I was also thinking about expanding tribal government and reservations. They're barely mentioned, and I don't think it should just be a white man's history of the state. (I'm thinking about doing this after submitting for FA.) Appraiser 05:46, 22 November 2006 (UTC)
Questions and suggestions:
Any comments? Kablammo 13:59, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
I've added one non-metro picture. I think we should strive for pictures which serve multiple purposes, hence the addition of architects' names to the captions. It would be nice to have a few more scenic pictures.
My thoughts on further changes:
On pictures, opinions may vary. Weigh in with your views. Kablammo 15:16, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
Appraiser 16:40, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
I am not sure where this could fit.
6,000 Prisoners Of War Came to Minnesota in 1944-45 "Escapes and escape attempts were almost unheard of among the 6,000 prisoners of war sent to Minnesota. ", "In all, the prisoners of war — called PWs and not POWs during World War II — worked at 21 branch camps located throughout the state.", "Generally, Simmons said, the prisoners got along well with the local people, and the men often went to work each day with no guards present.", "Other prisoners would spend their free time fishing, and it was discussed for a time whether they needed to buy fishing licenses. "Only in Minnesota could you have a debate about whether prisoners of war should have to buy fishing licenses."
It has been my impression that many German POWs decided to stay in the U.S., or returned to the U.S. after repatriation. I can't find a reference to that. Also, I had thought that this added signidicantly to the German population, but in review I am not sure that a few thousand german POW's would put much of a dent in the previous German immigrant population.
Atom 15:09, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
That's why I put it here. It is historically interesting, but we don't need at add any more weight to the article at this point. Maybe a future sub-article, or after FA. Atom 18:36, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
Here is the link: Proposed sports revision Atom 19:52, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
There is now, at WIP Sports section. This is my proposal for a rewrite (I deleted the picture in the draft but it would stay in the main article). Still need to add the other major league teams. The draft may not give as much detail as Appraiser suggests, but more than Atom may like. Therefore I thought it a reasonable compromise! Again, no pride of authorship. Kablammo 20:25, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
Compromise?? Never! Cut pro sports entirely... Just kidding. It looks pretty good. I will take a longer look later. I think I would make it [[common loon|loon]] Atom 21:28, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
I've met his girlfriend. I can't begin to tell you how complex that might make things. Atom 22:40, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
I added the first two. I don't think we need to add all pro and semi-pro teams; in some sports there is no sharp distinction.
Once RaveDave weighs in I will shovel the draft text into the main article, either by:
I had originally thought to do (a); and the Loon mention at the end would bridge nicely to the next Symbols section(loon/mosquito ref since deleted; I suggest we add it to fauna section with other critters). If we did (b) as Atom-man suggests, I probably would invert the order of the next two sections, putting Health first and Education second, to make a transition between recreation and health. Either works for me.
Kablammo 23:53, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
Atom, given your comment and edit history I think you meant option (b).
I have now posted both options at WIP Sports section. You will note slighty different reworks of the recreation section in both, and in the second (option b) a reordering and edit of the following section for a transition. Kablammo 03:50, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
I have now integrated Option A into the article. See how it looks and reads. Kablammo 15:33, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
I'd like to see photos in Media (on the right) and in the health section (on the right). Atom 18:03, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
Well, I was checking out the article for whitespace, spacing, photographs, etc., and it is pretty darned good. The only (minor) thing I thought would be additional photos, as the health section has none (Education has the U of M bldg), and Media has none (the next section has the Xcel energy center.) Atom 18:43, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
I like the welcome to Minnesota sign. I watch for it every time I come back a client in Wisconsin. Let's leave it until we have something better.
Mayo looks good. It would be better to have a building, but, Mato is so large and spread out through so many buildings. I threw KSTP in, since it is the first station in MN. Feel free to replace it if you find something better. But, better would be MPR. I should drive by and take a photo of their studios. Atom 20:05, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
Once we all think it is done, let's archive the talk page to leave it clean for the FA. Atom 20:14, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
(As far as I'm concerned, archive the talk page anytime now.) Appraiser 20:51, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
For a main featured article photo, the Minnesota state parks have some really striking, iconic images. Perhaps one of Lake Itasca, in our oldest park? Or Fort Snelling, one of the oldest buildings? Jonathunder 20:58, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
How about this? Like with the portals, we can rotate that picture form time to time. We can use these, plus the "Welcome to Minnesota", and add a few and rotate to the next in the queue every few weeks to a month. I like the Third Ave bridge for the FA review. Atom 21:24, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
I took a picture one time of Cedar lake in the foreground, and Minneapolis skyline in the background, in the Fall season. That would make a good picture. I'm not sure if I can find it though. Atom 21:24, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
A comment over at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Minnesota suggest the article has too many pictures. This is always a hard one to tackle because some people like tons of pics and others not so many. What do you guys think? We should probably list out all pics in a gallery and then weed out the ones that really don't help convey anything in the article.-19:05, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
I added the image of the girl playing the violin at the fair back. First because I like it, as it gives a flavor of our culture. Secondly, from a layout pespective, that section cries out for an image.
I am going to re-size the image so that it is appropriately sized for "thumb". I already did that for KSTP image. Once we have a better image for popular culture, or for Minnesota State Fair, we could replace the image of the girl at that time.
Atom 16:07, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
The girl image still bleeds at 200px user preferences and above. Do you think I should resize to smaller? Atom 16:46, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
Okay, I think it looks fine at 200px, but still some bleed on several images at 300px. But, even then it looks pretty good, not that noticeable. I believe the default is 180px, and it looks great there. Atom 17:04, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
Here is my take on it. You can set the image to be displayed as absolute, or as relative in size. If you say [[image:BabetheBlueOx|200px|right]] it puts the image at that set size, and no matter what the user has in their preferences, that's the size it is, absolute. If you say [[image:BabetheBlueOx|thumb|right]] then it is relative sized and takes the size that the user sets in their preferences|files|thumbnail size. The default (I think) is 180px, but can be set by a user to 120px|150px|180px|200px|250px|300px. The standard for articles (although only loosely followed) is that images should be "thumb" so that the user can control it according to their needs. The default is pretty important though, because 90% of users(or more), especially anonymous users, do not know how, or do not change the defaults.
The problem, of course, is that different images are saved by a variety of people at a variety of sizes, and two given images displayed at "thumb" can be completely different in size. A photo downloaded by one photographer of Mickey Mouse can be one size, and the photo of Minnie Mouse downloaded by a different photographer could be half that size, both displayed at "thumb". How can the editor make them both fit in the article? Either set the px size individually so that they look the same size, which means the user preferences don't work, or resize one of the images so that it matches, display them at thumb, and then they are the same (or similar enough) while allowing user prefs.
Because an image may be used in a number of articles, it is important to find an appropriate size that will "thumb" well in all of the articles, and is not re-sized for a specific article.
If anyone has a better understanding, please let me know. Atom 18:31, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
Here is the best reference I have found: [ [2]]
Default Thumb is 180px. Atom 21:51, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
Appraiser, now that you reverted to the first girl image, it takes up alot more space. I made another test in the sandbox, and the thumbnail is sized depending on the size of the image. Atom 02:25, 30 November 2006 (UTC)
As for the other places that ( Cathedral of Saint Paul (Minnesota) and KSTP-TV) are used, of course I checked those before and after so that I would not mess up another article. (the image page shows all places that image is linked.) What I am saying is that hard coding is not the correct method, and relative "thumb" is the accepted standard. If the image doesn't look good, then what are you going to do? You edit the original image so that it is sized as it should have been when it was originally transferred to Wikipedia. I hear you as saying the opposite, that the image as transferred by the (usually) photographer/artist should be respected, and we should try and compensate by living with it being the wrong size, or choosing not to use the image, or by hard coding the px size to make it look the way we would like. At some level, of course, I agree with respecting the artist as much as possible, since it is hir creative work. I have no criticism of those who choose to do it in (what seems to me) a backward approach, it's just I think that doing it the manner that offers the most compatabiity with many articles, as well as flexibility for the editors and users (through preferences) seems to make more sense to me. As it seems that many other editors do it that way to, that's just my choice. A choice for us to make all thumbs the same size seems unecessarily arbitrary and inelegant. 19:52, 30 November 2006 (UTC)
I have been looking at the PHP source code at mediawiki.org, and I am seeing if tackling making the next version allow the possibility if specifying relative thumb sizing, as well as an option to allow a 0px sizing -- or a checkbox (to allow people to choose to show no images -- safe for work). It sounds like a neat project but I am not sure if I have time for such. Atom 19:52, 30 November 2006 (UTC)
I think we've hit on a limitation of Wikipedia software. If we use thumbnails the way they supposed to be used, all the thumbnail pictures will be the same width. They will be more prominent on the screens of people who have set their thumbnail preference to a relatively high number, and less prominent on the screens people using relatively larger monitors. I think that if a thumbnail seems too large for the desired location, the best solution is to specify a small px size, rather than reduce the size of the original. Currently, if you click to enlarge the thumbnail of KSTP in order to see more detail, you will be disappointed, because the full-sized picture is the same size as the thumbnail (with your preference set to 180px, which is true for most users). This solution defeats the concept of thumbnails. We might just as well reduce all the pictures to article-size and not use thumbnails at all. After considerable thought on this subject, I firmly believe that original graphics should be left alone, and the authors of articles should specify the size of the image or the size of the thumbnail desired for their particular application of the graphic. There currently does not appear to be a technological solution to the problem, that satisfies all screen sizes, screen resolutions, and preferences that maintains the integrity of the photographs we want to use. So, We'll just have to do the best we can with the tools available, and agree to disagree. Appraiser 20:08, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
The girl with violin, while a nice image, could be anywhere at all. Let's replace it with something unique to Minnesota culture: a nice photo from the Minnesota State Fair, perhaps, or something else that is specific to this state. Jonathunder 21:03, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
I removed these two statements because they need citations. Rather than add a citation needed, I'll put them here for possible future inclusion into the appropriate paragraphs with citations: "The forestry industry is presently threatened by decertification of sustainability of state forests administered by the DNR. Rampant ATV/OHV use in the state's forests have had destructive impacts." I don't want unsourced statements in the article during the FA process. Appraiser 04:05, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
I think that if tey are non-sourced, and controversial enough to need a citation, then we either need to find a citation fast or pull it until we do. Atom 16:00, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
Wikipedia:Manual of Style (links) says the following:
There have been un-link-ififications and re-link-ifications in the last few weeks. I say we leave multi links in unless they appear within a paragraph and half. The article is pretty long so having the BWCA linked 3 times is not a big deal. - Ravedave ( help name my baby) 04:22, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
es:Minnesota is an FA! I looks like it is based on the English page from a few months ago. Worth a look. - Ravedave ( help name my baby) 02:26, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
Wow. It's like an alternate reality. Some of the pictures are better than ours! Atom 15:33, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
I like the quarter too - in fact it's in Economy of Minnesota. But I also like the symbolism of the old flour mill juxtaposed to the financial services skyscraper, which I think adds value to the text immediately at hand. Perhaps we could find a different spot for it. Appraiser 19:44, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
Hi Ravedave, Kablammo, et al: I've finished editing the article (which I started at Ravedave's request) and I think it's in great shape. Hope you agree. Please check for any unintended fact changes (and ignore the intended fact changes :) that may have resulted from my edits. – Outriggr § 04:06, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
This ref is causing an error in the list of references (#11)... [1] Gopher backer 17:26, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
Looking at a small sample of recent Main page articles, most of them seem to have appeared within a month after receiving FA status. A message appeared on the talk page about 5 days in advance, announcing which day the appearance would occur. One I looked at ( Battle of Austerlitz) appeared 8 months after being designated FA. I didn't see any particular reason for the delay. Another, History of erotic depictions appeared 8 days after the designation. That one needed several hundred reverts during the day of its feature. I think if we start to see a lot of changes on our day, we should move to freeze it for the day asap. People with legitimate suggestions can come back the next day. Appraiser 01:26, 4 December 2006 (UTC)
Unfortunately protecting the featured article is against policy. ( See here). The best thing to do is pretty much let other people revert vandalism as usual, and then after it is no longer a featured article, revert it back to just before it was featured, and then do a diff to see what useful edits we can apply. It is a lot less stressful that way.
As for the waiting period, We have articles queued through December 14th, and then it is open. Getting featured sometime after that shouldn't be a problem. I added us to the request queue ( See here...) And we are 100th in the queue. As far as I can tell Raul doesn't necessarily take them in order. In the request I put the BWCA picture, since it is scenic. But, we can change that if there is a consensus for a better image. Atom 01:55, 4 December 2006 (UTC)
I was also thinking about expanding tribal government and reservations. They're barely mentioned, and I don't think it should just be a white man's history of the state. (I'm thinking about doing this after submitting for FA.) Appraiser 05:46, 22 November 2006 (UTC)
Questions and suggestions:
Any comments? Kablammo 13:59, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
I've added one non-metro picture. I think we should strive for pictures which serve multiple purposes, hence the addition of architects' names to the captions. It would be nice to have a few more scenic pictures.
My thoughts on further changes:
On pictures, opinions may vary. Weigh in with your views. Kablammo 15:16, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
Appraiser 16:40, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
I am not sure where this could fit.
6,000 Prisoners Of War Came to Minnesota in 1944-45 "Escapes and escape attempts were almost unheard of among the 6,000 prisoners of war sent to Minnesota. ", "In all, the prisoners of war — called PWs and not POWs during World War II — worked at 21 branch camps located throughout the state.", "Generally, Simmons said, the prisoners got along well with the local people, and the men often went to work each day with no guards present.", "Other prisoners would spend their free time fishing, and it was discussed for a time whether they needed to buy fishing licenses. "Only in Minnesota could you have a debate about whether prisoners of war should have to buy fishing licenses."
It has been my impression that many German POWs decided to stay in the U.S., or returned to the U.S. after repatriation. I can't find a reference to that. Also, I had thought that this added signidicantly to the German population, but in review I am not sure that a few thousand german POW's would put much of a dent in the previous German immigrant population.
Atom 15:09, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
That's why I put it here. It is historically interesting, but we don't need at add any more weight to the article at this point. Maybe a future sub-article, or after FA. Atom 18:36, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
Here is the link: Proposed sports revision Atom 19:52, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
There is now, at WIP Sports section. This is my proposal for a rewrite (I deleted the picture in the draft but it would stay in the main article). Still need to add the other major league teams. The draft may not give as much detail as Appraiser suggests, but more than Atom may like. Therefore I thought it a reasonable compromise! Again, no pride of authorship. Kablammo 20:25, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
Compromise?? Never! Cut pro sports entirely... Just kidding. It looks pretty good. I will take a longer look later. I think I would make it [[common loon|loon]] Atom 21:28, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
I've met his girlfriend. I can't begin to tell you how complex that might make things. Atom 22:40, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
I added the first two. I don't think we need to add all pro and semi-pro teams; in some sports there is no sharp distinction.
Once RaveDave weighs in I will shovel the draft text into the main article, either by:
I had originally thought to do (a); and the Loon mention at the end would bridge nicely to the next Symbols section(loon/mosquito ref since deleted; I suggest we add it to fauna section with other critters). If we did (b) as Atom-man suggests, I probably would invert the order of the next two sections, putting Health first and Education second, to make a transition between recreation and health. Either works for me.
Kablammo 23:53, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
Atom, given your comment and edit history I think you meant option (b).
I have now posted both options at WIP Sports section. You will note slighty different reworks of the recreation section in both, and in the second (option b) a reordering and edit of the following section for a transition. Kablammo 03:50, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
I have now integrated Option A into the article. See how it looks and reads. Kablammo 15:33, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
I'd like to see photos in Media (on the right) and in the health section (on the right). Atom 18:03, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
Well, I was checking out the article for whitespace, spacing, photographs, etc., and it is pretty darned good. The only (minor) thing I thought would be additional photos, as the health section has none (Education has the U of M bldg), and Media has none (the next section has the Xcel energy center.) Atom 18:43, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
I like the welcome to Minnesota sign. I watch for it every time I come back a client in Wisconsin. Let's leave it until we have something better.
Mayo looks good. It would be better to have a building, but, Mato is so large and spread out through so many buildings. I threw KSTP in, since it is the first station in MN. Feel free to replace it if you find something better. But, better would be MPR. I should drive by and take a photo of their studios. Atom 20:05, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
Once we all think it is done, let's archive the talk page to leave it clean for the FA. Atom 20:14, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
(As far as I'm concerned, archive the talk page anytime now.) Appraiser 20:51, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
For a main featured article photo, the Minnesota state parks have some really striking, iconic images. Perhaps one of Lake Itasca, in our oldest park? Or Fort Snelling, one of the oldest buildings? Jonathunder 20:58, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
How about this? Like with the portals, we can rotate that picture form time to time. We can use these, plus the "Welcome to Minnesota", and add a few and rotate to the next in the queue every few weeks to a month. I like the Third Ave bridge for the FA review. Atom 21:24, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
I took a picture one time of Cedar lake in the foreground, and Minneapolis skyline in the background, in the Fall season. That would make a good picture. I'm not sure if I can find it though. Atom 21:24, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
A comment over at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Minnesota suggest the article has too many pictures. This is always a hard one to tackle because some people like tons of pics and others not so many. What do you guys think? We should probably list out all pics in a gallery and then weed out the ones that really don't help convey anything in the article.-19:05, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
I added the image of the girl playing the violin at the fair back. First because I like it, as it gives a flavor of our culture. Secondly, from a layout pespective, that section cries out for an image.
I am going to re-size the image so that it is appropriately sized for "thumb". I already did that for KSTP image. Once we have a better image for popular culture, or for Minnesota State Fair, we could replace the image of the girl at that time.
Atom 16:07, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
The girl image still bleeds at 200px user preferences and above. Do you think I should resize to smaller? Atom 16:46, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
Okay, I think it looks fine at 200px, but still some bleed on several images at 300px. But, even then it looks pretty good, not that noticeable. I believe the default is 180px, and it looks great there. Atom 17:04, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
Here is my take on it. You can set the image to be displayed as absolute, or as relative in size. If you say [[image:BabetheBlueOx|200px|right]] it puts the image at that set size, and no matter what the user has in their preferences, that's the size it is, absolute. If you say [[image:BabetheBlueOx|thumb|right]] then it is relative sized and takes the size that the user sets in their preferences|files|thumbnail size. The default (I think) is 180px, but can be set by a user to 120px|150px|180px|200px|250px|300px. The standard for articles (although only loosely followed) is that images should be "thumb" so that the user can control it according to their needs. The default is pretty important though, because 90% of users(or more), especially anonymous users, do not know how, or do not change the defaults.
The problem, of course, is that different images are saved by a variety of people at a variety of sizes, and two given images displayed at "thumb" can be completely different in size. A photo downloaded by one photographer of Mickey Mouse can be one size, and the photo of Minnie Mouse downloaded by a different photographer could be half that size, both displayed at "thumb". How can the editor make them both fit in the article? Either set the px size individually so that they look the same size, which means the user preferences don't work, or resize one of the images so that it matches, display them at thumb, and then they are the same (or similar enough) while allowing user prefs.
Because an image may be used in a number of articles, it is important to find an appropriate size that will "thumb" well in all of the articles, and is not re-sized for a specific article.
If anyone has a better understanding, please let me know. Atom 18:31, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
Here is the best reference I have found: [ [2]]
Default Thumb is 180px. Atom 21:51, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
Appraiser, now that you reverted to the first girl image, it takes up alot more space. I made another test in the sandbox, and the thumbnail is sized depending on the size of the image. Atom 02:25, 30 November 2006 (UTC)
As for the other places that ( Cathedral of Saint Paul (Minnesota) and KSTP-TV) are used, of course I checked those before and after so that I would not mess up another article. (the image page shows all places that image is linked.) What I am saying is that hard coding is not the correct method, and relative "thumb" is the accepted standard. If the image doesn't look good, then what are you going to do? You edit the original image so that it is sized as it should have been when it was originally transferred to Wikipedia. I hear you as saying the opposite, that the image as transferred by the (usually) photographer/artist should be respected, and we should try and compensate by living with it being the wrong size, or choosing not to use the image, or by hard coding the px size to make it look the way we would like. At some level, of course, I agree with respecting the artist as much as possible, since it is hir creative work. I have no criticism of those who choose to do it in (what seems to me) a backward approach, it's just I think that doing it the manner that offers the most compatabiity with many articles, as well as flexibility for the editors and users (through preferences) seems to make more sense to me. As it seems that many other editors do it that way to, that's just my choice. A choice for us to make all thumbs the same size seems unecessarily arbitrary and inelegant. 19:52, 30 November 2006 (UTC)
I have been looking at the PHP source code at mediawiki.org, and I am seeing if tackling making the next version allow the possibility if specifying relative thumb sizing, as well as an option to allow a 0px sizing -- or a checkbox (to allow people to choose to show no images -- safe for work). It sounds like a neat project but I am not sure if I have time for such. Atom 19:52, 30 November 2006 (UTC)
I think we've hit on a limitation of Wikipedia software. If we use thumbnails the way they supposed to be used, all the thumbnail pictures will be the same width. They will be more prominent on the screens of people who have set their thumbnail preference to a relatively high number, and less prominent on the screens people using relatively larger monitors. I think that if a thumbnail seems too large for the desired location, the best solution is to specify a small px size, rather than reduce the size of the original. Currently, if you click to enlarge the thumbnail of KSTP in order to see more detail, you will be disappointed, because the full-sized picture is the same size as the thumbnail (with your preference set to 180px, which is true for most users). This solution defeats the concept of thumbnails. We might just as well reduce all the pictures to article-size and not use thumbnails at all. After considerable thought on this subject, I firmly believe that original graphics should be left alone, and the authors of articles should specify the size of the image or the size of the thumbnail desired for their particular application of the graphic. There currently does not appear to be a technological solution to the problem, that satisfies all screen sizes, screen resolutions, and preferences that maintains the integrity of the photographs we want to use. So, We'll just have to do the best we can with the tools available, and agree to disagree. Appraiser 20:08, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
The girl with violin, while a nice image, could be anywhere at all. Let's replace it with something unique to Minnesota culture: a nice photo from the Minnesota State Fair, perhaps, or something else that is specific to this state. Jonathunder 21:03, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
I removed these two statements because they need citations. Rather than add a citation needed, I'll put them here for possible future inclusion into the appropriate paragraphs with citations: "The forestry industry is presently threatened by decertification of sustainability of state forests administered by the DNR. Rampant ATV/OHV use in the state's forests have had destructive impacts." I don't want unsourced statements in the article during the FA process. Appraiser 04:05, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
I think that if tey are non-sourced, and controversial enough to need a citation, then we either need to find a citation fast or pull it until we do. Atom 16:00, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
Wikipedia:Manual of Style (links) says the following:
There have been un-link-ififications and re-link-ifications in the last few weeks. I say we leave multi links in unless they appear within a paragraph and half. The article is pretty long so having the BWCA linked 3 times is not a big deal. - Ravedave ( help name my baby) 04:22, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
es:Minnesota is an FA! I looks like it is based on the English page from a few months ago. Worth a look. - Ravedave ( help name my baby) 02:26, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
Wow. It's like an alternate reality. Some of the pictures are better than ours! Atom 15:33, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
I like the quarter too - in fact it's in Economy of Minnesota. But I also like the symbolism of the old flour mill juxtaposed to the financial services skyscraper, which I think adds value to the text immediately at hand. Perhaps we could find a different spot for it. Appraiser 19:44, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
Hi Ravedave, Kablammo, et al: I've finished editing the article (which I started at Ravedave's request) and I think it's in great shape. Hope you agree. Please check for any unintended fact changes (and ignore the intended fact changes :) that may have resulted from my edits. – Outriggr § 04:06, 2 December 2006 (UTC)
This ref is causing an error in the list of references (#11)... [1] Gopher backer 17:26, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
Looking at a small sample of recent Main page articles, most of them seem to have appeared within a month after receiving FA status. A message appeared on the talk page about 5 days in advance, announcing which day the appearance would occur. One I looked at ( Battle of Austerlitz) appeared 8 months after being designated FA. I didn't see any particular reason for the delay. Another, History of erotic depictions appeared 8 days after the designation. That one needed several hundred reverts during the day of its feature. I think if we start to see a lot of changes on our day, we should move to freeze it for the day asap. People with legitimate suggestions can come back the next day. Appraiser 01:26, 4 December 2006 (UTC)
Unfortunately protecting the featured article is against policy. ( See here). The best thing to do is pretty much let other people revert vandalism as usual, and then after it is no longer a featured article, revert it back to just before it was featured, and then do a diff to see what useful edits we can apply. It is a lot less stressful that way.
As for the waiting period, We have articles queued through December 14th, and then it is open. Getting featured sometime after that shouldn't be a problem. I added us to the request queue ( See here...) And we are 100th in the queue. As far as I can tell Raul doesn't necessarily take them in order. In the request I put the BWCA picture, since it is scenic. But, we can change that if there is a consensus for a better image. Atom 01:55, 4 December 2006 (UTC)