Talk:Woodrow Wilson

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Carleas (talk | contribs) at 11:11, 30 August 2024 (RFC on Lede Image for Woodrow Wilson (2024): Support for B.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.


Latest comment: 2 months ago by Carleas in topic RFC on Lede Image for Woodrow Wilson (2024)
Good articleWoodrow Wilson has been listed as one of the Social sciences and society good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
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February 19, 2005Featured article candidateNot promoted
January 30, 2008Good article nomineeNot listed
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June 15, 2008Peer reviewReviewed
March 2, 2021Good article nomineeNot listed
March 17, 2021Good article nomineeListed
Current status: Good article

Semi-protected edit request on 4 June 2024

Under the education section, please include the University of Virginia. As Woodrow Wilson attended the University of Virginia School of Law. Tidbitsandothers (talk) 06:42, 4 June 2024 (UTC)Reply

  Not done: This is already mentioned under Woodrow Wilson § Early life and education. If you mean it should go in the alma mater section of the infobox, it is not because, as the section says, Wilson did not graduate from Virginia. Irltoad (talk) 08:08, 4 June 2024 (UTC)Reply

Lede Image 2024

Which picture should serve as the lede image for Woodrow Wilson?

Emiya1980 (talk) 05:44, 29 July 2024 (UTC)Reply

@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

@Robertus Pius: Seeing as how you suggested I should obtain consensus beforehand, you are invited to participate too.Emiya1980 (talk) 07:12, 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)

Which photograph should serve as the lede image for Woodrow Wilson? Emiya1980 (talk) 02:35, 12 August 2024 (UTC)Reply

Emiya1980 (talk) 02:35, 12 August 2024 (UTC)Reply

  • 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. I T B F 💬 04:25, 12 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
@Nikkimaria: There is a version of A with a different color palette in the Library of Congress's Harris & Ewing collection. You can view it at the following link . Emiya1980 (talk) 03:20, 17 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
There is another version of the image here. Emiya1980 (talk) 03:23, 17 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
  • B: A's shadowing is strange and too dark. C F A 💬 16:42, 12 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
  • B See my comments in prior thread for some (but not all) reasons why I think so. Emiya1980 (talk) 19:34, 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.
    Having said that, I still think B is slightly preferable; but A is acceptable. Bruce leverett (talk) 15:00, 19 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
  • 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 @Elmmapleoakpine. UnspokenPassion (talk) 19:02, 13 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
  • Ignoring any copyright issues, B is slightly better because A's background lighting is distracting. Senorangel (talk) 03:08, 17 August 2024 (UTC)Reply
  • B. Better focus, better lighting. Station1 (talk) 07:23, 18 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
Pistongrinder I did and I was reverted both times. The second time I was told to obtain consensus beforehand. Now here we are. Emiya1980 (talk) 04:36, 25 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
That doesn't seem to be the case here based on the numerous posts made by editors in favor of an alternative lede image. Emiya1980 (talk) 02:21, 28 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
If you think this is productive by all means visit these other RFCs. Nemov (talk) 22:36, 28 August 2024 (UTC)Reply