A featured topic (or a good topic) is a collection of articles or lists that represents Wikipedia's best work in covering a subject comprehensively and with items of consistently good quality. In addition to meeting the requirements for all Wikipedia articles by all of its constituents, a good or featured topic has the following attributes.
- It is a set of similar, interrelated articles or lists that cover a specific topic.
- (a) There are at least three distinct articles or lists.
- (b) The articles or lists have a clear similarity with each other under a well-defined topical scope.
- (c) All articles or lists in the topic are linked together, preferably using a template, and share a common category or super-category.
- (d) There are no obvious gaps (missing or low-quality articles) in the topic. A topic must not cherry-pick only the best articles to become featured together.
- (e) For overview topics, every article within the scope of the topic that is not included in the topic should also be within the scope of a non-lead article that is included in the topic.
- The topic has an introductory and summary lead article or list.
- Each article or list is of high quality, including the referencing.
- (a) With featured topics only:
- (i) At least one half (50%) of the items are featured class (featured articles or featured lists), with a minimum of two featured items.
- (ii) All other articles are good articles.
- (b) With good topics only:
- (i) All items are at least featured lists or good articles.
- (c) Items that are ineligible for featured article, featured list or good article status, either due to their limited subject (in the case of lists only) or due to inherent instability (in the case of either articles or lists), must have passed an individual quality audit that included a completed peer review, with all important problems fixed. Such items do not count towards criteria 1(a), 3(a)(ii), or 3(b)(i).
- The topic should contain an introductory paragraph that summarizes the topic for any reader who might want to find more about it. This paragraph should be a short version of the introduction of the lead article. See this for a specific example.
Recommendations
In addition to the mandatory criteria above, it is recommended that all topics meet the following optional criteria:
- The structure of the articles is similar, with the same section titles and order where possible.
- The articles use a common infobox where appropriate.
- The topic has a free use image to accompany and represent the topic, preferably a featured picture if at all possible.
- The topic is not overly large nor needlessly small. There is no maximum number of articles, but if something is far larger than existing topics, it might be wise to split it into subtopics. For example, science fiction films would be too large a topic, but Star Trek films would be of appropriate scope. Conversely, a topic should not be excessively subdivided; an all-encompassing topic of five articles is better than two topics of three each. These guidelines do not apply to items in a clear series (every article from 1st Canadian Parliament to 40th Canadian Parliament could be included in one topic), or those dictated by geography (for example, US states).
- The topic does not excessively overlap with a current good or featured topic.
- Before nominating a topic, nominators may wish to receive feedback by listing it at Featured topic questions. Nominators must be sufficiently familiar with the subject matter and sources to deal with objections during the FTC process. If you nominate something you have worked on, note it as a self-nomination. Nominators who are not significant contributors to the articles of the topic should consult regular editors of the articles prior to nomination. Nominators are expected to respond positively to constructive criticism and to make an effort to address objections promptly.
- To avoid wasting time, the topic should not have any active Good article nominations, Good article reassessments, Featured article reviews, Featured article removal candidates, Featured list candidates, or Featured list removal candidates when nominated for good or featured topic, and should only have Peer reviews or Featured article candidates if the result does not affect whether the topic meets the good/featured topic criteria. Please have all required processes done before nominating. Nominations with one or more articles involved in a process mentioned above may result in a quick fail.
- Good and featured topic status is dependent on the continued adherence to all criteria, including retention of high quality status by all the constituents. If any of the criteria are no longer met, or any constituents lose quality status, such topics will be eligible for a topic removal nomination after a grace period. The grace period will be three months for a demotion of an article or if the topic expands and is therefore incomplete and six months following a change to the Good or Featured Topic criteria. Use this tool to quickly check which articles have been demoted.
- Attempts will be made to keep the retention periods list below up to date, and to notify topic nominators of any appearances of their topic(s) on this list. However, ultimately it is up to topic nominators to be aware of any potential demotions or expansions that will affect their topic(s).
Current retention periods
Future retention periods