Wikipedia:WikiProject Webcomics/Topic workshop

This is the topic workshop of the Webcomics work group. This area of the project concentrates on creating a centralized place to collaborate on the creation and development of webcomic-related good and featured topics.

Overview of topics

Ensure that the topics you select have a clear scope. If you list items of a potential topic and cannot see the logical structure of a topic, then it is likely not viable. Topics tend to form naturally; attempting to "force" a topic by linking unrelated articles or by creating trivial articles generally does not work.

The purpose of the featured topic process is to highlight some of the most distinguished parts of Wikipedia in terms of article quality. This section will discuss how to form a featured topic, as well as the nuances of the process.

Selecting a topic

From the featured topic criteria, all topics must have at least three items, have a clear defined topical scope, are linked together, and have no major gap in the topic. For the purposes of webcomic-related articles, the most visible topics that can be formed are those based around single creators. Many online cartoonist (for instance, John Allison (comics) or Randall Munroe) have created multiple individually notable works (Bobbins, Scary Go Round, Bad Machinery, or xkcd, What if?, "Time"). Some possible topics can be based around projects (MS Paint Adventures, Cyanide and Happiness, Modern Tales). Character lists or articles are always considered a child of the main webcomic the characters appear in.

The main article of a topic must be one that is clearly the parent article or list for the other items of the topic, and defines the scope of the topic. The main article of a grouping is an appropriate article for other items in the grouping, usually a creator, a website, or a project. Currently, the only known webcomic that could form a subtopic would be Penny Arcade, a topic which would cover the video game and the characters, but not the Penny Arcade Expo and Child's Play. It is unlikely that webcomic-related topics get big enough to form subtopics, but it is not unreasonable.

When listing a topic, please use the {{topicnom}} template, and create a section for the collaborators on the topic and a section for discussion on the topic. Indicate whether the topic is a potential good topic or featured topic by adding (GT) or (FT) respectively to the title of the topic. If you wish to collaborate on a topic, please add # ~~~ under the "collaborators" section of a potential topic listed here. Please keep the topics up to date on the status of the articles. The following templates can be utilized:

{{classicon|FA}} – for featured articles and featured lists ( )
{{classicon|GA}} – for good articles ( )
{{classicon|B}} – for B-class articles ( )
{{classicon|C}} – for C-class articles ( )
{{classicon|Start}} – for start-class articles ( )
{{classicon|Stub}} – for stub-class articles ( )
{{classicon|List}} – for list-class articles ( )
{{icon|AA}} – for "audited" articles ( )
{{classicon|DA}} – for articles that have not been created yet ( )
{{classicon|FAN}} – for articles at featured article candidates or featured list candidates ( )
{{classicon|GAN}} – for articles at good article nominations ( )
{{classicon|PR}} – for articles at peer review ( )

Quality bar

With the advent of good topics, creating a topic is much easier notion than the originally daunting task of having to meet the quality bar for a featured topic.

For all topics, good topics and featured topics alike, all of the articles in the topic must be at least good articles and all lists must be featured lists. This requirement is the minimum bar for a good topic. For a featured topic, the amount of featured content within the topic (both featured articles and featured lists are considered featured content) must constitute at least twenty-five percent of the topic, with a minimum of two items of featured content. This figure is rounded up; for instance, if the topic had 10 items, 3 items would need to be featured (10/4 = 2.5 --> 3) or if the topic had 15 items, 4 items would need to be featured (15/4 = 3.75 --> 4).

Recommendations on collaboration

Once the scope and items of a topic have been identified, collaboration on the topic can ensue. Given the large number of quality articles required for every individual topic, it is much easier for topics to be formed through collaboration by large numbers of editors. Separating the workload by assigning tasks to individual editors or groups of editors is a possible method, as is all collaborators working on the individual items of a topic one-by-one. As a courtesy to the other collaborators, it is recommended that the editor(s) working on individual items contact the other collaborators on a topic prior to any good article, featured list, or featured article candidacy. Creating a good or featured topic is among the most difficult tasks for a Wikipedia editor, and please do not be discouraged by the amount of work that is often needed to create these topics. Keep going forward and do not be afraid to ask for help from the WikiProject and your fellow project members.

Current topics

Featured topics

-None currently

Good topics

-None currently

Potential topics

Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik (Penny Arcade)

Main page	Articles
Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik	Penny Arcade - Penny Arcade Expo ( History) - Penny Arcade Adventures - Poker Night at the Inventory - List of Penny Arcade characters - Robert Khoo

Possible subtopic

Main page	Articles
*Penny Arcade*	Penny Arcade Adventures - Poker Night at the Inventory - List of Penny Arcade characters

Collaborators

Current nominations: None

Discussion: Discuss this topic here

Randall Munroe (xkcd)

Main page	Articles
Randall Munroe	xkcd - "Time" - What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions - Thing Explainer - how to

Collaborators

~Mable (chat) 07:04, 29 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Current nominations

Discussion: I'm unsure whether to add Machine of Death. Munroe was one of the collaborators on that, but all he did was write a one of the many short stories. I think adding it in the topic would be giving that short story undue weight. Relatedly, a possible future article would be Thing Explainer. ~Mable (chat) 07:04, 29 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Wouldn't 4942 Munroe have to be a topic? JerrySa1 (talk) 01:09, 27 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]
- I hadn't found out about that article until after I created this page. I'm not really sure. I would imagine this topic is specifically about Munroe's works. I'm not even sure how to get that article to B class anyway. Machine of Death isn't listed here either because Munroe's relation to the book is pretty minor. ~Mable (chat) 07:32, 27 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

John Allison

Main page	Articles
John Allison (comics)	Bobbins - Scary Go Round - Bad Machinery - Giant Days

Collaborators

Current nominations: None

Discussion: I'm willing to help out with this one, and I suppose I have done so in the past. Giant Days is an article that still neds to be created. ~Mable (chat) 12:20, 8 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

MS Paint Adventures by Andrew Hussie (1)

Main page	Articles
Works by Andrew Hussie	MS Paint Adventures ( Homestuck^(subtopic)) - Hiveswap - Pesterquest

Collaborators

Current nominations: None

Discussion: Discuss this topic here

MS Paint Adventures by Andrew Hussie (2)

Main page	Articles
*Homestuck*	Characters - Music - Timeline

Collaborators: –MJL ‐Talk‐^☖ 05:03, 11 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Current nominations: None

Discussion

Discuss this topic here

It's finally time. –MJL ‐Talk‐^☖ 05:03, 11 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@Maplestrip: I hope you don't mind, but I decided I wanted to split this into two bits to subdivide Homestuck from the rest of Hussie's works. –MJL ‐Talk‐^☖ 20:25, 11 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@MJL: Oh, no worries; do whatever you think is right :) ~Maplestrip/Mable (chat) 09:06, 12 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I do think I have to warn you: It is very hard to find sources talking about the actual fictional events that transpire in _Homestuck_. I feel like a "timeline of _Homestuck_" would more likely be a timeline of the events happening around the production of _Homestuck_ and its fandom. ~Maplestrip/Mable (chat) 09:16, 12 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@Maplestrip: The goal is to Homestuck to GA status with the remaining three pages to Featured List status during the WikiCup. That'd make this our first Featured Topic.
If so needed, I shall consult the recaps and the new Books. I do also have articles like this, this, and that. There's also that PBS Idea Channel video about the series, so I think I will be able to make a Featured List out of it.

–MJL ‐Talk‐^☖ 12:47, 12 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Scott McCloud

Main page	Articles
Scott McCloud	Zot! - Creator's Bill of Rights - Understanding Comics - Reinventing Comics - The Right Number - The Sculptor - 24-hour comic - Infinite canvas

Collaborators

Current nominations: None

Discussion: Some of these articles (Zot!, Understanding, The Sculptor) aren't related to webcomics, and the Creator's Bill of Rights is optional, but Revinventing, infinite canvas, and 24-hour comic are among the most important webcomics-related articles around.

Joey Manley

Main page	Articles
Joey Manley	Modern Tales - Serializer - Girlamatic - Webcomics Nation - ComicSpace

Collaborators

Current nominations: None