What to prepare for your Wikipedia project
A useful brief tells me what you want to achieve and gives me the material I need to examine it. You do not need to write an article before asking for a new page assessment. For an editing project, a precise description of the problem is more useful than a request to “improve the page”.
I use WikiNative Studio to keep that brief, the source material and the work together. My professional Wikipedia services are available to Studio subscribers; assessments and editorial work are ordered through the shop inside your account.
If you want a new Wikipedia page
Start with the subject’s name, a short explanation of who or what it is, and links to substantial published coverage. Include the publication, date and author where available. Several links to copies of the same report are not several independent accounts.
Tell me about any earlier article, draft, submission or deletion discussion involving the subject. Include the links even if the earlier attempt did not go well. That history is part of the starting point.
A Preliminary Notability Assessment examines whether the available evidence supports a proposed article. A company or organisation and a person need different assessments. My Wikipedia page creation service explains the research, drafting and review stages.
If an article already exists
Give me the article URL and identify each passage you want examined. For each request, explain the factual or editorial problem, the change you are seeking and the source you think supports it. Include the relevant page number or passage in a long document.
For example, “the date in the second paragraph differs from the date in this published report” gives me a specific point to check. “Make it more positive” does not tell me what is wrong with the existing text.
Add links to relevant talk-page discussions and previous edit requests. A Preliminary Viability Assessment examines the proposed changes before an editing project is agreed. Read about my Wikipedia editing service for the process and scope.
Keep the source and the claim connected
Use the source uploader in your Studio account for project material. Keep the original link or document with a note explaining the point you want me to examine. A useful source note contains:
- The title, publisher, author and publication date where available.
- The original URL or file, with a page number for a specific passage.
- The claim or question it relates to.
- Any uncertainty you have about the source or what it says.
Saving material makes it available for review. It does not mean I have accepted the source or the proposed wording. I read the evidence and make the editorial decision.
If you already have a draft
Put the proposed draft in your Studio scratch pad and order a separately charged Draft Review before I look at it. Tell me who prepared it and whether any version has already been submitted to Wikipedia. A Draft Review is separate from a notability assessment and from subsequent rewriting.
Give feedback where it belongs
Once there is work to review, select the passage you mean and keep your question or proposed correction beside it. Add the source that supports your point. I can then review the wording, evidence and discussion together.
The demo guide shows how to try the public sample. The sample is for exploring the tools; your own project material belongs in your private account.