Pensapedia:How the Current events page works

The Current events portal and associated pages are where we list news on a regular (preferably daily) basis with a link to background articles. Of primary importance are events. In addition, trends and developments are also listworthy.

How the current events portal helps Pensapedia

Many people use search engines to find information on current Pensacola events. If we make an effort to add relevant links to the current events portal and to create good articles for whatever that page is linking to, we will be useful to those visitors. We will also establish a reputation for being a place where people can come to find information on things that are happening in the Pensacola area right now.

News backgrounder

Pensapedia is not a news service. Accordingly, the Current events portal is not a good place to report breaking stories. Only events that are verifiable — and preferably those that have already been reported by other media — should be listed.

What we can do, probably better than other media outlets (which often give abbreviated or inadequate background information), is write in-depth background articles on topics that deeply inform and facilitate an understanding of current events. In many ways, having that background is more important than following the daily news itself.

Adding a new date

Adding a new date to the Current events page is fairly easy. There are four main areas where events are listed: the Headlines box, the list of events by month, the sidebar, and the events calendar.

Headlines

The "Headlines" section includes the In the news template used on the Main Page. Because of its high visibility, it is protected and may only be edited by administrators. The section is intended to show the four or five biggest news stories (that relate to existing articles) of the past month or so.

List by month

The listing of events by month is the most straightforward way to record recent events in the Current events portal. Articles affected by these events should always be revised to reflect new developments.

The portal is set up to show the current month and two previous months. If it has not been updated to reflect the current month, click the Edit tab and change the {{Portal:Current events/Inclusion|yyyy|mm}} line to reflect the current year and month. For example, February 2008 would be {{Portal:Current events/Inclusion|2008|02}}. You may notice a red link after you save the page; click the link, enter {{subst:Portal:Current events/DateHeader|yyyy|mm}} (where yyyy and mm are the year and month to be created).

When the box for the current month has been created, click the Edit tab in the light green bar to add news items directly to that month. The following format should be used:

*[[September 14]] – The [[Pensacola City Council]] votes 7-2 to provide an additional $6 million for the [[Saenger Theatre]] renovations.

Note that the hyphen after the date is actually an en-dash (–) and that the present tense is used. For major events, you should also list the event on the corresponding date pages (both day and year), in which case you would use the past tense. For more guidelines on writing news stories, see below.

Sidebar

The sidebar on the right-hand side of the portal shows the calendar of upcoming events (see below), a list of recent and ongoing events, and recent deaths, arrests and trials. Please update regularly as per current usage.

Events calendar

Events can be automatically entered in the events calendar by adding special category links to an article. The first is to add [[Category:Calendar]] inside the article of the event you want to include. Next to that, add a category with the date of the event in yyyy/mm/dd format (for example, [[Category:2008/09/27]]). Multiple dates are supported for appropriate events (Gallery Night, for example). However, for ongoing events with consecutive days (like a weekend festival), please list only the first day of the event, then add a link to the "Ongoing events" section of the sidebar.

Once the categories are added within the articles themselves, the events will automatically show up in the events calendar as soon as the server's cache refreshes.

Writing entries

Each listed news item should be no more than a few sentences long. Write concisely, omitting superfluous words, but grammatically, in properly formed sentences. Aim for brevity: concentrate on what happened, where, and to whom, using article links where appropriate. This isn't really the best place to explain why.

Setting the context

It is sometimes appropriate, in cases of broad topics or updates to ongoing stories, to provide a context link at the start of the story line. For example:

• September 6, 2007 – Community Maritime Park: The Florida Supreme Court rules in Strand v. Escambia County that a tax increment financing (TIF) bond issued by the Southwest Escambia Improvement District requires approval by voters within the district. According to Pensacola City Attorney John Fleming, the ruling could affect the $40 million bond issued (but not yet validated) by the Community Redevelopment Agency, another TIF district.