User:MER-C/Unofficial guide to FPC

Here is a quick guide to FPC, should you want your nomination to have the best chance of success (and avoid annoying people in the process).

Nominating
Do:


 * ... read the featured picture criteria and the technical problem examples.
 * ... write a short but descriptive caption. One sentence will do.
 * If you do add FPC, then make sure that it points to the right nomination.
 * ... provide adequate attribution. If they have an account on the English Wikipedia, link to their userpage.

Don't:


 * ... waste people's time by creating several nominations for something that can be done in one.
 * ... put two nominations on the one page. This causes problems when it comes to closing.
 * ... put wiki markup in nomination titles.  Featured picture candidates/Blah  results in Featured picture candidates/Blah instead of a link (is this a parser bug?)
 * ... nominate several similar pictures at once. You'll find that critics are simply not interested.
 * ... write an essay for a caption. Save the prose for the mainspace.
 * ... use ✅ to "show" that an image meets every one of the 8 criteria. It's annoying and chances are you're wrong.
 * ... add too many alternatives. You'll find that critics are simply not interested and I find they are harder to close. Use Picture peer review to select the best alternative for nomination.

Commenting
Do:


 * ... give a reason for opposing images, otherwise your opinion will be ignored.
 * ... keep reasons short and succint. If it's too long, I won't read it.
 * ... address the image in question.
 * ... view the image at full size. It becomes obvious if you don't and your opinion may be discounted.
 * If there's more than one edit, specify which one(s) you support.

Don't:


 * ... votestack. It's against policy and would almost certainly get you blocked.
 * ... spam the same generic rationale across multiple nominations. Your comment will be ignored in all cases.
 * ... comment on the subject only. The only relevant thing is how the image meets the featured picture criteria.
 * ... say "bad quality"! Be specific.

Closing nominations
Do:


 * ... read the instructions (regular | delist).
 * ... remember that there are no fixed rules.

Don't:


 * ... leave a mess I have to clean up.
 * ... count votes. Even though a quick count gives you some idea of what to do with a nomination, you should always read the text because objections may be addressed, comments need ignoring and not every "support" or "oppose" comes with a bolded vote. You are looking for consensus, not numbers.
 * ... close debates on images you have supported/opposed.

Miscellany

 * Nominations may be speedily closed if they have zero chance of success or the nomination is withdrawn and the image is not likely to succeed. This is usually because of non-free content or replaceable images below the size requirements. If you want an nomination speedily closed, write speedy close with a reason why.
 * FPC has the unusual distinction that delete is a valid outcome. Most of the time, images are deleted at FPC because they are copyright violations or lack adequate source information. Don't let this happen to you.