Wikipedia:WikiProject India/Outreach/Newsletter/December 2006

• Name change of cities in Karnataka: A straw poll was conducted on the proposal to change the name of cities in Karnataka, per the Nov 1, 2006 decision by the Karnataka government to rename them from the current anglicised forms. The result of the poll was to change the names. As controversial as the decision may be in the real world, the article Bangalore in Wikipedia still reflects the old name. You may be interested in knowing why. Dig the archives.

• New Project Noticeboard (Shortcut:WP:INB): WikiProject India now sports a new colourful centralised noticeboard. An effort to make the noticeboard current and dynamic was mooted a few days back, and Ganeshk came up with the new format. The new noticeboard will strive to be the one-stop shop for all project related information. The shortcut is WP:INB.

• Members List: The old members list is being phased out to give way for the new members list. New members are requested to add their names to the new members list. As the newsletter grows, further issues of the Project Newsletter will be delivered to those enlisted in the new list. So dash down now, to check if ur name is in there.

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  Featured Content: Three articles (Chalukya Dynasty (nom), History of Tamil Nadu (nom) and Bengali language (nom)), one list (List of Indian ODI cricketers) and one picture (Prayer flag in the Kurgiakh valley in Zanskar contributed by Moumine (pictured)) were featured from our WikiProject recently.

Are you stuck at a point where admin help is needed? There are 22 Indian Administrators in Wikipedia at the last count. If you need some help with anything related to WikiProject India, they are just a couple of clicks away!

• Welcome to the December 2006 edition of our newsletter. Time flies past like matter into the black hole. It is interesting to notice that we are already into the last month for the year of 2006. 2006 saw discussions and development beyond realisation. In the world of Wikipedia where quality counts than quantity, we have come a long way. We've made better than 'nothing', to say the least, and even that is an achievement. I take this opportunity to thank everyone including those who have dotted the i's and crossed the t's.

• As before, we'd like to stress, this is your newsletter, and we want you to be part of it as well. Provide us with news tips. It can be anything related to the project, from discussions to calls for help, and other interesting stuff within our community. If you have received or given any barnstars recently, do let us know. Sponsored content for recruitments within your WikiProject sub-groups are also welcome. We'll be very happy to include them here.

• Before we sign off, Advance New Year Wishes, everyone.

• Assessment Department (Shortcut: WP:IN1): Are you one of those gnomes?? Or do you want to take some time off some brain-frying active editing on Wikipedia?? Then Department of Assessment within the WikiProject India will be your forte. The department consists of a group of wikipedians who work on rating the India related articles to check if they are worthy enough to be included in the CD (or print) version of Wikipedia.

• The rating process gains more significance as we try to sort out which articles and which topics need more attention to balance the India related systemic bias within wikipedia. As a thumb rule, anyone can rate any article based on the related criteria, within the Stub/Start/B/A levels. However, ratings for Good Article Status and Featured Article status go through the nomination processes.

• How to?: The "how to" part of assessment is very simple. Just head on to the talk page of any India related page and you'll find the {{WP India}} template. Simply classify the article based on the content and the criteria mentioned here. You can find the detailed instructions here. If you think it may qualify for GA/FA status, first consider submitting the article for peer review.

If you run a covert newsroom operation, provide us with ur news tips here. Letters to the Editor are welcome as well.