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@Rjensen, OgamD218, Davide King, Hmains, Orser67, and Keystone18: In light of the significant extent of your contributions to the Woodrow Wilson page (as well as relatively recent evidence of your continued interest in said article), you are invited to participate in a discussion regarding which image is best for the lede. Should you feel so inclined, please share your thoughts below.Emiya1980 (talk) 07:10, 29 July 2024 (UTC)Reply
I am in favor of B. The current image of Woodrow Wilson is from 1919 which is right around the time he had a stroke so it clearly does not capture him in his prime. Additionally, B has significantly better lighting and is not as cramped around the subject's head. Emiya1980 (talk) 05:31, 8 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
RFC on Lede Image for Woodrow Wilson (2024)
Latest comment: 2 months ago29 comments15 people in discussion
B is slightly crisper in my view although I'm not strongly committed. Five years certainly made a difference to his face. Both have very narrow margins between the top of Wilson's head and the top of the frame which make them feel a bit compressed. ITBF💬04:25, 12 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
The original uncropped version of A has more space at the top which might resolve that issue; the source link for B is dead so can't tell if there was similar cropping there. Nikkimaria (talk) 04:29, 12 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
Is there an LOC link to confirm that tag? The current source link is dead and on a quick look I don't see it in LOC (but there are lots of results so I may have missed it). Nikkimaria (talk) 23:43, 12 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
I would be very careful about saying "... right around the time he had a stroke ..." A stroke is a sudden thing. If the photo were taken before the stroke, it would be, relatively speaking, OK. After the stroke, if he were still recovering from the stroke, he would look so doubtful, they wouldn't even bother with a portrait photo. I suspect A was before the stroke.
A This current image has been on this WP:GA in one form or another for over 10 years. I don't see a compelling reason to change it now. It's a clear image of Wilson. I really don't understand why there's suddenly so many RFCs about images of historical figures. Certainly there's better ways to improve the project. Nemov (talk) 19:49, 12 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
B, per most of the above. Although option A has a "dark and stormy night" look, a good metaphor for Wilson's broken promise to keep the U.S. out of war, B depicts the dignified subject professionally. Randy Kryn (talk) 13:11, 18 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
The differences are marginal at best. To add upon Nemov's point, there are certainly more productive ways to use the collective power of an RFC. To quote WP:RFCBEFORE, "RfCs are time consuming, and editor time is valuable. Editors should try to resolve their issues before starting an RfC." Are the photo "improvements" so dramatic that one BOLD editor couldn't have just made the photo update in the matter of a 5-minute edit? Pistongrinder (talk) 21:00, 20 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
Every few months, someone tries to change the lede image of an article like this. Editor time is spent arguing over it and/or reverting it. I have spent quite a lot of editor time combing through article history looking for attempts to change the lede image, so that I would know whether or not I had been anticipated, and so that I would know how we got to where we are. When people complain about editor time being wasted, it's likely that they themselves have never gone to the trouble of consulting article history. Bruce leverett (talk) 14:50, 25 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
No, it's likely you haven't looked at the number of RFCs opened by the same editors on multiple stable biographies over the last 3 months. 90% of these RFCs have ended up being unchanged, thus taxing the community on a discussion that should have never occurred. Nemov (talk) 20:09, 27 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
Nah, that's still the case. 90% isn't 100% and this RFC wasn't necessary. This could have been resolved through simple discussion without opening up a RFC. RFC are supposed to be the last resort. Obviously some editors have ignored that. Nemov (talk) 13:40, 28 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
That seems pretty unfair. I don't know about elsewhere, but in this particular case it looks like Emiya1980 made a bold edit not once but twice, and was reverted both times. Wisely not edit-warring, they then brought the discussion to the talk page in the section above this one, just as you suggest, pinging several editors, but received no reply from anyone. This RfC was the last resort. I, and possibly others, would not have known about this issue if not for the RFC, and considering the fairly clear consensus that has emerged, I consider my five minutes well spent in helping to improve a highly read article. Station1 (talk) 20:44, 28 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
B. To the extent there is a consensus it seems to favor B. As Station1 points out, Emiya1980 has followed procedure and done what was asked in starting a discussion to seek consensus and pinging relevant editors. Robert Pius should either be satisfied or speak up. (Personally, I prefer the aesthetics of the grittier A, but I admit B is more familiar to me.) Carleas (talk) 11:11, 30 August 2024 (UTC)Reply