Wikipedia:WikiProject Outlines



Outlines are hierarchically structured topics lists.

If you like one or more of the following:
 * to organize subjects' topics into a tree structure
 * to make site maps
 * structured lists
 * tables of contents
 * classified indexes

Then, you've come to the right place! For, Wikipedia's outlines are all of the above.

We're mapmakers, metaphorically speaking
Wikipedia's goal is to provide knowledge. But knowledge is only useful if you can find it and make sense of it. The main limitation of a search box is that it can only look for what you already know exists: it is not a map. Like with a map, the function of an outline, and the mission of this WikiProject, is to show readers what exists and help them get to where it is &mdash; except that, in this case, the destinations are Wikipedia articles rather than physical locations. Outlines serve as site maps of Wikipedia, by subject. And while maps help navigate the landscape, outlines show the knowledgescape of a subject.

More metaphors
An outline is also like a table of contents or a menu, except that, instead of listing chapter titles in a book or food dishes in a restaurant, outlines present the topics in a subject. Another useful metaphor is that each page in Wikipedia is a teleportation chamber. To use the search box for teleporting, you specify your destination subject. An outline is a teleportation chamber with its own destination registry. Each outline lists the available target topics, and clicking on one instantly takes you there. You don't need to know where you are going in advance &mdash; the list helps you choose.

Outlines are tree structures
Outlines present the topics belonging to a subject as a tree structure, using sections, subsections, and indented item entries to signify branching of the tree. As tree structures, outlines provide the following benefits:


 * 1) They can help the user see how a particular topic fits into the whole subject.
 * 2) They also show how topics are related to each other: what belongs to what, and what topics fall into the same sections.
 * 3) Having a subject laid out on one page saves time. Split up as categories, a 76-section subject would require visiting 76 different category pages to see all the subject's topics, which entails a lot of back-tracking. Scrolling down an outline page is much more convenient and faster.
 * 4) The bird's eye view provided by outlines allows users to see patterns in the information in a relatively painless way.
 * 5) Through how they are organized, outlines help users find individual pages, even when they don't know precisely what they are looking for, or exactly what it is called.
 * 6) Outlines reveal gaps in their subjects' coverage that need to be filled in with new articles.

Examples of well-developed outlines

 * Cscr-featured.png Outline of lichens (featured list)
 * Outline of the Israel–Hamas war
 * Outline of Abraham Lincoln
 * Outline of the American Civil War
 * Outline of the American Revolutionary War
 * Outline of ancient Rome
 * Outline of architecture
 * Outline of Bábism
 * Outline of Barcelona
 * Outline of the Beatles
 * Outline of Bob Marley
 * Outline of canoeing and kayaking
 * Outline of the Catholic Church
 * Outline of cell biology
 * Outline of chess
 * Outline of chocolate
 * Outline of the Cold War
 * Outline of community
 * Outline of Dresden
 * Outline of Earth sciences
 * Outline of forestry
 * Outline of geography
 * Outline of geology
 * Outline of globalization
 * Outline of Iceland
 * Outline of Japan
 * Outline of journalism
 * Outline of meteorology
 * Outline of Middle-earth
 * Outline of motorcycles and motorcycling
 * Outline of oceanography
 * Outline of science
 * Outline of science fiction
 * Outline of scientific method
 * Outline of sharks
 * Outline of sociology
 * Outline of software development
 * Outline of theatre
 * Outline of thought
 * Outline of tort law
 * Outline of tropical cyclones
 * Outline of underwater diving
 * Outline of video games
 * Outline of water
 * Outline of wind energy

Lists of outlines

 * Contents/Outlines
 * Category:Wikipedia outlines
 * Outlines listed on All pages with prefix (this only shows the outlines with titles that start with "Outline of ")

Scope
Each outline article is a list of a subject's topics arranged hierarchically to show the relationships between them: those that are the most important, general entries and those that give more specialist detail. Outlines show the structure of articles about a subject, opening another way besides searching, for navigating it. They could be considered Wikipedia's equivalent to Brittanica's Propædia.

Each outline is intended to help the reader become familiar with the subject it presents, and also serves as a table of contents or site map to that subject's coverage on Wikipedia. Outlines are different from portals or indexes. While a portal focuses solely on well-developed featured content, an outline's main purpose is to direct readers through a subject's related articles. Indexes are intended to be comprehensive alphabetical lists of articles related to subject, but finding something in an alphabetical index can be difficult if one does not know the article title (and if one does, one hardly needs the index). Outlines might not list every article in a subject, and often their links lead to lists or other outlines to provide further detail. For an example, compare Portal:Japan, Index of Japan-related articles, and Outline of Japan.

Latest additions

 * Outline of classical music

The outline drafts have been restored
Upon request at DRV, most of the outline drafts have been restored.

For the current list of outline drafts in the Drafts: namespace, see, below.

Keep in mind that drafts that sit too long without edits eventually get deleted. Let's keep them improving, so that they eventually become real outlines.

Outline of the week!
The outline of the week is:



Please help improve it.

Article alerts
This project is served by Article alerts, which can be seen in this section directly below, or at WikiProject Outlines/Article alerts. This lets us to know about any AfDs (Articles for deletion discussions) on outlines, requested moves, or other outline-related discussions without having to rely on manual notifications. To have the alerts show up on your user page or user talk page, include this code on that page:

Advice

 * Tips
 * User:CaroleHenson/Outline tips


 * Related guidelines


 * Related projects

Create outline drafts in userspace
It's best to create outline drafts as sub-pages of your user page, such as in your sandbox, and not in the draft namespace. That's because drafts in the draft namespace disappear after a certain period of time with no edit activity.

How to watch over the outlines
The outlines need watchdogs, to keep an eye on them and make sure they are secure and well maintained. Here are some tips for effective monitoring of this valuable resource:

Tip 1: Place article alerts on your talk page
Place this project's articles alerts template on your talk page in such a way that it floats at the bottom, so that you see it every time you read a message there. To do so, copy and paste this code near the top of your talk page:

This will allow you to easily keep track of outline deletion discussions at AfD, requested moves, featured list nominations, and other formally tagged outline-related nominations.

Note: Article alerts doesn't catch everything, like page edits and untagged discussions. For those, we have watchlists...

Tip 2: Use this WikiProject's watchlist
There's a comprehensive outline-related watchlist at WikiProject Outlines/Watchlist using Related changes.

Follow the instructions at the top of that page.

Also feel free to keep that page up to date by adding new outline-related pages to it.

Tip 3: Related changes can also be used on outline lists
In the desktop view of Wikipedia, one tool available to monitor activity on outlines is related changes. To use it on outlines, go to Contents/Outlines and click on "Related changes" in the tools menu.

In order for this to work on all outlines, Contents/Outlines must be kept up to date.

Beware: "Related changes" looks a lot like "Recent changes", and it is easy to accidentally use the latter by mistake.

Tip 4: Use the outline categories for monitoring...
Related changes works on the various Category:Wikipedia outlines pages, too.

Open tasks
Here are some things you can do to help (listed directly below, and in the subsections that follow):
 * Scour the outlines for the best ones, to present them in the example list in the lead section at the top of this page.


 * Maintain links to topic outlines: each article of the corresponding topic should have a link to its topic outline in its see also section.  Periodically check each see also section, as the links sometimes get removed.  Snap Links comes in handy for this.
 * Place outlines on your watchlist and check it every time you log on. This link or a FF addon can be used alternatively. This needs to be done in order to prevent against vandalism and possibly AfD's.
 * Place a WikiProject banner at the top of the talk pages of all lists of basic topics, leading here. Use  .
 * Place a coverage banner at the top of the talk pages of all articles matching the subjects in the titles of topic outlines, leading to the corresponding list. Use  .
 * the coverage banner template needs to be designed

Add entries missing from Contents/Outlines
Sometimes, when an outline is created, the author forgets to add its title, and a description, to the main list of outlines. You can help by placing them there, in the appropriate section.

Here are the titles missing from Contents/Outlines:


 * 1) Outline of Prem Rawat
 * 2) Outline of Slavic history and culture
 * 3) Outline of parapsychology
 * 4) Outline of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy
 * 5) Outline of the Yemeni Crisis, revolution, and civil war (2011–present)
 * 6) Outline of tourism
 * 7) Outline of working time and conditions
 * 8) Outline of animation
 * 9) Outline of cannabis
 * 10) Outline of consulting
 * 11) Outline of counseling
 * 12) Outline of machine learning
 * 13) Outline of management
 * 14) Outline of metalworking
 * 15) Outline of organizational theory
 * 16) Outline of radio science
 * 17) Outline of smoking

Outlines needing reformatting and/or renaming
Outlines here need to be converted to the standard outline format. Only after a page has been converted to outline format should it be renamed to Outline of $$x$$. Otherwise, others may assume the formatting is correct, and emulate it.


 * 1) List of slapstick comedy topics
 * 2) List of Occupy movement topics

Add pictures
Examples of outlines with good picture support include:


 * Outline of Vatican City
 * Outline of Japan
 * Outline of Thailand
 * Outline of Taiwan
 * Outline of Iceland
 * Outline of Italy
 * Outline of France
 * Outline of Gibraltar
 * Outline of architecture
 * Outline of sharks
 * Outline of forestry
 * Outline of globalization
 * Outline of the Greek genocide

Start a new outline
To start a new outline...


 * See also: Helpful tips (read it!)


 * First, decide which topic you'd like to outline. It could be as broad as Outline of mathematics, or as narrow as Outline of chocolate and start the page.  The title should be in the format of Outline of $$x$$
 * Write a little introduction before outlining to get warmed up, this will also become the introductory paragraph of the outline.
 * Start listing articles on your topic. You can find them by using Special:PrefixIndex and a site allintitle Google search.
 * Organize links in a way that is accessible so that people can find the articles linked to. You might use an Outline generator template, like this: topic uncapitalized or, if you're outlining a specific country, country name.
 * After that, you can add a few pictures to make the outline look nicer. Try using different ones than the ones on the article by searching on Wikimedia Commons.
 * Once you've finished, take a look back and see if you were able to outline the subject successfully and then post your work here so that other editors are aware it exists and can review it.

Work on an existing outline
Most outlines are incomplete, because subjects change over time, and so does Wikipedia's coverage of them.

See Contents/Outlines, and choose a subject that interests you, and start adding links.

Create drafts
The outlines that have been deleted over the years need to be developed from the ground up in draftspace.


 * 1) Draft:Outline of Akrotiri and Dhekelia
 * 2) Draft:Outline of Big Science
 * 3) Draft:Outline of Florence
 * 4) Draft:Outline of cricket
 * 5) Draft:Outline of formal science
 * 6) Draft:Outline of nutrition
 * 7) Draft:Outline of Roget's Thesaurus
 * 8) Draft:Outline of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands
 * 9) Draft:Outline of transhumanism

Work on drafts

 * Note: If a draft goes six months without an edit, it is subject to routine deletion. To learn when each draft was last edited, see this WikiProject's draft tracker.

Priority one outline drafts

 * 1) Draft:Outline of the arts (major branch of knowledge lacking an outline!)

Outline drafts very near completion
Please see if you can finish these up:


 * 1) Draft:Outline of Delhi
 * 2) Draft:Outline of George Washington

Outline drafts over half-way done

 * 1) Draft:Outline of advertising
 * 2) Draft:Outline of Chicago
 * 3) Draft:Outline of bodybuilding
 * 4) Draft:Outline of dogs
 * 5) Draft:Outline of God
 * 6) Draft:Outline of JavaScript

Outline drafts well underway

 * 1) Draft:Outline of agricultural science
 * 2) Draft:Outline of American football
 * 3) Draft:Outline of animal science
 * 4) Draft:Outline of applied mathematics
 * 5) Draft:Outline of armed forces
 * 6) Draft:Outline of art history
 * 7) Draft:Outline of astrobiology
 * 8) Draft:Outline of astrophysics
 * 9) Draft:Outline of biogeography
 * 10) Draft:Outline of bowling
 * 11) Draft:Outline of boxing
 * 12) Draft:Outline of business ethics
 * 13) Draft:Outline of climatology
 * 14) Draft:Outline of cognitive psychology
 * 15) Draft:Outline of constructed languages
 * 16) Draft:Outline of deep learning
 * 17) Draft:Outline of Donald Trump
 * 18) Draft:Outline of encyclopedias
 * 19) Draft:Outline of erotica and pornography
 * 20) Draft:Outline of existentialism
 * 21) Draft:Outline of families
 * 22) Draft:Outline of fire
 * 23) Draft:Outline of geothermal power
 * 24) Draft:Outline of gridiron football
 * 25) Draft:Outline of gymnastics
 * 26) Draft:Outline of hip hop music
 * 27) Draft:Outline of homelessness
 * 28) Draft:Outline of horror fiction
 * 29) Draft:Outline of housing
 * 30) Draft:Outline of human physiology
 * 31) Draft:Outline of human resource management
 * 32) Draft:Outline of information technology management
 * 33) Draft:Outline of Jerusalem
 * 34) Draft:Outline of Marvel Comics
 * 35) Draft:Outline of meat
 * 36) Draft:Outline of mechanical engineering
 * 37) Draft:Outline of meditation
 * 38) Draft:Outline of memory
 * 39) Draft:Outline of modern history
 * 40) Draft:Outline of museums
 * 41) Draft:Outline of mythology
 * 42) Draft:Outline of natural satellites
 * 43) Draft:Outline of numbers
 * 44) Draft:Outline of occupational safety and health
 * 45) Draft:Outline of ontologies
 * 46) Draft:Outline of planets
 * 47) Draft:Outline of prehistory
 * 48) Draft:Outline of recreation
 * 49) Draft:Outline of recreational drug economy
 * 50) Draft:Outline of renewable energy
 * 51) Draft:Outline of rock music
 * 52) Draft:Outline of rugby
 * 53) Draft:Outline of rugby league
 * 54) Draft:Outline of San Diego
 * 55) Draft:Outline of San Jose, California (lots of red links)
 * 56) Draft:Outline of spy fiction
 * 57) Draft:Outline of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic
 * 58) Draft:Outline of the French Revolution
 * 59) Draft:Outline of the LGBT community
 * 60) Draft:Outline of the Olympic Games
 * 61) Draft:Outline of the Russian Revolution
 * 62) Draft:Outline of the World Wide Web
 * 63) Draft:Outline of time
 * 64) Draft:Outline of tinea
 * 65) Draft:Outline of Victoria, Australia
 * 66) Draft:Outline of volcanoes

Mostly bare-bones outline draft starts

 * 1) Draft:Outline of beans
 * 2) Draft:Outline of bread
 * 3) Draft:Outline of biomedical engineering
 * 4) Draft:Outline of Canadian football
 * 5) Draft:Outline of computer networking
 * 6) Draft:Outline of constitutional law
 * 7) Draft:Outline of crime
 * 8) Draft:Outline of crime fiction
 * 9) Draft:Outline of criminal law
 * 10) Draft:Outline of dairy farming
 * 11) Draft:Outline of dairy products
 * 12) Draft:Outline of DC Comics
 * 13) Draft:Outline of disease
 * 14) Draft:Outline of Doctor Who
 * 15) Draft:Outline of dyslexia
 * 16) Draft:Outline of earthquakes
 * 17) Draft:Outline of entrepreneurship
 * 18) Draft:Outline of extinction
 * 19) Draft:Outline of felines
 * 20) Draft:Outline of fire safety
 * 21) Draft:Outline of freight transport
 * 22) Draft:Outline of fruits
 * 23) Draft:Outline of geoengineering
 * 24) Draft:Outline of grains
 * 25) Draft:Outline of hills
 * 26) Draft:Outline of hockey
 * 27) Draft:Outline of humans
 * 28) Draft:Outline of hydropower
 * 29) Draft:Outline of ice hockey
 * 30) Draft:Outline of juggling
 * 31) Draft:Outline of Julius Caesar
 * 32) Draft:Outline of lacrosse
 * 33) Draft:Outline of legumes
 * 34) Draft:Outline of magic (illusion)
 * 35) Draft:Outline of Mahatma Ghandi
 * 36) Draft:Outline of maritime transport
 * 37) Draft:Outline of mass communication
 * 38) Draft:Outline of money
 * 39) Draft:Outline of morality
 * 40) Draft:Outline of mountains
 * 41) Draft:Outline of outer space
 * 42) Draft:Outline of prostitution
 * 43) Draft:Outline of reference works
 * 44) Draft:Outline of research
 * 45) Draft:Outline of road transport
 * 46) Draft:Outline of role-playing games
 * 47) Draft:Outline of romance fiction
 * 48) Draft:Outline of safety
 * 49) Draft:Outline of secondary education
 * 50) Draft:Outline of ships
 * 51) Draft:Outline of sleep
 * 52) Draft:Outline of stars
 * 53) Draft:Outline of street art
 * 54) Draft:Outline of supernovas
 * 55) Draft:Outline of the American Indian Wars
 * 56) Draft:Outline of the food industry
 * 57) Draft:Outline of the universe
 * 58) Draft:Outline of typography
 * 59) Draft:Outline of wave power
 * 60) Draft:Outline of welfare
 * 61) Draft:Outline of Western fiction
 * 62) Draft:Outline of world history

Templates

 * Outline footer - placed at bottom of all Outlines
 * For talkpages
 * WikiProject Outlines - placed on the talk page of all Outlines
 * For building outlines
 * Outline generator - for outline creation
 * Outline country - for outline creation
 * Outline U.S. State - for outline creation


 * Annotated link - for automatically annotating a link with its short description
 * Userboxes
 * See WikiProject Outlines/userboxes

Other project subpages

 * /Directory
 * /List of discussions concerning outlines

Participants
If you'd like to get involved, and help with outline-related tasks, please add your username below:


 * The Transhumanist
 * Timothy
 * Pbsouthwood
 * Remsense
 * wd-Ryan
 * XTheBedrockX
 * AmericanAir88
 * AstroHurricane001
 * Auldhouse
 * Boss6040
 * Buaidh
 * Candyshiv
 * CaroleHenson
 * CReep
 * cymru lass
 * DannyS712
 * Est. 2021
 * Gamewizard71


 * Geekdiva
 * Gimme danger
 * Greg Bard
 * HeartGlow30797
 * Highfields
 * Irtapil
 * J.C. Martinez-Sifre
 * Jaldous1
 * Juliancolton
 * Knobbly
 * Limbshard
 * Mandsford
 * Manunuscript
 * Minnecologies
 * NuclearWarfare
 * Offiikart
 * Ohmyerica
 * Pandelver


 * penubag
 * Quiddity
 * Robert Skyhawk
 * RockMagnetist
 * Rorybob
 * Sj
 * Snigdh.Chandra
 * Stefan
 * Tarheel95
 * Thehelpfulone
 * Thruxton
 * Tiamut
 * Toshio Yamaguchi
 * Unionhawk
 * UnitedStatesian
 * WeijiBaikeBianji

See also: Category:WikiProject Outlines participants

Award templates
To award editors who've made significant contributions to Outlines and/or the Outlines WikiProject, here are some award templates you could use. Other awards work well too. Feel free to use your imagination.


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