Wikipedia:WikiProject Wikify/Drives/Instructions

Joining the drive

Joining instructions are on the log page in the green box.

How do you wikify an article?

Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify

All articles

23,019

Eight simple steps to thoroughly wikify an article

1. Check for copyright violations. Long segments of text without wikilinks can indicate that the text was illegally copied into Wikipedia. Look for (other red flags). Instructions for reporting violations are at Wikipedia:Copyright problems.
2. Add wikilinks. Where appropriate, make links to other articles by putting "[[" and "]]" on either side of relevant words (see WP:LINK for more information). Note that dates should not be linked purely for the purpose of autoformatting; in general, consensus is that there are very limited instances where linking of dates is desirable. Please do not link terms that most readers are familiar with, including common occupations (e.g., "writer"), well-known geographical terms (e.g., "United States"), or everyday items (e.g., "milk").
3. Format the lead. Create or improve the lead paragraph. It should "define the topic, establish context, explain why the subject is interesting or notable, and summarize the most important points".
4. Arrange section headings. Arrange section headings as described at Wikipedia:Guide to layout. Be sure there are two blank lines between a stub template and category links.
5. Replace HTML tags with wiki markup, where available. Use of HTML tags is discouraged where equivalent wiki markup exists: for example, replace <b>bold text</b> with '''bold text'''. However, HTML is permitted where no corresponding wiki markup exists: e.g., H<sub>2</sub>O for subscripts and   for a non-breaking space. See Help:Wikitext examples for a useful list of common wikitext and appropriate HTML markup.
6. Add an infobox if appropriate. Add an infobox if it is appropriate for the article.
7. Remove the {{wikify}} tag. This will remove it from the list of tagged pages.
8. Save your changes!

Articles that can't be wikified

In some cases, articles cannot be wikified. In these cases, you can do one of the following:

• Nominate the article for deletion, if appropriate. Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion is a good guide. See Wikipedia:Articles for deletion if you think discussion is warranted or you aren't sure whether the article should be deleted.
• Tag for other problems. If you happen to notice that an article has problems beyond simple formatting and you can't fix it yourself, please add the appropriate tag from Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup to the article itself.

Procedures for the drive

1. Note the article's wordcount before you wikify it. Use the Prose size (text only) count. You will need it to get credit for the wikification. There is an automated word counting script available at User talk:Dr_pda/prosesize.js; installation instructions are below.
   • If, even with this script, you forget to click the 'Page size' tool before beginning your wikification session, you can still obtain your starting word count. View the article's history (you may prefer to do this in a new browser tab), then click on the linked date of the revision listed below your first wikification edit to view the article as you first found it. Run the 'Page size' script from there and credit yourself that amount.
2. Log completed articles on the log page. If you complete a wikification, don't forget to list it so that you can get credit for the edit. Also don't forget to remove the {{wikify}} or {{Dead end}} tag from the article itself.
3. No rubber-stamping of articles. Be thorough and complete in your wikifications, and make sure all the headings are correct and there are no mistakes in the syntax and coding.
4. Don't create extra work. Participants should not log any articles they themselves added a {{wikify}} tag to during the drive or in the month before the drive.
5. Have fun. We're here to help bring these articles up to their fullest potential and hence improving the overall quality of the encyclopedia. Have fun!

How to find articles to work on

CatScan

CatScan helps you find articles in categories based on size, other categories, et cetera.

CatScan

Some contributors enjoy taking a random dip in All articles that need to be wikified (or the monthly listings). Others prefer editing articles in a field they already know about. Such articles can be found using categories:

1. Go to the whimsically named CatScan. Don't be intimidated! It's easy to use.
2. Set the Depth to 5.
3. Write or paste All articles that need to be wikified in the box labelled "Categories".
4. Write the name of a category of interest on a separate line in the same box, eg Books.
5. Scroll down and click the button labelled "Do it!"
6. Be patient... For big categories the results might take a little while.

This example will find articles tagged with {{Wikify}} in Category:Books, as well as its sub-categories, sub-sub-categories, and so on down to sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-categories.