Bulbapedia:Project Overgrow

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Project Overgrow
Phase I
New Seeds Planted
Phase II
Forum Restructuring
Phase III
Bulbawiki Improvement
Phase IV
Bulbacast's Return

In 2009, Bulbagarden began a series of overhauls known as Project Overgrow, after Bulbasaur's natural ability. The purpose of this project is to renew all aspects of the Bulbagarden website to better serve its users, and to integrate the individual sectors better into Bulbagarden as a whole.

Phase I

To read more about the staff hires that comprise the bulk of Phase I, click here! Also, if you're interested in joining the Bulbagarden staff, take a look at the aforementioned post on the forums.

The beginning of Project Overgrow will involve an increase in Bulbagarden's overall staff presence. This will mainly be in the sectors of Bulbagarden which have overgrown their current staff and require more assistance; most specifically Bulbanews. Please remember that as with Bulbapedia, Bulbanews is editable by anyone, and so if there is news to report, you may do so, while adhering to the Bulbanews manual of style. Specifically, Argy has requested that users who know much about the TCG and manga take a greater interest in our news wiki.

The Bulbagarden forums will also be seeing an increase in moderators. Prospects will not be judged based on how many times they beg current moderators to be in the running. This will only lead to you not being chosen, so don't do that. Internet etiquette, folks.

RPGwiki, the often forgotten fourth wiki of the Bulbawiki network, will also finally be seeing some use after it was mostly abandoned in 2005. Rules and information regarding forum RPs will soon be placed there for easier organization, after, of course, it is synched to the other three wikis and the forums.

Other changes to staff will be made as well, however, there is no need to worry. Most, if not all, will be familiar faces who frequent Bulbagarden and who are known well.

Phase II

The forums have received an upgrade, as well as a reorganization. If you don't have an account there, why don't you swing by and register? Be sure to use the same username as you do on Bulbapedia so as not to confuse people.

Also, the forums will be reworked so as to become a better discussion space for Bulbapedia as well as Bulbanews, Bulbagarden Archives, and any other Bulbawikis not mentioned. This means that you no longer have to use the userspace for such aimless conversation, and can now have a place to post questions and opinions about the subjects of Bulbapedia's articles.

Please see the thread here for more information on this upgrade, and stay tuned! Phase III, coming next, is the most important one yet!

Phase III

As if TTE's hints weren't enough to let you know, Phase III of Project Overgrow is improvement of this very wiki. You may notice the stylistic changes that have been occurring for the past month and a half, generally regarding the appearance of templates.

Most of the details regarding this phase of the project can be found here, however, there are several other important details.

The manual of style will be rewritten, condensed, and compartmentalized. This is due to the fact that it is viewed by many users as little more than an incoherent wall of text which doesn't tell anything about Bulbapedia styles or conventions. Bulbapedia administrators as well as the leaders of the many projects on Bulbapedia will work together to detail specific stylistic conventions that adhere both across these differing areas as well as those specific to each project.

Bulbagarden Archives will have an improvement drive, during which images will be categorized and some images will be moved to new names so as to standardize their linkage and use throughout the Bulbawiki network. Duplicated images will be deleted, and a system will be devised for images that follow a pattern, such as Pokémon's Sugimori artwork or sprites.

Bulbanews also needs love, and Argy is the person to talk to about it. Keep in mind that it's likely better to contact her over her talk page there rather than here, or even better, in the forums.

Also, drama will not be tolerated from this point onward. Bulbapedia is not Wikipedia, and we are loathe to become the drama-filled bureaucracy that it has. So don't get a big head. Don't contribute to Bulbapedia to make yourself well-known, contribute to Bulbapedia to help expand knowledge. And please, do something besides sit on it all day, okay?

Phase IV

After nearly a year and a half of dormancy, Bulbacast will make its return in the next few weeks.

Bulbagarden encourages veterans of Bulbacast to return if they wish, and new volunteers to make sure that they have several things in order to participate:

  • A computer microphone
  • Skype
  • A weekly block of free time
  • The ability to record audio and reformat it (preferred, not required)

For more details, see this thread on the Bulbagarden Forums.