Let's improve the wikipedia page about FIRST

[Bongle]

I was thinking today that we need to get the wikipedia page about FIRST to some seriously high quality standards. It's pretty good already, but if we can make it a featured page and, Dean willing, get it as the page of the day, that would do a lot towards spreading the word of FIRST.

I understand there is FirstWiki, but FirstWiki is preaching to the converted and addicted. If you get the millions of visitors to wikipedia reading the FIRST page (especially if they are teachers or students), you could greatly increase the exposure of FIRST in the wider community.

Needed:
-Plenty of wiki links
-Perhaps move the Vex and Lego sections to their own pages and improve those pages as well
-Good Sources for each statement (i.e. the FIRST homepage or news articles. Linking to other wikis like Firstwiki is better than nothing, but since it is a wiki, it's not a rock-hard source)
-Good, large, clear photos. I added one, but you can see that it is blurry at large size. Pictures taken with really good cameras by great photographers would be good.
-Longer descriptions
--Ideas for new areas:
---Awards
---FIRST in the community (what chairman's awards do)
---History
---Monetary aspects (what it costs, where money comes from)
-Good descriptions of ALL the linked games from yesteryears, maybe even pictures of them in progress at each of the linked pages (I'll work on this)
--For all the old games, a description of the game, who won the championship, a description of an average match, possible strategies, and maybe a discussion of the winning strategy would be good. I'm working on Maize Craze at the moment, but since I was 6 when that particular game happened, I don't know any of those things.

Here's the wikipedia criteria for featured articles:

It exemplifies our very best work.
It is well written, comprehensive, factually accurate, neutral, and stable. Read Great writing and The perfect article to see how high the standards are set. In this respect:
(a) "well written" means that the prose is compelling, even brilliant;
(b) "comprehensive" means that an article covers the topic in its entirety, and does not neglect any major facts or details;
(c) "factually accurate" includes the supporting of facts with specific evidence and external citations (see Wikipedia:Verifiability); these include a "References" section where the references are set out, complemented where appropriate by inline citations (see Wikipedia:Citing sources). For articles with footnotes or endnotes, the meta:cite format is strongly encouraged;
(d) "neutral" means that an article is uncontroversial in its neutrality and factual accuracy (see Wikipedia:Neutral point of view); and
(e) "stable" means that an article does not change significantly from day to day and is not the subject of ongoing edit wars.
It complies with the standards set out in the style manual and relevant WikiProjects. These include having:
(a) a concise lead section that summarizes the entire topic and prepares the reader for the higher level of detail in the subsequent sections;
(b) a proper system of hierarchical headings; and
(c) a substantial but not overwhelming table of contents (see Wikipedia:Section).
It has images where appropriate, with succinct captions and acceptable copyright status; however, including images is not a prerequisite for a featured article.
It is of appropriate length, staying tightly focused on the main topic without going into unnecessary detail; it uses summary style to cover sub-topics that are treated in greater detail in any "daughter" articles.

[Brandon Martus]

Sounds like a great idea.

For reference: the current FIRST wikipedia page

[JVGazeley]

The pages that links to are well below par. Triple Play is little more than a stub and that task was just last year. I'm thinking about putting up a pic of our robot last year on the Triple Play page, we won Imagery at NYC in 2005...

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/20900 < That is the pic I have in mind, courtesy of Rich Wong... Might need to ask him for permission though.


Alternatively, there is also http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/20901 which was also taken by Rich Wong. I wasn't there in 2005 so have no photos of my own but I might be able to dig up a few at a push...

[Bongle]

I put a pic up for triple play, but I don't have any really wide-angle or truly great photos of the game in progress. Triple Play really needs to have headers and things added to it ala my changes to Stack Attack. I wasn't involved that year, so I don't know many of the rules.

Pics that would be good:
-A single tetra against a flat background, indicating to the reader what a tetra is
-Any kind of 'action packed' picture

[coastertux]

Great idea! Many geeks (and non-geeks as a matter of fact) go to Wikipedia to look up stuff they need more info on. If someone hears of FIRST and goes to Wikipedia to look for info, they should find some good stuff. I am not the best writer or anything, but I can provide pics. If you see any pictures in my teams gallery that you think would be good, let me know and I can upload a hi-res version for you.

[Bongle]

Ok, I did a short write-up on rug rage and made a 3D model of the playing field so that there would be a picture. Attached in the 3D model in an8 format. It is openable with the freeware 3D editor Anim8or.

Edit: Stack Attack pictures are up, but once again they're kinda blurry.
Edit2: And I added a large 6000x1200 panorama of GTR in 2003.

[JVGazeley]

Good pic for Triple Play, bit on the small side perhaps?

[artdutra04]

I'd like to remind everyone here that if you truely want to create an amazing article about FIRST, then please do not write about FRC as the de facto competition and Vex and FLL as inferior ones worthy of a footnote. In fact, everything should be divided into three sections, with everything about FRC under a FIRST Robotics Competition subtitle. All three should be treated as equal. (Actually, there is four with Junior FIRST LEGO League).

Do not treat Vex and FLL as inferior because they may not get as much exposure as FRC on these boards. Just remember, FLL has seven times more teams than FRC from twenty additional countries.

[coastertux]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

I'd like to remind everyone here that if you truely want to create an amazing article about FIRST, then please do not write about FRC as the de facto competition and Vex and FLL as inferior ones worthy of a footnote. In fact, everything should be divided into three sections, with everything about FRC under a FIRST Robotics Competition subtitle. All three should be treated as equal. (Actually, there is four with Junior FIRST LEGO League).

Do not treat Vex and FLL as inferior because they may not get as much exposure as FRC on these boards. Just remember, FLL has seven times more teams than FRC from twenty additional countries.

In addition, Vex and FLL teams get younger kids involved, possibly bringing in more sponsors, etc. These teams also get the younger kids ready for and excited about FRC. Without FLL and most recently Vex, I believe there would be not as many FRC programs and students.

[Bongle]

I have made a stub for Zone Zeal. I'm sure SOMEONE has pictures of a zone zeal game underway. I wasn't even close to involved in FIRST at that point, so if someone could enter stuff about viable strategies, gameplay, and maybe even who the winners were, that'd be great.

[ahirsch2589]

we should html flames on it, everything always looks better with flames...

[Alan Anderson]

I think the Wikipedia entry on FIRST should be more of an overview than a comprehensive work. Have it refer to the FIRSTwiki for the detailed information.

[Bongle]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

I think the Wikipedia entry on FIRST should be more of an overview than a comprehensive work. Have it refer to the FIRSTwiki for the detailed information.

In order for it to ever be a featured page and have a fighting chance of being page of the day, it'd need to be pretty comprehensive. References and links to FirstWiki throughout would be good, but you will never bring the population of wikipedia to the page unless it is a good page in its own right.