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Next issue: Misplaced Pages:Misplaced Pages Signpost/Issue/Next, 2014

Submission deadline: Error: first parameter cannot be parsed as a date or time.!  Publication scheduled for late Wednesday.
Once all tasks are complete, editor-in-chief The ed17 (or nominated deputy) will complete the publication process.

Notices for contributors and interested editors

• Standard weekly schedule

• Thursday–Sunday: start. Start all pages that are to be included in the next edition, either on-wiki or in Google Docs. Please note that "News and notes", "In the media", and the "Arbitration report" are typically drafted in the latter, but suggestions for them are always welcome through our suggestions page.
• Monday: draft. A rough outline of topics to be covered should be in place by the middle of Monday, so that if a regular reporter is unavailable, the editor can find a replacement for that week.
• Tuesday, early Wednesday: mature versions. Aim to have reasonably mature drafts of all pages for comments by the managing editors, fellow journalists, and other interested editors. Signpost editors recommend any structural changes, reductions in length, expansions in scope, necessary coordination between pages, postponement to subsequent issue.
• Wednesday: finish! Last-minute tweaks and copy-editors go through the drafts; publication in the evening.

• Everyone interested in Signpost matters is invited to join the IRC channel at #wikisignpost .
• Those wishing to submit an irregular article, such as (but certainly not limited to) interviews and op-eds, should email the editor-in-chief at least one week prior to your desired publishing date.

Current discussion

I will be publishing at some point tomorrow, UTC, most likely without news and notes—I'm moving across the country on Monday, so I don't have the time to do it. For the same reason, Jarry1250 will be publishing next week's edition. There may or may not be a news and notes; I honestly have no idea how much time I will have. Please contact me if you're interested in helping out with that section! Ed  18:51, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

This is most unsatisfactory. It's all looking like a headless chicken. Tony (talk) 03:02, 17 August 2014 (UTC)

And I'm off! I'll check in at random wi-fi spots along the drive, but I won't be editing much or replying to many emails. Thanks, Ed  15:33, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

I'm no longer on the road thanks to a car accident. While I'm (surprisingly) unhurt, the car is completely totaled, so I'm going to be consumed by real life issues over the next weeks, possibly more. For example, I'll be deciding how I want to traverse over 800 miles with a carload of clothes and furniture but no car and not a lot of extra money.

What this means for the Signpost is that at a minimum, I won't be able to do anything for the next couple editions. While I've asked Jarry1250 to step in as the temporary editor, I'm not sure yet if he will be able to thanks to his own time constraints. In the meantime, please pitch in where you can, as I can't guarantee anything right now.

Pinging Pine, Adam Cuerden, Jayen466, Gamaliel, Serendipodous, J Milburn, Mabeenot, Go Phightins!, Hahc21, The Herald, Edokter, Milowent. Ed  05:43, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

Proposals

A metric of success for the Wikimedia projects

Hi! I have been working for a while on a new metric on how to measure the success of the Wikimedia projects, because I am unhappy with the ones we are currently paying so much attention to (e.g. number of articles, number of active editors, etc.). I was wondering if the Signpost would be the right place to publish this essay? --denny vrandečić (talk) 15:25, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

Definitely! I can run it as an opinion article in our 20 August edition? Ed  15:39, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

Works for me. I assume this means I will put the draft of the article on the Wiki on 13 August, and then it can be tweaked for a week until it is published - do I get this right? --denny vrandečić (talk) 15:44, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

Hey Denny, sorry for the delay—I've been dealing with family. That timeframe would work great, if you can still get it done by then! Ed  14:08, 9 August 2014 (UTC)

Sure, will do! --denny vrandečić (talk) 15:47, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

Added the draft here: Misplaced Pages:Wikipedia_Signpost/2014-08-20/Op-ed. Looking forward to comments before publication. The layout looks a bit off, maybe someone can help me with that? --denny vrandečić (talk) 15:51, 13 August 2014 (UTC)

Hey Denny, I took a look and the layout seems okay. We don't normally do images quite like that, but they should be okay. What specifically about the layout looks wrong? I'll give this a read-through as soon as I can, but they may be a few days as I'm preparing to move across the country. Ed  00:02, 15 August 2014 (UTC)

• The large amount of whitespace may be an issue. That's in the images, though, and not the code here. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 02:16, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Yes, thank you! That was it. I didn't realize the images themselves had the whitespace in them. Fixing. --denny vrandečić (talk) 16:08, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

Fixed. Thanks again for the hint! --denny vrandečić (talk) 16:17, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

In development

Article status

Regular responsibilities

In addition to once-off and irregular features contributed on an ad hoc basis, the Signpost has a number of regular reports (published on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis) for which experienced contributors tend to claim responsibility. This responsibility entails ensuring the report in question is consistently well-written and submitted before deadline, which in turn involves selecting the stories to be covered, managing the writing of the report (often contributing most of the content themselves, or recruiting other reporters to do so), and communicating with the newsroom to keep editors informed of developments. While all articles are subject to final review by the editor-in-chief (or managing editors), the regular reporter of a feature typically determines its direction and focus.

The Signpost is always looking for new reporters, so if you are interested in contributing to a given feature, contact the reporter listed as responsible for it below, add yourself to the "Contributors" column of the feature, or simply go right ahead and edit the draft article. If there is no reporter listed as responsible for a given feature, interested editors with experience contributing to the report and who feel up to the task can assume responsibility for it. If a regular reporter is unavailable or no draft for the next issue is listed above, any editor should feel free to write it that week.