Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators - Wikipedia

Please see the Academy course for coordinators for general information and advice.

These tasks should be done as often as needed—ideally, on a daily basis.

Assessment

• Monitor the daily assessment log. The main things to look for:
  • Articles being removed. This is usually legitimate (due to merges or non-military articles getting untagged), but is sometimes due to vandalism or broken template code.
  • Articles being moved to "GA-Class" and higher quality. These ratings need to correspond to the article's status in the GA and FA lists or the A-Class project review.
• Deal with any new assessment requests and the backlog of unassessed articles.

A-Class review

• For each ongoing A-Class review:
  1. Determine whether the review needs to be closed and archived, per the criteria here.
  2. If a review has been open for a month without at least three editors commenting, leave a reminder note on the main project talk page, using the following boilerplate: {{subst:Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators/Toolbox/A-Class review alert|Name of article}} ~~~~
• If an article has been put up for A-Class review in the past and you receive a request for assistance per WP:MHR for a fresh review, follow the procedure below for creating an A-Class review or reappraisal. This will make way for the normal A-Class review initiation process, so advise the nominator to initiate per the instructions.

Quarterly Reviewing Awards

Quarterly reviewing awards are posted on the Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Military history/Awards page by the MilHistBot. As with other awards, change the status from "nominated" to "approved" to approve the award.

Member affairs

• Invite editors to join the project, using the following boilerplate:{{subst:Wikipedia:MILHIST/MILHIST Invitation|signed=~~~~}}
• Welcome anybody who joins the project, using the following boilerplate: {{subst:Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators/Toolbox/Welcome|~~~~}}

Miscellaneous

• Vote on any open proposals to award the WikiChevrons with Oak Leaves and approve any A-Class medal or A-Class cross nominations.
• Update the monthly newsletter with new developments within the project.
• Verify entries in the monthly article writing contest, hand out prizes, and update the monthly scoreboard and the newsletter accordingly.
• Fix the {{WPMILHIST}} invocation syntax on any articles in Category:Military history articles needing attention to tagging.

Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators/(MONTH) (YEAR)

{{WPMILHIST Navigation|no-banner=yes}} {{/Tally}}
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== Overview ==

This election is to appoint the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators|project coordinator team]] for one year, from (ADD THE DATE OF THE INCOMING TRANCHE HERE USING DAY MONTH YEAR FORMAT) to (ADD THE ENDING DATE OF THE UPCOMING COORDINATOR TRANCHE HERE, USING DAY MONTH YEAR FORMAT). Coordinators are generally responsible for maintaining all of the procedural and administrative aspects of the project. All of the coordinators, and especially the lead coordinator (or lead coordinators), serve as the designated points-of-contact for procedural issues and focus on specific areas requiring special attention.  They are not, however, endowed with any special executive powers.

=== Responsibilities ===

From [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators]]: <blockquote>The primary responsibility of the project coordinators is the maintenance and housekeeping work involved in keeping the project and its internal processes running smoothly; this includes a variety of tasks, such as keeping the announcement and open task lists updated, overseeing the assessment and review processes, managing the proposal and creation of task forces, and so forth.  There is fairly little involved that couldn't theoretically be done by any other editor, of course—in only a few places have the coordinators been explicitly written into a process—but, since experience suggests that people tend to assume that someone else is doing whatever needs to be done, it has proven beneficial to formally delegate responsibility for this administrative work to a specified group. <br/><br/> The coordinators also have several additional roles.  They serve as the project's designated points of contact, and are explicitly listed as people to whom questions can be directed in a variety of places around the project.  In addition, they have (highly informal) roles in leading the drafting of project guidelines, overseeing the implementation of project decisions on issues like category schemes and template use, and helping to resolve disputes and keep discussions from becoming heated and unproductive.</blockquote>

Practical information on coordinating may be found [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators|here]] and [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Academy/Being a coordinator|here]].

The current coordinators are:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name
! Position
! Standing for re-election?
|-
| Add the name of the first current coordinator as shown on the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators|coordinator's page]]
| The current position the above named editor holds. By virtue of the currently used system, this slot will always be "Coordinator" with the exception of the editor who holds the position of lead coordinator, whose position box should be filled in as "Lead Coordinator"
| This slot MUST be added to for each coordinator and should be left blank since only the listed coordinator can decide if he or she wants to stand for reelection.
|}


=== Election process ===

* '''Nomination period''': (Add the day and month the nomination will begin and the UTC time, day, and month the nomination will end here. For example, "8 September to 23:59 UTC 18 September")
* '''Voting period''': (Add the day and month the election phase will begin and the UTC time, day, and month the election period will end here. For example, "19 September to 23:59 UTC 29 September")
* Any member of the project may nominate themselves for a position by adding their statement in the [[#Candidates|"Candidates" section below]] by the start of the election.  The following boilerplate can be used:

<pre>
=== Name ===

{{user|Name}}
: Statement goes here...

==== Comments and questions for Name ====

*''What have been the achievements of which you are most proud within the Military history WikiProject?''
**
*''What skills/qualities can you contribute as a coordinator?''
**

==== Votes in support of Name ====

#
</pre>

* The election will be conducted using simple [[approval voting]].  Any member of the project may support as many of the candidates as they wish. The candidate with the highest number of endorsements will become the lead coordinator (provided he or she is willing to assume the post); this position may be shared in the event that multiple candidates receive the highest number of endorsements. The remaining candidates with twenty or more endorsements will be appointed as coordinators to a maximum of eleven appointments (including the lead coordinator). The number of coordinators ''may'' be increased or reduced if there is a tie or near-tie for the last position.

* Both project members and interested outside parties are encouraged to ask questions of the nominees or make general comments.

== Candidates==
{{/Status}}


<!--
As per long standing consensus both new candidates and returning coordinators are listed alphabetically below, so add your user name accordingly. Thank you for your cooperation.
-->
}}

/Status

Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators/(MONTH) (YEAR)/Status

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|9={{#ifexpr:{{CURRENTDAY}} < 8|<big>The election has not started yet. Please do not edit this page.</big>|{{#ifexpr:{{CURRENTDAY}} < 19|<big>Please <big style="color: red;">DO NOT VOTE</big> yet; the voting phase of the election will open at 00:01 (UTC) on 19 September.<br>If you wish to run, please sign up by 23:59 (UTC) on 18 September.</big>|{{#ifexpr:{{CURRENTDAY}} <= 29|<big>Voting is now open; project members should vote for any candidates they support by 23:59 (UTC) on 29 September.</big><br>(This is a [[approval voting|simple approval vote]]; only "support" votes should be made.  All other votes will be discounted.)|<big>Voting is now concluded.</big>}}}}}}
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Current time is '''{{CURRENTTIME}}, [[{{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}}]] [[{{CURRENTYEAR}}]]''' (UTC)

/Tally

Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators/(MONTH) (YEAR)/Tally

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|+ <big>'''Tally'''</big> <br/> <small>[{{fullurl:Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators/MONTH YEAR/Tally|action=edit}} edit]</small>
|-
! Candidate !! Votes
|-
|}

Nomination for WikiProject Military history coordinators is now open!  

Nominations for the upcoming [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history]] coordinator election have opened. A team of up to ten coordinators will be elected for the next coordination year. The project coordinators are the designated points of contact for issues concerning the project, and are responsible for maintaining our internal structure and processes. They do not, however, have any authority over article content or editor conduct, or any other special powers. More information on being a coordinator is available [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Academy/Becoming a coordinator|here]]. If you are interested in running, please sign up '''[[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators/September 2024|here]]''' by 23:59 UTC on 14 September! Voting will commence on 15 September. If you have any questions, you can contact any member of the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators|current coord team]]. ~~~~ 

Voting for WikiProject Military history coordinators is now open!  

Voting for the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history]] coordinators is now  open! A team of up to ten coordinators will be elected for the next coordination year. Voting closes  at 23:59 UTC on 29 September. If you have any questions, you can contact any member of the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators|current coord team]]. ~~~~ 

{{archivetop|The election is now closed. ~~~~ }}

{{archivebottom}}

{| style="border: 2px solid lightsteelblue; background-color: whitesmoke;"

|rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:middle;" | [[File:US-O11 insignia.svg|100px]]
|rowspan="2" |
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The ''[[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators/September {{CURRENTYEAR}} |Coordinator stars]]''''' 
|-
|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid lightsteelblue;" | On behalf of the members of WikiProject Military history, in recognition of your election to the position of Coordinator, I take great pleasure in presenting you with the Coordinator's stars, and wish you the best of luck for the coming year! ~~~~
|}

{| style="border: 2px solid lightsteelblue; background-color: whitesmoke;"
|rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:middle;" | [[File:US-O12 insignia.svg|100px]]
|rowspan="2" |
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The ''[[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators/September {{CURRENTYEAR}} |Lead Coordinator stars]]''''' 
|-
|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid lightsteelblue;" | On behalf of the members of WikiProject Military history, in recognition of your re-election to the position of Lead Coordinator, I take great pleasure in presenting you with the Lead Coordinator's stars, and wish you the best of luck for the coming year! ~~~~
|}

{| style="border: 2px solid lightsteelblue; background-color: whitesmoke;"
|rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:middle;" | [[File:Milhist coordinator emeritus.svg|100px]]
|rowspan="2" |
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The ''[[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators/September {{CURRENTYEAR}}#Nomination for Coordinator Emeritus (<editor>)|Coordinator Emeritus stars]]''''' 
|-
|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid lightsteelblue;" | It is with immense pleasure that I pass on the unanimous decision of the members of the WikiProject Military History that as a mark of the great esteem in which they hold you and your judgement you be appointed a Coordinator Emeritus of the Project for as long as you should choose to remain one. Congratulations and many thanks for all that you have done for the Project. ~~~~
|}

{{subst:WPMILHIST Nominations for military historian of the year}} ~~~~

{{subst:WPMILHIST Nominations for military history newcomer of the year}} ~~~~

Voting is now open for the WikiProject Military History newcomer of the year and military historian of the year awards for {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}! The the top editors will be awarded the coveted Gold Wiki. Cast your votes [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Military history#Nominations for military history newcomer of the year for {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}} are open!|here]] and [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Military history#Nominations for military historian of the year for {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}} are open!|here]] respectively. Voting closes at 23:59 on 30 December {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}. On behalf of the coordinators, wishing you the very best for the festive season and the new year. {{subst:Currentuser}} via ~~~~

{{archivetop|Voting is now closed. ~~~~ }}

{{archivebottom}}

{{tmbox
| image     = [[File:Goldenwiki 2.png|60px]]
| style     = background-color: #fdffe7;
| text      = '''{{font|text=The Golden Wiki|size=x-large}}''' {{hr}} Congratulations! You have been selected as the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Awards/MHNOTY|Military History Newcomer of the Year]] by a popular vote of your peers in recognition of your contributions to the English Wikipedia's coverage of military history. On behalf of the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators|coordinators]] of  [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history|WikiProject Military history]], it is my pleasure to present the coveted '''Golden Wiki'''; we hope to see more of you in the years to come. ~~~~
}}

{{tmbox
| image     = [[File:WikiprojectBarnstar.png|60px]]
| style     = background-color: WhiteSmoke;
| text      = '''{{font|text=The WikiProject Barnstar|size=x-large}}''' {{hr}} You have been selected as a runner-up for the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Awards/MHNOTY|Military History Newcomer of the Year]]  by a popular vote of your peers in recognition of your contributions to the English Wikipedia's coverage of military history. On behalf of the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators|coordinators]] of  [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history|WikiProject Military history]], please accept this token of gratitude and appreciation on behalf of the project; we hope to see more of you in the years to come. ~~~~
}}

{{tmbox
| image     = [[File:Goldenwiki 2.png|60px]]
| style     = background-color: #fdffe7;
| text      = '''{{font|text=The Golden Wiki|size=x-large}}''' {{hr}} Congratulations! You have been selected as the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Awards/MHOTY|Military Historian of the Year]] by a popular vote of your peers in recognition of your contributions to the English Wikipedia's coverage of military history. On behalf of the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators|coordinators]] of  [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history|WikiProject Military history]], it is my pleasure to present the coveted '''Golden Wiki'''. ~~~~
}}

{{tmbox
| image     = [[File:Silverwiki 2.png|60px]]
| style     = background-color: WhiteSmoke;
| text      = '''{{font|text=The Silver Wiki|size=x-large}}''' {{hr}} Congratulations! You have been selected in second place for the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Awards/MHOTY|Military Historian of the Year]] by a popular vote of your peers in recognition of your contributions to the English Wikipedia's coverage of military history. On behalf of the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators|coordinators]] of  [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history|WikiProject Military history]], it is my pleasure to present the esteemed '''Silver Wiki'''. ~~~~
}}

{{tmbox
| image     = [[File:Bronzewiki 2.png|60px]]
| style     = background-color: NavajoWhite ;
| text      = '''{{font|text=The Bronze Wiki|size=x-large|color=maroon}}''' {{hr}} Congratulations! You have been selected in third place for the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Awards/MHOTY|Military Historian of the Year]] by a popular vote of your peers in recognition of your contributions to the English Wikipedia's coverage of military history. On behalf of the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Coordinators|coordinators]] of  [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history|WikiProject Military history]], it is my pleasure to present the esteemed '''Bronze Wiki'''. ~~~~
}}

The [[Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Military_history#Nominations_for_military_historian_of_the_year_for_2024_are_open!|Military Historian of the Year]] awards have been distributed, the Golden Wiki going to {{u|gold}} for third year in a row. The Silver Wiki was awarded to {{u|silver}} and the Bronze wiki jointly to {{u|bronze}} and {{u|bronze}}. {{u|runner up}} and {{u|runner up}} were runners-up.

The [[Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Military_history#Nominations_for_military_historian_of_the_year_for_2024_are_open!|Military History Newcomer of the Year]] awards have also been handed out, with {{u|gold}} receiving the Golden Wiki and {{u|runner-up}} and {{u|runner-up}} the WikiProject Barnstar.

Congratulations to all members of the project on your achievements last year, and best wishes for 2025!

• Collaboration with galleries, libraries, archives, museums, universities, and various other institutions (e.g. Wikipedia:GLAM/NMM)
• Article improvement drives
• Featured portal drives
• Notability guideline for battles
• Naming convention guideline for foreign military ranks
• Using the "Results" field in infoboxes
• How far milhist's scope should include 'military fiction' (possible solution, see scope of Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels/Military fiction task force)
• Encouraging member participation in the various review processes (peer, GAN, ACR etc)
• Recruiting new members (see User:The ed17/MILHIST, etc.)
• Improving/maintaining popular pages
• Motivating improvement from Stub to B-Class
• Enabling editors to improve articles beyond B-Class (possibly utilising logistics dept, also see WP:FAT for related ideas)
• Helping new members (possibly involving improving/deprecating welcome template; writing Academy course)
• Recruiting copy-editors to help during ACR
• Recruiting editors from external forums/groups/etc.
• Simplifying ACR instructions (old discussion)

Nominations for awards are made and voted on by coordinators at Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Military_history/Awards. An A-Class Medal nomination needs at least two coordinators' votes to succeed, and the Chevrons with Oak Leaves a majority of coordinators' votes. All coordinators are requested to review the following:

All A-Class reviews are eligible for closure 28 days after they were opened, or 5 days if there is a clear consensus for either the promotion or non-promotion of the article under review. Any A-Class review filed on or before 31 August may be closed by an uninvolved coordinator. A guide to closing A-Class reviews is available. Please wait 24 hours after a review is listed here before closing it to allow time for last-minute reviews.

Please remember to add an awarded ACM to the medals page - I went through and added a few missing ones just now, and Sturmvogel's most recent two are also missing, which leads me to believe there are probably others. Parsecboy (talk) 13:49, 22 April 2014 (UTC)Reply

HI, my bad on Sturm's, fixed now. I slavishly follow the guide, and don't remember it being a step. Will have a look to make sure, and add it if it's not there. Regards, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 13:59, 22 April 2014 (UTC)Reply

Friendly reminder, my last ACM is not listed either MisterBee1966 (talk) 14:35, 22 April 2014 (UTC)Reply

Blast - I forgot one of these too. Added now. Think this is fixed now but pls let me know if its not. Apologies. Anotherclown (talk) 00:29, 4 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I'm missing one from last year. USS Saratoga (CV-3), Conte di Cavour-class battleship and HMS Warrior (1860). I also updated the list with one that had been awarded and not noted there.--Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 19:02, 26 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

G'day all, At the risk of being too ambitious, our last discussion on this issue resulted in a consensus that the ACM w/Diamonds should top out at 15 groups of three. I'd like to proceed on that basis to decide on the name and number of A-Class articles/lists needed to gain the A-Class Cross. My feeling from the previous discussion was that the ACC should be more difficult per level than the ACM. Perhaps five A-class articles (after you top out with the ACM w/Diamonds) to qualify for each ACC, and making it five ACCs before you go to ACC w/Oak Leaves (which would be six groups of three)? Thoughts? Peacemaker67 (send... over) 14:00, 3 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

G'day, I've got no dramas with this being implemented. Any other opinions? Regards, AustralianRupert (talk) 22:38, 9 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Thanks Rupert. @WP:MILHIST coordinators: can we get some opinions one way or the other? We now have three editors working their way through the ACM w/Diamonds, and while that will take a while, one of them is Parsecboy, and he's not going to run out of ships anytime soon... MisterBee and Sturm are also approaching the Diamonds. I'd also like to start someone on a design. No rush, but I'm sure the Diamonds were put in place long before anyone got near them. Peacemaker67 (send... over) 23:14, 9 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Same as Rupert! Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 23:27, 9 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Gday - support. Seems a well out way of recognising the valued contributions of our more prolific members. Anotherclown (talk) 23:34, 9 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Support from me as well. Do we have anyone who can actually draw the award, though? I vaguely recall that it took us some time to find someone for the original ACMs. Kirill ^[talk] 00:49, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I think we could start by talking to Roger Davies and Noclador, as they were involved with the original work and later versions. Peacemaker67 (send... over) 01:04, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

In terms of design, I was think about replacing the blue Maltese cross with a straight armed, straight ended cross pattée of a different colour, avoiding green, bronze, silver or gold so as to create some contrast (perhaps maroon). Have a look at Cross of Valour (Canada) for what I was thinking in terms of the colour and shape of the cross, although with thinner arms so you can still see the other elements. Looking to retain the "A" on the bottom arm, the "Mil Hist" on the horizontal arms and not changing the elements behind the cross in any significant way? Thoughts? Peacemaker67 (send... over) 01:21, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Support the idea. Of course, putting it together is another matter entirely. TomStar81 (Talk) 03:07, 11 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

• Mil Hist A-Class Medal

• Mil Hist A-Class Medal with Oak Leaves

• Mil Hist A-Class Medal with Swords

• Mil Hist A-Class Medal with Diamonds

• Mil Hist A-Class Cross

• Mil Hist A-Class Cross with Oak Leaves

• Mil Hist A-Class Cross with Swords

• Mil Hist A-Class Cross with Diamonds

• Mil Hist A-Class Grand Cross

• Mil Hist A-Class Grand Cross

I took the original A-Class Medals and exchanged the blue crosses with red crosses for a start. Please let me know how to tweak them, what to change and also how you think a third class should of A-Class medals should look. cheers,noclador (talk) 03:17, 17 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

@WP:MILHIST coordinators: I think our general concept at this stage is that we will have the four ACC levels, and perhaps a Grand Cross series after that, but that would be a very long way off in terms of anyone actually qualifying for them. It might be worth agreeing on a design concept for the Grand Cross now while we have your help and you have the original files to work from. We haven't really talked about what a Grand Cross might look like. Regardless, I quite like the ACC series that you have designed, what do other Coords think? Peacemaker67 (send... over) 04:57, 17 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Righteous! That'll look sweet on any editor's page. Well done! :) TomStar81 (Talk) 04:59, 17 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Agree. One idea for a Grand Cross would be to use the shape of the Military Order of Maria Theresa, perhaps in purple. Peacemaker67 (send... over) 05:10, 17 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

(edit conflict)Thank you very much, Noclador, for these designs. My suggestions are that:

1. We don't change the name or design of the current ACMs, and so retain a similar naming standard for the new ACC; in other words Cross, Cross with Oak Leaves, Cross with Swords, and Cross with Diamonds.
2. Further, we don't describe the ACC as 1st or 2nd Class, if we go to something beyond Cross (highly unlikely IMO anyway!) then we call it Grand Cross, as Peacemaker suggests.
3. I suppose we kind of painted ourselves into a corner with the ACM design as it's a cross even though we call them medals, so the ACC just has to be a different style of cross. The design you've picked is fine by me as a contrast, I would just suggest a slightly more lively shade of red as the current shade seems a little dull compared to the brightness of the ACM blue. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 05:18, 17 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Just to be clear, Noclador, as Ian said, we call the first set the "A-Class Medal" (with Oak Leaves, with Swords, with Diamonds), and we would call the new set "A-Class Cross" (with Oak Leaves, with Swords, with Diamonds). You might want to rename the files so there is no confusion? Thanks, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 05:34, 17 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

At one point was he was Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General Omar Bradley was presented with a proposal for revised enlisted ranks. These included the ranks of Sergeant (1st Class) and Sergeant (2nd Class). Bradley wrote on the proposal that he knew that there were a lot of second class sergeants in the Army, but at least we don't have to call them that. Hawkeye7 (talk) 05:43, 17 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I did some updates of the Cross series now:

1. I did change the red to a more lively red, please let me know if it is to your liking.
2. I can't rename the file names as I am not an administrator on commons. Currently the files are names: WPMH ACR 2.png, WPMH ACR (Oakleaves) 2.png, WPMH ACR (Swords) 2, WPMH ACR (Diamonds) 2.png. In case this is a problem I will request and admin to make the necessary changes on commons.
3. I did a grand cross design for you to review, but it just a start - lots needs to be done. Please make suggestions on how to improve it.
4. In case a 3rd class will be introduced I could replace the cross with a star. Either a 5, 6, or 8 pointed star would be possible; or alternatively a design similar to the French Legion of Honour.

best regards, noclador (talk) 20:30, 18 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I'm very happy with the A-Class Cross series. The other coordinators might chip in with any further tweaks. So far as the Grand Cross is concerned, I like what you've done, but I would be interested in seeing what a purple cross looks like, and including the Mil Hist and A per the other two series. Cheers, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 05:37, 19 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I quickly did a suggestion for a purple Grand Cross. All other input I will add in future versions. cheers, noclador (talk) 14:44, 19 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I like the proposed versions. They're sufficiently striking and distinct from the ACM for me, which is what I think we wanted. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 16:25, 20 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Please let me know if there are any changes desired for the new A-Class cross series and the Grand Cross. I have time this weekend and could create new versions for review. best, noclador (talk) 22:12, 23 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

@WP:MILHIST coordinators: . I think we have a consensus to accept the ACC series above, the Grand Cross needs more consideration/design time, I think. Any objections? Regards, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 05:54, 24 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

No objections from me. Cheers, AustralianRupert (talk) 09:36, 24 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Thank you for the changes, Noclador, really appreciate your work -- I'm quite happy with the ACC designs now. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 11:47, 24 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

No objections from me either; the designs look great! Kirill ^[talk] 12:43, 24 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Likewise, no objections. Thank you for moving this forward. Anotherclown (talk) 20:49, 24 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Arbitrary Section Break I

A pleasure. I'm going to take it we have sufficient consensus, with TomStar81, Harry, Rupert, Ian, Kirill, Ac and I all expressing support for the ACC series designs, and Hawkeye and Ed supportive of the project generally prior to completion of the design. I'll put some words together for the Awards page so we can agree on how we express this next tier. Thanks everyone for expressing views and supporting, and especial thanks to @Noclador: for his excellent and timely design work. He has been a great supporter of MILHIST over the years, especially with graphics. I think we can put the Grand Cross to one side for a bit, in case some great new design idea pops up. Regards, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 02:45, 25 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

@WP:MILHIST coordinators: My draft insertion for the awards page is here. Could you have a look and check that it is consistent with your understanding of what we have agreed? Thanks again, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 08:09, 26 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Yes that wording looks fine to me. Anotherclown (talk) 09:44, 26 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Yep, everything looks to be in order. Well done. TomStar81 (Talk) 10:29, 26 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

No objections from me. Tks/cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 10:30, 26 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Looks good to me as well. Nick-D (talk) 10:55, 26 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Me too! Hawkeye7 (talk) 11:39, 26 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

+1. Thanks Peacemaker. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 11:55, 26 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I've put it in place, feel free to fix any screw-ups with the syntax... Cheers everyone, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 12:02, 26 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

And I have presented Noclador with a token of our thanks for his design work. Cheers! Peacemaker67 (send... over) 12:10, 26 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Good on you, PM. As for Hawkeye, well, I'd hope you're pleased with it, mate -- I don't think we'd have bothered even thinking about this thing if it wasn't for your prodigious efforts... ;-) Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 12:29, 26 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Beautiful work. Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 17:32, 26 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Probably need to update the awards page to clarify when the ACC is awarded vice the ACM w/Diamonds as I'm not sure that I understand it myself. Not really relevant for quite a while yet, but best to deal with it now, I'd think.

G'day Sturm, I think I've made the link, see what you think? Cheers, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 23:53, 26 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Hey all, any thoughts on a leaflet for this year's Wikimania? Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 23:28, 9 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

That sounds like a good idea to me, and I've drafted a possible leaflet at User:Nick-D/Drafts12 (mainly drawing on material on the project's home page). What do others think? In the top field the norm for other projects appears to be to give the contact details of someone who's going to Wikimania - are any of the coords attending? (I was hoping to go, but work commitments rule it out). Nick-D (talk) 00:03, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

The draft leaflet looks good to me; thanks for putting it together! I'll be at Wikimania, and I would guess that at least any UK coordinators will probably be there as well. Perhaps we should organize a MILHIST meetup if there's enough interest/attendance? Kirill ^[talk] 00:48, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

A MilHist meetup would be fantastic; there's plenty of space in the venue, and plenty of good pubs or other spaces nearby. We're very lucky in that respect because we're right in the heart of London. There should be plenty of dynamic space because the place is huge, but the details of which space is being used for what are still being worked out. I also like the idea of a leaflet; is the idea to put these in the goody bags or to give them out some other way? HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 14:42, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

If there's a Milhist meetup, it better be in a pub. ;-) I'm on a waiting list for a scholarship at the moment, but if I get to go, I'll be at any Milhist meetup. Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 20:24, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Are there any further comments on the draft leaflet? If not, I'll upload it on the Wikimania page; @Kirill Lokshin: @HJ Mitchell: is it OK if I list you both as the contacts for the Wikimania team? (they seem to prefer attendees to be listed, for obvious reasons). Nick-D (talk) 10:14, 14 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I'm good with that. Kirill ^[talk] 18:47, 14 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

OK, I've posted this at https://wikimania2014.wikimedia.org/wiki/Project_Leaflets (@HJ Mitchell: I've listed you as one of the contacts for the conference team - please feel free to take your name off the leaflet if you don't agree!). Nick-D (talk) 08:24, 15 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I shortened the link, but it otherwise it looks good! Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 06:45, 17 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Thanks a lot Ed Nick-D (talk) 08:50, 17 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Fine with me. I'm helping organise it, so I'll be there come hell or high water. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 16:26, 20 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Guys, I've been fairly useless over the past six months. I'm sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused, but my professional life is a little busier than I expected it would be, and I'm finding that I am hardly on here at all anymore. For that reason, I will be offering my retirement. Thank you so much for your interactions with me - I have cherished and valued my time with Milhist, and Wikipedia, although I have been neglectful of late. Take care, and best of luck in the future! Cdtew (talk) 00:44, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

It was a pleasure. We won't forget that you did your bit, and you're welcome to drop back in anytime. - Dank (push to talk) 01:42, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

G'day Cdtew, thanks very much for all your contributions. Regards, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 01:46, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Very sorry to see you go Cdtew, it's been great working with you, and you can leave knowing you accomplished a good deal -- as Dan suggests, if you have a spare minute, don't be a stranger! Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 02:20, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Thank you also from me for your contributions Nick-D (talk) 05:25, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Thanks also from me. Sorry to see you go. —Cliftonian (talk) 08:04, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Thanks for all you've done. Take care. Cheers, AustralianRupert (talk) 10:07, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

It's a shame to lose you, but of course real life gets the better of us all sometimes. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 14:51, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I'll echo the thanks of the rest of the team above; you'll always be welcome back! Hchc2009 (talk) 15:50, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I've just left a note on your talk page, Cdtew. Best wishes. Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 20:24, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Gonna miss ya. I hope everything works out for the best though. TomStar81 (Talk) 03:06, 11 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Check out WT:MILHIST#Milhist is like the bar car on Connecticut trains (minus the part where they just got rid of them). :-) Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 20:27, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Oh baby, what an ordeal that was. They have finally certified the elimination of the mold in the half of the house that housed my computer, so I've Jerry-rigged my computer back together and am now back online again. The tower should be back up and running for the time being, so hopefully I'll be in a position to remain active here (insofar as I do remain active anymore). TomStar81 (Talk) 03:05, 11 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Good to hear, Tom. Sounds like it was an ordeal, my place was built in the 50's, so I perhaps have felt some of your pain... Welcome back, anyway. You'll see (above) that Cdtew has retired, so we're one down, although things seem to be ticking along ok. Any and all contributions greatly appreciated, mate. Regards, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 03:14, 11 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Great, welcome back, Tom. Cheers, AustralianRupert (talk) 07:21, 11 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Welcome back! Hawkeye7 (talk) 10:52, 12 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

When I originally saw the checklist for promoting an article to A class I found the number of steps daunting, and wrote a Bot to assist. Over time I have refined, tested and improved the Bot. Now I am proposing that it be made more widely available. My proposal is that the coordinator change the entry on the talk page to say "A-Class=pass" or "A-Class=fail" and the Bot will take it from there. Any thoughts? Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:19, 13 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Thanks for working on that Hawk. - Dank (push to talk) 21:24, 13 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

That would be great, Hawkeye. While we're at it I have just one tiny suggestion for improving it, which is that in the past I've seen it put the placeholders in the Bugle Article News underneath the page footer, rather than above. Like I said, tiny issue that I hadn't even bothered to mention before, easily corrected manually, but something for the bot code if it's not too difficult. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 22:09, 13 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I am aware of this, and will fix it on the weekend. The other issue is what should be done if the page does not exist, which commonly happens at the start of the month. Would you object to the Bot creating it? Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:52, 14 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I'm ashamed to admit it, but I never even thought to have a bot do this work before. Now that you mention it though, it seems to be a fairly smart idea. Congrats for thinking about it, building it, and refining it, as this should help make our job much easier. TomStar81 (Talk) 00:42, 14 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Brilliant! Love your work. Regards, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 08:00, 14 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

This sounds excellent. Nick-D (talk) 10:12, 14 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Indeed, this is an excellent idea. I assume that the bot knows who the coordinators are, and won't be triggered by someone else setting those parameters? Kirill ^[talk] 18:48, 14 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

That's the plan. There's still some issues with this. It works this way:

1. The Bot needs to know who the coordinators are. At the moment, this is a hard-coded list. It would be much better if there were a category "Military History Project Coordinators"
2. It sweeps through the list of A-class nominees
3. It checks their talk pages looking for ones that have A-class=pass or A-class=fail
4. If so, the Bot obtains the change history of the talk page.
5. It looks backwards through the list to figure out who made the change
6. If it was a coordinator, then it proceeds with promoting the article
7. Otherwise it logs an error message. I'm open to suggestions here. Should it revert the change? Report it to the coordinators' notice board? Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:52, 14 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Aaargh. I created a category Category:WikiProject Military history coordinators. Then tagged everybody. It seemed okay until I got to User:TomStar81 who has a protected user page.  . Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:28, 18 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I've added the category to Tom's user page. Are we missing it for anyone else? Kirill ^[talk] 22:14, 18 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Sorry, I should have mentioned that. I've had my userpage protected since I got into with a vandal a few years back and said vandal moved my userpage to "GayRetarded" or some such place. I fully protected it when I rebuilt it a few years back. TomStar81 (Talk) 01:35, 19 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

So @Hawkeye7: are we live on the bot now? I'd like to try it out on the outstanding one. Peacemaker67 (send... over) 02:37, 19 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

@Hawkeye7: I've marked the outstanding ACR as "passed", does the bot run on a schedule or is it manual?

This is fantastic. We've needed something like for years really, but I'm too technically inept to do it myself and too lazy to suggest it. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 16:35, 20 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

The Bot is now live. It runs every half hour. All you have to do is set A-Class=pass or A-Class=fail on the talk page. (I still have to incorporate the changes suggested by Ian.) Hawkeye7 (talk) 20:49, 20 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

The fixes for Ian are now in. Note that the Bot operates under my account. Perhaps I should create another account (MilHistBot) for it? Not sure about the rules on sock puppetry here. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:07, 21 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I think you need a separate account, and you need to get it approved. You're not using it in the mainspace, so approval should be fairly simple. WP:BOTPOL is the document to read. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 10:42, 24 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

• A though occurs: We presently have an academy page dedicated to manually closing, promoting, and updating A-class articles, but if we are going to have a bot to do this now perhaps we should consider updating that page to note that the instructions are to be used in the event the bot is down and writing a new page to explain using the bot for the coordinators to come after us. TomStar81 (Talk) 03:58, 27 May 2014 (UTC)Reply
  • Once I have permission from BAG to make the bot fully operational, I will update the procedure. Hawkeye7 (talk) 07:45, 27 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I put the bot on trial. Let's see. Sorry it took so long. -- Magioladitis (talk) 07:00, 30 June 2014 (UTC)Reply

Bot completed day 1 of trial. -- Magioladitis (talk) 11:12, 3 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

The Bot promoted two articles. It objected to one of the other nominations being a redirect, so I corrected this. Hawkeye7 (talk) 12:47, 3 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I am considering to approve the bot tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, so if there are spotted problems and/or concerns please report them asap. -- Magioladitis (talk) 13:13, 4 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Bot approved. The bot still needs a user page. -- Magioladitis (talk) 17:01, 8 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I will be creating it as soon as I can. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:08, 8 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

There's been a long, steady decline in the quality of my copyediting at A-class ... and that's not so much a bad thing as the inevitable result of working on copyediting software. When I'm reading quickly (and I don't usually have time to read slowly), I'm seeing things that interest me and missing some other things. So starting today, at A-class and FAC, I'm only claiming that I've copyedited articles, not that I'm supporting them ... unless an article is showing up that I've already supported before at either A-class or FAC, in which case I'll make an effort to support again, as long as the diff between the old and new versions isn't too obnoxious. Hopefully I can start sharing the software soon ... it's taking a while, but I hope it will be worth it. - Dank (push to talk) 18:36, 14 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Thanks for clarifying that.--Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 19:03, 14 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Btw, I don't think it's my call how much the copyediting "counts" for purposes of promotion, that's the call of the closer, but I'm hoping my copyediting will allow another reviewer to run through quickly and support (on prose, anyway) without much additional work. When Rupert stops reviewing (eek!), we may need to lean on the frequent nominators for more help reviewing, and checking behind someone else's copyediting work strikes me as the kind of lightweight (but important) job that we might be able to find someone to do. - Dank (push to talk) 16:34, 19 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Makes sense to me, Dan. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 21:22, 19 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Hi folks, I've been out of action for a while due to some rather unpleasant health issues. Normally, I manage to check in here at least every few days, but I ended up back in hospital at very sort notice. Anyway, I'm scheduled for an operation on 3 June, so the good news is that once I'm recovered (which should take a couple of weeks), there shouldn't be any more abrupt disappearances. Sorry if anyone felt left in the lurch. HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 16:19, 20 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Hope the operation sorts things out, and get well soon! Hchc2009 (talk) 16:29, 20 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Sorry to hear that Harry, let us know how it goes. - Dank (push to talk) 17:38, 20 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Don't worry mate, we'll cope -- just take care of yourself, we'd rather have you healthy and productive in the long term... :-) Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 12:54, 21 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Hope everything works out, Harry. See you back here when you're right. Regards, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 12:57, 21 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Get well soon Harry. Hawkeye7 (talk) 20:43, 21 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Same from me (and don't even think about worrying that you're letting down people here! - your health always comes well ahead of Wikipedia). Nick-D (talk) 10:39, 24 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Hope everything turns out alright. Get well soon!--Tomobe03 (talk) 10:43, 24 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Yeah, I personally really don't have much to do with this project, but I would like to ask for some input from the coordinators of maybe the best organized WikiProject out there, this one. Over at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Council#Might wikipedia WikiProjects expand a little into other WF entities? I've started a possible discussion about maybe getting some editors who work with WikiProjects here maybe spending a little time with some of the material relevant to their topics in the other WF entities. So, for instance, editors dealing with Military history might (but also might not, and I hope no one thinks I'm trying to boss anyone here) be among the better people to proofread texts related to military history at Wikisource, assemble books related to military history at Wikibooks and Wikiversity, get together news stories about current military issues at Wikinews, develop pieces about historical battle sites at Wikivoyage, etc. I figure any past or present coordinators here would know better than me how to arrange this if they think it is a good idea, although I guess one starter idea might be to have maybe a "MILHIST wiki(x) collaboration of the month" for some entities, like maybe choosing one page from one (or more) WF entities as a monthly point of collaboration. Maybe. Like I said, you all know this better than me, and I would very much welcome any input at the above about any particular specific ideas which might be thought by you all to be good ways to at least start. John Carter (talk) 18:03, 20 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

From the lack of response, I take it there's not much enthusiasm for investigating other WMF sites, which I can understand ... we're all busy, and maybe it sounds like more work with an unknown payoff. For my own work in copyediting, I'm perfectly happy to work with people on other English-language WMF sites, I'm just not sure what their interest is. Thanks for bringing this to our attention, John, I've always been impressed by your work. - Dank (push to talk) 12:02, 24 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Ditto. Aside from Wikimedia Commons role in providing a database of images, there aren't many direct cross-overs between the scope of this project and other WMF projects. I've uploaded a lot of photos to Commons (though nowhere near as many as some members of this project) and have helped with categorisation of images there, but that's because Commons is a resource which directly supports article writing here and it's helpful to ensure that it has relevant images arranged in a way in which editors can easily find them. Commons can be a bit myopic at times (through focusing only on images and not how they will be used), and input from article writers pays off there. The other projects have always struck me as being time sinks, though I've had fun adding military history related sites to Wikivoyage entries. Nick-D (talk) 11:47, 30 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

If I remember right, this category used to include templates which lacked a checklist entirely. Is there any way of having these article included in this category again? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.6.124.31 (talk • contribs)

I don't think so, I think you are referring to Category:Unassessed military history articles. Peacemaker67 (send... over) 00:13, 22 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

I am referring to articles that already have a class tag but do not have a B-class checklist. 64.6.124.31 (talk) 15:03, 23 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

If they don't have a checklist at all, then they're not really "articles with incomplete B-Class checklists", no? The category was intended to collect articles with potentially incorrect tagging (i.e. someone had attempted to use the B-Class checklist but was unable to enter it completely or made a mistake in the formatting that caused one or more parameters to not be recognized). It was never intended as a catch-all for articles with no checklist at all; quite honestly, adding checklists to otherwise correctly assessed Start-Class articles is such a low-priority activity that I see no value in creating yet another category to track it. Kirill ^[talk] 21:26, 23 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Agree. Peacemaker67 (send... over) 08:58, 24 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

G'day all, as I was the inaugural recipient, I am naturally reluctant to blow smoke up my own proverbial, but for the longer-term, perhaps we should place the record of Newcomer of the Year awards under the MH of the Year awards on the Awards page? Feel free to shoot me down here. Regards, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 00:03, 27 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Yes, it should be. Hawkeye7 (talk) 02:59, 27 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Done, Kirill fixed my syntax gaffes. Peacemaker67 (send... over) 11:37, 30 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

The three definitions of militarism in the article are all poor.

The first: " ... belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests" does not allow differentiation between the use of military means for political ends, and the use of the military instrument as an end in itself.

The second: "It may also imply the glorification of the ideals of a professional military class" leaves completely undefined what the ideals of a professional military class are. For example, the ideals of the current professional military class in Britain are to do a professional job as dictated by Whitehall, which, as often as not in living memory, is peacekeeping. Amos Perlmutter in his The Military and Politics in Modern Times: On Professionals, Praetorians, and Revolutionary Soldiers (1977) shows how it is more likely that Praetorians will use the military instrument as a first resort, and that revolutionary soldiers are the most likely to, but that even they, when sober, subordinate military means to political ends.

The third: "predominance of the armed forces in the administration or policy of the state". This completely confuses militarism with aspects of civilian-military relations in which the military are just another power elite just as are the bureaucracy, business owners, trades union leaders, the medical lobby, political parties, or any other group exerting pressure of political decision-making. There is now a huge body of work on civil-military relations, most of which stands a long way from the idea of violence as an end in itself.

Indeed, Volker Berghahn identifies these and other confusions surrounding this essentially-contested concept in his Militarism: The History of an International Debate 1861-1979 (1981).

Hi Charles, a lot of Wikipedia's articles on 'big picture' concepts are in poor shape. If you think that this article is flawed I'd encourage you to jump in and edit it to improve it. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 00:56, 28 June 2014 (UTC)Reply

G'day all, I've just initialised the table using the usual suspects from a previous quarter, haven't done any tallying yet, so names will need to be added and subtracted, no doubt. If someone can point me to the easiest way of tallying ACR reviews, I'd appreciate it. Unless we just do it manually... Cheers, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 12:31, 4 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

One new question ... I copyedited a few of the GANs promoted during the period, before or during someone else's review, do you guys want to count those for the tally? (I don't have a preference.) - Dank (push to talk) 12:38, 4 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

My view is that you have made a contribution to bringing the article prose up to schmick, so I would be happy to include them. Others? Peacemaker67 (send... over) 00:09, 5 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Yes, that seems fine to me. Regards, AustralianRupert (talk) 00:30, 5 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Sounds fair enough. Dan, did you happen to note your ce contributions on the relevant GA review pages? I think it'd be a no-brainer in that case because you'd have clearly left your mark on the review and not just the article... BTW, guys, I will make a start on the FAs today. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 00:40, 5 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Yep, and also in the "notes" parameter so that "Copyedited" showed up in the listing at GAN. They were Talk:Toluid Civil War/GA2, Talk:Oliver's Battery (Tresco)/GA1, Talk:4th Army (Yugoslavia)/GA1, and Talk:HMS Carnarvon/GA1. Thanks guys, I added them to the tally. - Dank (push to talk) 02:12, 5 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Okay, totalled FA reviews for Apr-Jun, though no objections if someone wants to doublecheck. I have notes on everyone who commented but from memory you have to have reviewed at ACR to get a gig here. Assuming that's the case, I've only included figures for those listed above for the moment, but if more names pop up I will have their figures too and will add them in. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 01:39, 5 July 2014 (UTC)!Reply

Thanks Ian, I'll do the ACRs this arv. I assume I have to do them manually? Peacemaker67 (send... over) 02:09, 5 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

'Fraid I don't know any other way than manually. For the FAs I just went to the Article News section of Apr/May/Jun Bugle issues, then the talk page of each FA listed, then Article History for the FA nom and eyeballed the contributions. If anyone has a quicker and/or more foolproof way, I'm all ears...! Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 02:56, 5 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Do you mean the May, June and July? I thought we had a one month time lag in the Bugle? ie Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians was promoted in May but was in the June issue? Peacemaker67 (send... over) 03:43, 5 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Heh, indeed, I of all people should remember that. Yes, May/Jun/Jul issues -- I've double-checked my figures accordingly and there are a couple of tweaks. Tks/cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 04:46, 5 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I forget every month. Old age is coming... I've tallied the ACRs, and have removed those that didn't do an ACR. I'll have a look at the GANs in a bit. If anyone reckons I've fluffed the numbers, please repechage. I added a few editors that weren't on the original list, so might need a check, Ian. If someone could do the PRs that would help. Cheers, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 05:45, 5 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Great, added FA figures as applicable for additions to the list -- of course if anyone thinks they've been missed, pls update. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 06:15, 5 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

GAs done. Just PR's to do now. Cheers, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 07:29, 5 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

PRs done, I think. Tallied too. Will wait a day or so to sign off in case of repechages. Cheers, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 08:10, 5 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

In the PR's, looks like there are 6 May 15 plus 2 June 8 plus 3 April 1, all closed this quarter. I updated my PR count; the other PR counts look right. - Dank (push to talk) 13:24, 5 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Thanks Dan. I think I'm right to go ahead with the awards now. Regards, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 02:40, 8 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Just a reminder that the awards are now based on the chevrons for 15+ reviews, CRM for 8-14, two stripes for 4-7 and one stripe for 1-3. I'll get on. Peacemaker67 (send... over) 02:43, 8 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I've awarded the last one now. Hopefully I got it right. Anotherclown (talk) 09:55, 8 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Is it OK that I (A) lack a degree? (B) lack combat experience? (C) am not an expert? Erik L'Ensle :) (talk) 22:35, 4 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Hello Erik. I assume you mean to participate in this project? There are no qualifications req'd at all just an interest in military history and a willingness to contribute. If you have any questions about things you can do to help out pls let me know. Anotherclown (talk) 23:02, 4 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Agreed, most certainly everyone is welcome here regardless of university qualifications or military experience. Our only requirements really are that our editors follow site policies such as the Five Pillars of Wikipedia. Please let us know if you need any help getting started. Cheers, AustralianRupert (talk) 23:23, 4 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Hi guys, I don't know if any of you are planning to come to Wikimania this year, but I'd like to organise a meetup for MilHist folks while people are in London. If you're interested, please sign up at wm2014:MilHist meetup (or email me at harry@wikimanialondon.org if you don't want to sign up publicly) so I know whether there's interest! Thanks, HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 15:42, 7 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Excellent idea! Kirill ^[talk] 01:49, 8 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

When someone who can spell and gramarize gets a moment can they have another pass through Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/July 2014/Op-ed to make sure that all the sp&g issues have been covered? I'd appreciate it.

I'm currently revising, updating and expanding Military production during World War II. There were a lot of "issues" with the data, imagery, written content and analysis. There was a very heavy spin to the US experience and data. To rectify the page and make something interesting of it I would like to ask for some advice and help. Am I at the right place? In short, I need help beating off random bot attacks on file uploads, protecting the editorial integrity and balance, and accessing source data in German and Cyrillic languages. I'm sure there is more. Anyone?

--Brukner (talk) 02:26, 11 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

There has been a recent spreading of national-specific "Campaign boxes" which aren't. Examples are Template:Campaignbox Free French and Template:Campaignbox Vichy France Military in World War II. My thought is that 1. They don't cover real campaigns, 2. If you have one of these in an article, then logically you should have one for every single national grouping involved in that subject (Syria Lebanon campaign you should also have one for Britain. Australia, India, Transjordan whatever...causing a huge impenetrable block of such boxes). 3. They are unnecessary in that by following the link to, say the Free French article, the info will be there (and indeed an infobox for navigation might be appropriate on the the Free French article).

So I thought I would remove them but decided to check with the project to see if there was a policy. Stephen Kirrage ^{talk - contribs} 16:54, 14 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Hey all, I've been contacted by Dominic, who wants to run an informal contest. Basically, he'll list articles on User:Dominic/Challenge, and those who can write a C-class article or above will receive a poster. How can we get this out to the membership? Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 03:01, 16 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Your posting here was a good start. I've already started a stub on General Order No. 143, and will see how fast I can raise the stub to c-class. Don't see a bunch of low-hanging reliable secondaries online, but I'll bet I can find a book or two to help me. BusterD (talk) 04:50, 16 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Thanks, BusterD. Any thoughts, @WP:MILHIST coordinators:  ? Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 03:18, 19 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Perhaps we could add something to The Bugle? Nick and Ian: would do you both think about this? Regards, AustralianRupert (talk) 19:22, 19 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Yep, will do. Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 03:32, 20 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Speedy work! Anotherclown (talk) 05:08, 20 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I have been working to substantially update and improve Military production during World War II since June. Today Bender235 deleted over 3 months and 300 hours of my work and that of others, 40,000 characters of edits, and hundreds of constructive additions to the page. I am in the midst of uploading an enormous amount of PRIMARY SOURCE DATA and he deleted everything done so far as "wikipedia can not be a source for itself". I am enraged. There was not one comment, warning, question, request, or suggestion from this "editor". Can you please help me reverse all the deletions and keep this guy off the page. There are ongoing constructive edits from several other individuals watching this site. Please help resolve this -or point me in the right direction. --Brukner (talk) 19:02, 18 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

The matter was taken to ANI, and was quick closed due to it being essentially a content dispute. Peacemaker67 (send... over) 00:30, 19 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Hello all. As co-ordinators we are all fairly involved in the detail of this project and hence (hopefully) have a fairly good idea of some of the issues we face or the areas that need attention (not that many of us often have the time to actually do anything about it). In the past we have attempted to co-ordinate the efforts of our membership towards these areas via discussion on our central talk page or through drives, contests, awards etc. In recent times though my impression is that we have been fairly unsuccessful in obtaining the involvement of any more than the usual handful of helpful editors in many tasks (i.e. backlog drives, tag and assessment, reviews etc). The Bugle is sent out monthly direct to our members, but is possibly underutilised as a tool of mass communication (no criticism at all towards the various editors of the Bugle who do a fantastic job that I have never once ever helped with). What about including a regular section highlighting an area where we are trying to get more / new editors involved (e.g. GA and A class reviewing, b class checklists [boring I know], vital topics, etc)? In my mind I would see it being a small section, perhaps suitably illustrated in some way to capture attention (e.g. propaganda poster / interesting image), probably on the Project News page. For instance this month's segment on the NARA Challenge. Thoughts? Anotherclown (talk) 06:38, 20 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I think that is a great idea. Peacemaker67 (send... over) 06:57, 20 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Likewise, also a great way to get more people contributing to the Bugle -- eh, AC? Squeaky wheel... ;-) Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 07:02, 20 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Yes I would be prepared to volunteer for this if others were happy (that said I have commitments from Sep this year that will probably require me to reduce my involvement with the project for a while - my wife and I are expecting our first child, something I felt might never occur). Anyway I think we probably need to also discuss the mechanism for deciding what gets included though rather than me just plucking something from the proverbial. Perhaps just consensus from a regular discussion here among the co-ords? Anotherclown (talk) 08:53, 20 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I think a discussion here, initiated by the editors a week beforehand would do the trick. Peacemaker67 (send... over) 11:55, 20 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Works for me. @Nick-D: - can you pls confirm the timeframe for the release of the Bugle every month (I know I should know this) so I can mark it in my calendar? Thanks. Anotherclown (talk) 10:48, 28 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

There isn't a set date I'm afraid, but Ian and I aim for mid-month. By the way, congratulations! Nick-D (talk) 10:53, 28 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Congratulations also from me! Wonderful news. —Cliftonian (talk) 11:31, 28 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Thanks Gents. Anotherclown (talk) 10:10, 29 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I recall we agreed on a September/October drive, September to mid-October. We were going to have a general drive, given we had a WWI-focussed one earlier in the year. Any repechages? Regards, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 13:12, 26 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I've plagiarised a backlog drive page here. Feel free to smarten it up. Peacemaker67 (send... over) 08:30, 27 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

@Ian Rose: & @Nick-D: can you chaps mention this in the August Bugle please? Cheers, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 08:39, 27 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

@Peacemaker67: How does this look? Feel free to make changes to it :) Nick-D (talk) 10:43, 27 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Gold. Thanks Nick. Peacemaker67 (send... over) 10:45, 27 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

This keeps coming up every year because we forget about it until election time. Currently, the lead coordinator is the one who receives the most votes, but often that person is reluctant to accept the role. I propose changing the rules so that the lead coordinator can be selected from the coordinators amongst themselves. Hawkeye7 (talk) 20:30, 26 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I'd propose a combination of the two positions, so that the person with the most support becomes the lead coordinator, but if the person in question abdicates the position then coordinators may either offer the lead role to the next highest supported user or discuss the matter of the lead position amongst themselves until an agreement is reached as to who will hold the position. TomStar81 (Talk) 22:09, 26 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I agree with Tom. But is there any evidence that those receiving the most votes have been reluctant? I've only been with the project for a couple of years, and I haven't detected that. Have I missed something? In my limited experience over the last ten months or so I've felt that the coordinator team is very collegiate and no lead coord would feel they are carrying the weight of the project too heavily on their own. We haven't needed to co-opt anyone in the last few years, although we probably would have had to (or accepted the slowdown in reviewing and other administrative tasks) if Rupert had resigned as a coord when he announced his pending retirement. Just clarifying. Peacemaker67 (send... over) 23:40, 26 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Back in 2011, Dank received the most votes, but was reluctant because he was uncertain that he would be able to devote the time required. Then in 2012 there was a three-way tie. The three coordinators shared the lead coordinator role among them. I would be quite happy with Tom's proposal. Hawkeye7 (talk) 23:48, 26 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I didn't know about Dank (slightly before my time), but he did do the job, didn't he? In Dank's case, it would have gone to a three-way tie if he had abdicated, and we might have had a case of sharing the lead a year earlier. Sharing the lead seemed to work ok, or did I miss something about that? I think in the case of abdication, going to the next on the tally should be the first step, but after that the elected coords should come to a consensus on the lead coord. I am relaxed about it though, because I'm confident we have the depth of talent to handle whatever comes up. Peacemaker67 (send... over) 00:02, 27 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Actually our lead position has had three interesting user-related issues. Dank's decision to decline, the three way tie for the lead, and the third was me. Back when I was elected lead I accept the position yet was absent for most of the first four or five months since I had my last collage semester in the fall of 2009 and needed to focus on that. In each case the community has been generally accepting of the decisions made by the person(s) asked to hold the lead position, so I'd trust them to pick our lead and trust our leads to accept or decline the position based on whether they feel up to it. Unto my experience as the lead there really isn't any difference between a coordinator and the lead beyond receiving the six-star insignia after the iVote. TomStar81 (Talk) 02:32, 27 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Picking up on Tom's last point, do we still need to have a lead coordinator? At the start of my period in the role I expected to need to do lots of extra stuff to prompt the other coordinators, respond to queries, etc, but it turned out to be almost no extra work given the expertise and experience the coordinator team now boasts. Nick-D (talk) 02:36, 27 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

We still need the position if for no other reason than to make sure that there is a top position to the pyramid. Without a lead position the more senior coordinators may inadvertently turn what is currently a meritocracy into a despotism system, in which case we'd have community issues for not being open and transparent as these things are meant to be. If we were to do away with the lead position, then the lead such as it were would shift to the coordinators emeritus, which could adversely affect their retirement. Lastly, the lead position offers us all a reason to work on the administrative task since only the worthy inherit these high honors. In short, it gives us all something to aspire for, which is good for both the membership and the coordinators themselves. TomStar81 (Talk) 02:44, 27 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

@WP:MILHIST coordinators: Anybody else like to weigh in here? TomStar81 (Talk) 02:44, 27 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I don't think that we currently operate with a hierarchy such as that (the lead coordinator has always been the first among equals), and it's certainly not desirable in my view. Nick-D (talk) 05:24, 27 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I agree with Nick re. the nature of the lead coord's role/status but I hear what Tom says about the desirability of retaining it. I'm not hugely fussed either way but I always tend to leave well enough alone, so unless there's good reason to drop it... As far as the appointment method goes, I can see merit in selection from among the coords but I don't have a problem with our current most-votes scenario. What Hawkeye proposes is something along the lines of the way a party leader is chosen, wheres the current method is direct popular election, and I don't have a problem with the latter in this project -- I mean I wouldn't say it's failed us yet... ;-) Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 05:53, 27 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I agree with Nick that its not a hierarchy, but first among equals is a position earned on merit, hence the example. I also agree with Ian: what we have now works, but there is no reason we can't discuss the matter. Discussion is neither good nor bad, but does permit the free exchange of ideas, which is what we are partaking in here :) TomStar81 (Talk) 06:50, 27 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I say leave it as it is. The discussion has been worthwhile, and I'm sure we would handle a consensus appointment sensibly in case of abdication by a lead coord. Regards, Peacemaker67 (send... over) 07:58, 27 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

I'm fine with either solution. However, I don't feel the current situation requires any change or that a change would bring additional benefits to the project, so I'm inclined to say there's no need for any such change. Cheers--Tomobe03 (talk) 10:38, 27 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Hi! There's a gentleman at the West Los Angeles VA, in the patient advocate office who is a survivor of the Bataan Death March, he escaped and then was later captured again at a different point. Do you think he's worthy of an article? http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/06/11/former-west-la-pows-recall-escape-from-bataan-death-march/

http://www.jewishjournal.com/veterans_day/article/the_long_journey_from_pow_to_veterans_advocat

he's even got a file at the library of Congress :) http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/bib/60510

It's been quite some time since I poked around with article creation, so I'd appreciate any help!

Thank you! LegoTech·(t)·(c) 22:40, 31 July 2014 (UTC)Reply