Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Council

Seeking new project contributors? Promote your WikiProject at WikiConference North America in Sepember

Lucy Iwuala and I are collaborating to develop a presentation for WikiConference North America "Intro to WikiProjects for New Contributors." We'd like to include a few more case studies of WikiProjects that welcome new contributors in the presentation. We're especially seeking projects that 1) have minimal barriers to entry (for example, they don't require knowledge of a specific language, technology, or specialized subject matter) and 2) have good onboarding resources for new contributors. Think projects where, out of 100 randomly chosen Wikimedians, a sizable percentage interact with the subject on a regular basis. We're happy to include any project as a case study, though, if you are willing to honestly self-assess on those two criteria. Reply or message me if you are interested in having your project included. JMMaok (talk) 16:56, 14 August 2026 (UTC)

@JMMaok, I'm not aware of any WikiProjects that are actively and systematically welcoming new contributors at this time. WhatamIdoing (talk) 17:57, 14 August 2026 (UTC)

Well, if any are interested in changing that between now and WCNA, please get in touch. There were some excellent ideas shared at the recent WikiData WikiProject days, especially from the session on Quickstart Guides. The discussion was much broader than just creating guides, though. Here are notes from the session. JMMaok (talk) 17:35, 19 August 2026 (UTC)

It would be nice if we had a boilerplate "WikiProject Newcomers FAQ" oriented to individual WikiProjects that they could mold to their needs. It could include a straightforward "Ways You Can Help" that lists tasks sorted by editor skill level (beginner -> intermediate -> advanced). The current boilerplate template {{Tasks}} is frankly rather dry and uninviting. the Stefen 𝕋ower 00:22, 20 August 2026 (UTC)

That is a neat idea! The current template seems very thorough, but some redesign could make it more inviting. JMMaok (talk) 00:42, 20 August 2026 (UTC)

There is a page at WP Climate change that also seems instructive as one possible way to design this. As for {{Tasks}}, my point is that it feels too much like a laundry list, and laundry lists don't really trigger self-motivation to want to assist (similar to laundry lists at home). the Stefen 𝕋ower 18:00, 21 August 2026 (UTC)

I've made an effort to feature a range of tasks at different levels of difficulty on Wikipedia:WikiProject Computer Security, and I'd be delighted for new contributors to participate. We have a lot of articles in very poor shape, so it should be a bit easier to find something to improve than in a more mature WikiProject. Some articles require specific technical expertise, but we also have many articles about human factors (like Operational security, Password fatigue, Psychology in cybersecurity, and Computer security incident management) that an interested non-specialist could improve. Dreamyshade (talk) 01:37, 24 August 2026 (UTC)

Hi, @Dreamyshade! That looks like a very cool project. Happy to include it as one of our case studies. JMMaok (talk) 01:44, 26 August 2026 (UTC)

New discovery: WikiProject Worthing

See this edit. The person who made that edit, Deveroonie (talk · contribs), has also created 26 related pages, but I cannot find where the WikiProject was proposed, let alone discussed. I don't see a need for this: it's not as if WikiProject Sussex is overburdened. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 09:40, 23 August 2026 (UTC)

most of those pages were categories required for the functioning of the template. I'd also note that while wikiproject sussex does exist, so does WP:WikiProject Brighton (and it has done for years) - covering a similar (if slightly larger) sussex location Deveroonie (talk) 10:27, 23 August 2026 (UTC)

My main concern is not with the categories, but with the wikiproject as a whole. Wikiproject Brighton was set up twenty years ago, when the rules were different. It also managed a fairly decent membership, although many have now left Wikipedia. Also, it's now considered to be inactive. So it's not a good example to follow. As it says at the top of Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals, A WikiProject is a group of editors who want to work together. A WikiProject is not a subject area, a group of pages, a banner on talk pages, or any of the infrastructure used to support the group. If you do not have a group of editors, you do not have a WikiProject. Successful groups normally begin with about 10 active, experienced editors. It also says Do not create any new WikiProject pages without prior discussion. That includes all "WikiProject (Name)" pages, categories, and templates. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 16:14, 23 August 2026 (UTC)

i've undone the edit referenced - i apologise for not doing the proposal / discussion but i'd note that WP:WikiProject Council/Proposals doesn't seem to be official wikipedia policy. i do intend to keep developing the project - and articles within - and will attempt to find more individuals interested in the project, and apologise for not doing so beforehand. Deveroonie (talk) 17:11, 23 August 2026 (UTC)

True, but Wikipedia:Articles for deletion and Wikipedia:Requests for comment are also not "official wikipedia policy" pages. WP:NOTAG is normal for a process page. If you feel a need to follow only the advice on "official" pages, then Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Guide is an official {{guideline}}, and it tells editors to follow the Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals process. WhatamIdoing (talk) 17:15, 23 August 2026 (UTC)

Deveroonie, my concern was not about the edit that I linked in my original post. My concern was, as I noted above, with the wikiproject as a whole. That is to say, Wikipedia:WikiProject Worthing; Template:WikiProject Worthing; Wikipedia:WikiProject Worthing/Template:Userbox; the 21 categories, etc. Reverting one edit does not do anything towards resolving the situation. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 21:59, 23 August 2026 (UTC)

The main Wikipedia:WikiProject Worthing page can be moved to their userspace until they collect a group of people (because Wikipedia:A WikiProject is a group of people). The template needs to go to Wikipedia:Templates for discussion, and then the cats can be cleaned up after the template has been deleted. If a group actually forms around this, we can always ask for a WP:REFUND later.

(Also, aside from the WP:OTHERSTUFFEXISTS problem, WikiProject Brighton is inactive, which is the problem we're trying to solve by discouraging the creation of one-person "groups".) WhatamIdoing (talk) 17:13, 23 August 2026 (UTC)

Script to remove inactive participants from members lists

Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Guide#Tools for WikiProjects would ideally have a link to a script or bot that would remove or split lists of group participants according to whether they're active. Wikipedia:WikiProject X has a bot-managed Template:WikiProjectCard system, but I'm looking for a tool that will take an ordinary, years-old bullet list of usernames and remove/split anyone who hasn't edited in (e.g.,) a year.

I know that someone was taking such requests, but I can't remember who it was. Does anyone have ideas or favorite methods? WhatamIdoing (talk) 19:23, 23 August 2026 (UTC)

Check out User:Yapperbot/Pruner. See an example at the bottom of Wikipedia:WikiProject Louisville/Active participants. Works great. the Stefen 𝕋ower 20:05, 23 August 2026 (UTC)

Thanks. I've added it to Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Guide#Tools for WikiProjects. WhatamIdoing (talk) 17:57, 27 August 2026 (UTC)

Semi-active pages

Should semi-active projects have a different highlight color than red on the directory? I feel like editors could still benefit from them and shouldn't be led astray. Perhaps they can have a yellow highlight. ‍🌷Reverosie🌷^★talk★ 15:00, 27 August 2026 (UTC)

Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Directory/WikiProject only has a yes/no state for |active=. If you look at, e.g., Wikipedia:WikiProject Extinction in Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Directory/Science#Biology, you'll see that it's marked in green as 'active'. There's no reason why the others can't be marked the same way. WhatamIdoing (talk) 17:06, 27 August 2026 (UTC)

ah. I was wondering that because so many semi-active projects are marked as "semi" in the template, causing them to be marked as "no". I'll go in and fix those myself later ‍🌷Reverosie🌷^★talk★ 17:15, 27 August 2026 (UTC)

Discussion at Module talk:WikiProject banner § inactive vs defunct projects

 You are invited to join the discussion at Module talk:WikiProject banner § inactive vs defunct projects. CapnZapp (talk) 09:05, 28 August 2026 (UTC)

Your input would be appreciated on whether the current situation with having to change a WikiProject's status in two places should change. The direct link to the current state of the discussion is Module talk:WikiProject banner § one location (issue 2). Thank you CapnZapp (talk) 09:05, 28 August 2026 (UTC)

Automatic importance rating on banners

I'm trying to add more {{WikiProject Silesia}} banners across its scope articles. I use WP:Rater for this; but I can't quite figure how rater sets an automatic importance rating, just like it would for all other WikiProjects. Is there something missing in {{WikiProject Silesia}}? Fortek67 (talk) 12:38, 31 August 2026 (UTC)

Importance/priority ratings are not normally set automatically. WhatamIdoing (talk) 16:12, 31 August 2026 (UTC)

How do I set them automatically? Fortek67 (talk) 16:45, 31 August 2026 (UTC)

It is possible for a WikiProject to set the importance rating to something by default, such as is done at Template:WikiProject_Politics#TemplateData, which I assume RATER then reads to populate the dialog box. Most WikiProject don't do that though, as WhatamIdoing said. If you want to change that at {{WikiProject Silesia}} you'd probably be best getting consensus at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Silesia first, but I did note it's a fairly small and only semi-active project. I'm not aware if it's possible to set defaults in your own instance of RATER but the place to ask is probably User talk:Evad37/rater.js rather than here. -Kj cheetham (talk) 16:59, 31 August 2026 (UTC)

Maybe it actually is a rater thing because (correct me if I'm wrong) Template:WikiProject Poland nor Template:WikiProject Poland/doc doesn't seem to have any of this. Thank you nonetheless. Fortek67 (talk) 17:07, 31 August 2026 (UTC)

Yes, it's actually a feature called "Autofill low importance" on rater, I'll bring it up on there to see why it doesn't work. Fortek67 (talk) 17:08, 31 August 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for flagging that, it's worth knowing it exists! -Kj cheetham (talk) 09:57, 1 September 2026 (UTC)

Wikipedia:WikiProject Pre Islamic Arabia listed at Requested moves

A requested move discussion has been initiated for Wikipedia:WikiProject Pre Islamic Arabia to be moved to Wikipedia:WikiProject Pre-Islamic Arabia. This page is of interest to this WikiProject and interested members may want to participate in the discussion here. —RMCD bot 23:13, 1 September 2026 (UTC)

To opt out of RM notifications on this page, transclude {{bots|deny=RMCD bot}}, or set up Article alerts for this WikiProject.

Bot assignment of WikiProject

I have come across a cluster of higher education related articles that were assigned WP:EDU by the Qwerfjk bot. Looks like this happened in 2024. Unfortunately, many that I have found should not have the WP:EDU banner due to the narrower focus of that project. These additions seem more like a semi-successful experiment. Does anyone know the history behind this tagging effort? Did it include other WikiProject? The edit summary is "Adding {WikiProject banner shell}; automatically added WikiProject(s): {WikiProject Education} (Task 19)" and the hidden note on the article's talkpage says "Automatically added by Qwerfjkl (bot)" Rublamb (talk) 14:16, 9 September 2026 (UTC)

I believe task 19 was Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/Qwerfjkl (bot) 19. That was just adding the banner shell around existing WikiProject tags, it shouldn't have been adding WP:EDU tags for articles which didn't already have one. Have you got an example article to look at? Thanks. -Kj cheetham (talk) 15:43, 9 September 2026 (UTC)

Sure. NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program. I have already fixed it, but the bot clearly added the WikiProject. Rublamb (talk) 15:48, 9 September 2026 (UTC)

Here's some more: Midori and Friends, Middle East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow, Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources Rublamb (talk) 15:55, 9 September 2026 (UTC)

Looking more closely that task was indeed adding Wikiprojects! It says Using ORES (>90% probability results only), it will determine whether the article is a biography, the quality of the article, and what WikiProjects should be applied, and it will then add them. The original discussion seems to be Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Council/Archive_25#h-Articles_without_Wikiprojects-20230226133100 and User_talk:Qwerfjkl/Archive_31#h-Bot_work-20230519113800. I believe it was a one-off run, not something still running. -Kj cheetham (talk) 16:04, 9 September 2026 (UTC)

Very interesting. Thanks for helping me to figure it out. Rublamb (talk) 16:06, 9 September 2026 (UTC)

In terms of de-tagging articles: If you make a list of articles that shouldn't be tagged, and it's too long to do by hand, it's usually easy to find a bot operator or an AWB user to make the edits for you. WhatamIdoing (talk) 18:28, 9 September 2026 (UTC)

Proposing a new WikiProject Middle Belt

This proposed WikiProject is a collaborative one aimed at documenting the history, peoples, languages, cultures, and landscape of the Middle Belt. In spite of how diverse the Nigerian Middle Belt is, only a small fraction of its diversity has been captured in the English Wikipedia. Of the about 509 living languages spoken in Nigeria, about 395 are spoken in this region alone, which is 77.6% of the languages spoken in Nigeria. These languages have speakers, ethnic groups with history, settlements with names, and all other attributes that define a human group, but most of these are underrepresented on Wikipedia. That is a huge knowledge gap. Even those with articles may not be sufficiently written. We are hoping to promote the Nigerian Middle Belt through this project, and for sustainability, we hope to start a campaign called Wiki Loves Middle Belt (WLMB) beginning in 2027. This WLMB campaign shall be backed by the Tyap Wikimedians User Group through its annual funding. Other Wikimedia communities within the Middle Belt and beyond may launch campaigns once they are ready to implement the WikiProject Middle Belt as a group project, create additional campaigns within this WikiProject, or join the WLMB campaign as official co-organizers. This would help ensure the project's sustainability.

Other editors with similar interest in this project are: Atibrarian, King ChristLike, Danjuma Anthony, Ogalihillary, Meritkosy, Zeerun, Dorcas Atule, AgnesAbah, Umasoyee, 787IYO, Zasan Doshiyak, Friday musa, and many more within the different Wikimedia communities of the Middle Belt. We await the decision of the WikiProject Council. Thanks. Kambai Akau (talk) 00:48, 29 September 2026 (UTC)

Campaigns (i.e., scheduled editing events) are not usually considered WikiProjects. I suggest looking at Wiki Loves X campaigns and m:Wiki In Africa instead. Alternatively, why not join/take over/WP:REVIVE the Wikipedia:WikiProject Nigeria, and make it the main goal of that group for the year? WhatamIdoing (talk) 01:04, 29 September 2026 (UTC)

Yeah @WhatamIdoing. We considered those different options. But then, we understand that WikiProjects are created to narrow down and deepen the documentation of particular subject matters, and that informed our decision to have this project so named. The WikiProject Middle Belt is not aimed at being a campaign. Its aim is to have a stand-alone project that concentrates on the Middle Belt alone, just like WikiProject Africa has the entire Africa as a focal point, and WikiProject Nigeria focuses on the whole of Nigeria as a focal point. The WikiProject Middle Belt is aimed at narrowing down further to this region alone. That is the reason why we are not thinking along the lines of WikiProject Nigeria, which may be a good thing if revived. However, our focus is not on the whole of Nigeria. That makes the difference. We have seen that many WikiProjects do get started and go obsolete later on due to one reason or the other, and we have taken note of the possible causes. The Wiki Loves Middle Belt campaign, which could be made a part of the Wiki Loves X campaigns and partner Wiki In Africa, aims at drawing articles from the WikiProject Middle Belt to work on them en masse annually, and after the campaigns, the articles created keep on being improved on in the WikiProject space. This is our aim, and we hope to be given a chance to prove its workability. Kambai Akau (talk) 01:20, 29 September 2026 (UTC)

Great one,

I strongly support this. Dorcas Atule (talk) 13:54, 29 September 2026 (UTC)

@Kambai Akau, WikiProjects are not created "to narrow down and deepen the documentation of particular subject matters". WikiProjects are created to help people work together effectively, and a narrow subject matter generally hurts that goal, especially if you look at the group over the course of, say, five years. WhatamIdoing (talk) 22:29, 30 September 2026 (UTC)

Hi @WhatamIdoing, thanks for the clarification. My proposal's strong point is hinged on the premise that the WikiProject Middle Belt would be kept active by my group's continuous support and although, yes, there had been many failed projects in the past, just give us this single chance to see if it is workable or not. Thanks! Kambai Akau (talk) 14:16, 17 October 2026 (UTC)

This is a welcome development aimed at addressing a specific geographic content gap in Nigeria. I think the essence of this project is to bring together the people of Nigeria, especially those within the Middle Belt region, to work effectively in addressing the content gap on the core of the Middle Belt (North Central) topics:

• Benue State

• Federal Capital Territory (FCT)

• Kogi State

• Kwara State

• Nasarawa State

• Niger State

• Plateau State

Streamlining tasks across the regional states will bring more effectiveness. Atibrarian (talk) 13:23, 5 October 2026 (UTC)

I support this project. Nigeria is a massive country and the middle belt in particular has been under-documented on Wikimedia platforms. A project specifically focused on this community might help fill those gaps and engage a new group of Wikimedia editors who care about their local geography. Pacita (WikiNYC) (talk) 22:06, 7 October 2026 (UTC)

I strongly support this initiative! As a Wikimedian from Northern Nigeria with a passion for documenting marginalized and underrepresented communities, I believe this project is an important step towards bridging existing knowledge gaps on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia platforms. I would love to contribute my experience in Wikimedia projects, community engagement, and outreach to help document the diverse histories, cultures, languages, and heritage of the Middle Belt. I am particularly passionate about amplifying underrepresented voices and ensuring that indigenous knowledge and local histories receive greater visibility in the open knowledge movement. I look forward to collaborating with other Wikimedians to make this initiative sustainable and impactful. Count me in! Halima Waziri (talk) 15:31, 17 October 2026 (UTC)

I am equally passionate about filling this crucial content gap in Wikipedia’s coverage of Nigerian regional history, local languages, and governance particularly within the Middle Belt region. I look forward to working alongside fellow editors and taking an active role in creating articles, tagging pages, and gathering reliable sources to make this project a success! Friday musa (talk) 17:26, 17 October 2026 (UTC)

I strongly support the approval of this proposal. As one of the interested participants,I believe WikiProject Middle Belt will give us an opportunity to work together to address the content gaps in documenting the region’s history, languages, cultures, and people. I am encouraged by the interest shown by fellow editors and believe that with our collective efforts and commitment, we can make this project active and sustainable. I hope the Council will give us the opportunity to put this idea into practice. Thank you. Danjuma Anthony (talk) 17:56, 17 October 2026 (UTC)

I don't think any of the regulars here are trying to discourage you: if you can be successful, it would be wonderful! If you're all committed, then I think you should get started. Please also put Wikipedia:WikiProject Nigeria on your watchlists. WhatamIdoing (talk) 23:37, 17 October 2026 (UTC)

Thanks, @WhatamIdoing! I have added Wikipedia:WikiProject Nigeria to my watchlist! In this note, can we proceed to create the WikiProject Middle Belt page and templates, already? Kambai Akau (talk) 01:29, 18 October 2026 (UTC)

Yes. WhatamIdoing (talk) 04:06, 18 October 2026 (UTC)

Thanks a lot! @WhatamIdoing. Kambai Akau (talk) 11:28, 18 October 2026 (UTC)

Proposing a new WikiProject 48toInfinity

A group of editors (mostly in the UK and Malawi) are currently concentrating on improving content relating to women in Malawi. The work started with Victuallers (editor for 20 years, co-founder of Wikipedia:WikiProject Women In Red, thousands of new articles) and Nakhwinda (a Malawian academic in Scotland) collaborating to work with the Scotland Malawi Partnership (SMP), and its Malawian counterpart the Malawi Scotland Partnership, to try to improve Wikipedia coverage of Malawian women. A significant achievement here was re-licensing of SMP images so that they could go on Commons. In 2025 Dsp13 (editor for 20 years, Women in Red fellow traveller, thousands of new articles) became involved and expanded Wikidata coverage of Malawian women. At this stage the project was known as Motokazi. In 2026 Nathingani (the Malawian lawyer and activist Sarai Chisala-Tempelhoff) independently conceived the idea of a project devoted to Malawian women, #48toInfinity. She and WomenInHistoryEditor started organizing training in editing Wikipedia at their organization, the Gender and Justice Unit in Malawi, and made contact with the previous group of editors. Joining forces, the group has had ongoing activity over the last few months. There has been a photoshoot with members of the Malawi Parliamentary Women's Caucus, and several training sessions and editathons (some with a topical focus, such as Malawian women's football or Malawian women in politics). You can see more on some of these, as well as a list of new articles relating to Malawian women written in August and September 2026, at the draft WikiProject page.

Goals:

• to improve the coverage of women in Malawi on English wikipedia, commons and Wikidata
• to provide an on-wiki talk space, along with periodic events, for building a #48toInfinity editor community in Malawi, the United Kingdom and elsewhere

Why a WikiProject rather than a task force?

• Victuallers and Dsp13 have considerable WikiProject experience. We considered making 48toInfinity a task force of either WP:WikiProject Women in Red or the (inactive) WP:WikiProject Malawi. However, we felt that we had built up a community of committed editors who wanted to give Malawian women dedicated focus, and that the specificity of this might be lost if we were forced to approach the project as a task force from either of those existing WikiProjects.
• Having this as a Wikiproject will also help in measuring progress, since we will then be able to use the Wikidata property Wikidata:Property:P6104 (maintained by WikiProject) to mark all Wikidata items of interest: all Malawian women, women's organizations, girls schools etc. in Wikidata, as well as Wikidata items corresponding to general pages like Abortion in Malawi.

Supporters of the project: Victuallers, Nakhwinda, Dsp13, Nathingani, WomenInHistoryEditor, Pearl Squarepants, Mcwamcwa, Pnthandah, MaleKate, Nyaka1, Heyitslue, NKHAKAMA, Cleo2368.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts! Dsp13 (talk) 17:33, 29 September 2026 (UTC)

I strongly support this proposal! I am the creator of the Malawi initiative and one of the editors involved and I can vouch that this community is real and very active. Over the past few months we have held training sessions and hosted editathons on Malawian women and their wider ecosystem the organisations they have founded and and the villages that they live in and even the films they have co-written and narrated! Our editathons have covered women in politics, women footballers and we convened a photoshoot with the Parliamentary Women's Caucus. Many of us are new editors based in Malawi, having a dedicated WikiProject gives us a clear home on-wiki in a way that a task force of an inactive or much bigger project wouldn't. Being able to track our progress through Wikidata is a big plus too. I am really excited to see this move forward! Nathingani (talk) 19:47, 29 September 2026 (UTC)

This project exists and it has a history back to early 2025. It's created over 200 new articles and we have run editathons in the UK and Scotland partnering with Uni of Edinburgh and WMUK. We have established links with several universities in Scotland and Malawi and I went out to Malawi to meet these people at the end of May. We have links with Women in Red, Rotary International, the NGO Scotland Malawi Partnership and with the parliaments in Malawi and Scotland. We have arranged for our photographs to join a tour around Scotland including a photo donated by a Wikimedian in Dzaleka refugee camp. We have arranged for several organisations to change their image policy including COSAFA and the Malawi Human Rights Commission. We have found a few editors who were active in Malawi, but we have now trained a good number of editors and interest is growing. There are 3 times more Malawian women on en:wiki, 5 times more on Wikidata. We have had maybe a dozen DYK appearances. Victuallers (talk) 23:06, 29 September 2026 (UTC)

I think this proposal meets all the goals. Does anyone object? WhatamIdoing (talk) 17:45, 30 September 2026 (UTC)

I agree with WhatamIdoing, so this is just out of curiosity: what's the significance of 48? Chess enjoyer (talk) 22:58, 30 September 2026 (UTC)

Others below have a point when they say that a clearer name would be better, but for me that's not enough to stand in the way of this WikiProject forming. Chess enjoyer (talk) 12:08, 7 October 2026 (UTC)

Wouldn't it be better to give the project a name that indicated what its scope was? AndyTheGrump (talk) 23:11, 30 September 2026 (UTC)

Yes, but not just better, necessary. Do not start by giving a project a confusing name. If you have to explain it, it is already useless. Yesterday, all my dreams... (talk) 10:54, 7 October 2026 (UTC)

The coolest and I'm told most active wikiproject is Women in Red, Andy. The "48" refers to the relaunch of the project. Chess. Motokazi had written dozens of articles and was a successful wikiproject. I wrote an article about Sarai, she saw it and thought it was the 48th article about a Malawian woman and thought there should be more. She started 48toInfinity. We then discovered each other and chose 48toInfinity for the merged wikiproject. Victuallers (talk) 07:21, 1 October 2026 (UTC)

Way too obscure, IMO. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 21:17, 1 October 2026 (UTC)

Yes, but not just obscure. It is confusing. Yesterday, all my dreams... (talk) 10:55, 7 October 2026 (UTC)

While a WikiProject can of course have any name, please consider that the name appearing on talk pages is part of the recruiting efforts to find more editors interested in the subject matter. A more self-describing name would help with attracting new participants. isaacl (talk) 21:40, 1 October 2026 (UTC)

Yeah, there's to some extent a trade-off here between the opportunities for off-wiki publicity, which the name chosen works for, and that for on-wiki publicity, which it isn't so helpful for. We'd like to stick with it for now, if that's OK. That means we'll have to put a bit more effort into making the project visible on-wiki. If after several months we feel on balance it's unhelpful then one option will be to move the wikiproject to a more straightforward name - Malawian women or Women in Malawi or whatever. Does anyone feel strongly enough to actually object to us going forward? Dsp13 (talk) 09:59, 5 October 2026 (UTC)

I don't object to the project, but the name is problematic, as it doesn't obviously describe the subject area the project covers. However, I think it would be fine if '48toInfinity' was set up as a nickname that links to the project. And certainly, the nickname can be promoted. What I'm concerned about mostly is the banner that displays on talk pages needs to be understandable as a subject area on sight. the Stefen 𝕋ower 10:11, 5 October 2026 (UTC)

Would you consider a project name that started out with a bit of Hawaiian and then finished with a bit of Latin. There was a very sensibly named project called WikiProject Malawi (still in red?) and another called NuPedia (abandoned) and a very silly one named after a shuttle bus... Wikipedia. I thought this council was intended to decide if a project was a go-er. The first pass look at our project above found no objections at all ... and now we have a queue to create a sub group to approve project names?. We have a project called "X". Our former name Motakazi translates well in the most popular language of Malawi to fire women. Is that better? Please consider whether you want to impose your will on this emerging project or leave it to the democratic choice of its members. I'm up for advice, but do bear in mind that we have formed several very successful wikiprojects before. We are getting advice about banner design, do you want to chose the logo? our landing page? At what point will you allow us to continue to succeed? Victuallers (talk) 13:17, 5 October 2026 (UTC)

That link is in red because we don't have an article called WikiProject Malawi. I believe Wikipedia:WikiProject Malawi is what you're looking for. Chess enjoyer (talk) 12:13, 7 October 2026 (UTC)

Note that off-wiki, you can use any slogan you think will be effective in an campaign to attract attention. Nonetheless, whatever the project members agree upon is fine for a WikiProject name. isaacl (talk) 17:07, 5 October 2026 (UTC)

Support I don't see a major issue with the name from my side. It is reasonable, and as the founders have already said, they can always reconsider it and change it to a more descriptive name later if needed. More importantly, I won't sugarcoat this, what this group is doing is good and valuable work. Malawi has over 20 million people, yet the number of regular and established editors contributing content about Malawi on Wikipedia remains very small. This means there is a significant gap, not only in the number of articles, but also in the range of topics being covered, including women and other underrepresented topics.

From that perspective, this group is addressing a genuine problem. Malawi lacks Wikipedia awareness so that participation grows. Training new editors including holding edit-athons, recruiting contributors as well as encouraging people with knowledge of Malawi to participate can have a much broader impact than simply adding a few articles.

The increase in new contributors also did not happen by accident. I believe a lot of credit should go to Victuallers and Dsp13 for the tireless work they have put into outreach, recruitment, training andd spreading awareness. The fact that new people are now taking part shows that this work is reaching people who might otherwise never have become involved with Wikipedia.

For me, therefore, the more important question is whether the project has a clear purpose, an active community and is producing useful results. From what I can see, it does. The name can always be refined later if the community concludes that a more descriptive one would serve the project better. -Tumbuka Arch (talk) 14:01, 5 October 2026 (UTC)

In that case you can start by calling it Rapid transit in Germany which is as confusing and change it later. Rule number one: do not confuse people. Yesterday, all my dreams... (talk) 10:58, 7 October 2026 (UTC)

WikiProject Malawian women: 48toInfinity! ? CMD (talk) 11:04, 7 October 2026 (UTC)

Is Malawian women not better? The infinity part is just confusing. Yesterday, all my dreams... (talk) 11:09, 7 October 2026 (UTC)

Depends how dry you want your project names I suppose. CMD (talk) 11:24, 7 October 2026 (UTC)

Is calling a tree a tree dry? Project names can be shaken, but not stirred, if you know what I mean. Yesterday, all my dreams... (talk) 11:41, 7 October 2026 (UTC)

I have no idea what you mean, I'm afraid. Are you interested in joining this project, and improving coverage of Malawian women, or just wanting to declare how projects should be named? I and several others want to keep up some recent momentum and start a WikiProject. Wikiprojects which exist in name only, and don't have an existing community caring about the tasks, are misleading and discouraging to other editors looking for collaborators. So there's a council with the job of discouraging WikiProjects which aren't likely to have that community. I see the value in that. Happily we do have an existing community caring about the tasks. So I'm keen to get going. I don't see the value in side-disputes about naming, just for the sake of it. The point is that it's the community activity which matters. Dsp13 (talk) 12:03, 7 October 2026 (UTC)

I have no interest in joining the project and no objection to it getting started. Go for it, but try not to confuse people. Avoiding confusion was the goal of my comment, and I succeeded in showing you that unclear statements can confuse you. I will say no more. Goodbye. Yesterday, all my dreams... (talk) 12:10, 7 October 2026 (UTC)

Thank you. Can we get on with our successful project? please. Victuallers (talk) 14:26, 7 October 2026 (UTC)

Yes. Good luck to your group. Please consider creating a redirect from WP:WikiProject Malawian women (or similar), and explaining the group's name on the page. WhatamIdoing (talk) 16:09, 12 October 2026 (UTC)

Query

I have a query to ask, if this is the right place to ask. What WikiProject would cult classic and oft-canceled-and-revived TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 belong to? Probably one related to TV, but that feels rather general. Username?WhyNotZoidberg? (talk) 00:04, 20 October 2026 (UTC)

There are already six listed at the top of Talk:Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Articles don't "belong to" any WikiProjects. A WikiProject is a group of people, and all the groups are welcome to work on improving any article(s) they want. WhatamIdoing (talk) 00:11, 20 October 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for the prompt answer! Somehow I didn't think to check there. That's my bad. Also, I suppose "belong to" is indeed not the right word. Would "fall under the scope of" work? WhyNotZoidberg? ^{Woop-woop-woop!} 00:14, 20 October 2026 (UTC) Yes, I changed my signature in the ten-minute span between these entries.

Yes, "fall under the scope of" is a fair phrase. Anything that doesn't sound like Wikipedia:Ownership of content is probably fair.

There's also a system that allows you to search for articles within a given broad subject area (mw:ORES/Articletopic), but I don't know how to start with an article and see the subject area. WhatamIdoing (talk) 00:34, 20 October 2026 (UTC)

Each WikiProject is free to define its own scope. Where two or more WikiProjects have chosen scopes that happen to overlap, neither can say "that page is ours, not yours" about an article. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 09:50, 20 October 2026 (UTC)