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Task |
How-to Link/s |
Comments
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Apply {{in use}} or {{under construction}} templates, if appropriate |
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These make it clear that an article is being worked on and developed and help prevent misunderstandings with other editors, notably another editor AfDing an under construction article. Remove the template when edits are complete.
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Meet Naming Conventions |
WP:NC |
These help keep Wikipedia article titles consistent and ensure that titles are not inappropriate (e.g., POV forks are not allowed in titles, e.g., Nice referees would not be an allowable article title.
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Meet Style Guidelines |
WP:MOS; WP:MOSNUM |
Comprehensive style guide; Numbers style guide
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Meet Neutral Point of View requirement |
WP:NPOV |
Articles must have a neutral POV, representing fairly the main views published by reliable sources, and not promoting a biased point of view for or against the subject
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Check specific Wikipedia Project style guidelines, if applicable |
WP:PROJ Example: MOS:FILM |
These are guidelines prepared by project groups for specific types of articles, such as the Film Project style guideline
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Ensure Redirects are in place, as appropriate |
WP:R |
Redirects help readers to find the article by sending searches for synonyms to the main article. For example, the British English term Lorry redirects the reader to Truck, the American English term.
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Ensure Disambiguations are in place, as appropriate |
WP:D |
Sometimes the same term or acronym will be used for multiple articles. A reader searching for the term "AusLit" may be looking for the general article on Australian literature or for the journal AustLit. Also MOS:DP for further information
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Add appropriate Infobox |
WP:INFO |
Infoboxes provide a summary of the subject of the article, for at-a-glance reference. They are commonly used for people, films, books, albums, countries, cities...
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Add Notes/References/Further reading, as needed |
Wikipedia articles need to have information supported by WP:reliable sources, and the reader needs to be informed about these reliable sources using citations, reference lists and other techniques. WP:CITE; WP:CIT |
CITE is general guide; CIT contains templates
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Add External Links, as appropriate |
WP:EL |
Note that external links to other websites should only include high-quality, non-commercial websites (with the exception being the official website for the subject, which can be included even if it is a commercial website)
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Add link to Main article, as appropriate |
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For example, in the article on Thomas Keneally, a link is made from the section on Schindler's Ark to the article on the novel
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Add See alsos, if appropriate |
See also |
Article containing links to managing "See alsos" in Wiki. Add links to other Wikipedia articles that may be of obvious interest to the reader. Sometimes "see also" sections need to be trimmed.
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Create WikiLinks, as appropriate, and check them |
Help:Contents/Links; WP:LINK |
These are often nicknamed "blue links"; links to other Wikipedia articles. These links help to connect one Wikipedia article to other articles.
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Make sure it is not an orphan |
WP:Orphan |
An orphan is an article which has no articles linking to it. Links to articles make them more accessible/findable. Click "What links here" in the left hand column to check. You can make a new article non-orphaned by adding categories, "blue links" and adding the new article to other related articles (e.g., in the "See also" section)
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Add Persondata, if biography |
WP:PDATA |
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Add DEFAULTSORT instruction |
WP:CAT |
This ensures that articles are filed/sorted/listed accurately e.g. that people are listed under their last name, that articles such as "the", "a" and "an" are ignored in filing/sorting
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Add appropriate Categories |
WP:CAT and WP:Categorization |
One article can be in multiple categories. For example, famous actors and musicians are often categorized in many categories.
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Add Stub Tag/Categories, if appropriate |
WP:Stub |
This helps ensure that Stubs (short, new articles) can be located for expansion and development by editors
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Add Image, if available |
WP:IMAGE |
See WP:ADDIMAGE essay for tips.
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Rate article on Discussion Page, in Project Banner if appropriate |
WP:ASSESS |
Normal editors can rate their own articles as Stub, Start, or C-class
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Add Project Banners to Discussion Page, if appropriate |
For example, an article about a philosophy may be given the "Wikiproject Philosophy" banner. Some articles qualify for multiple banners. An article about a feminist philosophy could be put under the "Wikiproject Feminism" and "Wikiproject Philosophy" banners. |
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Add {{talkpage}} to Discussion/Talk Page |
WP:TP |
The Talk Page is an essential part of Wikipedia articles. This is where editors propose changes or improvements to an article and seek ideas from other editors.
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Check for typos – and again! |
Homonyms are easy to miss, because they are not misspellings (be vs. bee). |
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