Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Introduction to viruses

Introduction to viruses

 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page.

The result was: scheduled for Today's featured article/March 27, 2020 by Wehwalt (talk) 13:43, 24 March 2020 (UTC)



A virus is a biological agent that reproduces inside the cells of living hosts. Unlike most living things, viruses do not have cells that divide, instead they force infected host cells to produce thousands of identical copies of the original virus, at an extraordinary rate. A virus consists of two or three parts: genes, made from either DNA or RNA, long molecules that carry the genetic information; a protein coat that protects the genes; and in some, an envelope of fat that surrounds and protects them when they are not contained within a host cell (and makes them vulnerable to soap). Viruses spread in different ways; some through the air by people when they cough or sneeze, others by the faecal–oral route, and some by direct contact or during sex. Over 4,800 species have been discovered, many of which cause disease in plants and animals, including common human diseases such as the common cold, chickenpox and cold sores, and serious epidemic and pandemic outbreaks such as HIV, Ebola, influenza, SARS and COVID-19.
 * Most recent similar article(s): Tourette syndrome on March 3, 2020
 * Main editors:
 * Promoted: July 12, 2008
 * Reasons for nomination: This article already ran TFA in October 2012, but is a significant, timely and relevant article to present to our mainpage readers considering the coronavirus pandemic. It has been updated to incorporate coronavirus content.
 * Support as nominator. Although all of April TFA is already scheduled, multiple other writers of TFAs already scheduled have said they would give up the TFA slot so this could run while it is a timely topic. Before TFA moved towards scheduling articles well in advance, it had the ability to quickly juggle relevant topics on the mainpage to respond to current events. Yes, there are already many coronavirus articles on the mainpage In the news, and unfortunately, quality of those articles is hit-and-miss, and yet they are getting millions of daily pageviews; this FA presents an opportunity to highlight accurate and timely featured content during a worldwide crisis. In terms of date choices available, running it soonest possible would be preferable.  If the community agrees that this FA is worthy of running a second time, the Coords have several possibilities now for how and when to make that happen. Choices are (date, article replaced, main editors)
 * 3 April replacing Rodrigues starling, FunkMonk
 * 8 April replacing Gerard (archbishop of York), Ealdgyth
 * 10 April replacing Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, Sasata & Casliber
 * 7 April replacing South Pacific (musical) (last choice, because we need FUN these days), Ssilvers & Wehwalt
 * If this proposal passes and passes soon enough, Ergo Sum has also offered 27 March. With appreciation in advance for the effort of Coords to juggle the queue, and especially to all the editors who agreed to give up a slot. Sandy Georgia  (Talk)  17:42, 21 March 2020 (UTC)


 * Support as main editor. Graham Beards (talk) 06:22, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Support I would normally be loath to swap out a scheduled article, but this seems a good case for an exception if ever there were one. Gog the Mild (talk) 16:57, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Support TFAs have to be rerun anyways due to our promotion rate; this seems like a good way to promote our quality content on material relevant to the public interest.  Kees08  (Talk)   17:31, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Support Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 20:36, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Support. Extremely helpful article, clearly written. I'm sure readers will appreciate this. SarahSV (talk) 20:49, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Support. I'd even support running it for longer than 24 hours. Victoria (tk) 21:20, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Support. Yes this is clearly the right thing to do. Kudos to Graham for advancing such a broad and fundamental page. Ceoil  (talk) 17:53, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Support to replace Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca if Sasata and Casliber don't mind The minimal disruption as it's replacing another biological article, and Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca has no date relevance. – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 20:43, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
 * None of the offered substitutions have date relevance, and 10 April is the last choice as it is weeks away. Sandy Georgia  (Talk)  21:39, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
 * South Pacific has a date relevance as it premiered on April 7, 1949. The date difference, being a mere week away from the earliest scheduled option, isn't that terribly large given the nature of the pandemic, but I could see myself switching for it to replace Rodrigues starling as another biological article if FunkMonk doesn't mind. – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 22:43, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Aming towards April 7 is defeating the point. Ceoil  (talk) 22:46, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Date relevance is one part of the big picture; we can trust the Coords to sort this out, considering the number of editors who agreed to give up their data, and the likelihood that the Coords will quickly re-schedule a displaced article. Sandy Georgia (Talk)  23:18, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Support Fixer88 (talk) 21:13, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
 * We should also reschedule the "bumped" article to the earliest convenient date in order to make up for this. I'd say May 2, but that's for the TFA coordinators to decide. – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 22:43, 22 March 2020 (UTC)