 | This is a WikiProject, an area for focused collaboration among Wikipedians. New participants are welcome; please feel free to participate!
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 | This page in a nutshell: Here, we build outlines! To supplement searches, for when the search box isn't enough. |
Outlines are hierarchically structured topics lists.
If you like one or more of the following:
Then, you've come to the right place! For, Wikipedia's outlines are all of the above.
Wikipedia's goal is to provide knowledge. But knowledge is only useful if you can find it and make sense of it. The main limitation of a search box is that it can only look for what you already know exists: it is not a map. Like with a map, the function of an outline, and the mission of this WikiProject, is to show readers what exists and help them get to where it is — except that, in this case, the destinations are Wikipedia articles rather than physical locations. Outlines serve as site maps of Wikipedia, by subject. And while maps help navigate the landscape, outlines show the knowledgescape of a subject.
An outline is also like a table of contents or a menu, except that, instead of listing chapter titles in a book or food dishes in a restaurant, outlines present the topics in a subject.
Another useful metaphor is that each page in Wikipedia is a teleportation chamber. To use the search box for teleporting, you specify your destination subject. An outline is a teleportation chamber with its own destination registry. Each outline lists the available target topics, and clicking on one instantly takes you there. You don't need to know where you are going in advance — the list helps you choose.
Outlines present the topics belonging to a subject as a tree structure, using sections, subsections, and indented item entries to signify branching of the tree. As tree structures, outlines provide the following benefits:
Outline of lichens (featured list)Each outline article is a list of a subject's topics arranged hierarchically to show the relationships between them: those that are the most important, general entries and those that give more specialist detail. Outlines show the structure of articles about a subject, opening another way besides searching, for navigating it. They could be considered Wikipedia's equivalent to Brittanica's Propædia.
Each outline is intended to help the reader become familiar with the subject it presents, and also serves as a table of contents or site map to that subject's coverage on Wikipedia. Outlines are different from portals or indexes. While a portal focuses solely on well-developed featured content, an outline's main purpose is to direct readers through a subject's related articles. Indexes are intended to be comprehensive alphabetical lists of articles related to subject, but finding something in an alphabetical index can be difficult if one does not know the article title (and if one does, one hardly needs the index). Outlines might not list every article in a subject, and often their links lead to lists or other outlines to provide further detail. For an example, compare Portal:Japan, Index of Japan-related articles, and Outline of Japan.
Upon request at DRV, most of the outline drafts have been restored.
For the current list of outline drafts in the Drafts: namespace, see #Work on drafts, below.
Keep in mind that drafts that sit too long without edits eventually get deleted. Let's keep them improving, so that they eventually become real outlines.
The outline of the week is:
Please help improve it.
This project is served by Article alerts, which can be seen in this section directly below, or at Wikipedia:WikiProject Outlines/Article alerts. This lets us to know about any AfDs (Articles for deletion discussions) on outlines, requested moves, or other outline-related discussions without having to rely on manual notifications. To have the alerts show up on your user page or user talk page, include this code on that page: {{Wikipedia:WikiProject Outlines/Article alerts}}
It's best to create outline drafts as sub-pages of your user page, such as in your sandbox, and not in the draft namespace. That's because drafts in the draft namespace disappear after a certain period of time with no edit activity.
The outlines need watchdogs, to keep an eye on them and make sure they are secure and well maintained. Here are some tips for effective monitoring of this valuable resource:
Place this project's articles alerts template on your talk page in such a way that it floats at the bottom, so that you see it every time you read a message there. To do so, copy and paste this code near the top of your talk page:
<ref>{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Outlines/Article alerts}}</ref>
This will allow you to easily keep track of outline deletion discussions at AfD, requested moves, featured list nominations, and other formally tagged outline-related nominations.
Note: Article alerts doesn't catch everything, like page edits and untagged discussions. For those, we have watchlists...
There's a comprehensive outline-related watchlist at Wikipedia:WikiProject Outlines/Watchlist using Related changes.
Follow the instructions at the top of that page.
Also feel free to keep that page up to date by adding new outline-related pages to it.
In the desktop view of Wikipedia, one tool available to monitor activity on outlines is related changes. To use it on outlines, go to Wikipedia:Contents/Outlines and click on "Related changes" in the tools menu.
In order for this to work on all outlines, Wikipedia:Contents/Outlines must be kept up to date.
Beware: "Related changes" looks a lot like "Recent changes", and it is easy to accidentally use the latter by mistake.
Related changes works on the various Category:Wikipedia outlines pages, too.
Here are some things you can do to help (listed directly below, and in the subsections that follow):
{{subst:BLT|topic uncapitalized|topic capitalized}}.{{[[Template:Outline of knowledge coverage|Outline of knowledge coverage|subject}}.
Sometimes, when an outline is created, the author forgets to add its title, and a description, to the main list of outlines. You can help by placing them there, in the appropriate section.
Here are the titles missing from Wikipedia:Contents/Outlines:
Outlines here need to be converted to the standard outline format. Only after a page has been converted to outline format should it be renamed to Outline of 
Examples of outlines with good picture support include:
To start a new outline...
Most outlines are incomplete, because subjects change over time, and so does Wikipedia's coverage of them.
See Wikipedia:Contents/Outlines, and choose a subject that interests you, and start adding links.
The outlines that have been deleted over the years need to be developed from the ground up in draftspace.
Please see if you can finish these up:
If you'd like to get involved, and help with outline-related tasks, please add your username below:
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See also: Category:WikiProject Outlines participants
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[[Category:WikiProject Outlines participants]] |
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{{User WP Outlines}} |
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{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Outlines/Userboxes/User member}} |
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To award editors who've made significant contributions to Outlines and/or the Outlines WikiProject, here are some award templates you could use. Other awards work well too. Feel free to use your imagination.
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The Outline Barnstar | |
| message ~~~~ |
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The Outline Barnstar | |
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Below are awards and thanks received by editors for special contributions to the outlines and thereby to the encyclopedia as a whole. Without further ado, here they are...
   
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| The "I'm Really Impressed" Barnstar Barrage! |
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For graphic design, workin' hard, and diligent relentless non-stop editing week after week on the contents pages of Wikipedia, including but not limited to Contents, Overviews, Fields, Glossaries, Basic topics, Topics, Tables, Portals, and Categories...
Quiddity is hereby awarded this fireworks display of barnstars! – The Transhumanist 09:34, 22 October 2006 (UTC)[reply] |
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| The "I'm Really Impressed" Barnstar Barrage! |
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For graphic design, workin' hard, and diligent relentless non-stop editing week after week on the contents pages of Wikipedia, including but not limited to Contents, Overviews, Fields, Glossaries, Basic topics, Topics, Tables, Portals, and Categories... RichardF is hereby awarded this fireworks display of barnstars! On behalf of the Wikipedia community, thank you. |
(To The Transhumanist)
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The Tireless Contributor Barnstar | |
| I, Diligent Terrier, award you this "Tireless Contributor Barnstar" for your work in starting the List of basic American Civil War topics article from scratch. Great Job! DiligentTerrier • talk |sign here 22:17, 12 January 2008 (UTC)[reply] |
(To The Transhumanist)
List of basic space exploration topics
Hi there TTH, Just wanted to thank you for your labors on this page, which is a great resource for us. Bill Wwheaton (talk) 17:48, 29 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
(To The Transhumanist)
Nice work -- I will withdraw the AfD nom. – ukexpat (talk) 00:55, 15 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
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The Barnstar of Recovery | |
| For saving List of basic Canada topics from being deleted, I - Milk's Favorite Cookie hereby award you this Barnstar! Congrats! - Milk's Favorite Cookie 01:16, 15 March 2008 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Bio-star | |
| is hereby awarded to Earthdirt for doing an outstanding job producing the List of basic cell biology topics, and for going far beyond expectations by including a definition for each presented topic. Thank you for creating such a useful resource for newcomers to this subject. It's fantastic! The Transhumanist 03:50, 6 April 2008 (UTC)[reply] |
Hi Transhumanist, I wanted to note that I saw all of your work on the List of Basic France topics, and I appreciate it! Lazulilasher (talk) 02:12, 8 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
(To The Transhumanist)
I think......you need a barnstar for all of the hard work you have put into the WP:WPOOK!
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The Barnstar Barnstar | |
| You deserve two! at-210 discovered elements ∞ what am I? 20:21, 14 June 2009 (UTC)[reply] |
Transhumanist my friend,
It's about time you deserve a barnstar for all your contributions to outlines on Wikipedia, and also for being the promoter that you are for outlines. If it wasn't for you we might not have outlines as they are, so it is my honor to present to you the Special Barnstar because no other barnstar could merit what you do for outlines on Wikipedia. :-) Burningview (talk) 03:42, 8 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]
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The Special Barnstar | |
| This barnstar is presented to Transhumanist for all the hard work, contributions, coordination, and promotion he does in advancing the idea, coverage, content, and quality of Outlines on Wikipedia. For this he deserves a Special Barnstar Burningview (talk) 03:42, 8 August 2009 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Teamwork Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to Penubag for working so well with everyone on the OOK WikiProject, in the utilization of feedback on graphics creations, and jumping in to help wherever needed. Thank you! The Transhumanist 21:54, 16 June 2009 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Geography Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to Tiamut for exemplary development work on the Outline of Palestine. The Transhumanist 23:18, 25 July 2009 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Wikipedian known as Buaidh is hereby recognized by his peers as a Wikipedia World Developer, for his exemplary and extensive work on the outline articles of every country of the world and of every state of the United States (including the creation of a historical outline for every state), and for greatly improving Wikipedia's Outline of Knowledge. |
(To The Transhumanist)
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The Special Barnstar | |
| This award is in appreciation of the excellent work you have done supporting the development of Outlines on Wikipedia Thruxton (talk) 18:59, 5 December 2010 (UTC)[reply] |
(To The Transhumanist)
I just wanted to tell you (probably not the 1st ^^ ) that your are an incredible wikipedia member, your userpage is simply amazing and your contribution is...gigantic? huge? Incredible? not for the number edits (still high) but rather over the appropriateness of the things that you have created, especially the outline project. I wont give you another award, you already have billions, but simply a modest "Bravo!". --
Offiikart (Talk) 05:23, 21 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
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The Geography Barnstar | |
| By expanding the Outline of Quebec and creating lists of landforms, mountain ranges, and hospitals in Quebec, Offiikart has improved Wikipedia's navigation system, helping its readers to virtually tour the world. He is hereby awarded The Geography Barnstar. The Transhumanist 10:49, 29 June 2011 (UTC)[reply] |
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The WikiProject Barnstar | |
| ToThe Transhumanist who created the outline project and tirelessly continues to improve it. A special thanks for your help and your recognition. OffiikartTalk 13:54, 29 June 2011 (UTC)[reply] |
(To The Transhumanist)
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The Chess Barnstar | |
| Awarded for many contributions to chess articles, especially the Outline of chess. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 16:34, 18 October 2011 (UTC)[reply] |
(To The Transhumanist)
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The Original Barnstar |
| Thanks so much for your work on the Outline of domestic violence, it is so much better that it's astounding how far it's come along. Thanks for making my first outline "sing"! CaroleHenson (talk) 11:11, 21 November 2011 (UTC)[reply] |
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What a Brilliant Idea Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to Carole Henson for creating and developing the Outline of domestic violence, a hub of knowledge that many will no doubt find very relevant and helpful in times of personal crisis. I commend you, Carole, on making such a valuable resource available to the public worldwide. Kudos to you. Sincerely, The Transhumanist 23:00, 21 November 2011 (UTC)[reply] |
(To The Transhumanist)
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The Copyeditor's Barnstar |
| Thanks for the ndashes on the Apple outline article. Zach Vega (talk) 00:58, 13 April 2012 (UTC)[reply] |
You've done a fantastic job so far creating the outline of globalization.
Keep up the excellent work. It's a damn nice addition to the outline collection: you're filling in a gap that badly needs filling. I look forward to reading the outline as you develop it to completion.
For an example of the progression of development of an outline, view the edit history of Outline of cell biology, and look at every 10th version, starting with the first version.
If you need my help with anything concerning outlines, or if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
Sincerely, The Transhumanist 06:33, 5 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]
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The Outline Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to Meclee, for the creation and development of Outline of globalization. — The Transhumanist 15:23, 6 November 2023 (UTC)[reply] |
(To The Transhumanist)
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The Barnstar of Diligence |
| For your efforts on updating, improving and organising Outline of human anatomy LT910001 (talk) 06:39, 2 January 2014 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Bio-star | |
| is hereby awarded to TheProfessor for creating and developing the Outline of evolution. Thank you, and keep up the good work! The Transhumanist 07:00, 8 January 2015 (UTC)[reply] |
(To The Transhumanist)
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The Tireless Contributor Barnstar |
| For your work on "Outline of space science" Tetra quark (don't be shy) 05:55, 18 January 2015 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Original Barnstar | |
| Is hereby awarded to Mindfrieze for creating the Outline of sailing, which is now in article space. Keep up the good work! The Transhumanist 00:26, 12 July 2016 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Original Barnstar | |
| Is hereby awarded to Marikafragen for creating the Outline of adoption, which is now in article space. Thank you for creating this outline! The Transhumanist 22:43, 12 July 2016 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Original Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to CSJJ104 for creating the Outline of the Cold War, which is now in article space. Thank you for making such a good start in filling this gap in the navigation system! The Transhumanist 05:06, 15 July 2016 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Original Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to Broter for creating and developing the Outline of Joseph Smith. A very fine job indeed. The Transhumanist 19:14, 10 August 2016 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Original Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to PKT for creating and developing the Outline of New Brunswick. Well done. Thank you. The Transhumanist 04:33, 12 August 2016 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Original Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to Lakun.patra for creating and developing the Outline of Assam. A very nice addition to the collection. Keep up the good work. Thank you. The Transhumanist 08:14, 21 August 2016 (UTC)[reply] |
(To The Transhumanist)
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The Tireless Contributor Barnstar |
| Great work with the Outlines :) Pratyush (talk) 21:07, 26 September 2016 (UTC)[reply] |
(To The Transhumanist)
Love the outlines
Hi there! I just wanted to let you know that I think your planet outlines are really cool. I have long thought it was a shame that only Wikipedians seem to know about Books or Portals, because they are really great tools for structuring knowledge (while everyone loves diving down the Wikipedia rabbit hole, we could really do with some better content organization). The outlines strike me as a great way to bring that sort content organization to mainspace, where it will actually reach a large number of readers. I notice that I am the first one to edit them besides yourself, and I hope you know that I do so with love.
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What a Brilliant Idea Barnstar | |
| Great idea with the outline articles - a great solution to a need for better mainspace-based content structuring! I see from WP:Outlines that you actually came up with this concept some years ago, but this is the first I've noticed it. A2soup (talk) 02:46, 8 February 2017 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Portal Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to Certes for enhancements to the entire portal system in the form of the templates Transclude lead excerpt and Transclude random excerpt. With great anticipation, I look forward to your future contributions to portals. Sincerely, — The Transhumanist 06:32, 2 May 2018 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Cannabis Outline Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to Bri for creating and developing the Outline of cannabis. A very interesting topic, indeed, with much coverage on Wikipedia that this outline makes easier to find and navigate. Keep up the good work. Thank you. — The Transhumanist 22:15, 30 November 2018 (UTC)[reply] |
(To The Transhumanist)
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The Original Barnstar | |
| message Ambuj Shukla 19:16, 2 November 2019 (UTC) |
You have made immense contributions to outlines over the years, and have encouraged many more Wikipedians to follow your lead. The impact of your contributions are great. Keep doing the good work! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ambujshukla2004 (talk • contribs) 19:16, 2 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
(To CSJJ104)
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The Original Barnstar | |
| The article you created, Outline of the wars of the Three Kingdoms, is very useful. Thanks for contributing a great outline. // Timothy :: talk 18:39, 5 August 2020 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Outline Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to XTheBedrockX, for incredible attention to detail in the creation, development, and maintenance of Outline of the Iraq War. Keep up the great work! — The Transhumanist 01:41, 6 November 2023 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Outline Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to TimothyBlue, for the creation and monitoring of Outline of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. Keep up the excellent work! — The Transhumanist 01:47, 6 November 2023 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Outline Barnstar and Featured List Medal | |
| are hereby awarded to MeegsC, for improving Outline of lichens to featured list status. The outline has earned a star, and now, so have you! Keep up the great work. Sincerely, — The Transhumanist 01:53, 6 November 2023 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Outline Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to Jerium, for the creation of The Outline Barnstar, which provides the Outlines WikiProject the increased capability of awarding editors who have contributed to the improvement of outlines and outline coverage on Wikipedia. Thank you. Sincerely, — The Transhumanist 02:24, 6 November 2023 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Multi-Outline Barnstar | |||||||
| is hereby awarded to Pbsouthwood, for the creation, development, and maintenance of:
for work on: and for extensive work on: Keep up the excellent work! — The Transhumanist 08:35, 6 November 2023 (UTC)[reply] |
| The City Outline Barnstar Barrage
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| is hereby awarded to Cote d'Azur, for the creation of the following multitude of city outlines:
Outline of Istanbul Outline of Prague Outline of Barcelona Outline of Kyoto Outline of Rio de Janeiro Outline of Saint Petersburg Outline of Cairo Outline of Cape Town Outline of Dresden Outline of Dubai Outline of Stockholm Outline of Sydney Outline of Edinburgh Outline of Geneva Outline of Munich Outline of Vienna And for extensive work on: Outline of Turin
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The Outline Barnstar |
| is hereby awarded to Epipelagic, for the creation and development of the collosal Outline of fishing, parts of which were split off to become the Outline of the fishing industry and Outline of fisheries. Thank you. — The Transhumanist 08:17, 8 November 2023 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Outline Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to Marikafragen, for annotating the entirety of the Outline of fishing. Thank you. — The Transhumanist 08:18, 8 November 2023 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Outline Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to Minnecologoies, for extensive work on the Outline of forestry. Thank you. — The Transhumanist 08:37, 8 November 2023 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Outline Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to DASonnenfeld, for extensive work on the Outline of forestry. Thank you. — The Transhumanist 08:39, 8 November 2023 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Outline Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to Thruxton, for creation and development of the Outline of motorcycles and motorcycling. Thank you. — The Transhumanist 08:52, 8 November 2023 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Article Rescue Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to Guywan for saving the Outline of natural language processing from deletion, after it was already deleted, by taking the matter before Deletion Review. — The Transhumanist 11:50, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply] |
Cool template
...which is now in use on over 8,200 pages. Nicely done.
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The Template Barnstar | |
| is hereby awarded to Pbsouthwood, for the creation and development of the Annotated link template, which enables significant enhancement and ease of construction to embedded lists, including those in outlines. Kudos. — The Transhumanist 13:02, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply] |
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The Outline Barnstar | |
| Hello The Transhumanist, you are receiving this award for the creation and continued dedication to WikiProject Outlines. You deserve this barnstar more than anyone. Jerium (talk) 19:18, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply] |
For a job wonderfully done...
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The Classical Music & Outline Barnstar |
| is hereby awarded to Gor1995, for the creation and development of the comprehensive Outline of classical music, providing a much needed navigation aid for this extensive subject and a valuable expansion to the outline system. Thank you. — The Transhumanist 15:36, 19 January 2024 (UTC)[reply] |
