- Check if your subject is already covered, perhaps under a different spelling or in a section of an article about a wider topic. Use your time wisely and avoid reinventing the wheel.
- If you have any connection or affiliation with the subject, disclose it in accordance with our guideline on conflicts of interest. If you have been or expect to be paid for making edits, or are making them as part of your job, make a paid-contribution disclosure. This is absolutely required; do it or risk being blocked from further editing.
- Review our guideline on notability, our policy on Verifiability, and our general notability guideline (GNG). Consider whether the topic clearly meets the standards listed there.
- Read how to create Your First Article and referencing for beginners and again consider if you want to go ahead.
- Gather sources. You want independent, professionally published, reliable sources with each discussing the subject in some detail. If you can't find several such sources, stop; an article will not be created! Sources do NOT need to be online, or in English, although it is helpful if at least some are. The "independent" part is vital: that excludes sources such as press releases, or news stories based on press releases, or anything published by the subject itself or an affiliate of the subject. Strictly local coverage is also not preferred. Regional or national newspapers or magazines, books published by mainstream publishers (not self-published), or scholarly journals are usually good. So are online equivalents of these. (Additional sources may verify particular statements but not discuss the subject in detail. But those significant detailed sources are needed first.)
- Use the article wizard to create a draft under the articles for creation project. This is always a good idea for an inexperienced editor but essential in the case of an editor with a conflict of interest.
- Use the sources gathered before (and other sources you may find along the way) to write the article. Cite all significant statements to sources. Explicitly attribute any opinions or judgements to named people or entities, preferably in a direct quotation, and cited to a source. Avoid puffery or marketing-speak. Provide page numbers, dates, and authors for sources to the extent these are available; a title is always needed. Submit the draft when you think it is ready for review. Be prepared to wait a while for a review (several weeks or more).
- When (well perhaps if) your draft is declined, pay attention to the comments of the reviewer, and correct the draft and resubmit it. During this whole process, if you face any unresolvable editing hurdles, or cannot comprehend any editing issue, feel free to post a request at the Teahouse or the help desk and ask the regulars. Repeat this until the draft is rejected or passes review.
Congratulations, you (may) have created a valid Wikipedia article.
 | This is the template sandbox page for Template:Steps to Article (diff). |
This template is used to provide user-friendly information to editors wanting to know how to create a new article. It is intended for use at the Teahouse, on the Help desk, on another discussion page, or on a user's talk page.
Usage edit
This template should be subst'd and signed.
This template creates a bulleted list of items, with zero or 1 additional indents.
If used on the Teahouse, the link to the Teahouse in step seven is replaced by "this page".
If used on the Help desk, the link to the Help desk in step seven is replaced by "this page".
Syntax edit
{{subst:Steps to Article|type=<SubjectType> |paid=Yes |indent=Yes}} ~~~~
Parameters edit
All parameters for this template are optional.
type- specifies the kind of article under discussion and the specific notability guideline linked to. Supported values are:
| Code | Type of article planned | Linked guideline |
|---|---|---|
| ORG | Organization | WP:ORG |
| CORP | Business or Company | WP:CORP |
| BIO | Biography | WP:NBIO |
| MUSIC | Musical topic: song, album or performer | WP:NMUSIC |
| FILM | Film-related topic | WP:NFILM |
| Anything else or parameter omitted | general topic | WP:GNG |
(The codes may be all caps, all lower case, or with an initial capital.)
indent- If this is yes (or any non-empty value), an extra level of indentation is added, as appropriate for a reply to a post on a talk page. If this is blank or omitted no indent is added.
paid- If this is yes (or any non-empty value), it is assumed that the editor has admitted being a paid contributor, and appropriate changes in step three are made.
Examples edit
{{subst:Steps to Article|type=ORG |indent=Yes}} ~~~~(For a reply on a discussion page about proposed article on a non-business organization){{subst:Steps to Article|type=BIO |paid=Yes}} ~~~~(For an initial message, say on a user talk page, about a proposed biography article by an editor who has admitted being paid)
Alternate names edit
- {{7STEPS}}
- {{SevenStepsGuide}}
TemplateData edit
This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Steps to Article in articles based on its TemplateData.
TemplateData for Steps to Article
Advice about how to create a valid Wikipedia article
| Parameter | Description | Type | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| type | type | The kind of article proposed: one of 'CORP', 'ORG', 'BIO', 'MUSIC, or 'FILM' | String | optional |
| paid | paid | 'Yes' if the editor is a paid contributor | String | optional |
| indent | indent | 'Yes' if the text is to be indented one level | String | optional |