User:Nousernamesleft/A few thoughts on featured articles

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This is in no way a guide to getting your article through FAC - just random thoughts on it. It doesn't even really qualify as an essay, really. Nousernamesleftcopper, not wood 01:19, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

  • Make sure your article is comprehensive and contains good content about your subject - very few FAC regulars comments about the actual content (instead fixing on the prose, refs, images, MOS issues, etc.). So why focus on them? Your goal shouldn't be to get an article through FAC, but to get a high-quality article. Since no one else will bother, you should do it yourself. (one exception: Geometry guy does excellent work verifying the content of mathematics articles, and I also encountered a reviewer named Randomblue who was similarly picky about my article - kudos to them!)
  • Make all the little grammar changes in one edit, not lots of edits - sometimes I forget to do this myself.
  • Read WP:SPS and WP:RS carefully when someone asks "Why is ref #xx reliable?"
  • If you disagree/need clarification on one of the reviewers' comments, don't be afraid to ask! They don't bite.
  • Be friendly to the reviewers!
  • Don't be scared of the tiny details of MOS or grammar/prose - if you ask nicely about something you don't understand, the reviewer may change it himself.
  • Long, boring, jobs' boredom can be alleviated by asking an acquaintance of yours to share it - for example, converting all of the 100 refs to another format; if you have three other editors willing to help; you only need to convert 25.
  • Don't be afraid to ask others to copyedit! Also, don't go to the WP:LOC - just ask someone you know personally that's a fair hand at copyediting. (If you don't know such a person, then the LOC can be useful)
  • WP:PR can alleviate some of the stress at FAC by giving you a chance to address concerns before the FAC.
  • I have mixed feelings about WP:GA - somehow, I don't really feel this is a true judge of an article's worth, which is why I stopped reviewing GA articles. However, an experienced/thorough GA reviewer can provide some nice criticism for your article, and their opinion (if they pass it) will also help it at FAC.
  • A highly useful tool for self-checking the article for MOS/prose issues is this.

I'll probably add more to this list of thoughts intermittently as I think of them.