Wikipedia:Wikipedia's hierarchy of needs
 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
The success of this project (like any project) can be measured in any number of ways, by any number of metrics. However, from a philosophical point of view, Wikipedia is successful because it has a certain set of priorities; while each of the elements contribute to the overall success, there is a certain hierarchy between various priorities.
Wikipedia's metrics supersede each other in the following order:
- Media coverage is the most basic metric for success – it provides notability and a public image for the project.
- The number of readers supersedes media coverage – irrespective of the media, the number of actual readers matters more (high media coverage and low number of readers actually means the project is not successful; on the contrary, low media coverage and a high number of readers means the project is successful).
- The quality and quantity of content is more important than the current number of readers – good content creates readership.
- Content cannot be created without contributors, therefore the number of contributors and their ability to create good content is more important than the current content.
- Good contributors leave the project if they're not treated in a fair manner, and potential contributors are not interested in joining if they feel the project is misguided – therefore applying rules in a fair manner is more important than retaining contributors at any cost.
- Misguided rules are guaranteed to ruin any enterprise, therefore all rules must necessarily be the result of applying healthy principles – the logic goes both ways, applying existing rules in fringe situations against the principles is disastrous.