How to Write a Featured Article on wikiHow

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Featured Articles (FAs) showcase wikiHow's very best work. Every day a new featured article is displayed on the home page and on the RSS feed. Thousands of people will read a featured article on the day it is showcased. Our most popular featured articles have been read by over a million people and more than four hundred articles have been read by over one hundred thousand people. If you already know how to write a new article on wikiHow, or you're editing an article that's already been written, you can go the extra mile and bring that article up to FA quality.

Steps

1. Start a new article or edit an existing one to bring it up to featured status. Turning a stub into an Featured Article is an especially rewarding challenge.
   
2. Define the topic. Before you invest your energy into a particular title, do a little homework to make sure you're not reinventing the wheel. There might already be an existing article on wikiHow written on the very same topic, in which case your work might get merged to that title. If a wikiHow search turns up similar titles, you have two options:
   
   • Merge the articles that are on the same topic into one high-quality how-to that you can then polish into an FA. (Be sure to follow the merge policy!)
     
   • Put a unique twist on the topic. Read the merge policy carefully so that you understand what makes a topic distinct enough to remain un-merged, but not so specific that it's considered a vanity page (which would get nominated for deletion). For example, let's say you want to write an FA on "How to Build a Boat" but there is already an article titled "How to Construct a Boat." Instead of changing the title of yours to something like "How to Build a Boat, Billy's Way" (which would get merged or deleted), narrow down your topic to a specific kind of boat: "How to Build a Row Boat" or to a specific set of conditions: "How to Build a New Boat from Old Parts."
     
   
   
3. Research your topic on the Internet or in a library. Find reliable books or websites you can cite as a reference source. As a general rule, facts cannot be copyrighted. This means that you are able to use any facts you find to support your article.[1]
   
4. Review the instructions carefully. Does the article stick to the wikiHow format as described in the Writer's Guide? Are the steps clear, giving the reader just enough information to get the job done, but not so much that the reader gets distracted or bogged down by background information? Are spelling and grammar in good shape?
   
5. Provide additional information in the appropriate sections:
   
   • Tips - Offer any additional background information or tidbits of advice that are optional and that don't fit as a "step" in the given procedure.
     
   • Warnings - Describe any possible dangers and risks relating to the steps involved, and explain how they can be prevented.
     
   • Related wikiHows - Choose wikiHow articles that are of at least decent quality (nothing marked as a stub, in need of copyediting or formatting, etc.). If you discover a past featured article that is related to the topic, by all means, include it!
     
   • Things You'll Need - Use this section only for necessary supplies. It is also possible to list ingredients. This section is optional and is not always useful. Do list physical objects; don't list concepts, qualities, or ideas (a sense of humor, a good attitude). If a positive attitude does matter, that information might fit better in a tip.
     
   • Ingredients - Use this section only for food ingredients, and give exact quantities and any necessary descriptions: one cup of celery, chopped finely. If it is not food but equipment (a wooden spoon, duct tape, goggles), put it in Things You'll Need, instead.
     
   • Sources and Citations - Link to websites you used while researching this page. Also use the section for copyright permission attribution if you legally imported any content. See the external link guidelines for details.
     
   
   
6. Add pictures! Images make an article shine. Most instructions will benefit from being supplemented by photos, illustrations, or diagrams, and some are difficult to visualize without some type of visual aid, but don't add images that are irrelevant just to have them there. Remember to use only photos you took yourself or photos from freely licensed sources, which you can find through wikiHow. If you didn't take the photo yourself, be sure to attribute it correctly.
   
7. Cite references you used while researching the article. References make a difference in the article's credibility and they're a good antidote to folk wisdom and wild claims. Be sure to choose credible references.
   
8. Invite other wikiHow community members to help improve your page by leaving them messages on their talk pages or asking for volunteer editors at the forums. As you're improving the quality of the instructions, you may wish to consult with other editors on wikiHow and ask for their input. If you know that an active contributor on wikiHow might know a lot about the topic at hand, ask them nicely if they'd fact check the article and let you know if it's missing something. Likewise, if you know of a contributor with a particular talent, like a knack for grammar or formatting, ask them to help, too. While collaboration is not a requirement for the selection of a Featured Article, the general wikiHow belief is that every contribution creates a more complete and informative article.
   
9. Nominate the article to be featured. Write {{fac}} on the discussion page (not anywhere in the article). "FAC" stands for Featured Article Candidate. This notice will automatically add the article to the list of others being considered.
   
10. Read comments on discussion pages written by other wikiHow community members. Some will comment about the merits of featured article while some will criticize it. Respond to their praise and criticisms in a civil manner. Keep in mind that not all pages can be selected as a featured article and all criticism on wikiHow is meant to improve the quality of the article and is not a criticism of your abilities. Try to use the feedback to improve the quality of the article.
    
11. Wait. If the community decides to approve the page as a featured page, it can take several weeks or even months for the page to make it to the top of the featured page list. If the article doesn't get featured within 2 months, any editor may then remove the FAC template. Don't feel like you did a bad job though. Sometimes, certain topics just don't have wide enough appeal, or may be too controversial to be appropriate as an FA. Take pride in knowing that you've helped create a high-quality, complete and helpful how-to that excels as an example of what wikiHow contributors can accomplish together.
    

Tips

• wikiHow Featured Articles are displayed on the wikiHow home page and the RSS feed which is shown on the Google Personalized Home pages and the MyYahoo page of thousands of readers.
  
• You may view all candidate pages at this current list of featured article candidates or this list of all past featured articles.
  
• Consider bolding the first sentence of each step. It can make the article look better and easier to skim for readers. This works best when each step is fairly substantial and the article is long.
  

Warnings

• Unfortunately, not all pages nominated for featured article can be selected to run on the home page.
  
• Because of the high traffic they generate, featured articles may attract vandals (those who deliberately damage pages) and trolls (those who try to stir up controversy, particularly in the discussion page). Do not take these attacks personally. Do incorporate valid suggestions, if possible.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Writer's Guide
  
• How to Search wikiHow
  
• How to Contribute to wikiHow
  
• How to Import Content Into wikiHow
  
• How to Nominate an Article for the Spotlight
  
• How to Add to an Existing Wikipedia Article
  
• How to Become Famous Via wikiHow
  

Sources and Citations

1. ↑ U.S. Supreme Court Decision: HARPER & ROW v. NATION ENTERPRISES, 471 U.S. 539 (1985)

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Write a Featured Article on wikiHow. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.