
The issue is that the image currently on this page called silverBarnstar.jpg, (and by extension, all the modified versions used as Wikipedia awards) is mis-named as a barn star. I have found plenty of sources (some linked above) that show and define a large, non-structural decorative star of wood or metal as a barn star. The only source for referring to the physically very different object in the picture as a barn star is the
Barnstar Subterfuge, and I believe this is in error.
The object in this image is essentially a large washer, used on the ends of iron rods that pass through opposite walls of a masonry structure. These rods, generally called tie rods, serve to hold the sides of the structure together, either according to original design, or as a repair later in the building's history. These plates are usually called tie plates, and vary in their shape and degree of decoration. Apparently in the UK they are known as pattress plates. I can find no evidence of these plates being used on any non-masonry structure (usually urban houses and industrial buildings), and not on barns.
Unless someone can come up with evidence of these tie plates being used on barns, than the image must be renamed. I'm not really sure how to go about that, and the problem is compounded by it's use in so many "award images". Pjbflynn 04:24, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
It seems to me that there are two clearly seperate subjects here. From my reading in trying to cite this, and the discussion here, I'm thinking that Barnstars are a symbolic ornament. It's expected that some structural tie plates may have been decoratively shaped like stars, but this seems to be at best midly relevant to the topic of discussion. To try and make an analogy, consider hood ornaments, and assume that they were once used to open hoods of vehicles. It may be worth noting that this could be an origin for them, and cross referencing "Hood Latch," but the discussion of hood ornament design solely for aesthetic purposes is of its own merit. The best resolution appears to make an XRef and sentence reference to Tie rod, which will in turn need some discussion of tie plates. Autocracy 14:27, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
I just did a revert to remove this text:
Barnstars (aka earthquake washers) were employed in the early 19th century. Earthquake bolts (accompanied with decorative washers mostly in star form) are often associated with repairs made to buildings following great earthquakes. Iron bolts and decorative washers (stars) often used with them were attached to rods inserted laterally through buildings to straighten walls and provide additional structural support. The star washers were found both internally adjacent to major wood structural beams and as “end cap washers” of the long rods on the building exterior. Many of these are still visible on older multiple story brick buildings in major cities.
The ends of floor joists in older brick buildings sit in tiny pockets within the masonry wall. These small pockets are usuall not more than a few inches wide. The walls would not have to move much for the joist to slip out and fall (as would easily happen in an earthquake). To prevent this, a hole was drilled through the brick wall and run an iron rod into a floor (or ceiling) spanning the room or all the way through to the brick wall on the other side. An iron metal star or “washer” was affixed at the ends of the rod with a nut screwed on the end. Because the bricks and mortar weakened over time and are soft in nature, a large washer was used to disperse the stress of keeping the walls plumb over a wider area. Large stars were used as they are far more decorative than round or square washers, especially on older more historical buildings which were to be preserved. These tie-rods and/or "star bolts" devices are occasionally referred to as earthquake or hurricane bolts because such disasters often warrant their use.
The only part of this I dispute is that these anchors should not be called barn stars, so I'll try to encorporate this text into the Tie rod article. Pjbflynn 16:31, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
Oh, I also removed the misleading silverBarnstar.jpg image, as clearly USA.Press was describing that. Pjbflynn 16:39, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
As Pjbflynn astutely pointed out, "this has the potential to really upset some people"—but it needs correcting nonetheless. I added "Confounding with similarly shaped structural tie plates" to the article. — Lumbercutter 17:56, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
Completely agree with the removal of the tie-plate text and your fine additional section should be an end to the matter, I think. No need to "upset" anyone or anything; there no point at all in changing name for the Wiki-award, simply because the word actually refers to something other than the object depicted. This is the way a lot of common names start out, often in ingorance of the "true" meaning or "correct" usage ('scuse my relativism) and the source of many an amusing etymological journey... this is usage outside of the public Wiki and I vote we keep the term in it's present form, display of ignorance, warts and all. What the heck, why not have it as a verb as well ;) I've made a note on the Wikipedia:Barnstar page, FWIW -- mikaul 20:49, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
As far as I'm concerned, the recent work here has been great in improving the article. Autocracy 21:29, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
I just undid a division of this section, as I can find no evidence of this naming confusion anywhere but online communities. While I like this section clarifying the error, I'm not wild about the name. It just seems clunky and unencyclopedic. I can't at this moment come up with anything better, though. Pjbflynn 05:36, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
I've had a go at fixing it. The hex-sign is no more a barnstar than the tie plate is, so I've added that into the 'confusion' section. The newer metal stars are proably nearer the lineage of the 'genuine' wooden ones, so (after a bit of messing about) I've left them in 'History'. I think we could probably expand this section, but it needs some verifiable research. I do have another photo, come to think of it. Anyway, feel free to revert/edit the title etc. mikaul 12:56, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
When I first saw the use of barnstars in Wikipedia I was reminded of research on collective goods. I can't recall the titles of the books but my memory is that in some communities people would organize local fire departments on a contributor basis. People who had paid to support the fire department would have a marker placed on their property as a signal of their contribution. Does anyone else have info on these markers and how they might relate to barnstars? thanks --Ted 15:49, 4 April 2007 (UTC)
The article lede claims that barnstars are "originally and most commonly seen in German [and German-American] farming communities." I am a German, although admittedly I don't spend much time in farming communities, and I don't think I have ever seen such a thing. On Wikipedia, yes. (This is why I came to this article.) In an American movie, maybe. But never live. I always thought this star was used as a US national symbol, as a part of the US flag. I have no idea what the German word for this thing would be. These images don't seem to be used much on the German language Wikipedia, and where they are, people use the English word. Note that I am talking about the ornamental thing here, not the common practice to cramp parts of a building together with two pieces of metal in an X shape. -- Hans Adler ( talk) 13:00, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
I'm an Englishmen, so this word looks fine to me. However, but per WP:ENGVAR, shouldn't this be esthetic? I don't know the intricacies of American spelling, but I know you chaps are fond of removing nominally superfluous vowels, and I know you remove the middle 'a' from its opposite. PRB ( talk) 09:09, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
While on tour of Charleston SC, the tour guide pointed out the anchor plates on some buildings, explaining that following the earthquake in the late 19th century, tie rods with anchor plates were used to reinforce damaged buildings; shortly after that, some new buildings were built with purely decorative plates (no tie rods). The presence of the plates was not necessarily evidence of tie rods, nor even that the building had been there before the earthquake. This is a thirty year old memory. It would be nice to have a verifiable (orginal) source on the history of architecture. Naaman Brown ( talk) 18:20, 28 October 2009 (UTC) Added: I am not sure what word the tour guide used for what I called anchor plates above. As I recall, they appeared to resemble sea shells or chrysanthemums.
A barnstar is just like a wikipedia barnstar. Very interesting. hmm? —Preceding unsigned comment added by RNelson5577 ( talk • contribs) 16:37, 16 April 2010 (UTC)
The article mentions barnstars occasionally having a "wagon wheel" style rather than a five-pointed stars, but the article has several images of stars but not one illustrating this "wagon wheel" style. It'd be nice to see what these actually look like, if someone could replace one of the images with one in this style? GiftigerWunsch [TALK] 22:00, 4 May 2010 (UTC)
Este artículo esta siendo traducido y transferido a wikipedia en español por Daimond (en este caso un ip) 190.72.35.226 ( talk) 02:30, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
Any one know where the talk page is for the "Wikipedia Barnstars"...you know, the kind that get put on people's user page if they are good etc. Thanks. NelsonSudan ( talk) 20:07, 19 August 2011 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
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The article reads: "and many rural homes in Canada"
Are rural homes decorated with barnstars? Really? Not barns in rural farms? Any sources? 85.193.219.160 ( talk) 21:17, 21 July 2017 (UTC)
@ King of Hearts:, I didn't want to do this as I personally think that it's quite a tasteless barnstar, but... I've added the "Hot Sex Barnstar" here as it's a controversial one that was discussed in a reliable source. If you wish you can file an undeletion request at the Wikimedia Commons (I would advise against using your sysop powers to undelete it again), it could theoretically be used here, but I don't think that it would be a visual treat to the readers. In fact I didn't really want to add that section here, but it's relevant and it means that the image itself now has educational value for another Wikimedia website as it seemed to constantly fall on deaf ears there. Do with this information as you wish. -- Donald Trung ( talk) 18:54, 1 October 2021 (UTC)
Hello @ JBW:, I undid your removal of that section, mostly because it's about a specific internet barnstar that became infamous because of its distasteful nature. Perhaps it could be made shorter and explained in less detail, but I don't think that it should be entirely removed.
Or perhaps this information would better fit at the article about the Wikimedia Commons, in a section discussing its controversies? But even then it could have a passing mention here as it's one of the few internet barnstars actually described in detail by independent sources. -- — Donald Trung ( talk) 21:35, 10 September 2022 (UTC)
This is the
talk page for discussing improvements to the
Barnstar article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject. |
Article policies
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Find sources: Google ( books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL |
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The article states that a barn star has "no structural purpose," but the caption beneath the photo read, "a barnstar with hole used as a building reinforcement device." Reinforcement sounds structural, not merely decorative. Which is correct? -- Wordbuilder 02:49, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
Fixed. -- Una Smith ( talk) 21:49, 10 March 2008 (UTC)
Someone else mentioned having pictures of barnstars and similar taken in New Orleans. I live in Charleston, SC, and these (and non-star shaped examples) are very common structural aides in our historic, yet earthquake and hurricane prone city. However, this article only mentions a few cities. I don't think the article needs to mention every place in the world these occur, but I feel there should be some better rationale for what's included and what isn't than just author bias. -- Jhlynes 04:07, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
In Britain, some older terraced houses are held together by steel rods or wires tied at the ends by a large metal S or X on the walls of the end houses. The function of these shapes is clearly identical to that of barnstars, but I don't know of a name for them. It would probably be useful to include them in the article if anyone has any more detailed info on them. Lee M 00:32, 13 July 2005 (UTC)
They're tie plates. The rods are called tie rods. They're usually iron, not steel. You find them on all sorts of UK buildings, including barns. They are usually structural, sometimes decorative. Go ahead and add this if you like. Not in an editing mood. 212.139.203.136 19:55, 17 September 2005 (UTC)
Wall ties or wall anchors as they are sometimes known, are added to improve the support structure of a building or structure in areas where it is failing, or as a pre-emptive action to strengthen weak points. They can run across the outside of a wall, through a wall, or between walls. The ties used between walls consist of a round bar, spanning between the failing wall and the strongest, most favourable point of the opposite wall, with threads at both ends, onto which a plate (the anchor) is fastened. The plate has the function of distributing load across a wider surface area. Where wall ties are used to stabilise a failing wall, it is sometimes preferable to use the wall tie to pull the wall back so that it is vertical or near vertical. There are various methods of doing this, but the two most common are; gradually tightening the tie plate nut, and heating the center of a short rod, causing it to expand, then fastening the tie plate onto the ends - the bar then contracts as it cools, effectively pulling the bulge out of the wall. The tie plate can come in many shapes and sizes, including circular, square, cross, and star shaped.
I suggest this article be merged into an article on wall ties containing the above information, or at least something resembling the above information. -- ▫Bad▫harlick♠ 23:19, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
barnstars meant to represent the mark of the builder.
What stops a registered user from adding an award image to his user page?
They still can be seen on many buildings there. I lived in Richmond, Virginia for six years and constantly saw them.
The explanation preceding this is accurate. I am sincerely impressed with Wilipedia!
In Charlottesville, Virginia where I was born and raised -- until Vietnam -- you can find these stars in the ruins of the old Confederate Clothing Factory.
Traveling on the interstate you can still see the tall chimney still standing, made of bricks. I enjoyed roaming the places I have lived and traveled to learn of their history and culture. -- Maury 21:12, 25 January 2006 (UTC)
This looks like vandalism.
Eric 18:09, 10 April 2006 (UTC)
I removed the section. The added ext link only confirms the suspicion in hoax. Plates are threaded on coupling rods. A star would be a poor stress-distributor. `' mikka 02:23, 29 December 2006 (UTC).
it should say 'in Germany and the United States.' i just find it relevant that chronological and alphabetical order come before population or military power.. and yes i might be a bit wierd and harsh by saying this, flame me at your own desire.. -- Tyriel 11:48, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
I have some pictures of barnstars sighted in/near the French Quarter of New Orleans. Is there some place where these can be uploaded? Perhaps a space could be set aside for Wikipedians to upload images of their barnstar sightings. Terry Yager 21:08, 8 September 2006 (UTC)
It's not a problem! Just use the solution found at
Help and
Cheat sheet and
POV etc. Use the {{
selfref}} template (which is taken out for mirrors). Done :) --
Quiddity 23:43, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
Your input is requested below. Ral315 ( talk) 07:05, 8 November 2006 (UTC)
Inclusion of this text is a reasonable solution:
-- evrik ( talk) 15:03, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
I still think that this tag is a reasonable solution that meets everyone's needs. -- evrik ( talk) 16:39, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
Query: What do wikipedians have against newcomers learning more about wikipedia? Self References are one of the best ways to find out more information about an aspect of wikipedia, especialy since searching the other namespaces can be difficult and confusing for someone who has never done it before. Unless the wikipedia article can encompass every self reference from every other article, we need them to be spread out in places where people would expect to find them. Ill never understand, especialy in the case of Esperanza, why some wikipedians want to keep a solid wikipedia Community from growing. The reader who comes across wikipedia barnstars may then be interested in contributing to wikipedia, going from reader to editor. -- Carterhawk 21:52, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
A thought What about a change to the underlying mediawiki software? What I propose is that the software track any namespaces that are set to cross reference each other. When each namespace has an article with the same name, add a tab button to the top of the article to the right of Watch that takes the reader to the other namespace. It avoids self referencing in the article, and makes related information in other namespaces easily accessible. This approach would, in theory, satisfy both groups, would it not? -- Carterhawk 06:28, 16 November 2006 (UTC)
It is clear to me that there is a major confusion going on here. There are decorative "plaques" that either feature star motifs (PA dutch) or are actually star-shaped (sheet metal?), and steel/iron forgings that function as anchor points for structural tie rods holding two opposing walls together. The image in this article is clearly the latter, yet the text not only makes no mention of the structural purpose, but specifically excludes it.
I'm going to re-write this in the near future. Anybody have a useable image of one of those decorative stars? Pjbflynn 23:37, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
OK, so this has the potential to really upset some people (given the whole "barnstar as wikipedia award" thing), but by what verifiable source is this image being labeled as a "barnster"? From all of my research, I can find not a single reference to a reinforcing plate such as this being called a "barnstar". Indeed, they seem to be used predominantly on urban masonry (brick) buildings.
All that I can find searching for "barnstar" is those sheet metal (tin, copper) decorative types. Lacking a source defining a star-shaped tie rod anchor plate as a barnstar, I think the image(s) need to be renamed. Pjbflynn 01:32, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
Of course you can't find any mention of a structural function for barnstars, because this image does not show a barnstar. It shows a star-shaped tie plate. Pjbflynn 14:12, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
I have already tracked back through the
Meatball Wiki and the
Barnstar Subterfuge origins of the Wikipedia Barnstar. I think it would be useful to restate my concern and see what folks think.
The issue is that the image currently on this page called silverBarnstar.jpg, (and by extension, all the modified versions used as Wikipedia awards) is mis-named as a barn star. I have found plenty of sources (some linked above) that show and define a large, non-structural decorative star of wood or metal as a barn star. The only source for referring to the physically very different object in the picture as a barn star is the
Barnstar Subterfuge, and I believe this is in error.
The object in this image is essentially a large washer, used on the ends of iron rods that pass through opposite walls of a masonry structure. These rods, generally called tie rods, serve to hold the sides of the structure together, either according to original design, or as a repair later in the building's history. These plates are usually called tie plates, and vary in their shape and degree of decoration. Apparently in the UK they are known as pattress plates. I can find no evidence of these plates being used on any non-masonry structure (usually urban houses and industrial buildings), and not on barns.
Unless someone can come up with evidence of these tie plates being used on barns, than the image must be renamed. I'm not really sure how to go about that, and the problem is compounded by it's use in so many "award images". Pjbflynn 04:24, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
It seems to me that there are two clearly seperate subjects here. From my reading in trying to cite this, and the discussion here, I'm thinking that Barnstars are a symbolic ornament. It's expected that some structural tie plates may have been decoratively shaped like stars, but this seems to be at best midly relevant to the topic of discussion. To try and make an analogy, consider hood ornaments, and assume that they were once used to open hoods of vehicles. It may be worth noting that this could be an origin for them, and cross referencing "Hood Latch," but the discussion of hood ornament design solely for aesthetic purposes is of its own merit. The best resolution appears to make an XRef and sentence reference to Tie rod, which will in turn need some discussion of tie plates. Autocracy 14:27, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
I just did a revert to remove this text:
Barnstars (aka earthquake washers) were employed in the early 19th century. Earthquake bolts (accompanied with decorative washers mostly in star form) are often associated with repairs made to buildings following great earthquakes. Iron bolts and decorative washers (stars) often used with them were attached to rods inserted laterally through buildings to straighten walls and provide additional structural support. The star washers were found both internally adjacent to major wood structural beams and as “end cap washers” of the long rods on the building exterior. Many of these are still visible on older multiple story brick buildings in major cities.
The ends of floor joists in older brick buildings sit in tiny pockets within the masonry wall. These small pockets are usuall not more than a few inches wide. The walls would not have to move much for the joist to slip out and fall (as would easily happen in an earthquake). To prevent this, a hole was drilled through the brick wall and run an iron rod into a floor (or ceiling) spanning the room or all the way through to the brick wall on the other side. An iron metal star or “washer” was affixed at the ends of the rod with a nut screwed on the end. Because the bricks and mortar weakened over time and are soft in nature, a large washer was used to disperse the stress of keeping the walls plumb over a wider area. Large stars were used as they are far more decorative than round or square washers, especially on older more historical buildings which were to be preserved. These tie-rods and/or "star bolts" devices are occasionally referred to as earthquake or hurricane bolts because such disasters often warrant their use.
The only part of this I dispute is that these anchors should not be called barn stars, so I'll try to encorporate this text into the Tie rod article. Pjbflynn 16:31, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
Oh, I also removed the misleading silverBarnstar.jpg image, as clearly USA.Press was describing that. Pjbflynn 16:39, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
As Pjbflynn astutely pointed out, "this has the potential to really upset some people"—but it needs correcting nonetheless. I added "Confounding with similarly shaped structural tie plates" to the article. — Lumbercutter 17:56, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
Completely agree with the removal of the tie-plate text and your fine additional section should be an end to the matter, I think. No need to "upset" anyone or anything; there no point at all in changing name for the Wiki-award, simply because the word actually refers to something other than the object depicted. This is the way a lot of common names start out, often in ingorance of the "true" meaning or "correct" usage ('scuse my relativism) and the source of many an amusing etymological journey... this is usage outside of the public Wiki and I vote we keep the term in it's present form, display of ignorance, warts and all. What the heck, why not have it as a verb as well ;) I've made a note on the Wikipedia:Barnstar page, FWIW -- mikaul 20:49, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
As far as I'm concerned, the recent work here has been great in improving the article. Autocracy 21:29, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
I just undid a division of this section, as I can find no evidence of this naming confusion anywhere but online communities. While I like this section clarifying the error, I'm not wild about the name. It just seems clunky and unencyclopedic. I can't at this moment come up with anything better, though. Pjbflynn 05:36, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
I've had a go at fixing it. The hex-sign is no more a barnstar than the tie plate is, so I've added that into the 'confusion' section. The newer metal stars are proably nearer the lineage of the 'genuine' wooden ones, so (after a bit of messing about) I've left them in 'History'. I think we could probably expand this section, but it needs some verifiable research. I do have another photo, come to think of it. Anyway, feel free to revert/edit the title etc. mikaul 12:56, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
When I first saw the use of barnstars in Wikipedia I was reminded of research on collective goods. I can't recall the titles of the books but my memory is that in some communities people would organize local fire departments on a contributor basis. People who had paid to support the fire department would have a marker placed on their property as a signal of their contribution. Does anyone else have info on these markers and how they might relate to barnstars? thanks --Ted 15:49, 4 April 2007 (UTC)
The article lede claims that barnstars are "originally and most commonly seen in German [and German-American] farming communities." I am a German, although admittedly I don't spend much time in farming communities, and I don't think I have ever seen such a thing. On Wikipedia, yes. (This is why I came to this article.) In an American movie, maybe. But never live. I always thought this star was used as a US national symbol, as a part of the US flag. I have no idea what the German word for this thing would be. These images don't seem to be used much on the German language Wikipedia, and where they are, people use the English word. Note that I am talking about the ornamental thing here, not the common practice to cramp parts of a building together with two pieces of metal in an X shape. -- Hans Adler ( talk) 13:00, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
I'm an Englishmen, so this word looks fine to me. However, but per WP:ENGVAR, shouldn't this be esthetic? I don't know the intricacies of American spelling, but I know you chaps are fond of removing nominally superfluous vowels, and I know you remove the middle 'a' from its opposite. PRB ( talk) 09:09, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
While on tour of Charleston SC, the tour guide pointed out the anchor plates on some buildings, explaining that following the earthquake in the late 19th century, tie rods with anchor plates were used to reinforce damaged buildings; shortly after that, some new buildings were built with purely decorative plates (no tie rods). The presence of the plates was not necessarily evidence of tie rods, nor even that the building had been there before the earthquake. This is a thirty year old memory. It would be nice to have a verifiable (orginal) source on the history of architecture. Naaman Brown ( talk) 18:20, 28 October 2009 (UTC) Added: I am not sure what word the tour guide used for what I called anchor plates above. As I recall, they appeared to resemble sea shells or chrysanthemums.
A barnstar is just like a wikipedia barnstar. Very interesting. hmm? —Preceding unsigned comment added by RNelson5577 ( talk • contribs) 16:37, 16 April 2010 (UTC)
The article mentions barnstars occasionally having a "wagon wheel" style rather than a five-pointed stars, but the article has several images of stars but not one illustrating this "wagon wheel" style. It'd be nice to see what these actually look like, if someone could replace one of the images with one in this style? GiftigerWunsch [TALK] 22:00, 4 May 2010 (UTC)
Este artículo esta siendo traducido y transferido a wikipedia en español por Daimond (en este caso un ip) 190.72.35.226 ( talk) 02:30, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
Any one know where the talk page is for the "Wikipedia Barnstars"...you know, the kind that get put on people's user page if they are good etc. Thanks. NelsonSudan ( talk) 20:07, 19 August 2011 (UTC)
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The article reads: "and many rural homes in Canada"
Are rural homes decorated with barnstars? Really? Not barns in rural farms? Any sources? 85.193.219.160 ( talk) 21:17, 21 July 2017 (UTC)
@ King of Hearts:, I didn't want to do this as I personally think that it's quite a tasteless barnstar, but... I've added the "Hot Sex Barnstar" here as it's a controversial one that was discussed in a reliable source. If you wish you can file an undeletion request at the Wikimedia Commons (I would advise against using your sysop powers to undelete it again), it could theoretically be used here, but I don't think that it would be a visual treat to the readers. In fact I didn't really want to add that section here, but it's relevant and it means that the image itself now has educational value for another Wikimedia website as it seemed to constantly fall on deaf ears there. Do with this information as you wish. -- Donald Trung ( talk) 18:54, 1 October 2021 (UTC)
Hello @ JBW:, I undid your removal of that section, mostly because it's about a specific internet barnstar that became infamous because of its distasteful nature. Perhaps it could be made shorter and explained in less detail, but I don't think that it should be entirely removed.
Or perhaps this information would better fit at the article about the Wikimedia Commons, in a section discussing its controversies? But even then it could have a passing mention here as it's one of the few internet barnstars actually described in detail by independent sources. -- — Donald Trung ( talk) 21:35, 10 September 2022 (UTC)