Community Wishlist/Focus areas/Article Creation Guidance
Description
How might we provide newcomers with the support and guidance they need to confidently create articles while minimizing frustration and reverts?
Supporting evidence
Article creation is clearly a source of confusion for newcomers, but also a pain point for experienced editors who review new pages. Many different ideas have been suggested by community members via the Community Wishlist and other avenues:
- New user article flowchart – Kudpung
- New landing page proposal – Novem Linguae, Kudpung, BusterD
- Create a special page for starting a new article – Tgr
- Vision for a better Article Wizard – Sdkb
- Add a "create a page" interface to MediaWiki core – MZMcBride
- Reference requirement for new article creation – #26 2023 Wishlist proposal from Mega809
- In Spam blacklist, allow sysops to enable blacklisting only on some namespaces – #56 2023 Wishlist proposal from DSan9
- Sources only Articles for Creation draft – Gryllida
- English Wikipedia discussions about refining the "Your first article" Help page
Data
- Across all Wikipedias from November 1, 2021 to October 31, 2022, about 4.26% of new articles created are published by accounts that are less than 30 days old.
- About 28% of newly registered users who complete the Welcome Survey indicate that they have created an account specifically to create a new article.
- In 2022, across all languages and devices, 12% of all mainspace articles created were ultimately deleted. [1]
- That percentage is higher when you narrow by new editors (as defined by accounts that are less than a week old). In 2022, across all languages and devices:
- These metrics vary considerably per wiki, where different article creation flows and norms exist. On English Wikipedia for example, article creation is restricted to user accounts that are at least 4 days old and have made at least 10 edits, while Content translation on English Wikipedia is restricted to extended confirmed users. In 2022, on only English Wikipedia, across all devices:
- 37% of mainspace articles created by newcomers were deleted. [4]
Focus
This invites exploration of solutions that could help new editors navigate the complexities of article creation, receive proactive feedback, and avoid common pitfalls that lead to reverts or negative experiences. This area would emphasize making article creation and navigation of policies easier for newcomers, providing clearer instructions, more accessible help, and faster feedback on the content they create.
Other details
Last updated: 18:08, 18 December 2024 (UTC)
Created: 18:57, 15 October 2024 (UTC)
Wishes in this focus area
Below is a list of wishes that have informed this focus area. More wishes may be added to this table over time. Voting for the focus area is not a guarantee that each wish will be explicitly delivered; rather, the wishes are suggestive of the problem at large. Once a focus area is adopted, the respective team will work alongside communities to prioritize and deliver on the most impactful solutions.
| Wish | Phabricator tasks | Type | Projects | Date (UTC) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empty the sandbox page | Unknown | Wikipedia | November 27, 2024 | Open | |
| Reconsider the strict adherence to policies that defy common sense | Unknown | Wikipedia | October 23, 2024 | Open | |
| Easy access to the sandbox in the Wikipedia mobile application | Feature request | Wikipedia | October 18, 2024 | Open | |
| Indicate in Wikipedia articles which target audience they are aimed at | System change | Wikipedia | October 15, 2024 | Open | |
| Improve review speed | Unknown | Wikipedia | October 15, 2024 | Open | |
| Display warnings in case of missing categories etc. when saving an article, activate gadgets | Feature request | Wikipedia | October 15, 2024 | Open | |
| After making a new page, make it a draft so bad pages aren't left. | Unknown | Wikipedia | October 15, 2024 | Open | |
| Make it easier for newcomers to create their first article | Feature request | Wikipedia | October 15, 2024 | Open |
Voting
This area currently has 9 supporters. Voting for this area is open until it is completed. Show your support using the button below.
Supporters of this area
Support Dnshitobu (talk) 07:04, 24 October 2024 (UTC) It's very important to have this as blocking of new editors is completely frustrating. Support Warmglow (talk) 10:48, 24 October 2024 (UTC) All options provided are relevant and will help encourage new editors to edit more