User:AndyZ/Suggestions 2

This page is a combination of suggestions for peer review, featured article candidates, featured article removal candidates, and other related pages. The following is a list of the common suggestions on WP:PR and objections on WP:FAC, in accordance with What is a featured article? and other guidelines, including WP:MOS and WP:GTL. Press [Show] to find a more detailed explanation for each suggestion listed below (click [Hide] to hide it again). While this advice was written generally for articles aiming at featured status, it can also serve as a helpful page to improve any article. In green is the specific text located at WP:WIAFA, reproduced so that you do not need to shift between this page and WIAFA.

(Please note that this guideline is still underneath development. If you have any comments/questions/suggestions/requests, please post a message on my user talk page. In template form, these can be found at User:AndyZ/PR.)

Best work
It exemplifies our very best work.

A featured article should represent some of Wikipedia's best work. (if it meets all of the criteria below, it will probably meet criteria 1)

The following is the process for getting an article to featured status; if you are familiar with it, you may wish to skip the rest of this section.

In order to get your article to featured status, it is helpful to first put it on peer review, where experienced editors will help to improve your article with suggestions like those following. You may also want to submit the article for peer review by relevant WikiProjects. As of now, the only WikiProjects with active peer reviews are computer and video game peer review and military history peer review.

From there, if you believe your article meets WP:WIAFA (and the suggestions listed below), put the article on WP:FAC, where more editors will vote on whether or not the article deserves featured status.

General
It is well written, comprehensive, factually accurate, neutral, and stable. Read Great writing and The perfect article to see how high the standards are set.

(a) Well written
"Well written" means that the prose is compelling, even brilliant.


 * An article should not be list-weighty.

When possible, convert lists to prose (paragraph form).
 * For example, this list should be converted to prose.
 * Lists are often disruptive to the flow of the text.
 * Having lots of lists is looked down on in WP:FAC.
 * However, "See also", "References", and "External links" should be lists.


 * Copyedit for grammar/spelling errors.

Watch out for typos; nobody is infallible when it comes to typing. Double check for grammatical and spelling errors. Check thoroughly for redundancies (you may wish to try these 26 exercises), spelling errors (for example, use spell check in Word to double check all spellings), and other grammar problems. Sentences should not be run-ons like this sentence because run-ons are too long, are grammatically incorrect, and are disruptive by trailing and on and on, so make sure that sentences avoid using repeatedly repetitive words and break up all run-ons into shorter sentences to patch up the article. No fragments. Check for errors on prepositional phrases (note that in this sentence, "on" should be "with"), parallelism, subject–verb agreement, punctuation, etc.

It may be helpful to ask somebody else to copyedit an article after you have done so—it is often difficult to copyedit an article when you are already accustomed to the article.

To satisfy criterion 2(a) of WP:WIAFA, you may wish to take a look at suggestions at User:Tony1/How to satisfy Criterion 2a. Comprehensive lists of grammatical problems may also be found online.


 * Make sure your article flows.

Some ways to fix this include asking another Wikipedian to read over your article and add suggestions to improve its flow (as it is often difficult for a writer to fix this), combining/merging short, stubby paragraphs, "prosifying" lists, and so on.


 * Expand/merge short paragraphs and short sections.

Short paragraphs and short sections only serve to disrupt the flow of an article. Please either merge them into another paragraph/section, expand the section with important information, or simply remove the paragraph/section (be careful that you are not deleting an important fact).

Generally, all paragraphs below 3 sentences in length are considered short.


 * Incorporate/remove "Trivia"

Trivia by definition is trivial, which hence is unencyclopediac. Trivia sections should be removed, and any important facts should be added to the rest of the article. Other names for "Trivia" sections include:
 * Other facts
 * Miscellaneous [facts]

(b) Comprehensiveness
"Comprehensive" means that an article covers the topic in its entirety, and does not neglect any major facts or details.


 * Make sure the article is comprehensive.

An article should cover all important facets of the topic with balance. All articles should contain much relevant information to be comprehensive. This does not mean adding trivia or other miscellaneous unimportant facts about a character. (Incorporate any important “trivia” facts into the rest of the article and remove the ==Trivia== or ==Other facts== or ==Miscellaneous== sections ) They should discuss the notability and importance of a subject, and when applicable the legacy of a subject. For articles about literature, music, etc., there should be sections about reception and criticism.

(c) Referencing
"Factually accurate" includes supporting of facts with specific evidence and external citations (see Verifiability); these include a "References" section where the references are set out, complemented where appropriate by inline citations (see Citing sources). For articles with footnotes or endnotes, the meta:cite format is strongly encouraged.

All articles should contain references, cited per WP:CITE, to keep articles verifiable and not original research.


 * Articles need references.

References are a list of sources used for the creation of a work. They are found in bullet form underneath a ==References== section.

It is strongly suggested that you consult several references in the creation of an article to keep the article from being biased and to have the most accurate information possible.


 * Articles need inline citations.

As of now, the most common method of inline citations is the cite.php footnote system. With this WP:FOOTNOTE system, footnotes are enclosed within, which will appear like this. At the bottom of the page, put:, underneath a "References" or "Notes" section. To make more than one footnote point to the same source, use ; only the first footnote labeled with a name needs the actual footnote content.


 * References and footnotes should be cited according to WP:CITE.

All references and footnotes need WP:CITE information. For examples of citation styles, see WP:CITE/ES. Useful templates include:, , , , and. This includes date of access, authors, and date of publication.

The are fairly easy to use; see the talk pages of the individual templates to see the parameters that are associated with the template. For the Harvard citations, put the Harvard citation in the text, and add the Harvard reference template at the bottom in a "References" section.


 * Make sure sources are reliable.

Preferably, all articles should have more than just web references; paper resources (books, magazines, newspapers) are extremely encouraged as references. Web references indeed can (and should) be used, but please be sure to check that the sources contain reliable information. Fan sites are often not reliable and may be biased towards a certain POV.

Also make sure not to rely too heavily on one single source (if other sources are available).


 * All quotations should have footnotes.

Even if the source of a quotation is spelled out in the text, is should still have an inline citation. This should be put immediately after the end of the quote, with no space in between.

(d) Neutrality
"Neutral" means that an article is uncontroversial in its neutrality and factual accuracy (see Neutral point of view).


 * Avoid WP:POV and stay WP:NPOV.

An article should always remain of a neutral point of view. Point of views may be presented, as long as it is specific as to what the arguments for the supporters of such a view are and who exactly advocates such views.


 * Avoid weasel terms, and make sure that it is listed exactly who supports a view.

The following are common weasel terms: A larger list can be found at WP:AWT. Sentences with weasel terms should be either fixed so that no weasel terms exist, have proper inline citations (WP:FOOTNOTEs), and/or be specified as to exactly who advocates such a view.
 * "…consider…"
 * "…believe…"
 * "many people…"
 * "it has been…"
 * "allegedly…"

(e) Stability
"Stable" means that an article does not change significantly from day to day and is not the subject of ongoing edit wars.


 * An article should be stable.

An article is stable if it does not undergo many changes each day. Note that vandalism does not have to do with the stability of an article.

Often, current events will be unstable. There is not much to do about this except to wait for the event to pass by so that the article can again stabilize.


 * There should be no edit wars.

Do not start an edit war over the content of an article. Please discuss any drastic and controversial changes on the talk page of the article.

Style
It complies with the standards set out in the style manual and relevant WikiProjects. Criteria 3 of WP:WIAFA states that an article should follow style guidelines – WP:MOS, WP:GTL, and others – and should also follow relevant WikiProject guidelines.

Dates and numbers
Per WP:MOSNUM/WP:MOSDATE:


 * Month and day names should not be linked unless there is a specific reason that the link will help the reader to understand the article

See Manual of Style (dates and numbers)


 * If a date includes both a month and a day, then the date should normally be linked in order to allow readers' date preferences to work

See Manual of Style (dates and numbers)


 * Whenever information may become dated, try to give the time at which it was accurate (from WP:MOS)

When it is possible to give a date/year for a recent event, use that date/year instead of using words like "Recently", "a few days ago", "this year", "last month", "soon", etc. Remember that Wikipedia will be read in the future (well at least hopefully).


 * Full dates should have either 2 or 0 commas, depending upon the subject of the article. After a year, there should always or never be a comma.

Within the entire article, for consistency, full dates should always either have 2 or 0 commas. For example, an article should either have January 22, 1985, or January 22 1985.

After a single year, there should always either be a comma or never be one. Either use "In 2015, this happened" (American) or "In 2015 this happened" (British).


 * All numbers with units of measures should have conversions from the metric system to the US customary units. Time units are exempt from this. An example would be: 5 inches (13 cm).

The format for a unit of measure is as follows-. Please note the following (which are covered in the next points):
 * There is a nobreak space-  between each numbers, which prevents the unit of measure from being bumped off to the next line without the number. Otherwise, there is no other space.
 * The number in the text is spelled out fully (inches), while the conversion is abbreviated (cm).
 * Numbers should keep to the same accuracy; instead of 800 miles (1287.48 km), use 800 miles (1300 km).

Category:Conversion templates has a lot of useful templates that may be applicable.


 * All numbers with units of measure should have a nobreak space- - between the number and unit of measure.

The code for such would be:. It appears as: 58 pounds. This nobreak space prevents the number from being separated from the unit of measure.


 * Source units should be spelled out in text, while converted units should use standard abbreviations.

Instead of 5 in (13 centimeters), use 5 inches (13 cm). Note that there are no periods or "s" in the standard abbreviation.


 * Follow WP:MOS in terms of currency.

It may be helpful to convert currencies to others they may help out readers. This should be done in parentheses along with the year to which the conversion is referring. An example is: "one thousand Swiss francs (approx. US$763, c.2005)".

The dollar sign ($) as well as other currency symbols can be ambiguous as often many countries use the same symbol to represent their currencies. For an article specific to a certain country, the $ alone can be used. For a general article, it should be indicated as to which currency a symbol is used; examples include:
 * US$100 million
 * CA$100,000
 * 2000 Chinese renminbi
 * CNR 2000

The dollar sign should always go before the money value (do not do 100$). However, it should go after the country abbreviation (do not do $US100).

Other

 * Do not extraneously bold terms unless necessary.

Bolding too many terms may be distracting, like this. Generally, bolding should only be done in the lead, where the article's title is repeated along with any other alternate spellings/variations. Otherwise, please keep bolding to a limit.


 * Do not extraneously link terms unless necessary.

Linking too many terms is not good. See WP:CONTEXT for a guideline for wikilinking.

This is done in WP:FOOTNOTE.
 * With a footnote, the footnote should go after the punctuation mark, without a space.


 * Alphabetize categories and interlanguage links.

These links are usually at the end of the page. Category links resemble:, while interwiki/interlanguage links look like: Hola. These should be alphabetized. (Note that any many articles, the link is misplaced.)

(a) Lead
An article should have a concise lead section that summarizes the entire topic and prepares the reader for the higher level of detail in the subsequent sections.

The lead of an article is what appears above the Table of Contents (ToC), and should "lead" the reader into the article. The lead should simply summarize the content of the article briefly, including all important information relevant to the article. Depending upon the size of the article, the lead of the article should be different sizes; generally somewhere from 2-3 paragraphs is correct.


 * The lead should not introduce information that is not discussed in the rest of the article. However, it should establish the notability and importance of the subject.

The lead should be a summary of the rest of the article, discussing the major aspects of the subject in question. It should not discuss at length any points that do not appear later in the article. However, the lead should establish some form of notability of an article.


 * See if there is an applicable infobox if there isn’t one already.

Some articles should include relevant infoboxes that can help a reader by listing important information. Some examples include and.

(b) Headings
It should have a proper system of hierarchical headings.

Per WP:MOS, headings should:


 * Not have wikilinks inside them. Relevant wikilinks should occur in the prose of the section immediately following the heading.

For example, in United States, ===Science and technology=== should be changed to ===Science and technology===.


 * Not contain capitalized words, besides the first letter and proper nouns.

For example, in United States, ===Science And Technology=== should be changed to ===Science and technology===.


 * Not repeat the title of the article unless it is necessary to.

For example, in United States, ===United States military=== should be changed to ===Military===.


 * Not start with the word "the" if possible.

For example, in United States, ===The largest cities=== should be changed to ===Largest cities===.


 * Be concise.

For example, in United States, ===Military, including the land, air, and marine forces=== should be changed to ===Military===.


 * Follow applicable Wikiproject guidelines.

Many WikiProjects put forth article templates that should be followed. For examples of these, see WikiProject Countries, Cities, States, Albums, Rivers, etc.


 * Be hierarchal.

All headings should be presented in a proper hierarchy system. Appropriate subheadings should go underneath the correct and relevant headings.


 * Follow the order presented at WP:GTL.

Guide to layout suggests that the order for the last few sections be the following: (note the capitalization and wording of the sections)
 * 1) See also
 * 2) Notes
 * 3) References
 * 4) Bibliography/Further reading
 * 5) External links

(c) TOC
It should have a substantial but not overwhelming table of contents (see Section). The ToC stands for the Table of Contents.


 * The ToC should be of substantial size.

A table of contents should not be too short. This goes along with 2(b) – comprehensiveness.


 * Make sure that the ToC is not too long.

ToCs, or table of contents, should be hierarchal in structure and should not be too long. There is no exact definition for "too long", but generally articles with many headings and subheadings are considered too long. For an example of an article with a ToC that is way too long, see User:AndyZ/World War I.

Images
It has images where appropriate, with succinct captions and acceptable copyright status; however, including images is not a prerequisite for a featured article.

See also WP:IMAGE, WP:FUC, WP:IT, and WP:CAPTION.


 * If the article doesn't already have images, please see if you can get a free use image.

Alternatively, you can claim fair use for an image. However, if there is a free use image available (free use meaning that it has been released into public domain, according to the image copyright tags), that should be used instead.

Articles do not need images. Preferably however they should have images that can illustrate the article.


 * If the article doesn't have an image on the top-right hand corner of the lead, please put an image there.

Preferably, a free use image would be preferred there.


 * Double check that all images have an image copyright tag that is not obsolete- the tag is no longer acceptable and should be replaced by either another tag or a fair use tag.

Note that tags are now obsolete, and that tags with  should be replaced with proper image tags as soon as possible.


 * Double check that all images for which fair use is claimed have appropriate fair use rationales- see WP:FUC.

A fair use rationale should claim that an image can be used because there is no free use image replacement and that it hits the four criteria on WP:FU.

See the entire list of fair use templates at WP:FU.

While images are strongly recommended for articles, please don't overflow an article with too many images. Having too many images can be disruptive to an article and can get repetitive; select the best, most relevant, most important, and most informative/educational images possible for usage.
 * Do not inundate the article with images.

Avoid using galleries, as Wikipedia is not a collection of pictures. Images can be moved into a category in the Wikimedia commons (note that fair use images are not allowed in the commons), and that category can be linked from by the article.

Do not squeeze text between images or make images too large, as they can be disruptive to the text.


 * All images should have concise captions.

The format for a caption would be:. See WP:CAPTION for guidelines. Basic guidelines include that it:
 * 1) clearly identifies the subject of the picture, without detailing the obvious.
 * 2) is succinct.
 * 3) establishes the picture's relevance to the article.
 * 4) provides context for the picture.
 * 5) draws the reader into the article.
 * 6) is either a title, like the title of a book or else consists of one or more complete sentences.

Length
It is of appropriate length, staying tightly focused on the main topic without going into unnecessary detail; it uses summary style to cover sub-topics that are treated in greater detail in any 'daughter' articles.


 * Be of sufficiently long length.

An article should be of a sufficient length. There should be no stub/section-stubs. Note that length is different from comprehensiveness; a long article covering a broad subject may not be comprehensive, while a short article covering a narrow subject may be fully comprehensive.


 * Observe summary style.

An article should not be too long. It should stay terse and concise – while at the same time being comprehensive. Making an article too long can make it uninteresting; other reasons for keeping an article short and to the point can be found at WP:SIZE. For articles that are long, or greater than around 40 kilobytes in size, then it would be good to take advantage of WP:SS and cut down the size of an article.

To contain the size of an article, create a series of subpages or daughter pages in which more detailed information specific to a certain topic goes into – for example, for United States, subpages include History of the United States and Education in the United States. At the same time, the part of the article that is discussed in the subpage should become shortened and should simply summarize the content of the detailed subpage. United States is not nearly as long as History of the United States, but instead simply summarizes the larger points. On the main article, add  underneath the proper subsection.