Bhamwiki talk:Messageboard

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BhamWiki Meet-up?

To all interested...

What does everyone think about maybe trying to have a get together on the day after Thanksgiving? If any of y'all are in town and available, it would be nice to meet some of y'all in person and explore our fair city. I leave this open for discussion... --Patriarca12 07:42, 31 October 2006 (PST)

• I'll be in Lower Alabama that day... probably driving back Sunday after church. --Dystopos 07:48, 31 October 2006 (PST)

• I will be around that day, I have to work. My office is downtown in the John A. Hand Building, we could meet for lunch somewhere nearby, maybe Scott's Koneys. I am also off the next Monday 11/27. --Wheresdib 08:06, 31 October 2006 (PST)

• I'd love to meet you guys, but I have other commitments that day. My forays to B'ham these days are sadly infrequent. --Lkseitz 09:41, 31 October 2006 (PST)

Lol, I'd also like to meet everyone, but, unfortunately, I don't know where I'll be spending Thanksgiving, either Gadsden or Geneva, but, either way, I won't be able to make the trip from Decatur. :~( AlabamaGuy2007 20:19, 1 November 2006 (PST)

Is anyone still interested in meeting this Friday? I will be around the office all day, and it shouldn't be busy. Let me know if interested either here or on my talk page. --Wheresdib 14:21, 22 November 2006 (PST)

Birmingham News article

It is likely that the Birmingham News will profile BhamWiki over Thanksgiving weekend. User:Lkseitz and I have been interviewed by staff writer Erin Stock who found us while Googling Legion Field and thereby got the scoop. She would like to hear from anyone else involved in the project that is interested in helping her with the story. You can contact her through the newspaper or ask me for contact info.

I expect that it will be a positive review, but she did get me speculating on the nature of truth and the trustworthiness of wikis, on which I can wax philosophic without grounding. I hope I have not misrepresented any of your work.

It is possible that, as a result of this publicity, we will see a lot of new editors. This has me both excited and nervous. I will greatly appreciate the help of our experienced contributers with welcoming newcomers and gently correcting any abuses that might manifest themselves. Please let me know if you observe any problems that need my attention. I expect to have a high tolerance for rookie mistakes, but a low tolerance for troublemaking. --Dystopos 19:06, 16 November 2006 (PST)

Technical difficulties

BhamWiki is hosted by Dreamhost.com, which came highly recommended when I signed up, but has had a difficult summer and is apparently still having issues keeping our site humming. I am willing to consider alternatives to Dreamhost if other users have strong recommendations. My own technical knowledge is paltry. --Dystopos 07:38, 20 November 2006 (PST)

I talked to a friend who runs another site I frequent and he uses GoDaddy for hosting services and doesn't have any problems. I can't vouch for anyone though. Another wiki that I foray into (Lostpedia) uses Jupiter Hosting and I have never had a problem accessing that site. --Wheresdib 14:24, 22 November 2006 (PST)

I don't know what standards to set. At least Dreamhost is responsive, communicative to the point of even being friendly. I just wish I didn't have to communicate with them so often. I guess I'll come to a decision by March when my 1 year contract is up. --Dystopos 15:31, 22 November 2006 (PST)

"Signs" category?

would this be a possible category for articles? perhaps relating to the proposed bhamwiki:architecture portal or something? i just think of all the interesting signage around town, City Federal, Redmont Hotel, that huge electric messageboard downtown, WBRC, Dixie Neon, the big C on the Cabana Building, Carraway's rotating star, the Alabama Theatre, the old Vulcan green/red torch, the old neon signs that used to adorn every church like 16th St. Baptist., etc...

good idea or no? -- User:Sagefats.

• Here's what I would do... For truly significant signs (such as the Barber's clock or the "Welcome to the Magic City" sign that was outside the terminal station) which might merit a separate article, we can make a Category:Signs. Otherwise, maybe a category, such as Category:Buildings with signage would make it too hard to distinguish noteworthy signs, like the ones you list, from your run-of-the-mill Walgreen's. With that being the case, I propose a List of notable signs as a separate article to which the other articles can be linked: e. g. "The current building is known best for the monumental 176 by 26 foot electronic [[List of notable signs|marquee]] mounted on top which displays advertising messages using an array of 1,440 incandescent bulb" (for Two North Twentieth). Also, if we collect a group of photographs of the signs, those can be collected in their own category, and/or a gallery article would be nice. Sound okay? --Dystopos 05:57, 27 November 2006 (PST)

• I like the list idea right now instead of the category. I would hate to see a bunch of national chain restaurants, drug stores and the likes show up in a category that was meant for the truly local and unusual signs. At least with the list we can put the Two North Twentieth, City Federal, WBRC, Barber's clock and the like without necessarily creating a separate article just for the sign if it is attached to a significant building. --Wheresdib 07:22, 27 November 2006 (PST)
• sounds good:) --sagefats

• I've found enough information to write an article about the sign at Terminal Station, but what should it be called? --Lkseitz 15:22, 30 November 2006 (PST)

• Good question. My first thought is "Terminal Station welcome sign", --Dystopos 16:17, 30 November 2006 (PST)

• How about "Magic City sign"? --Lkseitz 08:37, 14 December 2006 (PST)

• Works for me. Who's writing the article? --Dystopos 09:15, 14 December 2006 (PST)

• If Lee has the info to write it, he should :P --Wheresdib 09:58, 14 December 2006 (PST)

• Done. --Lkseitz 08:38, 15 December 2006 (PST)

• Looks great, thanks! When I get a chance I'll check HABS for a photo. Hard to verify that any non-governmental post-1923 published source is out of copyright. --Dystopos 10:05, 15 December 2006 (PST)

Going back to the original question posed by Sagefats, do we want to create a category or list of these signs? --Wheresdib 10:58, 15 December 2006 (PST)

• Yes, both I think. --Dystopos 07:02, 16 December 2006 (PST)

Chronological order

I've noticed an inconsistency in articles dealing with annual events. Most, I believe, list events in reverse chronological order. (That is, newest first.) Examples are Vestavia Hills Dogwood Festival and Magic City Art Connection. Others are in chronological order, such as Crawfish Boil and Rickwood Classic. I was thinking a consistent policy might be good for this issue.

Personally, I prefer to read things in chronological order (oldest first). It would also require less changes over time in regards to bolding the first instance of a term in the article. It also makes it easier to scan for the first year a sub-event was held, assuming it's in bold text. I can see the point of saying that over time some people will only want to read the most recent information each time they visit, but it seems to me that would primarily apply to us hard-core editors, not the average web surfer. Other opinions? --Lkseitz 08:37, 14 December 2006 (PST)

• As you have discovered, I am of two minds on the subject. As long as the organization of the article is apparent, I still don't have a strong preference. Ultimately, I think the best thing is for an overall article to discuss major developments over time. So subject headings like "First years", "Peak years", with individual occurrences incorporated into the text, would probably be the sign of a mature article. In that case, the order would probably follow a historical chronology and individual years might merit their own articles to document more trivial aspects. (Like the City Stages articles). --Dystopos 09:09, 14 December 2006 (PST)

Happy New Year!

• I hope all my fellow BhamWiki editors have a great 2007! I would like to get together with ya'll, though I understand that many of the contributors don't actually live in Birmingham any longer. --Wheresdib 10:46, 31 December 2006 (PST)
  • Been fun in 2006, and '07 will be even better! Happy new year to all involved in this great project! - Patriarca12 15:19, 31 December 2006 (PST)

• Happy New Year everyone. I was out of pocket over the holiday and will be busy at work the next week or two, so I might be scarce. I am planning to host an anniversary party on or around March 15 for all registered editors. I'm open to meeting up before then, but I wanted to go ahead and let ya'll know. --Dystopos 18:49, 2 January 2007 (PST)

• Can I suggest it be on a weekend? Weekdays will generally not be good for me and, I suspect, others. But don't do it soley on my account. Belated happy new year, everyone! --Lkseitz 10:08, 9 January 2007 (PST)

Parentheses for disambiguation

Well, this is embarrassing. I've changed an article name from "Parkway Drive Trussville" to "Parkway Drive (Trussville)". I thought it was more encyclopedia-ish and helps distinguish that "Trussville" is not part of the street's name but its location. Looking at the talk page, I see I proposed the non-parenthesized version in the first place. IIRC, I was merely following Dystopos' lead from a couple other places. What do others think about this change? Is it a good thing? Unneccessary?

Incidentally, this came from my expanding the U.S. Highway 78 article a bit. I decided if the individual road names of U.S. Highway 31 were going to get their own articles, Parkway Drive (Leeds) should too. Previously the Parkway Drive disambiguation page just pointed to Highway 78 for the portion in Leeds. --Lkseitz 10:01, 9 January 2007 (PST)

• My lead will typically take you down a circular path. I don't have any direction on this issue at the moment. Let's keep thinking about individual cases. --Dystopos 11:59, 9 January 2007 (PST)

Messageboard location

P.S. perhaps this messageboard should be on the Discussion tab so we have the handy "+" tab to add new topics with?

• Done --Dystopos 11:59, 9 January 2007 (PST)

Thursday March 15

• Anyone who is free for dinner on Thursday, March 15 is welcome to join me in celebrating the 1st anniversary of BhamWiki. Location to be determined (I'm leaning toward Chez Fon Fon). Note: we can move it to the weekend (16th, 17th or 18th) if more folks will be able to come.--Dystopos 13:31, 9 January 2007 (PST)

• I want to make plans to be there, even if it's on Thursday. Right now, I'm thinking of using Friday to go around taking pictures for some of the articles I've written. I'm not picky about the where, I just need to know a definite when so I can schedule time off. Who else is coming? --Lkseitz 06:57, 18 January 2007 (PST)

• So far it's just us. If you want to go ahead and schedule the time off, we can cast the date in stone. --Dystopos 07:45, 18 January 2007 (PST)

• I should be able to show up on just about any night. The only other meetings I have during the week is a monthly meeting and I normally organize it, so I have control of it. I didn't see this earlier but I should be able to make it. I have never been to Chez Fon Fon so I hope Dystopos is buying! :-P --Wheresdib 10:30, 18 January 2007 (PST)

• That depends on the turnout. I'll at least spring for wine. --Dystopos 11:56, 18 January 2007 (PST)

• I will be there. I have scheduled time off on March 16th and plan to leave work a little early on the 15th. I probably won't be able to make it before 6:00 p.m., though. --Lkseitz 08:43, 20 February 2007 (PST)

• I will send out an email this week to all registered editors who have contributed to more than one article, and maybe some cool ones that haven't. --Dystopos 10:01, 20 February 2007 (PST)

Succession boxes and interims

Okay, help me out with this. I've recently discovered Edna Snow acted as interim superintendent of Homewood City Schools before Michael Gross (1978–1985), after Robert F. Bumpus (1985–1991), and probably between the two. (But see Talk:Edna Snow for more on that.). Because I don't know who was superintendent immediately before or after these two men, I've added her name, marked as "interim," in the succession boxes on these two men's pages for now. I also have succession boxes for these two stints on Ms. Snow's page. That's a short term solution.

In the long term, what do we do about people who filled a position while a search for a permanent replacement was conducted? Does it depend on the length of the interim? For example, Andy Craig will likely have been interim superintendent for over a year by the time a permanent Hoover Superintendent is found. Or do such people merely get a succession box during the active period they hold the position and we remove it and take them out of the link chain once a permanent replacement is found?

The scenarios for Snow are this. Let's presume she was interim superintendent between Gross and Bumpus.

1. She gets succession boxes as interim superintendent each time.
   1. Gross' and Bumpus' succession boxes both show her as interim both before and after them, meaning the user has to keep track of which row of succession boxes to use on her page to continue through the chain.
   2. Gross' and Bumpus' succession boxes only list the non-interim holders (each other), meaning Snow's are not part of the chain but are still handy for quick reference at the bottom of her article.
2. Snow doesn't get succession boxes as interim superintendent, but of course that information is noted in her entry. She doesn't appear in the boxes on Gross' or Bumpus' entries.

I know there will be special cases, but I wanted others thoughts on this. --Lkseitz 15:09, 1 February 2007 (PST)

• You might want to see how Wikipedia has handled it. I suspect that even people who serve for a day would show up in the succession box. In the cases where someone has served in between so many, though, I might be tempted to leave the succession box off that particular page and let it be explained in the text. --Dystopos 15:11, 1 February 2007 (PST)

• I can't find a Wikipedia policy on it and my attempts to find some examples have not panned out. Any suggestions for examples? I tried CEOs of Time Warner, Toys R Us, and Wal-Mart. The U.S. Presidents have nice succession box examples, but I can't think of any "interim" candidates. --Lkseitz 10:33, 2 February 2007 (PST)

• Looking around, I see that Mike Price is fully accounted for in the Alabama Head Football Coach succession boxes. So are Scarborough, Ontario Mayor Ken Morrish and Omaha interim Mayor Richard Cunningham (even though he's a red link). I think it's best to generally include interims in the succession box, but where, as in Snow's case, that would just stack up a bunch of boxes, we could make the editorial decision to streamline somehow. --Dystopos 11:53, 2 February 2007 (PST)

Iron Bowl stubs

• I will continue the Iron Bowl stubs next week. I don't want a mere stub to be the 1800th article and I probably should do actual work for once ;-). Of course, if anyone feels compelled to write one or some, here's a great resource: [1]. The information is very similar to the webpage I was using yesterday but was published in the Mobile Press-Register. --Wheresdib 13:29, 2 February 2007 (PST)

• Make sure that 1,800th is a good one :) --Dystopos 14:14, 2 February 2007 (PST)

• Please be sure to look at the articles I've written (or stolen) on these football games, teams, and coaches. I am not a football fan so I could be completely messing things up. --Wheresdib 14:15, 20 February 2007 (PST)

The Beatles?

As I was reading the wikipedia entry on the Beatles, I found this little tidbit: "...In an interview with British reporter Maureen Cleave, [John] Lennon had offered his opinion that Christianity was dying and that the Beatles were "more popular than Christ now." Afterwards, a radio station in Birmingham, Alabama, ran a story on burning Beatles records, in what was considered to be a joke. However, many people affiliated with rural churches in the American South started taking the suggestion seriously. Towns across the United States and South Africa started to burn Beatles records in protest." Does anyone know what radio station made that announcement? --Wheresdib 11:16, 26 February 2007 (PST)