Commons talk:Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 in Malta

Clarification needed

It needs to be clarified whether or not the requirements of the competition will be followed or not. It is clear that last year the "heritage experts" have ignored the three main requirements and prized known contestants. Clearly the competition in Malta was rigged. My questions of last year, after the winners were announced to me beforehand, were ignored.

We need independent judges, and also strictly follow the requirements. We should values all participants at the same level and give preference to none. Of the ten winning photos of Malta, of last year, we tempirarily use one which needs replacement...and use permanently over 500 non-winning photos.

One of the winning photos will probbaly never be used as it does not portray a heritage. Others are artistic but no use to wikipedia. Two winning photos are of the same monument, from the same author, difering only from the view, also with no use. The winners uploaded few photos 5-8 and won, other uploaded much more without encouragement and disappointment. Ping me for clarifications.Continentaleurope (talk) 12:46, 30 August 2017 (UTC)

Hi @Continentaleurope: I'm sorry to hear you feel that way. I can assure you that the competition rules will be followed to the dot, just as they were last year. We have set up an independent jury (composed of local and international members) who will be evaluating photos in complete independence based on the three criteria listed on the competition page, namely (i) aesthetic quality; (ii) heritage value of subject; and (iii) relevance to Wikipedia. These are the same three criteria used in all the countries participating in Wiki Loves Monuments each year, and the same three criteria which are used by the competition's international jury.

I'm afraid we must object to your assertion that last year's winners were known to the jury. This was absolutely not the case and we in fact had great difficulty in reaching out to a number of winners, since we had no idea who they were and they did not list an email address upon registering a wiki account. To remedy this, we are placing great emphasis on asking people signing up to list their email addresses this year.

I'm also sorry to hear you say that your questions were ignored - we have spoken a number of times (both over email and in person) since then and I have always been happy to discuss any matters with you. If you have any lingering questions, please feel free to email me and I would be more than happy to discuss them further.

On the other hand, we agree with your point about people contributing a large number of photos and going unrewarded last year. This is a fair point and have created a special prize for this year's competition which will be awarded to the greatest contributor (i.e. the person who submits the highest number of photos to the competition). We feel that it is fair to reward those who contribute so greatly to documenting Malta's heritage on Wikimedia Commons.

Thank you for your comments and we hope to see you participate in this year's edition of Wiki Loves Monuments! --Nevborg (talk) 17:50, 31 August 2017 (UTC)

@Nevborg: The only thing you have pointed out was that it was a jury composed of "heritage experts" which had no knowlegde (or very little was considered) with wikipedia. The latter is important due to one of the criteria. If the photos is of no use to wikipedia, then it is not in line. Basically you can see the ten winning photos and ask yourself and the jury why would anyone thing that they abide to (i) aesthetic quality; (ii) heritage value of subject; and (iii) relevance to Wikipedia.

Though we have spoken, there have been no real answers and the photos are their to be judges by anyone. Just see the Tal-Wieghsa Tower...really two winning photos of the same author just from different views? Could they not chose one? Heritage value; a photo of a dome which we have several smilar (see category of domes in Malta; did the jury see what we already have?) and of low quality with little light to see details. Artistry is nice but manipulating colours of photos gives a bad idea had the photos be used in an article. You can see the several exaples of winning photos, the worst one is of "Birgu" (coloring balconies!) Also despite your insistence, Birgu by itself is not a monument and the NICPMI only lists it as a landscape/layout; meaning if you photograph a "garbage bag" in Birgu or a non-important thing, even if building, does not quailify to heritage...because a single street is not representative of Birgu. Photos like the one of the Zurrieq Church will be of no use, other than hanging it on a wall for its artistic creation, of little use for Wikipedia, documenting monuments and real aesthetic. Photos manipulation such as, car lights in front of monuments are not bad though, even though without are better.

My previous comments are a reflection of several people which I encouraged to participate. They noted that a contestant which won the first, won the two of the similar tower, and other. Also the balconies in Valletta photo gives no focus on a monument, even if there seems to incidentally be a relief. The photo is also manipulated; clear photo and without a name on them should be preferred (there are no names on winning photos). It was noted that most photos were taken even years before, and are similar to other published photos, lacking originality...exaple is the winning photo of St Thomas tower. Competing with older photos is ok but the heritage experts seem prefering to chose some copied ideas, not knowing what has been similarly published, think little of their use on wikipedia, and them being to be viewed to our readers in context of article.

Since I still hold the competition was anarchic, I do not feel to encourage participants in it. You have permission to upload our emails here, without personal details, if you think it helps. Consider teaching the jury the criteria and to change them this year, otherwise it is useless to know that they are "heritage experts" simply because of their occupation. I do have them listed, since their names were published last year. Also, your comments here are almost a summary of last year, which address none of the concerns (not "assertions").Continentaleurope (talk) 18:33, 31 August 2017 (UTC)

Question

Jane Borg - Do the photos entered in the competition have to be only ones that are listed? Or can I enter any photos of buildings in the competition? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jane Borg (talk • contribs) 19:05, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

Hi Jane Borg.

They should be listed in the list of monuments. If the buildings that you have are in Valletta or the three cities, they can be uploaded on the monuments which list the subjected 'city'. Such as, Valletta is a listed monument, so all photos of buildings in Valletta can be uploaded in that.Continentaleurope (talk) 22:56, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

Question

Tranceliner - I was reviewing the list of monuments and the one of Mosta seems to be incomplete. I have also a question whether Ta' Braxia and the Addolarata Cemeteries are part of the Monuments of Malta?

Calendar

When will the winners be announced? There does not seem to be much activity here around lately... --Dans (talk) 20:20, 20 December 2017 (UTC)

2017 results

Hi, can you say when the 2017 results are going to be announced please. Even some rough indication would be helpful. Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by S E Sammut (talk • contribs) 13:34, 5 February 2018 (UTC)

See here @S E Sammut: : Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2017_winners#Malta --Dans (talk) 15:35, 25 February 2018 (UTC)