Talk:Microgrants/Oxford Law Competition

I really like this idea, but I would recommend holding the contest on Wikipedia itself. You would need to provide a lot of support to the contestants, but it means they actually gain experience of editing Wikipedia. If they edit using a slimmed down interface on a walled-garden site, they will then have to make the big jump to Wikipedia after the contest when you won't be able to support them as well (or, more likely, they won't end up editing Wikipedia at all). Also, there is a risk with sandbox articles that you'll end up with something unsuitable for Wikipedia at the end of it. If it's on Wikipedia from the start, other editors can steer it in the right direction if it needs it. Another advantage to having it on Wikipedia is that you can use the existing article assessment system as part of the judging process (it's always good to align your judging with what Wikipedia wants, and that's the easiest way to do it). --Tango 00:28, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

This was something I (we) gave considerable thought to, so I can flesh out a few of the reasons why a walled-garden site is worth the hassle (I think you do a good job of giving the contra position):

• Running the contest on Wikipedia exposes editors to vandalism, not least from teams from other colleges.
• Running the contest on Wikipedia means that teams would potentially work on the same articles, yielding a variety of problems judging-wise.
• Wikipedia itself has no notion of "teams" to which participants could identify, and thus misses an integral motivating factor of an intercollegiate contest. Ditto "Oxford" branding, and/or the logo of participating societies which make editors feel "at home" in the editing world.
• As will be admitted, the learning curve for Wikipedia at the moment is very, very steep (certainly compared to a beta Visual Editor). Providing an interim stage yields a "slowly, slowly catchy monkey" approach to introducing new editors into the editing environment without scaring them. Even getting to them to the point of editing (i.e. the starting line) usually requires significantly more manpower and time from both mentors and teams than they're likely to have during term time. At the same time, it's a little pointless to get them to learn wikitext in June when it's going to obsolete for casual writers by August.
• I simply don't trust the edit review process on-wiki to helpfully guide participants in the correct direction rather than getting them trapped in a revert-warning cycle.
• Challenges regarding softblocks, hardblocks, etc, would need to be overcome (a minor point, I know).
• I can't see a reason to be beholden to onwiki judging processes, particularly given the need for time-sensitive reviewing, and general judging criteria in-keeping with an enticing writing prospect.

(I may have missed other points.) Overall, I just feel that a direct-Wikipedia approach would yield a greatly reduced number of participants by making it harder for them to get started. IMHO, the Wikimedia movement would be far better off easing 30-50 new editors in over a longer period of time, rather than throwing them in at the deep end. Regards, Jarry1250 14:36, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

Everything you say is true, but remember your goal isn't to create a few articles and hold a successful contest. Your goal is to attract new editors to Wikipedia. I just don't think you'll do that if you aren't actually on Wikipedia. --Tango 00:27, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

Sure. But the way I see it, a happy, successful competition in which many students take part - students who can then be inducted gradually afterwards into the body of editors, probably after the release of the VE to the English Wikipedia - is far more likely to achieve editor growth than an unhappy, unsuccessful competition that includes only the handful of students brave enough to actually edit Wikipedia. That was really my point. Jarry1250 11:11, 7 February 2012 (UTC)