Wikipedia talk:WikiProject India/Quiz/Archive1

Modelled on...

btw, to those wondering, this quiz is indeed modelled on the cricket quiz.--Gurubrahma 10:58, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

Awards System

I'm not sure whether this is already present in other quizzes. But I thought it might work. My idea was to give a bit more incentive to participate, that way we might get a few more members, for there is no shortage of Indian wikipedians. It would also give a sense of competiton, apart from just answering questions monotonously.

My idea is that we award barnstar type awards to users for being at the top of the leaderboard after, say, 25 questions. After that, we archive the leaderboard and restart a new one, so that new people can join and still win the award if they are good enough at answering the question.

The Award could simply be a relevant picture accompanied by "Champion of the India Quiz for Questions 1-25". I know what I wrote is not really good enough, but I guess it's a beginning. Anyway, wondering what your opinions were on this. Nobleeagle (Talk) 05:03, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

I've said this elsewhere, the joy of getting a barnstar lies in the pleasantness of the surprise, not when it is pre-calculated or pre-meditated. I feel that name figuring in the leaderboard itself is good incentive, if one was needed. I believe the participation so far has been good, if not great. --Gurubrahma 07:38, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps not a barnstar, but we should still say that this person was Champion from Qs 1-25 and then reset the leaderboard so that new members can still enjoy the sense of competition. So we could have something like this:

Winner of Q 1-25 (ended 4th April 2006): Some User (Link to Leaderboard)

Then restart the leaderboard from 0 for everybody.

Nobleeagle (Talk) 07:46, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Good suggestion, 25 questions would also be the time to archive the page. We can call each set of 25 questions as one round and declare the winner of the round. Now for some one to change the instructions accordingly on the page -but let's wait for a couple of days to see what other editors think as well. --Gurubrahma 09:32, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

What if there is a tie? Remember to add that also to the rules.

As for the idea, I think it is a good one. Also, I like the idea of giving a little graphic to the user as well. Maybe not a barnstar, but just a little badge to show that this user was at the top of the leaderboard during questions x to x+25. thunderboltz^{a.k.a.Deepu_Joseph |TALK}\

Thank you for your commments. Perhaps a countback in the case of a tie? Or simply acknowledging both users won't be hard to do... Nobleeagle (Talk) 10:34, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

I am changing the rules seeing as we've got only 10 questions left and people should know what they are competing for... Nobleeagle (Talk) 04:41, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

This is my first image upload which accounts for any inadequency you may find. I've created a userbox type template that can be given to the user who wins Round 1. If anyone has any advice/objections, please post here and I'll see whether I can do anything.

{{India Quizmaster Round1}}

{{India_Quizmaster_Round1}}

Nobleeagle (Talk) 05:21, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

Looks good, but too much saffron - how about the Wikipedia India (unofficial) logo on the rightside of the template- Also you may want to make the template generic, like {{India_Quizmaster}} (or move the template to this location) which leads to (a) avoiding of duplicating this task every round and (b) maintaining consistency across the rounds.--Gurubrahma 02:59, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure what exactly you mean, I would have much rathered if it were a bit like the babel templates where you can simply enter what round you won and that signifies the fact that you won that round (it would appear in the text). If you know how to do this, you may edit it yourself, and then move it to {{India_Quizmaster}}. Similarly, you may change the colour. At the moment this template is very open to change, I think by the end of this round we should finalize it. Nobleeagle (Talk) 07:24, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

OK, here's another version, I'll replace the first one with this if you like it better:

<-- Second version (HTML) begins -->

File:India Quizmaster Round1.jpg

This user was winner in Round 1 of the India Quiz.

<-- Second version (HTML) ends -->

Nobleeagle (Talk) 08:56, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

Aren't there size constraints for userboxes? The second one looks a bit wider to me, its more tahn 300px. And the Saffron looks a bit too bright. SparkPlug(Lg1983) 10:05, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

There are size constraints, which is why I was asking here, anyway I don't think it should be put in the userbox category, as it is more of an award as opposed to something related to you (like most userboxes are). It was previously 300 px, I have now changed it to 280 px, you can edit the version here at your own discretion as I have a copy of the code for myself and of course, there is the history page which keeps a track of every page. If you wish to use green or something instead of saffron, feel free to change it yourself. Nobleeagle (Talk) 06:06, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

One more thing, is it necessary to make different templates for every round? Can we blank the round no. in the template as {{{1}}} and when it is awarded to a particular person, we can substitute 1, I don't have so much idea. Please suggest, if I am wrong. Shyam ^(T/C) 06:43, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

I have created {{India Quizmaster}} and by substituting {{{1}}} by round number, may be helpful. Thanks, Shyam ^(T/C) 06:47, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

I am not too sure about the substituting and stuff, can you just show us this in action just to check on whether it works, and then I'll change the picture so that it no longer says Round 1. Nobleeagle (Talk) 06:51, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Let's say for round 1 (need to rub it off round number from the image) {{India Quizmaster|1}} will be substituted {{{1}}} by round no. 1. Shyam^(T/C) 06:57, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Definitely sounds good, I will rub out the Round bit on the image, but I don't really have that much time today, so probably tomorrow. But it shall be done... Nobleeagle (Talk) 07:00, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Right, so now we get this for Round 1 ({{India Quizmaster|1}}):

This user was the winner of Round 1 of the India Quiz.

Does anyone want any changes, the dark green may be a tad too dark for many people's liking.Nobleeagle (Talk) 23:32, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Did You Know

I was wondering why none of these questions were being used on the Did you Know section of Portal:India. Is it just that no-ones got around to it yet or is it because of some other more administrative and organizational reason.Nobleeagle (Talk) 04:47, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

The reason is that no one got around to it. ;) Feel free to update that template and archive the old ones. once or twice a week should do. For images, use only free (i.e. PD, GFDL etc.) images - you can use a GFDL photograph fromWimbledon for example for the question on Wimbledon champions from India; you can also use Bollywood logo on {{WikiProject Indian cinema}} for quetions on Bollywood etc.--Gurubrahma 02:59, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

Archiving

Hi.. I am fairly new to wikipedia, so don't know how to do it. But I think that the Quiz page needs to be archived every 25 Questions or so..SparkPlug 13:01, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

It will happen... Nobleeagle (Talk) 00:06, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

Done. --Gurubrahma 02:59, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

Limit on Guesses?

Perhaps a fair limit on the number of guesses you can have for each question. Perhaps 2 or 3? Any comments?Nobleeagle (Talk) 00:03, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Do you mean 2 or 3 guesses per question? In case of tough questions (like the last one by Gurubrahma), 2 or 3 guesses may not be enough! We can restrict 2 guesses per user. While, for each question, max 5-6 guesses or 24 hours (whicever earlier) limit can be given. After this limit, more clues should be given. How about this proposal? In case of relatively easy/googlable question, usually one or two guesses suffice.--Dwaipayanc 05:40, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I meant 2-3 questions per user per question. So you agree that we require no more than 2 guesses per user? They get the first one wrong and are allowed to have a stab at it again, but if they get that wrong that's it for them. I think that's fair. As for the clue, I think that if the question has not been answered in 22-26 hours, a clue should be given. But the 5-6 guess thing should only apply if there is a limit on the number of guesses people can make.Nobleeagle (Talk) 06:10, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

But remember, the questioners should be under no obligation to hand out a clue especially if the question is well-written (so that everyone can understand what it means). Some people are not on Wikipedia 24/7 and there should be no specific rule on people having to give clues. Nobleeagle (Talk) 06:12, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Fast

Things happen so fast, I hardly get a chance to answer! :( =Nichalp«Talk»= 05:59, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Same here!! -- Samir धर्म 06:35, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Can't do much about that though... Nobleeagle (Talk) 06:46, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Fast would be an understatement. Within 4 minutes of posting my question, the answer's there - not by one, but three users! -- thunderboltz^{a.k.a.Deepu Joseph |TALK} 07:32, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Round 5 took approx 10 days while Round 4 took around 20. We really are speeding up. Nobleeagle (Talk) 04:37, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Time of question

I have a suggestion. The winner of a question should give the approximate time when he would post the next question (for example, "right now" or "after 4 hours" or "arond 9 to 10 pm IST" etc). This will be really helpful.--Dwaipayan (talk) 07:11, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Good idea -- Samir धर्म 07:13, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Things go fast enough without everyone turning up at the exact second the question is asked... :) Yeah, I guess we can do that but it definitely won't help the fact that the questions are answered to quickly.Nobleeagle (Talk) 07:16, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Nice idea. But then the quiz would turn into a buzzer quiz, with an edit button replacing the buzzer. -Aksi_great (talk) 07:18, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

And an edit conflict replacing the annoyance one feels when their buzzer doesn't work because someone else pressed it a split second before them... Nobleeagle (Talk) 07:21, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Hmm. At present also the condition is nearly same (except in case of questions where just simple logical google search won't give you the answer, like the last question by Sameer)! the diference would be there will be more people to press the buzzer than now :)--Dwaipayan (talk) 07:29, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

My problem is that I end up missing 4 or 5 questions due to the difference between IST and EDT. If I knew when the question was coming, I'd set my alarm for 4 AM just for it :) And thanks for the kind words on the question! -- Samir धर्म 07:33, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Alarm @ 4 AM?!! You really are a quizzing addict aren't you? But I can feel for you since I too seem to miss 4-5 questions as a result of time zone differences and also my lazy attitude. Idleguy 03:04, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

It doesn't make sende to announce the time if we can't stick to it. I was late by an hour, Samir by 3 hours and Cribananda by 4 hours. And we'll never know how many times others wd hav been checking their watchlist for the new question in the interim ;). Seriously, instruction creep and unnecessary server load. --Gurubrahma06:42, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

Yep, the time announcements aren't really working. -- Samir धर्म 06:45, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

Delay

So sorry. Hadn't slept in a while. I'm going back to sleep and will check answers at 5-5:30 PM IST. --Samir धर्म 06:48, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Next question

Will post in an hour... - Lost 07:54, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Meatball defined

A pitch easy to hit in baseball: [1], as in "to serve a meatball". -- Samir धर्म 07:34, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

Populating stubs

I believe that the portal should be a good breeding ground for India-related stubs. Some articles still to be filled from the previous round:

• Our Lady of Egypt Church
• Abhas Mitra - prodded on 26 July, deprodded on 27th
• Pitt's India Act
• Maharaja Bhupinder Singh
• Dopiaza

Since the load is not too much, let's all try and populate these articles before the round gets over.=Nichalp «Talk»=17:42, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

Started three -- Samir धर्म 10:00, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

I've created a stub for Pitt's India Act. - 166.120.202.204 00:59, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

Oops forgot to login! - Parthi 01:00, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

Google

We all face this problem while setting the questions that we have to make the questions too obscure or cannot ask many good questions because of google.

I would like to make the proposal that the quizmaster can include a condition that the people should not use google to answer the question, and the rest should honour it. (It is probably still alright to search wikipedia, because it will otherwise defeat the purpose of PINQ). It is the responsibity of the QM to ensure that the question is easy and interesting enough and to provide enough hints. If he later feels that the question is too tough, he can open it for googling. Comments ? Tintin (talk) 03:45, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

Alas, the world is not made out of honest people...I doubt it'll work for long...or whether it will work at all. So I say no to this proposal. Also makes cheating possible and completely undetectable. Nobleeagle (Talk) 09:06, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

Red links #7

• Brahminical Magazine in English (edited by Raja Rammohan Roy)
• Bengal Gazette in Bangla - Ganga Kishore Bhattacharya
• Sambad Kaumudi - a Bengali newspaper 1821, - Tarachand Dutta and Bhabani Charan Bandopadhyay
• Mirat-ul-Akbar - Persian journal 1822, edited by Raja Rammohan Roy
• Mashobra, a town in Shimla district stub created -- Lost 11:09, 5 July 2006 (UTC) Stub copyedited and used ref syntax. Could be expanded to find a place in DYK. -- Sundar^{\talk \contribs} 11:44, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Please help write an article. Regards, =Nichalp «Talk»= 06:41, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

While we're at it, let's also try to wikilink appropriate text in our answers. Well, may be, as a subsequent edit to avoid losing the points due to delay. -- Sundar ^{\talk\contribs} 07:25, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

I have added more details to Mashobra. Do you guys think the fact that the Presidential office operates from here atleast once every year could be a good candidate for DYK? What further modifications need to be made to the article to increase the possibility of a DYK nom going through? Please consider me a newbie in this regard, as I have never contributed to DYK till now.. -- Lost 13:45, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Yes it is DYK worthy. To increase the probability of it getting on the main page, add an infobox with the coordinates, and formate the references using {{cite web}} =Nichalp«Talk»= 07:02, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Thanks -- Lost 10:59, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

Can't we use the same co-ordinates as Shimla (it has a locator map)? We need to add the infobox fast as otherwise we'd cross the time limit for DYK. -- Sundar ^{\talk\contribs} 04:45, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

Mashobra is just about 9 kms from Shimla town. On the locator map it would actually be shown at the same place. So I have added the infobox now. Though some info is missing in the infobox. Have nominated for DYK. Please advise if anything else needs to be added/modified -- Lost 05:03, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

I've added a more precise set of co-ordinates from fallinggrains site. Also, check my comment at Talk:Mashobraand do the needful, please. -- Sundar ^{\talk\contribs} 05:43, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

An entry from Mashobra appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 7 July, 2006.

Wikipedia

Next Q...

...sorry haven't really been in a mood to post questions this morning. Hope all Mumbai-based editors and their families are safe and doing well. - Cribananda 21:33, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

Red Links#8

• Associated Press of India
• Thenkarai (Madurai district)
• Sharon Prabhakar - stub created --Longhairandabeard 05:36, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
• Alfred Ford - article created -- Lost^(talk)14:37, 25 August 2006 (UTC)
• Lalji Singh - stub created --hydkat 22:44, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
• Manmath Nath Gupta - stub created --Longhairandabeard 07:09, 30 July 2006 (UTC)
• Baba Kanshi Ram - stub created

Articles please -- Lost 10:32, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Thenkarai

Dumping info here till I get around to writing an article. Or someone else can pick it up from here. --Sundar ^{\talk \contribs} 11:52, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

• Thenkarai = Then + karai (southern bank [of R. Vaigai] in Tamil) (Actually there are many villages with the same name, one in Periyakulam district, one Thenkarai in Coimbatore district, and another in Tirunelveli district that I know of.)
• Turns out that the anscestral place of Subramanian Swamy is a nearby village Mullipallam.
• [2][3][4] [5][6] [7]

References

DYK

I am planning to submit Baba Kanshi Ram for DYK. I have uploaded a scan of a postage stamp that I downloaded from indiapost.com. The stamp has the website address mentioned on it. Hope that is not a hindrance for fair use? Can you guys take a look and let me know please? -- Lost 10:00, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

I have added fair-use rationale. You should have no problem. - Ganeshk (talk) 21:54, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Thanks a lot Ganesh -- Lost 05:41, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

An entry from Baba Kanshi Ram appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 29 July, 2006.

Wikipedia

Got another one to DYK.. --Longhairandabeard 01:35, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

An entry from Manmath Nath Gupta appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 31 July, 2006.

Wikipedia

DYK

Round 4, Question 7:

An entry from Ankur (film) appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 11 August, 2006.

Wikipedia

Great job by Kuaichik (talk · contribs) on the expansion! -- Samir धर्म 06:12, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Red links #9

Red links found in Round #9:

• Indian Forest Department
• Roy Moxham Stub created -Longhairandabeard 00:28, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
• Mehnaaz/Mehnaz
• Hamdard Laboratories - Article created and nominated for DYK --Longhairandabeard 02:38, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
• Harvey Duncan
• Harvey Duncan Dalda film - Stub created - --hydkat 09:18, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
• ASSOCHAM
• Ministry of Commerce & Industry (India)
• India Brand Equity Foundation - stub created.--Dwaipayan (talk) 08:21, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
• Agrasen

Articles, please.. -Longhairandabeard 02:56, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Another face of PINQ

Hi all,

The India Quiz of Portal:India is an online quiz with public participation. However, for a visitor, it might be better to just go through the archives of the quiz, without the hassle of reading the other participant's opinions, commentaries, etc. that are present in the current archives. For that, I have created an offline archive of the first quiz set in WP:PINQ, hosted at Portal:India/India Quiz/1. I want to replicate the model for all quizzes held till date (and those in the future). Please go through the offline version and give your comments on the way I have used to display the quiz questions. Note that the master page that will guide the users to all these is yet to be created. Specifically, I want to know if any changes are desired in the way things should be presented, which can be made easily as I have used templates. Once these things are decided upon, I would prefer substituting the templates per Wikipedia's policies. — Ambuj Saxena (talk) 18:11, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Looks good; however, do you want to replace the current archives? It is a dis-incentive for the regular winners of the quiz ;). For me, the charm of a quiz is always in the way people inch towards an answer and act upon newly available info but YMMV. I'd make a case for retaining the current archives. In fact, since it is only questions and answers that need to be displayed in the new format, having even 250 questions in each set shouldn't hurt. 25 is definitely on the lower side. Also, what do you mean by off-line? --Gurubrahma 19:01, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

The new format looks neat for sifting through but please also retain the old ones. I had a great time going thru the archives in which I didnt participate :) -- Lost^(talk)19:06, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Who's talking about replacing. It will be an offline alternative to the current quiz. I never thought about replacements. — Ambuj Saxena (talk) 19:24, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

By offline, I meant a version in which there is no question of participation. People will only see the questions with their answers...like a normal quiz has. This would make it more encyclopedic so as to add a lot of value to the portal. I guess people got wary of my "idea" of replacement by the title. I should have spelt "Another face of PINQ", so I am changing the title of the section. :) — Ambuj Saxena (talk) 19:30, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

OK, that sounds very nice - having a condensed version linked to the portal would definitely make it encyclopedic-- Lost^(talk) 19:39, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

From Round 8

An entry from Alfred Ford appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 28 August, 2006.

Wikipedia

Red links #10

• Chacha Chowdhary - created redirect to Chacha Chaudhary
• Jwala Narasimha
• Prem Nath Hoon
• Nizam's jewels
• Bhai Duj - redirected to Bhaubeej -- Longhairandabeard 01:13, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
• Chitra Gupta - redirected to Chitragupta -- Longhairandabeard 22:35, 15 September 2006 (UTC)
• Peak 5179
• Nachiketa
• Hari Tuma Haro stub created --BostonMA 23:21, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Articles please (some may only require redirects) -- Lost^(talk) 19:36, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

From Round 11

An entry from Shuka Saptati appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 12 September, 2006.

Wikipedia

--Srikeit ^{(Talk |Email)} 06:31, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

An entry from Jamsetji Tata appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 11 September, 2006.

Wikipedia

-- Lost^(talk) 06:34, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

From Round 9

An entry from Agrasen appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 14 September, 2006.

Wikipedia

--Srikeit ^{(Talk |Email)} 08:24, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

An entry from Hamdard (Wakf) Laboratories appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 26 September, 2006.

Wikipedia

-- Longhairandabeard 02:29, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Red Links #11

Got quite a few from this round:

• Shreeram Lagoo
• Ambika Johar
• Ritu Kumar
• Little Terrorist- article created, nominated for DYK -- Lost^(talk) 12:09, 16 September 2006 (UTC)
• Ashvin Kumar
• Hari Naroomal Harilela
• Piloo Mody
• Piloo Mody College of Architecture
• Hamsa Vinsati
• Lal Bal Pal
• Kavalur

Articles please... -- Longhairandabeard 22:32, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

An entry from Little Terrorist appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 19 September, 2006.

Wikipedia

Archive quiz almost complete

Hi all,

I have nearly completed the archive of the quiz as promised. The main page is located here. Before I link it from the Portal's main page, there are a few issues to be sorted. The first is the problem I had in putting some questions for the archives. Here's a summary:

Current Issues Quiz No. Question No. Problem detail Specific help 2 (actual location) 1 I am not sure if the answer is rightly reported. Please confirm Hydkat can help here 2 (actual location) 20 A photograph has since been deleted Dwaipayanc can help here 3 (actual location) 21 The photographs of the question are missing. Hydkat can help here. 9 (actual location) 24 Too much self-referential. Also outdated. Suggestions needed

If the images, etc. are not available, it is possible to fork out questions from one of the many quiz questions in which multiple questions were asked (like many of Shreshth's question fall in this category). Also, I request all of you to go through the archive once, and at least confirm that your own questions have been reported correctly with the answer. I am also looking for suggestions to make the pages more beautiful (color combinations, etc.), so if there are any suggestions, please let me know. NB: The archive has been created till Round 10. I will create the archive for Round 11 ASAP. — Ambuj Saxena (talk) 17:52, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

From before we started listing the redlinks

I went back a few archives and picked up the Naluvedapathy link. It's now DYK.

An entry from Naluvedapathy appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 27 September, 2006.

Wikipedia

Nobleeagle ^[TALK] [C] 23:34, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Just quickly going through the archives, other redlinks (from Rounds 1-5) include:

• ValueLabs
• Hemchandra Bose
• Sahiful Mandal
• Chilakamarthi
• Hansadwani

Nobleeagle ^[TALK] [C] 23:52, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Milestone!

We have nearly completed 12 rounds, i.e. 300 questions, which should have ideally led to creation/ clean-up/ improvement/ expansion of 300 articles and exhibition of some of these in DYK - I do believe that we have done some progress in improving the articles, thanks to the quiz. If the first milestone is 300 improvements to WP, the second is that we have just overtaken Wikipedia:WikiProject_Cricket/Quiz (on which this quiz is modelled) in terms of no. of questions! They started in October 2005, we in March 2006 - I'm planning to semi-retire from our quiz as there are many keen competitors who are working sincerely in creating articles etc. than I am in a position to do. I feel happy to have started this initiative. Thanks a ton for your co-operation and making this a success!--Gurubrahma 10:46, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Congrats but why (semi) retire? We are a long way to go yet!! -- Lost^(talk) 10:59, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

w00t w00t! Kudos to Gurubrahma. Portal:India/Quiz is also one of the most visited portal space pages on wikipedia. ;-) -- thunderboltz^(Deepu) 05:40, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Red Links #12

Red links from Round 12:

• Ajeet Bajaj
• Servant to John Gibaut of Salem
• MDH (brand) Mahashian Di Hatti created. Please suggest a suitable DYK.. --Longhairandabeard 18:09, 8 October 2006 (UTC)
• Nirmala Deshpande
• Man Singh (dacoit)
• Sardar Gian Singh Rarewala
• M. P. Shastri
• Mehar Chand Mahajan
• MCM DAV College for Girls, Chandigarh
• Captain V. Sundaram Article created. Several interesting facts suitable for DYK, but none of them are independently verifiable.. -- Longhairandabeard 04:10, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
• Blue Cross India
• S. R. Bommai
• S. R. Kanthi

Articles, please... -- Longhairandabeard 22:26, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

An entry from Mahashian Di Hatti appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 11 October, 2006.

Wikipedia

-- Longhairandabeard 14:17, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

updates via watchlist

was wondering if quizzers here check back every 2 minutes or if they have some clever script that adds it to their watchlist and notifies them. --ti 02:26, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

I have PINQ on my watchlist. No clever script, just the regular feature. I keep refreshing my watchlist and pounce upon any new questions :D.. -- Longhairandabeard 02:31, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

Same as LHAB.Bakaman _Bakatalk02:50, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

Another DYK

An entry from Cheeka (dog) appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 27 November, 2006.

Wikipedia

-- Longhairandabeard 15:27, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Red links #13

• Shankar Saleem Simon
• Ram Robert Rahim
• Utpal Bhadra
• Abhay Sharma
• Fireworks factory explosions
• Meenamapatti
• Baku Congress of the Peoples of the East

Red links #14

• Nagma
• Dharmendra Yadav
• Maharaja Shah
• Kamal Akhtar
• Rishang Keishing
• Poverty line in India
• Recommended dietary intake for Indians
• Aspy Engineer
• Aga Khan Trophy
• Paanchajanya
• Praveen Kumar
• Henry Rebello
• Khooni Darwaza - article created — Lost^(talk) 17:47, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
• Alvar Tirunagari
• Palash Sen

An entry from Khooni Darwaza appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on December 7, 2006.

Wikipedia

— Lost^(talk)06:13, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Red Links Round 15

• Kundan Shah
• Bhakti Barve
• Shafi Inamdar
• Ajit Ninan
• Funny World
• Target (comics)
• Puneet Issar - Stub created - Longhairandabeard 03:52, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
• Anil Aggarwal (Professor of Forensic Medicine)
• Ragini Trivedi
• Sita Doraiswamy
• Anayampatti Ganesan
• Anayampatti Dhandapani
• N. Scott Robinson
• Ramanandi

Red links #16

• E.W. Scripps
• Arko Datta
• T. Sadasivam
• Periyalwar
• Abhangs
• Teen Bigha Corridor
• Balapara Khagrabari
• Upanchowki Bhajni
• Dahala Khagrabari
• India - Bangladesh enclaves
• Phat-phati
• Antiquia
• Sport and Pastime
• Lalbhai
• Handbook of the Birds of India & Pakistan
• Birds of Bhutan
• Raman (comics)
• Rai Bahadur
• Mandala Puja

Red links #17

• Yaksha Prashna
• Indrasen
• Indrasena
• Kumbha (demon)
• Nikumbha
• Bheemavega, Bheemabalaa and Bheemaradha
• Gattu
• Asian Paints
• Nerolac Paints
• Double Seven (soft drink)
• Srirampur (Maharashtra) - Is this (Shrirampur) the same? If so, a simple redirection should make the red links blue. --Masterbobo 05:03, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
• Sunil Shaunak
• Polytherics
• Dhillu

Articles please (did I miss something??). Regards.--Dwaipayan (talk) 15:34, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

Red links #18

• Barolia
• World Science Day for Peace and Development
• Abdullah Al Muti Sharafuddin
• Prafulla Chiplunkar
• Ayemenem
• Brahmpur
• Raga Priyadarshini
• Vijaychander
• Bulla Ki Jana
• Kaikasi
• Ilavida
• Jaipur Foot (prosthesis) -> Jaipur leg

More would be added.--Dwaipayan (talk) 15:57, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

• Mika Singh, to be created from Mika Mehndi
• James Princep
• Great Indian Rock Festival
• Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis Medal
• National Statistical Day
• HMIS Akbar
• HMIS Talwar
• HMIS Hindustan
• HMIS Kathiawar
• HMIS Kumaon
• HMIS Bahadur

--Dwaipayan (talk) 05:20, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Can we have the current question link on the top of this page?

Hi friends, Can we have the link for the current question on the top of this page? --Nirajrm ^{talk ||| sign plz!} 17:36, 1 March 2007 (UTC) I mean the portal page. --Nirajrm ^{talk |||sign plz!} 17:37, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Inspiration

See hi:विकिपीडिया:ज्ञान पहेली. Anyone tried anything like this on some other wiki? --Longhairandabeard 17:17, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

Red links #19

• Saajan Ki Saheli
• Meri Saheli
• Appu (mascot)
• Amita Ramunajam
• Samskara (novel)
• Maneca Sorcar
• Krishna Chandra Dev
• George Bruce
• Apanapan
• Aasha
• Buladi

--Dwaipayan (talk) 18:16, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

All set?

It is very interesting to see Gnan Paheli on Hindi Wikipedia, thanks LHAB. More interesting was the idea of quizzes as revenue models for Wikipedia, though subsequently de-emphasised - seethis, the latter part. --Gurubrahma 07:59, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Changing the rules

Could we add another rule for WP:PINQ. That if the person who has to ask the question fails to ask it within 5 days, any wikipedian can ask it. This is to maintain the continuity of the quiz. Q1 was asked on 21st july and Q2 was failed to be set by Sniperz11 until it was set by someone else now. --WriterListener 19:51, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Not a bad idea. What do others say? I support the proposal.--Dwaipayan(talk) 20:41, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Nothing wrong in this idea, in my opinion. --Bhadani (talk) 02:36, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Support the idea.Jisha(Talk) 11:05, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

I agree too. — Lost^(talk) 17:53, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Redlinks #20

• Operation Barga - Art created, nom for DYK. Sniperz11_@^CS 11:43, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
• Dalsukh Pancholi
• Khazanchi (1941 film)
• Aasmaan (1952 film)
• Laksmi Parvathi (the second wife of NTR)
• Dhruv Pandove
• Koovagam festival
• Daggubati Venkatewara Rao --Dwaipayan (talk) 14:48, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Operation Barga created... please help if possible. Thanks. Sniperz11_@^CS 12:14, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

Redlinks #21

• Uthamar Koil
• Tirukarambanur Bikshandar Koil
• Suchindram temple
• Battle of Chushul
• Shaikh Mubarak Ali Ayaz
• Holla Mohalla festival - This link exists here: Hola Mohalla. Kguneet (talk) 13:03, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

- Thanks. Has been redirected. Sniperz11_@^CS 11:44, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

• Ochirakali festival
• Kayankulam Kochunni
• Mysore rocket
• Kamal Vilku
• Shridharacharya
• Tri Shatika
• Brihad Vaimanika Shastra
• Bandi Bir
• Jana Natya Manch
• Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust
• Thruti, Lava (unit) and Danda (unit). --Dwaipayan (talk) 14:48, 7 June 2008 (UTC)
• Husnlal Bhagatram - Wikipage created by Su_hit in Nov-2008.

Stats page

It would be good idea to maintain a statistics page for the articles created through this quiz process. The stats page could maintain the article name, quiz question, person who asked the question, and the person who answered it right, and the person who actually created the article, date etc. That would showcase this workgroup better. Thoughts? Regards, Ganeshk (talk) 00:31, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Support, also include redlinks created by the answers. --gppande «talk» 11:05, 24 July 2008 (UTC)

Toughness of questions

Could the level of toughness of the questions be increased? The last three have been pretty straighforward, and such easy questions depends on luck rather than a genuine racking of ones brains. =Nichalp «Talk»= 13:07, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

I support your view but do not know how to increase the level of toughness. Do you have any suggestion?--Amondal (talk) 08:20, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

Maybe going through the previous rounds where the questions took more than a day to be answered might provide some ideas. The first half of the last round was interesting: a lot of lateral thinking questions. =Nichalp «Talk»= 07:19, 8 November 2008 (UTC)

Can we have some kind of incentives for asking a good question? --Amondal (talk) 03:40, 25 November 2008 (UTC)

Incentive for asking by Proxy

If the person who answers a question correctly cannot ask the next question, shouldn't there be an incentive for the person who does ask it in his stead? Else that person is losing out on a chance to answer a question. Just a suggestion.--Arjun (talk) 07:26, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

Sure, but what kind of incentive? --GPPande talk! 10:04, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

I guess ½ a mark. --KnowledgeHegemony ^talk13:20, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

Yup. Sounds good as the person asking the next question is anyway giving up his chances of scoring one full. But in that case, the total marks in a round would go above 25. --GPPande talk! 14:15, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

I think the person who can't ask the next question donates his point to the person who does ask. Sounds Fair?--Arjun (talk) 16:41, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

Ohh...noo! It would be like a punishment/fine and not donation. This quiz is for fun. I think - lets not get into points. Let's say A wins the answer to Q1 but cannot ask question due to some busy schedule in real life. Then B volunteers to ask the question. Down the round, at lets say Q10 B wins the answer then he can pass on the baton to A if he is free and active this time. This way we can have a barter/adjustment system. Is it possible?--GPPande talk! 18:17, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

How about if we change the system to 5+1 (where the +1 is the bonus point earned for asking a question.) The only problem is the grace period before the point comes into effect. Some eager quizzers pose a new question sometimes too soon, and we don't want people to take advantage of this gap. In the event of a tie, the more bonus points would determine the winner. =Nichalp «Talk»= 18:29, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

I agree that this quiz is fun and should remain that way. Am not talking about penalizing however. I am just trying to see how we can reward those that do ask the next question. For example sometimes I see a day or two has gone by before someone takes up the mantle. A person who answers a question correctly can put up a timeframe for the next question. Or by default we can wait for 24 hours or some set time period for the next Question to be posted. Failing which somebody else can do it. And maybe in the scoreboard an extra column for bonuses can be added.--Arjun (talk) 05:12, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Ok. Addition of extra column (saying Quiz master or something simple) can be added to leader board. It will show the count of questions asked by each participant. This should be referred for ranking purpose only if there is a tie between two participants with same marks. If, A and B both have 3 marks and are at top of leader board but A has asked only 2 questions while B has asked his full 3 questions then B wins the round. Same can be done for participants below in leader board. Marks however supersede questions asked. Just like in cricket - if team has more points then it is at top no matter it has -ve run rate in the tournament. --GPPande talk! 06:28, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Sounds good to me. Fair and workable. DO we implement this?--Arjun (talk) 09:45, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Yes, great suggestion! Be bold. :) --Gurubrahma (talk) 18:55, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Done. Board updated till Q17. Gurubrahma has won Q18 but will wait for official confirmation.--GPPande talk! 19:17, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Nice. I will benefit a little. LOL! Shall we freeze 24 hours/48 hours as timeline for asking next question?--Su_hit (talk) 02:34, 25 November 2008 (UTC)

I think we should freeze it to a max of 48 Hours. But it would help if the person gives a time frame.--Arjun (talk) 03:57, 25 November 2008 (UTC)

The original proposal was five days. See a few threads above this one. =Nichalp «Talk»= 05:17, 25 November 2008 (UTC)

Naah! 5 days is too much. Max 2 days - ideally 24 hours. --GPPande talk! 12:26, 25 November 2008 (UTC)

I agree with GPPande--Arjun (talk) 09:18, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Let's freeze 48 hours.--Su_hit (talk) 10:08, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

While I originally supported a leaderboard for questions asked, I am beginning to think that it doesn't make much sense. One of the problems of counting the number of questions asked is that it does not control for split points for a question asked and thus baton going to only one of them. It is ok to have even 3 or 4 joint winners in a round.--Gurubrahma (talk) 12:16, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Purge button.

For some questions, there is usually an edit conflict seen. We usually think none has answered the quiz and later realize an edit conflict. Do you think there should be a purge button at the bottom of the page? I think it will help to check before we click edit link? --GPPande talk! 10:03, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

Never happens to me. =Nichalp «Talk»= 18:29, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Q 19 current round by Nichalp

Given the answers, I suggest that 0.5 be given to all the three who have answered a third of the question each, 'coz 0.33 makes it too quibbling. --Gurubrahma (talk) 19:44, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Then total of points will not match to 25. OR Let's give 0.33 to 2 persons and 0.34 to person who have taken the baton. --Su_hit (talk) 07:15, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

How about 0.5 0.25, 0.25? =Nichalp «Talk»= 09:01, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Redlinks Round#22

• Automotive Research Association of India

--Dwaipayan (talk) 22:23, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Redlinks Round#23

• Barrackpore, Trinidad and Tobago
• Chandernagore, Trinidad and Tobago
• Calcutta, Trinidad and Tobago
• Madras, Trinidad and Tobago
• Dada Thakur (film)
• Sarat Chandra Pandit

--Dwaipayan (talk) 22:23, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

Page move reversed

Hi! I have reversed the page move to Archive30 as it loses the PINQ history. The text needs to be copy-pasted into the archive instead. =Nichalp «Talk»= 09:03, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Archiving

I've written some rules here on how to archive the page: Portal:India/Quiz/archive rules. Feel free to edit.=Nichalp «Talk»=10:01, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Wonderful. Nice initiative.--220.225.147.89 (talk) 08:57, 1 January 2009 (UTC)--Su_hit (talk) 06:29, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

Redlinks Round#24

• Lakshmana (Mahabharata) - son of Duryodhana
• Calcutta Students Association - an association started by Anandamohan Bose
• Reverend James Long
• Neil O'Brien
• Sas Bahu temple, Gwalior
• Dara Singh (1964 film)
• Soviet Land Nehru Award

--Dwaipayan (talk) 21:27, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Connect-style questions

I might be the only one, but I'm getting a little bored with the connect style questions. Can it be mixed up a little?=Nichalp «Talk»=06:50, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

I agree; however, we must remember that they are popular with quiz masters because they can't easily be googled. Speaking for myself, I can say that my aim has always been to mix up different genres of questions - Of the 5 questions that I have asked in this round so far, only two are of connect-type. --Gurubrahma(talk) 16:43, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

Exactly my thoughts Guru! While I agree it may make the question a bit too abstract sometimes, but if the links are clearly well defined than its all the more fun. Personally, I have posted 2 connect questions in this round, and 4 are non-connect types. I think, a well constructed connect-type question, and a picture based are the only ones which do not allow for a genewric abuse of google to get to an answer but rather need some bit of thinking on the part of participants. —Preceding unsigned comment added byAdmishra (talk • contribs) 06:05, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

Bonus question deletion

I have deleted the question as it interrupts the blow and even more fundamentally, violates the very first rule of the quiz. One should earn the right to ask a question by answering the previous one correctly. I don't want a scenario where we will have too many bonus questions. --Gurubrahma (talk) 05:59, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

Agree with Gurubrahma. In fact, we should have removed earlier bonus Q, which was asked in last round.--Su_hit (talk) 06:26, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

How do you come up with questions...?

This is only the second time I've got a question right, and I don't know how to come up with a question. Does everybody check random articles and make questions from there, or do you use a fact that you knew before? Please help, it's my turn to ask a question! --Monkeyface13 (talk) 05:16, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Everyone has their own method and style, but one idea I find useful is to think of an answer first (person, place, incident, link etc) and then try to think of how to frame an "interesting" question around the facts related to that person, place etc. It is a bonus if not all the details are available in the wikipedia articles, since that makes the question somewhat tougher and also leads to eventual improvement of the wikipedia content (which is the aim of PINQ, after all!). Some additional tips:

• Try to avoid a question which is easily googleable (What is capital of ... ? When did X occur ? etc) Also, don't ask questions about article you have edited recently - your contribution history is easily accessible! :)
• Almost everyone thinks their question is too easy; and usually they are wrong. So don't try too hard to make your clue cryptic or opaque; and give hints, if no one is answering or if responders are on wrong track.
• Look at past PINQ to get ideas on question topics and forms of questions.
• Have fun!

Any other tips from PINQ regulars ? Abecedare (talk) 05:34, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Q asker should also cross check that your Q has only one unique answer to avoid confusion/controversy. For the same, Q asker can put some additional details. Never import/copy a question from other sources of internet. If you want to do so, then merge 3-4 questions and make single question.--Su_hit (talk) 09:25, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Proper Formatting and Indenting

I request all the respondents to use proper indenting method (one level in for every next posting, by using appropriate number of ':' signs). It will enhance the convenience to read and will also add to aesthetic value to our forum. --Su_hit (talk) 05:30, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Overall leaderboard

If we can generate overall leaderboard for all rounds so far. It will give details about Q asked and Q answered by all contributors.--Su_hit (talk) 05:16, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Yes the same thought crossed my mind..but I was thinking more like when we cross the 50 rounds landmark.Harsh Mujhse baat kijiye(Talk) 05:05, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

Complexity of questions

We have been witnessing complex questions, which go on adding Clue/Hints. My question to forum is that "Are such questions do make any sense?" "Does such question add any value?" Just to make answer not searchable by google or wiki, we are making the question so complex that the fun/excitement of quiz may be lost. I am not making any personal comments, to quote see Q 2, 5, 9 of Round 34. "Why can't we define what area/field we are looking for in the Q?" Comments most welcome. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sureshpurohit (talk •contribs) 04:08, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

At the risk of sounding didactic and preachy, I think those questions do make a lot of sense, and am very glad suchdifficult questions are being asked. These questions add much more value (in terms of the knowledge gained and also in terms of the joy of a good research and an eventual answer) than the plain vanilla fastest-fingers-first questions, which just go on to test how often one checks this specific page on wikipedia, and how good one is on google. This here should not be a test of finding a winner (in terms of the number of questions answered) but rather one that actualy enhances the forum, its contents and individuals' knowledge base. And frankly, there are other (real-life) ways (quiz forums and competitiions) where finding a winner is a much more suitable pursuit. If the answer is easily searchable on google / wiki, why is there any need of the question being on this quiz? As for me, I am not very good at India-based quizzes, and thus do not answer many. But am happy for the knowledge I gain. I would rather be in a forum which makes me research and gain value, rather than a forum whose purpose is to see how often I check it. I appreciate Admishra's questions, I think they are extremely well researched and a lot of value-add.Godof86 (talk) 06:11, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Might I add, I would prefer more clues at the first go, though (i.e. Rather than A,B and C of a set of A-J, the primary question could contain A-F, at least 60% of the entire question). Just a suggestion, Admishra.Godof86 (talk) 06:30, 25 August 2009 (UTC)