Welcome to the October edition of the Bugle. This issue is brought to you by Ian Rose and Nick-D, with contributions from several other editors. If you're interested in the work which goes into producing this newsletter, this edition includes an excellent op-ed by former editor (and current editor of the Signpost) The ed17 in which he reflects on his experiences. Ed's suggestions for ways the newsletter could be improved are thought provoking, and should hopefully start a discussion of what the Bugle should and shouldn't do.
As a reminder, all editors are very welcome to contribute articles, reviews and just about anything else. If you're interested in doing so, please either post material directly into the Bugle's newsroom here, or contact either of the editors and they'll arrange for it to be posted.
A highlight of September was that four images within the scope of this project were promoted to featured picture status. This is a much larger number than is the case in most months, and is a significant achievement for the editors responsible for these images—it's been pointed out elsewhere that the amount of effort needed to take a FP-level photo or create a FP-level diagram isn't far from that needed to develop a featured article.
This month, the Fortifications task force finally reached the milestone of one hundred featured articles, featured lists and good articles. The task force covers all sorts of fortifications, from the defences along the Cley Marshes to the Cold War bunkers in Albania. A lot of work has gone into a number of substantial list articles, such as the list of castles in England and the list of town walls in England and Wales, which in turn have spawned a great many decent articles. Another trend has been "cross-over" work with other projects and efforts, such as that with Wikipedia:WikiProject Somerset, which dramatically improved the coverage of castles in the region, including major sites such as Dunster. Some of the work around Coventry, encouraged by the GLAM project involving Herbert Art Gallery and Museum appears to have encouraged the creation of the 100th GA/FL/FA, Caludon Castle, a once fine fortification, now somewhat reduced in grandeur.
What next? The 200 mark beckons! In addition, although the most popular fortification articles are relatively well covered in terms of high quality articles, Wikipedia's readers would be well-served by anyone willing to further improve the Great Wall of China or Hadrian's Wall, both currently still only B and C class, but getting roughly 8,100 and 2,400 readers apiece each day according to the latest stats...
Awards and honours
No awards were given last month.
Contest department
The contest department completed its 64th round of competition last month. A total of 34 articles were submitted by eight editors. AustralianRupert came first with 45 points from seven entries, followed by Sturmvogel 66 with 38 points from seven entries. They receive the Chevrons and the Writer's Barnstar, respectively. RoslynSKP, PunkyNZ, Arius1998, Ian Rose, Djmaschek and The Bushranger also fielded entries. Please submit any articles you are working on for this month's contest now. To ensure that they are eligible for points in October's contest, please ensure that they are re-assessed in that period.
About The Bugle
First published in 2006, the Bugle is the monthly newsletter of the English Wikipedia's Military history WikiProject.
