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WikiProject report

Articles for creation: the inside story

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By Rcsprinter123

I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide.

This anniversary issue, the WikiProject report is returning to WikiProject Articles for creation for one of our largest interviews ever. Last looked at in 2011, AfC is the method used by unregistered or new users to create articles, and provides an effective filtering system to remove all unsuitable or unsourced submissions to save them needing to be found and deleted later. Four years on from the last interview, we openly invited all active members of Articles for creation to come and have their say in this interview. So, the resulting report below is quite long, but there is a general message coming across: they need your help.

One of the perennial problems with Articles for Creation has been the large backlog of unreviewed submissions, currently at around 2,500 ("severe"). How long does the average submission wait before being reviewed, and how many participants actively review submissions to keep on top of the backlog?

All Saints' Cathedral, Cairo, the subject of an article published through AfC

How do you think the backlog could be significantly reduced? In the past, backlog drives have been held to push the numbers down – are these successful or do they present too many problems, such as sloppy and rushed reviewing?

File:Ronald Skirth standing (1917).jpg
Ronald Skirth, the subject of an article published through AfC

How many submissions does the project receive in an average day, and has this figure changed since the last interview? Are most submissions accepted or declined? What are some ways an unregistered user can improve an article's chance of being accepted?

Do many accepted submissions go on to further improvement after being approved, such as appearing on DYK, being expanded, or even become recognised content?

Can you remember the best submission you've ever reviewed? Was it well-sourced, well-illustrated, skilfully and engagingly written?

How can a new member help today?

Anything else you'd like to add?

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I decided not to comment on the individual points here. There's no point talking about the details. AfC is harmful to WP, and should just be terminated. --see my comments on the oped. DGG ( talk ) 22:06, 19 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]




       

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