Wikipedia:April Fools/April Fools' Day 2022/Horrible article instructions

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Horrible article nominations

These are the instructions explaining, step-by-step, exactly how to nominate and review a horrible article nomination so that it may become a horrible article (HA).

Articles may be nominated by anyone, though it is highly preferable to not have contributed to the article in any regard to discourage vandalism and to keep your bad taste from effecting the horrible article review process.

Nominating

Step 1. Do not touch the article, even with a long stick

It may be foreign, or even difficult, to resist the urge to improve the article, such as fixing that one obviously broken citation tag, but you must not! Improving an article beyond the horrible article criteria may result in the article being disqualified from horrible article status.

Step 2. Nominating the article

1. Formulate: Why do you believe the article deserves a horrible article nomination? Write 2-3 sentences justifying your nomination.

2. Nominate: Paste the following at the very end of the nominations page, replacing "Article Name" and "Your Justification" with relevant information, and photos of your cats if you have any:

===[[Article Name]]=== 
    
Your justification ~~~~

3. Save the page.

Step 3. Waiting

Depending on how many articles are in the nomination queue, you could be stuck waiting for as long as a month. During this time, you should consider taking up a hobby, like knitting or an instrument, to pass the time.

If you're a nice person, you could consider performing Horrible Article reviews for two other articles while you wait.

Step 4. Impatient?

If you've gotten bored at this point, just go ahead and certify the article as a horrible article. If no one notices, it's probably fine anyways.

Reviewing

Step 1. Familiarize yourself with the criteria

In order to be a good reviewer, you must be intimately familiar with the qualities and criteria of a horrible article. Remember, one slip-up, and the reputation and esteem of horrible articles comes crashing down, and you will be held accountable for your failure. No pressure, though.

Step 2. Starting a review

To start a review, begin evaluating the article against the horrible article criteria. Some editors may find it helpful to build a checklist or rubric out of the criteria page while performing their review.

Step 3. Finalize your review

Reply to the original review with your verdict: Pass or Fail

It is encouraged, but not required, to write a short dissertation on the article's adherence to the horrible article criteria after reviewing it. Your dissertation must contain 500 words, and should explore the historical connections between the culture of The British Empire culture and a topic of your choice. This will be worth 20 points on your final grade.

If you believe an article fails the horrible article criteria, then you should fail it, citing the reasons for the failure in your dissertation.

If you believe an article meets the horrible article criteria, then you should pass it.

Step 4. Finalizing the nomination

With community consensus, the nominated article may be certified a horrible article or a not horrible article at any time.

Passing

If community consensus declares an article passes the horrible article criteria, it may be passed by any editor. To pass an article, you should

1. Update any WikiProject templates to alert them that they should be ashamed of themselves
2. Pat your head and rub your belly at the same time
3. Leave a message at WP:AIV

Failing

If community consensus declares an article does not pass the horrible article criteria, it may be failed. To fail an article, you should:

1. Delete the section from the horrible article nominations page, especially if the article is on Birds or something useless like that.
2. Nominate the article for good article status if you think you're so smart!