User:Spangineer/FAC

See also Wikipedia:What is a featured article?

I'm here to build an encyclopedia. But not just any encyclopedia—an excellent encyclopedia. To accomplish this mission, my activities on Wikipedia revolve around writing featured articles and giving feedback on featured article candidates. This page pertains primarily to the second of these tasks, as it explains several of the criteria which I use to judge an FAC.

If I have objected to your FAC nomination, consider:

• It is rare for me to immediately support an FAC.
• There is no perfect article.
• I am providing feedback, not insulting your intelligence or writing ability.
• You are allowed to disagree with me.
• If you explain why you disagree with me, I may change my opinion.

If I have the time and interest, I may act on my suggestions to improve your article. However, it is your responsibility to address my points.

Prose

Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very"; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.

— Mark Twain

• Exterminate unnecessary words.
  • Eliminate words and phrases like very, currently and the fact that. See Tony's redundancy exercises for more.
• Use active voice.
  • Count the to be verbs (not forgetting am, are, was, were, etc.). Now reword to replace as many as possible with other verbs.
• Eschew obfuscation.
  • If simple word is sufficient, don't use a complicated one.
• Make the article flow.
  • Use ideas to connect sentences, not just words. Don't overuse while, also, in addition to and as well as, and don't habitually join clauses with conjunctions like and and but.
• Vary the sentence structure.
  • Use one-clause, two-clause, and three-clause sentences. The emdash and semicolon exist for a reason—use them.
• Be consistent.
  • Pick a variety of English and use it throughout the article.
  • Avoid switching tenses unnecessarily.
• Avoid informality
  • This is an encyclopedia, not a novel. Write in third person and avoid colloquialisms, contractions, and rhetorical questions.

References

• Cite everything.
  • If a fact is so obvious that it doesn't need to be sourced, it probably needs to be rewritten or removed.
  • Finish every paragraph with a citation.
  • Both Cite.php and Harvard references are acceptable.
• Use the best sources available.
  • If books have been written on the subject, don't use websites. Never use blogs, forums, or fansites as sources.

Formatting and layout

• Conform to WP:MoS.
  • If the manual of style specifies a particular format, use it. If you disagree, debate it on the MoS talk page, not the FAC page.
  • Common problems include the failure to use   between numbers and abbreviated units and the failure to put citations directly after punctuation,^[1] like this.^[2]
• Be internally consistent.
  • Serial commas, citation method, dash type, apostrophe use—there is no reason for these to vary within an article.
• Limit images in both size and number.
  • Screen resolution of 800x600 is still common, so limit images to about 300 pixels wide for easy readability.
  • Images should complement the text, not overtake it—if an image doesn't directly relate to the subject of the article, remove it.