Wikipedia:News On Wiki/Starting an article

DRAFT

This page is a draft, and may end up with a different title. Just getting it started here. (I couldn't find an appropriate template for this circumstance3 on a quick search.)

Purpose of this page
There are several ways to go about creating a new article. This page aims to help the reader understand the differences among them, in order to make the best decision on how to proceed. It is hoped this will be useful both for individual new Wikipedia authors, for educational instructors designing a Wikipedia assignment for their students, for organizers of events like Wikipedia edit-a-thons and Wikidojos, etc.

Appropriate goals of drafting a Wikipedia article
Any Wikipedia content, whether in a formal article, in Draft: space, or in a user sandbox, should aim to contribute to Wikipedia's purpose. The content should either fulfill Wikipedia's minimum standards, or (if pre-publication) should be presented in a way that supports collaborative efforts to get it there.

Direct article creation
The traditional way to create a new Wikipedia article is...simply to create a new Wikipedia article. You can navigate to the title of the article you want to create (either by clicking a link or by typing it into the "Search" field) and then start writing the article.

If you are reasonably experienced with Wikipedia, have high confidence that the article's subject can easily be demonstrated to meet the notability threshold, and have already found several strong source materials to use as a basis for the article, this can be a nice way to skip past a bunch of bureaucracy. But by doing so, you set the bar rather high; if you can't demonstrate notability within an hour or so of creating the article (or sometimes even more immediately), you may find the article gets flagged by other editors. You should be prepared to engage with that possibility.


 * Pros
 * The most straightforward approach for an experienced Wikipedia editor who has found good sources and has time to create a strong stub.


 * Cons
 * If you take this approach, you are committed to doing several things more or less all at the same time:
 * Establish notability (i.e., use several strong sources that treat your article's subject as a central theme)
 * Create footnotes (they need not be fully formatted, but it's helpful if they are)
 * Use complete sentences to assert significance and establish a coherent narrative in a voice appropriate to Wikipedia (even if very brief)
 * Add categories to the article (at least two is a good rule of thumb)
 * Add incoming links from several other Wikipedia articles
 * If you don't perform the steps above up to the standards of other Wikipedia editors, you may find that your entry is challenged and/or deleted.

Draft space

 * Pros
 * Conducive to collaborating with Wikipedia editors if and when other editors are paying attention.
 * Can leave inline comments, identify open questions or obstacles to publication, use bullet lists or incomplete sentences (deferring some writing tasks until later)


 * Cons
 * Drafts that are untouched for six months are typically deleted.
 * There is sometimes an expectation that items in Draft: space will be submitted via Articles for creation. While not required, this can be a source of misunderstandings.

User sandbox

 * Pros
 * It is highly unlikely Wikipedia editors will interfere with your efforts.


 * Cons
 * It is highly unlikely Wikipedia editors will notice or build on your efforts (unless a class or a WikiProject is designed in a way that calls attention to them).