User:TimothyBlue/Timothy's Guide To Basic Article and Copy Editing

Checklist for basic copy and format editing for new articles. This will ensure the article is ready for mainspace and prepare the article for a more in-depth edit of the prose, such as by the Guild of Copy Editors. It is not perfect. If others find it useful, I'm glad.

Remember: Do not over tag an article; only tag what is really needed. WP:TAGBOMB

Start

 * Determine that the article is not likely to end up as a successful WP:CSD or WP:AfD.
 * Run a copyright check and make necessary changes. Earwig's Copyvio Detector. Notify editors responsible if diffs can be found.
 * Does it need WP:DRAFTIFY?
 * Is the article a possible merge WP:MERGE or does the article need to be split WP:SPLIT?
 * Mark article  if you want to work uninterupted, but remove if you're away.

Headings

 * Check article title MOS:AT
 * Check section titles MOS:HEADINGS, WP:NCCAPS
 * Remove any links or unorthodox formatting in headings
 * If you have to change a section title, it is unlikely to need an anchor if it is new. Check what links here for any possible problems. Template:Anchor


 * Check section order per MOS:SECTIONORDER.

Basic copy editing and formatting

 * Basic read through copy edit / typo check per WP:CE, WP:TYPO.
 * Check for any uninteligible sections/paragraphs/sentences that need rewriting immediately, rather than wait for a more indepth copy edit.
 * Determine the type of English and dating used. Add appropriate tags. MOS:ENGVAR MOS:DATE.
 * Fix dates MOS:DATE. Use User:Ohconfucius/script/MOSNUM dates.
 * Check for appropriate use of bold and italic text. MOS:BOLD, MOS:ITALIC
 * Make sure lists are formatting appropriately.
 * Spelling and grammer check.
 * Capitalizaation check per MOS:CAPS, WP:NCCAPS
 * Check use of abbreviations / acronyms. MOS:ABBR
 * Check for appropriate use of quotation marks. MOS:QUOTEMARKS
 * Check for appropriate use of apostrophes. MOS:APOSTROPHE
 * Check for appropriate use of brackets and parentheses. MOS:B&P


 * Clean up any overall formatting issues. Remove any unorthodox formatting which violates WP:MOS or accessibility.
 * Make sure titles of works are formatted appropriately. MOS:WORKS
 * Remove any controversial unsourced material from BLP. WP:BLP
 * Use inline tags as necessary. List of Inline tags. Remember WP:TAGBOMB.
 * Check for WP:UNIT and add convert and coord templates.
 * Add Language templates as needed. Template:Lang MOS:FOREIGN
 * Add columns as appropriate to appendix sections. H:COL

More detailed copy editing

 * Does the lead adequately explain the article subject?
 * Does the lead adequately summarize the major points or structure of the article?
 * Check lists. MOS:LIST, MOS:LISTBULLET
 * Check table formatting. MOS:TABLE
 * Check tenses and forms
 * Check which and that
 * Reword affected, pompous, or excessive language, e.g. "due to the fact that" for "because", "ascertain the location of" for "find", and (in almost all cases) "utilize" for "use". WP:CE
 * Remove puffery and peacock language. MOS:PUFF, WP:NPOV
 * Check article consistency MOS:ARTCON: English WP:SPELLING, Dates.
 * Apply gender neutral language as appropriate. MOS:GNL, WP:LGBT/Guidelines
 * Check for appropriate use of personal pronouns and names. MOS:GENDERID, WP:LGBT/Guidelines
 * Check for List of commonly misused English words
 * Check for ambiguous words and phrases. Ambiguous words
 * If article is a BLP, edit article per WP:BLP
 * Check for appropriate use of absolutes (eg: always, never)

Accessibility

 * Captions and alt text for images.
 * Tables and lists formatted have appropriate headers and scopes
 * Remove any non-Wikipedia standard formatting from text.
 * Contrast check and color blindness check
 * Remove contractions. MOS:CONTRACTION
 * Skip to talk

Gnomish

 * Hyphens to or  as appropriate per MOS:HYPHEN, MOS:DASH. Use User talk:Ohconfucius/dashes.js
 * Convert smart quotemarks to dumb quotemarks per MOS:QUOTEMARKS, MOS:APOSTROPHE. Use User:DemonDays64/Scripts/Dumb quotes
 * Tidy refs. Use User:Meteor sandwich yum/Tidy citations
 * Add info, remove very unlikely blank fields from, fix errors with Infobox. List of infoboxes
 * Add relevant navtemps and extra infoboxes and sidebar navs
 * Check spaces
 * Remove extra spaces
 * Replace breaking spaces with non-breaking spaces where appropriate
 * Check for spaces between period and ref tag: . <ref
 * Check for spaces between refs: <ref

Wikilinks

 * Remove unnecessary, duplicate wikilinks per Manual of Style/Linking
 * Add appropriate redlinks and Remove redlinks to unlikely articles. WP:REDLINK
 * Fix redlinks where article exists under a different title.
 * Add wikilinks to WP:DAB pages
 * Add wikilinks to new article from other articles. WP:WIKILINK
 * Add wikilinks to and from appropriate Content, Outline, and Index articles.
 * Add wikilinks to related lists.
 * Add wikilinks to any appropriate Bibliographies, Filmographies, Discographies.
 * Add hat notes to page and sections. WP:HAT Template:Hatnote templates

Other

 * Check appendix sections, See also, Bibliography/Further reading, External Links for errors.
 * Is there a meaningful See also section?
 * Add any relevant Outlines, Indexes or Timelines to See also
 * Add any relevant Bibliography at a hat note to further reading if it exists, else to Bibliography or See also.
 * Do External links meet WP:EL (including those in the body of the article).


 * Add Categories and WP:DEFAULTSORT
 * Add Navtemps
 * Add Stub templates. See Category:Stub categories, List of stubs, Stub types

Talk page

 * Create Talk page if appropriate.
 * Add appropriate Wikiprojects and shell - Use Rater User:Evad37/rater
 * Setup per WP:TALKLEAD
 * Skip to talk
 * Add appropriate English variety statement.
 * Add BLP statement if appropriate.
 * Add talk header if appropriate. Template:Talk header
 * Add DS notice if appropriate. Template:Ds/topics
 * Add archiving if appropriate.

Finish

 * Add short description
 * Add general page tags if needed (see Tagging pages for problems).
 * Common tags
 * Full list of page templates here


 * Create any needed redirects.