User:Carabinieri/Sandbox
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Contents |
[edit] Check if the article is eligible
First, you'll need to check if the article you want to nominate. The rules on what articles can be used are outlined both here and here.
In order to be eligible an article needs to either be new or have recently been expanded. However, we don't use stubs: so your article has to be at least 1,500 characters long (we only count actual prose, but not infoboxes, footnotes, tables lists, headers, etc.) and shouldn't have a stub tag on it. If your article is not new, the prose needs to have been expanded at least fivefold. We only count characters here, so saying that the article was expanded fivefold as far as quality goes won't make a difference. By an article being new, we mean five days old at the most. Similarly, expansions need to have occurred within five days of the nomination. After that, the article is considered "expired".
The article you want to nominate also needs to roughly comply with Wikipedia's standards. It should be neutral, referenced to reliable sources, and follow the Manual of Style. Obviously, it doesn't need to satisfy Featured Article standards, but it should be of some quality. For example, inline citations aren't required, but articles definitely need to be referenced, and inline citations are preferred.
[edit] Write a "hook"
The DYK section of the Main Page features several short factoids designed to "hook" visitors into reading the articles; that's why we like to call them "hooks".
The hook should be interesting. Try to find something humorous, unusual, unique, sensational, surprising, or even shocking. If the article's subject set a record, that could make a good hook. Or if there is something people are likely to smirk at, that would be great too.
The hook's fact also needs to referenced to a reliable source. Please read the guideline on this, if you're unsure whether your source is reliable. For example, the Internet Movie Database is not considered reliable, because it features user-created content, nor are personal websites. For legal reasons, we're particularly strict about this if the article's subject is a living person.
The hook needs to be "hooky". It should be catchy and concise. In order to be able to display as many hooks as possible on the Main Page, we require them to be under 200 characters long (User:Art LaPella has written an FAQ on hook length). Hooks generally start with "... that". Then comes the fact. And they end with a question mark. The article being nominated has to be linked in the hook, with the link in boldface.
Please make sure the hook complies with Wikipedia's Manual of Style. For example, the titles of books, periodicals, or movies need to be in italics.
[edit] Find an image (if you can)
The first hook of every batch shown on the Main Page is always associated with an image, so it'd be great if you could nominate an image with your hook, but you obviously don't have to.
Fair use images are not allowed on the Main Page, so you'll have to make sure your image is free. Also images are displayed with a size of 100x100px, so they have to be recognizable at this size. Sometimes cropping them will do the trick.
[edit] List your nomination
In order to be considered, nominations have to be listed on this page. First, find the section header with the date the article was created or expanded on (not the date of nomination!). Edit that section by adding your hook. If you created or expanded the article you're nominating yourself, please note it as a "self-nom". If not please say who did. In either case sign your nomination. If you have an image please also add it to this page. Please check back on the nominations' page from time to time until it is picked. Often, other users will comment on the eligibility of your nomination and you may need to respond. Now it's all about waiting to see your article linked on the Main Page. Typically, this will be about five days after it was created or expanded.
