View source for RetroWikipedia:Article development

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{{Contributing to RetroWikipedia}}
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[[File:Evaluating RetroWikipedia brochure.pdf|link=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Evaluating_RetroWikipedia_brochure.pdf|thumb|200px|A PDF brochure by the [[Wikimedia Foundation]] about how articles evolve, elements of good quality articles, and signs of poor quality articles.]]

Some of RetroWikipedia's articles are comprehensive right from the outset, but most start off as [[RetroWikipedia:Perfect stub article|stubs]] and ideally grow into [[RetroWikipedia:The perfect article|well-written, comprehensive]] articles with time.

This page describes the stages in the life of an article and lists the ways in which '''you can help an article grow''' into the next stage. Skipping stages is not just permissible—it is, in fact, recommended! The following categories should give you an idea of how articles typically grow on RetroWikipedia.

==Stages of an article==
{{User:A diehard editor/RDT/Journey of an Article}}
===Uncreated articles===
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| source = Thank you.
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Every article starts with an idea in the mind of a contributor. You can [[RetroWikipedia:Starting an article|create articles]] about anything, as long as they [[RetroWikipedia:What RetroWikipedia is not|belong in RetroWikipedia]]. It is a good idea to [[RetroWikipedia:Search|search first]], so you are sure there has not been an article on the subject; if there is, a [[RetroWikipedia:Redirect|redirect]] may be appropriate. If you see a [[RetroWikipedia:red link|red link]] that strikes your fancy, create an article! (If you've not created an article before, see [[RetroWikipedia:Your first article|Your First Article]].)

For more suggestions on how to think of subjects to contribute on, see [[RetroWikipedia:Contributing to RetroWikipedia]].

Before you start, it's helpful to read the [[RetroWikipedia:Starting an article|guidelines]] and [[RetroWikipedia:Tutorial|tutorials]] on creating new articles to get an idea of what you should consider—such matters as the scope, format, references, and NPOV in a RetroWikipedia article.

Good ways to find articles to create:
*[[RetroWikipedia:Requested articles]]
*[[RetroWikipedia:Most wanted articles]]
*[[RetroWikipedia:Articles for creation]]
*[[Template:Opentask]]
*[[RetroWikipedia:Pages needing translation into English]]
*[[RetroWikipedia:Collaboration]]

===Stubs===
If you do not have the time to write a full article, consider writing a "[[RetroWikipedia:Stub|stub]]". Stubs are very short articles—generally just a few sentences. These are the "ugly ducklings" of RetroWikipedia. With effort, they can mature into "swans".

Good ways to find stub articles and grow stubs:
*[[:Category:Stub categories]]
*[[Special:Newpages]]
*[[Special:Randompage]]
*[[Special:Shortpages]]

To find stub templates appropriate for an article, see these WikiProject Stub sorting sub-pages.
:See [[RetroWikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/Stub types]] for more information on existing stub types.
:See [[RetroWikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/List of stubs]] for a compact list of all stub types.

====Article stub placement====
The article stub (or stubs) template is added after the last line of the article. For example:

<nowiki>Last line of the article.</nowiki>{{br}}
<nowiki> (first blank line)</nowiki>{{br}}
<nowiki> (second blank line)</nowiki>{{br}}
<nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki>

====Talk page stub class====
Article quality assessments are mainly performed by members of WikiProjects, who tag talk pages of articles. For beginning stub articles, the ''class=Stub'' parameter is added to the article's WikiProject banner on the talk page.

===Developing articles===
{{shortcuts|WP:ARTEXPAND|WP:EXPANDART}}
Once a stub has real content, it is a real article and the article's stub template(s) can be removed. The vast majority of articles fall into this category. They may have weaknesses, so you are encouraged to [[RetroWikipedia:How to copyedit|copyedit]] them and, where you have the knowledge or do the necessary research, to add content.

As an article is improved in quality it goes through stages of development. Here is an  [[RetroWikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Assessment#Evolution of an article .E2.80.93 an example|example of the evolution of an article]].

Good ways to find and improve developing articles (see [[#How to develop an article|below]] for more information):
*[[RetroWikipedia:Cleanup]]
*[[RetroWikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy Editors]]
*[[Template:Opentask]]
*[[:Category:RetroWikipedia pages with to-do lists]]
*[[:Category:Articles needing attention]]
*[[RetroWikipedia:WikiProject]]
*[[RetroWikipedia:List of WikiProjects]]
*[[RetroWikipedia:Regional notice boards]]
*[[RetroWikipedia:Writing better articles]]
In addition to these resources, there may be [[RetroWikipedia:Guidelines|guidelines]] or [[RetroWikipedia:Essays|essays]] on how to develop articles for specific topics. For instance, there is [[RetroWikipedia:Manual of Style/Anime and manga]] for anime articles or [[RetroWikipedia:WikiProject Schools/Article advice]] for school articles.
;Good articles
*[[RetroWikipedia:Good articles]] 	 	
*[[RetroWikipedia:What is a good article?]] 	

;How to get great articles up to featured quality
*[[RetroWikipedia:Peer review]]
*[[RetroWikipedia:Featured article candidates]]

===Featured article===
[[Image:Cscr-featured.svg|left|30px|This star symbolizes the featured content on RetroWikipedia.]]
The [[RetroWikipedia:Featured articles|featured articles]] are what we believe to be the best articles in RetroWikipedia. Before promotion to featured status, articles are reviewed at [[RetroWikipedia:Featured article candidates]] for compelling prose, accuracy, neutrality, and completeness, according to our [[RetroWikipedia:What is a featured article|featured article criteria]]. RetroWikipedians tend to be proud of featured articles to which they have contributed.

Once an article is certified as featured, it joins an exclusive group of [[RetroWikipedia:Featured content|featured content]] which is showcased across various community pages, including [[RetroWikipedia:Portals|Portals]] and [[RetroWikipedia:WikiProject|WikiProjects]]. The article could also receive the distinction of being featured on the [[main page]]. Before the article is scheduled to appear on the main page, it should receive a last review and polishing where possible.

Featured articles present our best work to people who might not know about RetroWikipedia. This is an excellent way to [[RetroWikipedia:Building RetroWikipedia membership|recruit new RetroWikipedians]] and obtain [http://wikimediafoundation.org/fundraising donations], both of which help RetroWikipedia immensely.

Featured articles are well polished, but there are usually small improvements that can still be made. [[RetroWikipedia:Be bold|Do not ever be afraid]] to correct mistakes or update information when you see an opportunity. No article is [[RetroWikipedia:The perfect article|perfect]], even though perfection is always our goal. We have a formal procedure for encouraging RetroWikipedians to review and improve featured articles: [[WP:FAR|Featured Article Review]].

Featured articles
*[[RetroWikipedia:Today's featured article]]
*[[RetroWikipedia:Featured articles]]
*[[RetroWikipedia:Featured article review]]
What constitutes a featured article
*[[RetroWikipedia:Featured article criteria]]
Good ways to display our best articles:
*[[RetroWikipedia:Publicity]]
*[[RetroWikipedia:RetroWikipedia in the media]]

==How to develop an article==
{{shortcut|WP:DEVELOP}}
Suppose you want to create a good, or even [[RetroWikipedia:The perfect article|perfect]], RetroWikipedia article that deserves to be listed among our [[RetroWikipedia:Featured articles|featured articles]] (those considered by consensus to be RetroWikipedia's best articles). Your goal is then to meet the [[RetroWikipedia:What is a featured article|featured article criteria]]. Here is a guide to achieving this.

===Research===
Once you have decided on an [[WP:ISNOT|encyclopedic topic]], use [[RetroWikipedia:Searching|RetroWikipedia's search engine]] to find out what related material we already have. That way, you discover what already exists and can later create good links to and from other relevant articles.

Additional research is usually necessary to write a great article. A great article has to be verifiable and [[RetroWikipedia:Cite sources|cite]] [[RetroWikipedia:Reliable sources|reliable sources]] which ideally should include books or peer-reviewed journal articles. Consider visiting a university or public library to identify and study the best sources. Consider searching [[RetroWikipedia:Multilingual coordination|RetroWikipedias in other languages]], looking at what [[search engine]]s such as [http://www.google.com/ Google] can bring up, and reading the relevant articles from other encyclopedias, to form an idea of what topics should be covered, in what depth, to achieve a comprehensive summary coverage. The following sites may help you: [http://www.encyclopedia.com/ Encyclopedia.com] and [http://www.britannica.com/ Encyclopedia Britannica Online].

====Finding relevant articles====
There are several ways to find and retrieve articles online, without having to leave home. [[Google Scholar]] is an excellent source for finding sometimes-[[open access|free]] online peer-reviewed articles; note that the free articles' entries are quickly identifiable for having a "View as HTML" link in the result page. Other search engines for scholarly [[open access]] articles include [[COnnecting REpositories|CORE]] and [[BASE (search engine)|BASE]]. For a host of free, searchable newspapers, see [[RetroWikipedia:Free English newspaper sources]].

Many libraries have agreements with [[paywalled]] database providers under which library users with current library cards can connect free to the databases from their home computers—that is, the users do not need to be physically present in the library. Check with your local public or academic library to find out to which databases it subscribes, and whether they have a mechanism in place for remote access. Some high-end databases (like InfoTrac and [[ProQuest]]) even carry scanned versions of articles as they were originally printed.

RetroWikipedians are also eligible to apply for access to paywalled research databases via the [[RetroWikipedia:The RetroWikipedia Library|RetroWikipedia Library]]. Partners with the RetroWikipedia Library include:

* [[EBSCO Information Services|EBSCO]] Full academic version (Academic Search Premier) has full text of millions of articles from over 4,600 sources. Full public library version (MasterFILE Premier) has full-text coverage of about 2,100 sources.
* [[JSTOR]] has complete text of articles from several hundred scholarly journals from their beginning to approximately five years ago. It is operated by a consortium of universities. They include most of the "high prestige" journals in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
* [[Newspaperarchive.com]] and [[Newspapers.com]] Two separate newspaper databases, each including thousands of newspapers dating back hundreds of years.

Other paywalled general interest databases that may be available through your local library are:

* [[Infotrac]] – OneFile database has full text of about 90 million articles from 1980 to the present. Widely available at academic and public libraries throughout North America. Operated by [[Thomson Gale]] (formerly Gale Group), a subsidiary of the [[Thomson Corporation]].
* [[LexisNexis]] – Full version (mostly accessed by lawyers and journalists) has millions of full-text articles (from magazines, journals, and newspapers), court opinions, statutes, treatises, transcripts, public records, and more. Academic version (available at many universities) offers large subsets of the legal and news databases.
* [[ProQuest]] – Full version (ProQuest 5000) has full text of millions of articles from 7,400 sources as far back as 1971. The ProQuest Historical Newspapers database has images in PDF format of all issues of the ''[[New York Times]]'' published between 1851 and 2001. Most libraries offer access to only part of the huge ProQuest database.

Academic libraries often subscribe to special interest databases with in-depth coverage, of which there are far too many to list here.

* Factiva – Provides multiple language interfaces and multilingual content covering nearly 9,000 sources.

====Finding relevant books====
If you are doing in-depth research on a complex or controversial subject, you should obtain relevant books in addition to articles. If the subject is of historical interest, you may have to visit a library to obtain articles that were published before 1980, since few online databases contain such old articles.

To find books or periodicals stored as bound volumes, the best place to start is with the catalog of your local public library. If you have searched the catalogs of several local libraries without success, try searching library "union" catalogs. With one search in a union catalog, it is possible to determine which books are available on a subject in an entire county, state, province, or country. The largest union catalog is OCLC [[WorldCat]], which claims to have worldwide coverage, though most of its member libraries are in [[North America]].

Only by citing the best sources in a field can a RetroWikipedia article be taken seriously by its critics. For more on this issue, see [[RetroWikipedia:Verifiability]].

If you are creating a brand-new article (see [[RetroWikipedia:Your first article]]), there are a couple of [[RetroWikipedia:Naming conventions|naming conventions]] that you should follow.

===Writing===
{{see also|RetroWikipedia:Writing better articles}}
Start your article with a concise lead section or introduction defining the topic and mentioning the most important points. The reader should be able to get a good overview by only reading the lead, which should be between one and four paragraphs long, depending on the length of the article. See [[RetroWikipedia:Manual of Style (lead section)]].

Remember that, although you will be familiar with the subject you are writing about, readers of RetroWikipedia may not be, so it is important to establish the context of your article's subject early on. For instance, if you are writing an article about a sports event you should mention the sport and, if relevant, any national details: rather than

''The '''Red Cup''' was a domestic league competition that ran between 1994 and 1996''

it would be more helpful to write

''The '''Red Cup''' was a domestic rugby league competition in New Caledonia that ran between 1994 and 1996''

Again, rather than

'''''Bobby the Salmon''' is a goalkeeper who joined the club in 2006''

say

'''''Bobby the Salmon''' is a [[football (soccer)|football]] goalkeeper who joined Fulchester United in 2006''

See our [[RetroWikipedia:How to edit a page|editing help]] for the format we use to produce links, emphasize text, lists, headlines etc. Make sure to link to other relevant RetroWikipedia articles. In addition, where appropriate, add links in other articles back to your article.

Do not simply [[RetroWikipedia:Copy-paste|copy-and-paste]] from one of the external resources mentioned above. See [[RetroWikipedia:Copyrights|Copyrights]] for the details.

It is often a good idea to separate the major sections of your articles with section headlines.
For many topics, a history section is very appropriate, outlining how thinking about the concept evolved over time.

If different people have different opinions about your topic, characterize that debate from the [[RetroWikipedia:Neutral point of view|Neutral point of view]].

Try to get your spelling right. RetroWikipedia does not yet contain a spell checker, but you can write and spell-check your article first in a word processor or text editor (which is a lot more comfortable than the RetroWikipedia text-box anyway) and then paste it into said text-box. Another option is an extension (such as ieSpell for Internet Explorer or SpellBound for Mozilla and old versions of Firefox&nbsp;– Firefox 2 and up feature built-in spell checking) that can be installed on your web browser and used as a spell checker in text boxes.

Keep the article in an encyclopedic style: add [[etymology]] or [[provenance]] (when available), look for analogies and eventual comparisons to propose. Be objective: avoid personal comments (or turn them into general statements, but only when they coincide), do not use personal forms (''I found that...''). The [[RetroWikipedia:Manual of Style|RetroWikipedia Manual of Style]] can help you with your English. You can post questions about English grammar and usage at the [[RetroWikipedia:Reference desk/Language|RetroWikipedia language and grammar desk]].

Try to avoid using [[euphemisms]], such as "passed away" for "died", or "made love" for "had sexual intercourse".

At the end, you should list the references you used and the best available external links about the topic. These references are what will allow RetroWikipedia to be the most trusted, reliable resource it can be.

===Finishing touches===
Finish the article with a good relevant image or graphic. See [[RetroWikipedia:Graphics tutorials|Graphics tutorials]] for practical help on drawing diagrams and modifying images, or make a request on the [[RetroWikipedia:Graphic Lab|Graphic Lab]]. Many copyright-free image sources are listed at our [[RetroWikipedia:Public domain image resources|public domain image resources]]. Please do not link to images on other servers; instead use the [[Special:Upload|upload page]]. The sizing of images and other issues concerning images in articles are set out in [[RetroWikipedia:Manual of Style#Images|the Manual of Style]].

One way to get a good article is to bounce it back and forth between several [[RetroWikipedia:RetroWikipedians|RetroWikipedians]]. Use the ''Talk pages'' to refine the topic, ask for their confirmations, note their doubts: it is usually interesting to discover that, perhaps from the other side of the planet, after a while, some other contributors can check other sources, or propose different interpretations. The composition of a commonly agreed interpretation is the most important ingredient of a serious RetroWikipedia article.

It may also be useful to look up your subject in one of the foreign-language RetroWikipedias, such as the German, Spanish or French editions. While the English-language RetroWikipedia is the biggest one in terms of the total number of articles it contains, you may find that other RetroWikipedias sometimes contain more in-depth articles, especially if the subject is of local importance. Even if your foreign language skills are not particularly developed, you may still glean important information from those articles, like birth dates, statistics, bibliographies, or the names of persons that are linked on the page. If you have incorporated the additional information, please also make the appropriate [[Help:Interwiki links|Interwiki links]] at the end of your article.

Do not neglect the ''External links'' and ''References'' sections. The most useful and accurate material that you have found with your Internet research might make good links for a reader, too. In addition, sometimes a standard work is mentioned repeatedly in connection with your topic. Mention it, with its author and publication date. Even better, obtain a copy and use it to check the material in the article.

In addition, remember to create links to your article from related articles and subjects. This includes any [[RetroWikipedia:Redirect|redirects]] your article may need, for instance, redirects for other capitalizations of your article title, abbreviations, plural versions, alternative spellings or common misspellings. This helps people find your article and may even help you find a related, already-written article. You can also create redirects from related subjects or subtopics which do not yet have their own articles ([[Template:R with possibilities|redirects with possibilities]]).

===Peer review===
You are encouraged to ask for feedback about the quality of an article at any time. Ask your fellow editors for their opinions, list outstanding issues, and areas to improve on article talk pages, get other editors involved. Networking to identify like-minded RetroWikipedians is one of the most important (and enjoyable) aspects of the project. It is best to have a reasonably well-developed article before you do this so that those giving feedback have something substantial to analyze. [[RetroWikipedia:Peer review]] is the normal route for evaluating articles.

==See also==
* [[RetroWikipedia:Contributing to RetroWikipedia]]
* [[RetroWikipedia:Defending article quality]]
* [[RetroWikipedia:Build content to endure]]
* [[RetroWikipedia:The perfect article]]
* [[RetroWikipedia:Picture tutorial]]

==External links==
* [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Evaluating_RetroWikipedia_brochure.pdf Evaluating RetroWikipedia (PDF download)]—Tracing the evolution and evaluating the quality of articles (Wikimedia Foundation).
*Jasmine Roberts — Writing for Strategic Communication Industries, [https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/stratcommwriting/chapter/body-of-the-article/ Body of the article], [[Ohio State University]] Pressbooks 
{{Writing guides}}

[[Category:RetroWikipedia how-to]]
[[Category:RetroWikipedia tips]]