Talk:Main Page

Islam in the news hasn't been updated for a couple of months. Would you like me to make some suggestions? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by LawrenceGilmore (talk • contribs) on 13:23, 21 February 2014

Hi Lawrence. Yeah, it hasn't been updated in a while. Another admin (Al-Qaum) is usually in charge of that section but has taken a break. He's told me that he'll be back very soon and will update it fully. But what ideas do you have? --Sahab (talk) 15:45, 21 February 2014 (PST)

I think we should remove the news section until its updated again because its all from December and its not making the main page look good. We can remove the section, switch to auto somehow or update it manually. Another easy option: Just use links and dont put the text of the news website in. Any of these are better than having old news. --Axius (talk) 16:18, 21 February 2014 (PST)

Okay, I'll update it weekly with a few news stories until Al returns. --Sahab (talk) 16:43, 21 February 2014 (PST)

Alright sounds good. I hope you just add external links because its easy. I really dont think there's a lot to gain if the extract/text archiving is done too but I think you said that it keeps the visitor on the site (they can always press 'back'). Its up to you. I wanted to find a feature that allows us to open links in a new window if we ask it to but I couldn't find it. --Axius (talk) 16:47, 21 February 2014 (PST)

There are several benefits gained from the format we are currently using (in addition to keeping visitors on the site):

1. It's like our very own news site/blog (like how Wikipedia's news section links to WikiNews).
2. We want WikiIslam to be an all-in-one resource. This helps us achieve that. When it was updated regularly, many readers commented positively on it, mentioning how WikiIslam is the only site they need.
3. When Al adds news about LGBT issues, converts, apostates, statistics etc., he usually adds it to our relevant articles ("Persecution of...", "Converts to Islam" etc.). If he was no longer quoting these news pages, then those other pages would never be updated. --Sahab (talk) 17:48, 21 February 2014 (PST)

Well yea it does have its benefits - good points. Its just a lot to keep up with on a regular basis. --Axius (talk) 18:08, 21 February 2014 (PST)

How about a "did you know" portal? Then along with new articles, lets put recently improved articles. Saggy (talk) 12:30, 3 April 2014 (PDT)

"Did you know" is a good idea but there's a similar pictorial Islam section at the bottom. I know Main page could be improved but we just dont have enough people at this time to do all the stuff that needs to be done. --Axius (talk | contribs) 15:30, 3 April 2014 (PDT)

As Axius noted, we already have a section on the front page that generates random interesting articles. If we did have such a section, what would be in it? Things like "Did you know... Muhammad Married and had intercourse with a nine-year-old" would look a lot less professional than simply having it the way we have it know (i.e. a heading, "Muhammad and Aisha", followed by a description). Then there is the issue of maintenance. There is no point in adding to our already long to-do list with things that require a lot of work and/or need constant updating. --Sahab (talk) 00:36, 4 April 2014 (PDT)