Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2008-01-28/Dispatches

Wikipedia's Featured article process entered the new year having broken new ground in 2007. Net promotions to FA status (promotions at featured article candidates less demotions at featured article review) were 556, or approximately 1.5 per day, a new annual record. Only in January 2007 were net promotions below 30, and four months of the year saw the total above 60.

While an increase in featured article production does not seem unusual given a growth in the overall project, the jump was remarkably abrupt. Both 2005 and 2006 showed a very consistent trend of about one per day (376 and 359 net promotions, respectively) with monthly totals rarely deviating far from 30.

A partial explanation is provided by an analysis of the removals process: while 2005 and 2006 appear uniform, total featured article production, as opposed to net, increased from 437 to 560. But far fewer articles lost status in the first year (61 versus 201) creating an appearance of consistency. Total production would again increase in 2007, to 748, but the removal total was within ten of the previous year, at 192. In short, FA production has been steadily increasing for three years, but this only became obvious in 2007.

Growth was evident at featured topics, which jumped from six to 29. A number of editors continue to expand hurricane related coverage, with four separate topics listed (2003 Atlantic hurricane season, Florida hurricanes, Hurricane Isabel, and Retired Pacific hurricanes). Virtually every major body in the Solar System is now a featured article.

Featured article production continues to follow the Pareto principle: relatively few editors provide a majority of successful featured article candidacies (FACs). Between 30% and 35% of listed nominators have provided between 65% and 70% of FAs. Distributions of this sort are inevitable on Wikipedia as people tend to clump in processes they enjoy, and in this case the ratio is not severe. A number of editors were particularly successful at FAC in 2007. The top three were Mike Christie, Awadewit and Casliber. A full list of Wikipedians successful in nominating a featured article in 2007 is also available.