Wikibox Contest - Discussion Thread

aaa

Welcome to the discussion thread for the Alternate History Wikibox Contest!

We already have contests for flags and maps, so why not have one for wikiboxes? Everything here is pretty self-explanatory, so let's get on with the details:

Rules & Guidelines
​
  • Each entry must meet the following basic requirements: a) must consist of a writeup and at least one wikibox; b) must adhere to the topic for that round; and c) must be posted in the thread for entries.​
  • Contests will alternate between a 2-week round and a 1-week round. Time limits will be clearly mentioned in the entry thread as well as in any update posts that will be made here.​
Voting​
  • After the time limit is up, I will create a new thread with a poll containing the usernames of all contestants who submitted an entry for that round. The poll will be up for 7 days regardless of the time limit of the round.​
  • The winner is the person who obtains the most votes. As soon as the voting ends, the winner will be announced here.​
Topic Suggestions​
  • Topic suggestions are always welcome and should be made here, in the discussion thread.
  • Each topic suggestion should contain: a) a title; b) a guideline or instruction for the topic; and c) a time limit, either 1 or 2 weeks. You may also opt to omit the guideline/suggestion and just let each contestant interpret the title as they wish.
  • Please ensure that you make the title bold and always include a time limit. Keep in mind that different types of wikibox require different levels of effort, so tailor your time limits as such.
Threads​
  • The Discussion Thread (you are here) is for any general discussion about the contest or about wikiboxes in general. Topic suggestions are always welcome, and I'll be checking regularly for potential topics for future rounds.​
  • The Entry Threads will be created at the start of every round and will be strictly for entries only. You are welcome to chat about people's entries here in the discussion thread.​
  • The Voting Threads will be created at the end of every round and will contain a poll to select the winner of the round. Discussion will also be allowed there.​
​
  1. Landslide (voting thread) | Winner: Nofix & GBehm
  2. Newspeak (voting thread) | Winner: King of the Uzbeks
  3. Changing Horses Midstream (voting thread) | Winner: TwiliAlchemist
  4. The Used Car Salesman (voting thread) | Winner: TheNixonator
  5. Is This The Real Life, Is This Just Fantasy? (voting thread) | Winner: Kerguelen
  6. Thermopylae (voting thread) | Winner: TheHedgehog
  7. Crawl Out Through the Fallout!

Hello everyone!

I'd like to welcome you to the discussion thread for something that I think is long overdue in this forum: a Wikipedia Infobox contest. This site is home to several talented users who surprise us day by day with innovative uses for wikiboxes, along with unique stories to go along with them. This contest is an avenue for everyone to apply their skills and respond to prompts, just as the Map of the Fortnight challenge does.

So now, before the contest officially starts, I'm opening this thread to get initial opinions for the format of the contest. I am looking to model the format more or less on the MotF system: new thread for every prompt, set deadline, and voting through poll. I'd just like your thoughts on the following:
  • Should the contest be once a week or once every 2 weeks?
  • Are there any specific rules that you think we should lay down before we start?
  • Also: feel free to start throwing around some prompts we can use for our inaugural round.
I'm also free and willing to answer any questions here or in my PM. Looking forward to starting something great here! Excited for your input.
 
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Gust

Gust

Would infoboxes with election maps be within the scope? Because those will typically be more time consuming to do.
 
Tresckow

Tresckow

Depends on the infobox. A parliamentary election might take days to complete (finding seats and data), while war infoboxes can be done in an hour.
 

black_0

Since, we should try to encourage both high quality of entries and fair number of participants I would suggest a bi-weekly contest.
 

King Jasper

Perhaps, though most wikiboxes will be easily done within a week. Should we limit a few more high-quality wikiboxes in order to have a higher quantity of contests? Idk.
 
Gokbay

Gokbay

The map contest is "the map of fortnight" (e.i. two weeks)
The flag can contest is "the weekly flag challenge"


Therefore we have examples of both weekly and bi-weekly contests. I think bi-weekly makes sense, giving ample time to get an inspiration/idea and also make it. Also allowing for more participants (which is always a good thing no?).
 

aaa

Hello again and thanks for all the suggestions. From what I can tell, different types of wikibox will definitely have different ideal timespans. Wars and events will take much quicker than officeholders, which in turn will be much quicker than elections and other map-related boxes which will require other graphics to be made alongside the box.

As such, what would everyone feel about this as a compromise: alternating one-week and two-week contests, with each person who suggests a contest topic idea also suggesting whether a 1-week or 2-week time limit is more appropriate.

PS thank you as well to @King Jasper, I will add "Landslide" as the first entry on the list of potential topics.

Born in the USSA said:
I'd say since wiki boxes are generally more work than flags (which get a week) every two weeks would be better.
Click to expand...

EdmundS said:
I think that a week is more than enough.
Click to expand...

Gust said:
Would infoboxes with election maps be within the scope? Because those will typically be more time consuming to do.
Click to expand...

Roosevelt said:
Depends on the infobox. A parliamentary election might take days to complete (finding seats and data), while war infoboxes can be done in an hour.
Click to expand...

black_0 said:
Since, we should try to encourage both high quality of entries and fair number of participants I would suggest a bi-weekly contest.
Click to expand...

King Jasper said:
Perhaps, though most wikiboxes will be easily done within a week. Should we limit a few more high-quality wikiboxes in order to have a higher quantity of contests? Idk.
Click to expand...

Gokbay said:
The map contest is "the map of fortnight" (e.i. two weeks)
The flag can contest is "the weekly flag challenge"


Therefore we have examples of both weekly and bi-weekly contests. I think bi-weekly makes sense, giving ample time to get an inspiration/idea and also make it. Also allowing for more participants (which is always a good thing no?).
Click to expand...
 

aaa

Hello everyone! Apologies for the long delay, but my schedule has freed up considerably and I can now start preparing to officially launch the contest.

Here are a few preliminaries to get things started.
  • Feel free to start suggesting contest topics. Each suggestion should contain the following: a) a short title, b) the instruction/theme itself for the contest (optional, you can simply let the title itself be a general theme), and most importantly c) your suggested time limit. This is important since we will be alternating between 2-week and 1-week contests. Simply keep in mind that some types of wikibox (especially those that require you to make other graphics alongside the box) take much longer to do than others.
  • The rules are relatively simple. The entry must consist of a write-up and at least one wikibox. It must connect with the contest topic, and must be posted in the entry thread. After the time limit is up, entries will no longer be accepted and I will create a thread for the voting period, which will last one week. No plagiarism -- goes without saying.
The first contest will have the title "Landslide," as suggested by King Jasper. There is no specific instruction, so it is up to each contestant's interpretation. It will be a two-week contest. I will post the thread on Sunday, December 13, around 4:00 pm GMT (which in my area is midnight of the next day).

Looking forward to a great start! Feel free to reply here with any questions as well as your topic suggestions for future contests.
 
Gust

Gust

Newspeak
Show an infobox from an alternate world in which information from Wikipedia is unreliable.
Time limit: 7 days.
 
Gust

Gust

Intergallactic said:
How do you make an alternate map to put in the wikibox?
Click to expand...
Inkscape. The easiest way to do it is by using an existing map (i.e. the ones on wikipedia) as a template and just edit that one.
Putting it in the infobox requires you to upload the map to an external site and then html editing to have it in the infobox.
 

Intergallactic

Attack of the clones!

Two individuals with the same last name run against one another and receive nearly the same or the exact amount of electoral votes/parliament seats

Time limit: 1 week
 
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