Wikipedia:Drafts

This page is about the Draft namespace. For drafts in the User namespace, see Help:Userspace draft.

Wikipedia data structure

Namespaces
Subject namespaces		Talk namespaces
0	(Main/Article)	Talk	1
2	User	User talk	3
4	Wikipedia	Wikipedia talk	5
6	File	File talk	7
8	MediaWiki	MediaWiki talk	9
10	Template	Template talk	11
12	Help	Help talk	13
14	Category	Category talk	15
100	Portal	Portal talk	101
118	Draft	Draft talk	119
126	MOS	MOS talk	127
710	TimedText	TimedText talk	711
828	Module	Module talk	829
Former namespaces
108	Book	Book talk	109
442	Course	Course talk	443
444	Institution	Institution talk	445
446	Education Program	Education Program talk	447
2300	Gadget	Gadget talk	2301
2302	Gadget definition	Gadget definition talk	2303
2600	Topic		2601
Virtual namespaces
-1	Special
-2	Media
Current list

Drafts are pages in the Draft namespace where new articles may be created and developed, for a limited period of time. They allow editors to develop new articles and to receive feedback before being moved to Wikipedia's mainspace. If you are logged in, creating a Draft version first is optional. Editors may instead choose to create draft pages in their userspace, or new articles directly in mainspace after the user has become autoconfirmed or confirmed.

How drafts work

Finding drafts

Drafts are not indexed by most search engines including Google, meaning most readers will not find them. Anyone may search and view drafts on Wikipedia directly using Wikipedia's built-in search engine: simply choose "Advanced", then tick "Draft" and/or "Draft talk" on the list of options (i.e. in this manner). The list of all Draft pages is at Special:AllPages or Special:PrefixIndex. You may also view recent Draft changes to the namespace, newly created drafts, visit a random draft, or see Wikipedia:WikiProject Articles for creation/tables.

Creating and editing drafts

Anyone, including users who are not logged in, may create and edit drafts. Drafts in the namespace have "Draft:" before their normal title, and also have an associated draft talk page. Users who have VisualEditor enabled will be able to use VisualEditor just like on articles. Autoconfirmed rights are required for moving drafts to article mainspace page but you may request a page move at Wikipedia:Requested moves. If there is a technical barrier to the move such as when the creation of an article may be protected, seek an Admin's assistance.

Create a new draft

Preparing drafts

• (Optionally) add the template {{Draft article}} at the top of the draft (not the talk page), along with the template's parameters |name and |subject=. A list of appropriate subject fields can be found here. If the draft name has a redirect page of the same name, you can use {{Redirect draft}}.
• Disable any categories by inserting a colon before the word "Category", e.g. change [[Category:Living people]] to [[:Category:Living people]] , or by using the {{Draft categories}} template.
• Non-free content cannot be included in draft articles per Wikipedia's policy on where non-free media is allowed. Any desired non-free content should be added to the article once it has been moved to the mainspace.

Publishing a draft

Publishing a draft requires an editor to use the page move function to move it into the Main (article) namespace. This means that anonymous editors, or registered editors who are not autoconfirmed, will need to request publication by inserting into their drafts the relevant template for requesting a page move. Editors may also optionally submit drafts for review via the articles for creation process by adding the code {{subst:submit}} to the top of the draft page.

An article created in draftspace does not belong to the editor who created it, and any other user may edit, publish, redirect, merge or seek deletion of any draft.

Moving articles to draft space

See also: Wikipedia:Deletion policy § Incubation

This section is about procedure for moving drafts. For the user-space gadget, see WP:DFY.

The aim of moving an article to draft is to allow time and space for the draft's improvement until it is ready for mainspace. It is not intended as a backdoor route to deletion. As a matter of good practice the editor moving a page to draft should mark its talk page with the tags of any relevant projects as a means of soliciting improvements from interested editors.

As a result of a deletion discussion

Articles may be moved to become a draft as a result of a deletion discussion, indirectly following deletion and a request for undeletion. When performing such a move, link to the original deletion discussion and the decision to move the article into draftspace. Authors should try to understand and respond to the reason for moving to draft status, and then use the AfC submission process to have the page moved back to mainspace. The author is encouraged to ask other editors questions, or to use the {{Help me}} template.

During new page review

See also: Wikipedia:New pages patrol § Drafts

The community has also allowed for new articles to be moved to draft space as an alternative to deletion. Below are a set of best practices to follow when draftifying an article in these circumstances. As part of the review of new pages, an unreviewed page may be moved to draft if:

1. the topic has some potential merit, and
2. the article does not meet the required standard, and
3. there is no evidence of active improvement.
4. or when the author clearly has a conflict of interest (per WP:COIEDIT).

Expanding on the above:

Has some merit

1a. for example, the topic is plausibly notable (if not, it should be speedy-deleted under A7 or nominated at AfD; do not draftify junk).

Does not meet the required standard

2a. The page is obviously unready for mainspace, for example:

2a-i. it does not meet WP:STUB;

2a-ii. or it would have very little chance of survival at AfD;

2a-iii. or it meets any speedy deletion criterion.

2b. The topic appears unimportant, is possibly not worth the effort of fixing, and no great loss if deleted due to expiring in draftspace.

2c. The topic is not a new topic likely to be of interest to multiple people (such as current affairs topics).

2d. The page is a recent creation by an inexperienced editor. (Old pages, and pages by experienced editors, deserve an AfD discussion).

No evidence of active improvement

3a. There is no evidence of a user actively working on it.

3b. There is no assertion that the page belongs in mainspace, such as a clear statement to that effect in the edit history, or on the talk page, or a revert of a previous draftification.

When the author clearly has a conflict of interest

4a. The article has some merit but is written with a promotional tone that makes it clear that the author has a conflict of interest with the topic (exclusively promotional articles should instead be tagged with G11).

4b. Whenever this is done the draftifier must inform the author that COI editors should submit new articles through Articles for Creation (fourth bullet point of WP:COIEDIT).

Requirements for page movers

To unilaterally move an article to draft space, you should:

• notify the author (this is facilitated by the script User:Evad37/MoveToDraft.js),
• be accountable for your draftification decisions per the standard described at Wikipedia:Administrators#Accountability (even if you are not an administrator)

Objections

Other editors (including the author of the page) have a right to object to moving the page. If an editor raises an objection, move the page back to mainspace, and if it is not notable, list it at AfD.

Draftifying during deletion discussions

The etiquette about moving pages during deletion and review discussions is good advice:

While there is no prohibition against moving an article while an AfD or deletion review discussion is in progress, editors considering doing so should realize such a move can confuse the discussion greatly, can preempt a closing decision, can make the discussion difficult to track, and can lead to inconsistencies when using semi-automated closing scripts.

Tools for moving articles to draft space

• A recommended tool for moving articles to draft space is User:Evad37/MoveToDraft, especially for users with the page mover user-right, which allows moving without leaving a redirect. For those without the page mover user-right, it is important to tag the redirect for deletion with CSD R2 after moving the article to draft.
• For the draftifying gadgets see:
  • User:Mr. Stradivarius/gadgets/Draftify
  • User:Evad37/MoveToDraft

Deleting a draft

Drafts are meant to be works in progress, and most will not meet Wikipedia's standards for quality at first.

Speedy deletion

The general section of the criteria for speedy deletion may be applied to drafts. Drafts that are copyright violations, vandalism, disparage or attack their subject, are tests, or unambiguous advertising or promotion will be speedily deleted.

Miscellany for deletion

See also: Wikipedia:Drafts are not checked for notability or sanity

Drafts are not subject to article deletion criteria like "no context," "no indication of importance," or "not in English" so creators may have time to e.g. establish context or notability, translate, and make other adjustments and improvements. Drafts may be nominated for deletion at Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion (MfD), but not solely because the draft fails to show that the notability guidelines are satisfied. A draft that has been repeatedly resubmitted and declined at AfC without any substantial improvement may be deleted at MfD if consensus determines that it is unlikely to ever meet the requirements for mainspace and it otherwise meets one of the reasons for deletion outlined in the deletion policy. Substantial leeway is given to drafts; however, the community may decide to delete a draft via MfD if it is determined that the reasons for deletion are strong.

Deletion of old drafts

Drafts that have not been edited in six months may be deleted under criterion for speedy deletion G13. Most G13 nominations for deletion are done by bots or users using Twinkle or AFCH, processes that inform the draft creator on their talk page. Pages deleted under G13 may be restored upon request at WP:REFUND (see Wikipedia:Requests for undeletion/G13).

Promising drafts

Drafts may be tagged with {{promising draft}} if an editor feels that they are promising. This tag cannot be used to indefinitely prevent a G13 speedy deletion nomination, but extra attention should be directed to determining the viability of a draft bearing this notice before seeking to delete it.

Redirects from drafts moved to mainspace

Redirects that are a result of page moves from the draft namespace to the main namespace should be retained.

See also

• Request for Comment for the new namespace on the Village pump (proposals)
• Wikipedia:Do not use draftspace, an essay
• Wikipedia:Mbabel - article draft generating tool for Wikipedia based on Wikidata
• Wikipedia:Workpages

Learn more

• See the technical requirements and future development ideas on MediaWiki.org