Wikipedia:Meetup/Whanganui/2015 River Week Edit-a-thon

Whanganui panorama from Durie Hill Tower. Photos like these are contributed to Wikipedia by volunteers like you and me.

What's it about?

An Edit-a-thon is an all-day attempt to improve the Wikipedia pages on a particular topic. Led by an experienced Wikipedia editor, participants learn to edit pages, correct mistakes, add references, and upload photos. Complete beginners are welcome; training and troubleshooting is provided.

When and where

• Sunday 15 November 2015, as part of River Week
• The Alexander Library, in its temporary home in the old Post Office, 60 Ridgway St (not in Queens Park)
• Participants from anywhere in the world are welcome to join in remotely, hashtag #Wheditathon
• "Locals needed for Wikipedia-a-thon" (Wanganui Chronicle, 11 Nov 2015)

Timetable

• 09:45 onwards: Setting up, meet and greet, account creation if needed
• 10:00–12:00: How to edit and create articles on Wikipedia.
• Lunch break (a light lunch is supplied)
• 12:30–16:00: Wikipedia editing. The theme is The Whanganui River and all topics connected to that, from history to the environment to fish biology.

What to bring

• Laptop and power cord. There is wifi and desktop computers you can use.
• Any snacks and drink you want, but lunch and refreshments are supplied.
• Any books, journals, magazine or newspaper articles relevant to pages you're interested in. There are local-history reference books and resources available too, including back-issues of Whanganui newspapers on microfilm and fiche.
• Photos you've taken that could illustrate Wikipedia articles; local buildings and landmarks especially.

How to sign up

The Edit-a-thon is free; we just ask that you sign up and make a commitment to coming, so we can plan catering. Register here.

Preparation

If you're coming, try to create a Wikipedia account beforehand: don't wait until the day to do it! Here's a form you can use. Creating an account make editing much easier (more info). You'll need to pick a "handle" for your username; you could use your real name, but it's nicer to have the option to be a bit anonymous if you want. Mike's username is Giantflightlessbirds.

Read up on Wikipedia: there are lots of tutorials on the Wiki Wednesday Help page, like the Wikipedia Adventure.

Have a think about topics you'd like to work on. Check out their pages and see if there are obvious mistakes or problems. Maybe even do a little research first so you're prepared. Bring along references for information you want to add. If the topic you're interested in doesn't have a Wikipedia page, we could even create one. If you're stuck, there are lots of pages that need work: here are some suggestions.

Pages to get you started

The Waimarie at anchor. This is actually a better photo than the one currently used on the PS Waimarie page. Anyone want to take an even better one?

• Alexander Heritage & Research Library, mentioning it's moved
• PS Waimarie
• Ranana
• Aramoho
• Whanganui Regional Museum
• Sarjeant Gallery: needs Sarjeant on the Quay section and photo
• Richard Taylor
• Nankeen night heron
• Charles Mackay (mayor)
• Moutoa Island, describing the battle
• Jerusalem, New Zealand
• Pipiriki
• Moutoa Gardens
• Whanganui
• Mayor of Wanganui
• Wanganui City College and Wanganui High School (need photos)
• Bridge to Nowhere
• Whanganui River template needs correcting and augmenting
• River Queen

Useful Stuff

• How to edit pages using the Visual Editor: for when you go Edit
• A cheatsheet for wiki markup: for when you go Edit Source

Attendees

Add your Wikipedia username if you have one. Tip; you can just type asterisk-space-three tildes (* ~~~)

• Giantflightlessbirds (organiser)
• Ambrosia10 (attending remotely)
• Stuartyeates (intending to attend remote, feel free to ping me to remind me)
• Uprightstructures
• Godwit
• MsWaverley

Outcomes

• Royal Wanganui Opera House (adding Papers Past newspaper references)
• Whanganui River (added Flora and Fauna info)
• PS Waimarie (new photo)
• Added multiple old and contemporary photos and a video to Wikimedia Commons
• Added links, photos and a gallery to Whanganui
• Jerusalem, New Zealand (text added)
• Kawana flour mill (page created)
• "Group works to improve town's Wikipedia look." (Wanganui Chronicle, 16 Nov 2015)

Many thanks to the Alex on Ridgway for providing the excellent venue (even though we didn't get around to making them a Wikipedia page) and the Whanganui Digital Leaders Forum for providing lunch and refreshments for all participants. —Giantflightlessbirds (talk)