Jump to content

User:Noleander/Featured Article Checklist

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
WP:LAYOUT
  • Limit sections to 2-levels deep ( ===Title=== )
  • Include tables or block quotes, to break up prose
  • Keep under 10K words
  • "See also" section strongly discouraged ... all related links should be in body or in NavBox
  • Do not start any section title with "The ..."
  • Section titles should be very terse, ideally one word
WP:LEAD
  • Maximum 4 paragraphs
  • Include some kind of InfoBox, if appropriate
  • No footnotes
  • Summarize the entire article
Writing
  • Each section should give who/what/where context
  • Big paragraphs = Good; Small paragraphs = Bad. Merge unrelated paragraphs if necessary.
  • Avoid short, choppy sentences. Merge them into longer sentences using semicolons, commas, or "and"
  • Long sentences can be okay if punctuation such as , - ; (progressively longer pauses) are used judiciously.
  • Sentences should flow from one into the next
  • Paragraphs should flow into each other: first sentence of each should refer to prior paragraph
  • Use professional, aloof phrasing: no slang or familiarity
  • No dramatic, POV, or superlative words: best, wild, horrible, stunning, tremendous, outstanding
  • Run thru spell checker
  • Vary wordings for spice: dont repeat the same verb or adjective if a synonym is available.
  • Vary sentence beginnings: dont start all with "Smith [verb] …" or "He [verb] …". Mix it up.
  • Avoid 3 or more commas in one sentence: use ndashes or semicolons if multiple pauses are needed
  • Avoid vague words: 'also', 'now', 'some', 'a variety of', 'several', 'many' ... generally prose gets better when they are eliminated.
WP:LINK
  • Find duplicate links with "Highlight duplicate links" on left toolbar
  • Dont over link
  • Dont under link: okay to do in captions; & in ref list (1st author name)
  • No red links: create stub articles if needed
  • Also link first occurrence after lead
  • Repeat link if far from first link
WP:MOS
  • Use {{ndash}} (or ndash;) not hyphens … esp page num ranges, or date ranges (no spaces for ranges; yes space for pauses)
  • Hyphens only for adjective-Noun modifiers
  • Measurements used as adjectives with full word: 12-day trial; 12 days (not adj); 12 d. trial (not full word) (ditto for miles, mm, etc)
  • Dont start any sentence with And or But
  • Avoid quotes marks unless quoting someone: use italics for emphasis
  • leave final punctuation ,. outside quotes "blah blah". unless it is part of quote per WP:LQ
  • Dont put ellipses at the start of a quote, even if quote starts mid-sentence
  • Avoid abbreviations, especially months: Feb -> February
  • Spell out most things:  % -> percent; 12 -> twelve; US -> United States WW I -> World War etc
  • Job titles: normally lower case, but uppercase if before name: President Nixon; when he was president he ...
Cites
  • Footnotes & refs: format must be 100% uniform!!
  • ISBN numbers: uniform & all there
  • alphabetize
  • Consider separating Expla Notes from citations-notes?
  • If 2 cites are identical: consolidate with "name" tool: <ref name=AA>info</ref> then later <ref name=AA/>
Tool (see below) will do this automatically
  • Web pages: must have "Retrieved 20 November 2011" etc
WP:IMAGES
  • Lots of them, but space them reasonably
  • Must include "alt=" seeing impaired text; including InfoBox pic
  • Pic comments must establish Free, or Public Domain, or Fair use
  • Alternate sides Left and Right
  • Upload to Commons, not WP. Move from WP to Commons if necessary
  • Exception: Non-free (copyrighted) pics must be uploaded to WP not Commons;
  • Non-free images must identify the copyright holder, and must include a detailed fair-use rationale per WP:FAIR USE, especially (1) reduced resolution; (2) no free alternative; (3) directly relevant to named article; (4) historically important; (5) significantly helps readers understanding of article. Emphasize that "picture conveys information in a way prose alone cannot".
  • Add {{personality rights}} to images of identifiable persons (Commons only)
  • Include correct free/public domain tag: "pre 1923" vs "pre 1978 and copyright not expired" etc
  • Excellent captions that relate the image to the article
  • use {{-}} for tall pictures to break for next section


WP:Verifiability
  • Every sentence, except obvious/trivial, has a footnote
  • Bundle multiple footnotes into one
  • Prefer Journals to books
  • Give page number always
  • Triple check that source does support the material
Tools
  • Find repeating links with tool on left page sidebar
Formatting ideas
  • Use template {{-}} to break after a picture
  • Use – for ndashes without spaces; {{ndash}} with spaces
  • Use ; for bold small sec title
  • Use template {{quote box}} for decorative quotes (so can align left or right); use blockquote markup for indented quotes
  • Current year dollars: e.g.: $500,000 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|500000|1977}}}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}) .
  • Miles/km or feet/meter conversions: {{convert|26.2|mi|km}}