Welcome to WikiProject Abandoned Drafts. Several Wikipedians have formed this collaboration resource and group dedicated to improving Wikipedia's use of article drafts left in retired users' subpages and in Draft space. The project seeks to organize information and articles on this topic. This page and its subpages contain their suggestions and various resources; it is hoped that this project will help to focus the efforts of other Wikipedians interested in the topic. If you would like to help, please join the project, inquire on the talk page and see the to-do list below.

Goals[edit]

The purpose of Wikipedia is to build out mainspace with as many qualified topics as possible. There is no mandate to build a shadow Wikipedia of unqualified and unsuitable topics in Draft and Userspace preserved and maintained for perpetuity. Project Abandoned Drafts plays an important role in building Wikipedia by bringing forward material that will further Wikipedia's goals.

There are two main kinds of pages identified as "drafts" in Wikipedia. "Good Drafts" are works in progress that have potential to be future mainspace articles, or sometimes material that can be used to improve existing mainspace articles. Project participants are encouraged to identify and take action to move these "Good Drafts" forward toward mainspace. "Bad Drafts" are pages that are essentially forever unsuitable for mainspace for various reasons. "Bad Drafts" may be simply blank, vandalism, attack pages, topics with no chance of notability, duplicates of mainspace pages, WP:NOTAWEBHOST violations and other problematic pages.

Given the tens of thousands of pages considered "drafts", finding Good Drafts and making them accessible for improvement and promotion to mainspace is not easy because they are surrounded by Bad Drafts. Therefore the identification and deletion of unsuitable "drafts" is a critical part of the process of improving the encyclopedia.

Scope[edit]

Any drafts that are created by users who are deemed inactive, and which have no equivalent article in mainspace. Drafts can be in the following places:

This project also allows the donation of drafts from users who do not feel like they are up to finishing them or have lost interest in the subject of the draft.

Advice[edit]

Stale userspace drafts

Further information: WP:STALE

Category:Stale userspace drafts contains userspace drafts that have not been edited for over a year. It is populated through the ((Userspace draft)) template. Only the pages with the template will appear in this category.

  1. If you find a page in this category that is not an attempt at a draft, remove the invocation of ((userspace draft)) from the page.
  2. Pages that are clearly vandalism, attack pages, unambiguous advertising or promotion, copyright infringements, or only contain the article wizard text should be speedily deleted.
  3. If you find a draft that is clearly on a non-notable topic and has no conceivable potential for an article, nominate it for deletion at Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion if you can't speedy delete it (think U5 if the user did little else).
  4. For drafts on which a corresponding article already exists in the mainspace, check the histories of both the pages to see if a history merge is required. If yes, tag the article with ((histmerge|Draft page name)). If not, redirect the draft page to the article.
  5. Where an inactive user's user page has been used for drafting or testing and the page is neither problematic or useful consider replacing the contents of the user page with ((Inactive userpage blanked)) or ((userpage blanked)) and notify the inactive user with ((subst:uw-staleuserpageblanked|Page blanked)) ~~~~ or just blank the page to remove it from the maintenance category and avoid further housekeeping efforts.
  6. If you find a draft that is on a clearly notable topic, ensure the evidence of notability is cited, and, if the user is active, enquire with the creator why they are not moving it. Check first whether the topic is already covered in another article, and if so, whether it should be merged. Consider moving the page to the mainspace yourself, or tag it with ((subst:submit)) so that an AfC reviewer can review it.
  7. If you find a draft that is on a borderline notable topic, enquire with the page creator, if active, why they are not working upon it. ((subst:Uw-userspace draft finish|Page name)) ~~~~ can be placed on their talk page. If the user is inactive, consider bringing the draft to the attention of associated WikiProjects, or to WikiProject Abandoned Drafts. You may also consider improving the draft yourself.
  8. If the topic looks notable and is not covered in mainspace, but you are not comfortable readying it for mainspace, then move it to a suitable title in Draft space to expose it to more editors and encourage improvement, as long as the user is either active and happy for you to do this, or appears to have retired with no likelihood of returning to Wikipedia. (Be mindful of the more general #Guidelines above, and of the conventions about editing within other users' userspaces.)
  9. For topics already covered in mainspace placing a redirect on the userpage is a good idea. Sometimes the title makes a good redirect so you can move the title to mainspace and redirect it.

Open tasks[edit]

Participants[edit]

Please feel free to add yourself here, and to indicate any areas of particular interest. You may wish to use the following userboxes on your userpage or elsewhere: ((User WP Abandoned Drafts))

  1. Silver seren (talk · contribs) I will work on expanding and improving this Wikiproject. SilverserenC 04:24, 13 July 2011 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  2. North8000 (talk · contribs) I'll help if I see a topic which I'd be good at, which I'm afraid might be rare. :-) North8000 (talk) 10:49, 13 July 2011 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  3. Ebe123 (talk · contribs) I'll work on it. ~~EBE123~~ talkContribs 19:55, 13 July 2011 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  4. Guerillero (talk · contribs) If something perks my interest I will work on it --Guerillero | My Talk 15:54, 16 July 2011 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  5. Milowent (talk · contribs) I love the concept, if something interesting strikes my fancy I'll help out! I am sure there are some nuggets out there among the self-written BLPs and other fluff.--Milowent • talkblp-r 18:47, 19 July 2011 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  6. Mabdul (talk · contribs) I will try to improve the technical drafts for getting into mainspace, and organisation of this project. mabdul 09:35, 25 July 2011 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  7. Nolelover (talk · contribs) Like Milowent says, the concept is fascinating. Thanks to EBE for pointing me here. I'm decent at wikification and overall formatting. Nolelover Talk·Contribs 14:49, 29 July 2011 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  8. Ryan Vesey (talk · contribs) I am a little booked in behind the scenes work so I won't do much "project work" but I will be happy to take on some of the unfinished drafts.15:00, 29 July 2011 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  9. Sumsum2010 (talk · contribs) I'm busy at the moment, but this does look interesting and like something I can do. Sumsum2010·T·C 19:00, 8 August 2011 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  10. Nathan2055 (talk · contribs) I think I can do this. After all, it's like AfC with potential barnstars! --Nathan2055talk - review 20:06, 13 August 2011 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  11. Jonjonjohny (talk · contribs) I primarily do things like music-related articles, but I see myself contributing if something I like appears. Jonjonjohny (talk) 16:43, 3 September 2011 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  12. NotinREALITY (talk · contribs) I'm willing to complete or review any technical or communications based projects / pages. NotinREALITY 11:10, 29 September 2011 (UTC)
  13. User:Lucimundatene89 I'm willing to work on computer(/tablet/etc.) articles. May help with others. Lucimundatene89, formerly Aroni125 (talk) 08:49, 17 November 2011 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  14. Mistress Selina Kyle (Α⇔Ω ¦ ⇒✉) 19:39, 17 February 2012 (UTC) — Per [1] -.- and in general Wikipedia:Systemic_bias#The_.22average_Wikipedian.22, meta:Gender gap, Wikipedia:WikiProject_Feminism and Wikipedia:WikiProject_Gender_Studies all stuff that Wikipedia kinda leaves by the wayside usually due to the atmosphere (support wp:WikiLove)...Reply[reply]
  15. John Vandenberg (talk · contribs) Australian drafts
  16. AuthorAuthor (talk · contribs) I would like to help with some unfinished drafts, mainly related to biographies, books, music, and media. 15:42, 9 November 2013 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  17. --User:SmartyPantsKid 18:03, 15 January 2014 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  18. Ricky81682 (talk · contribs) I am working through the backlog at Category:Userspace drafts created via the Article Wizard and looking for decent stuff to adopt or move to mainspace. -- 19:15, 12 July 2014 (UTC)
  19. Casseb (talk · contribs) Help with unfinished drafts
  20. ThaddeusB (talk · contribs) I am primarily interested in saving via drafts that have been abandoned. 15:57, 9 March 2015 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  21. Fritzmann2002 (talk · contribs) This is a very interesting project, and I hope to contribute to the Articles that need to be Adopted list
  22. Anne Delong (talk · contribs)
  23. Sam Sailor (talk · contribs)
  24. MrLinkinPark333 (talk · contribs) I'm currently going through the stale userspace drafts as well. --MrLinkinPark333 (talk) 01:08, 14 February 2016 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  25. faratel110 (talk · contribs). I'm busy at the moment, but this does look interesting and like something I can do. Faratel110 (talk) 18:16, 26 June 2016 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  26. hwdirre (talk · contribs). This is something I'm doing anyway. Contact me for Taiwan/Southern Japan drafts, railway drafts, or materials science. Related subjects work too.hwdirre (talk) 17:26, 20 March 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  27. Aamri2 (talk · contribs). Helping with finishing any drafts that I can find sources for.Aamri2 (talk) 14:50, 14 May 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  28. UnitedStatesian (talk · contribs) Abandoned articles on companies/businesses. 20:02, 5 July 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  29. SophisticatedSwampert (talk · contribs) Helping finish old drafts. SophisticatedSwampert let's talk about that 18:33, 15 July 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  30. Insertcleverphrasehere (talk · contribs) Helping review old drafts that need deletion/keeping. — InsertCleverPhraseHere (or here) 04:16, 11 September 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  31. PrussianOwl (talk · contribs) Salvaging and improving drafts, and preventing loss of usable information on the wiki. 05:32, 6 March 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  32. Curb Safe Charmer (talk) 04:42, 12 March 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  33. Compassionate727 (talk · contribs) I'll be working on going through the backlog, moving viable drafts to the mainspace and deleting (via CSD or XfD) those which are not. —Compassionate727 (T·C) 14:36, 25 April 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  34. AmericanAir88 (talk) 14:52, 1 August 2018 (UTC) Working the backlog.Reply[reply]
  35. Bbarmadillo --Bbarmadillo (talk) 19:47, 20 August 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  36. William01pd2018 (talk) 2:22, 12 September 2018 (UTC) Want to do my part.
  37. CoolSkittle (talk · contribs) Eliminating bad drafts, filling in refs and fixing grammar and spelling on good drafts. 14:59, 7 November 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  38. DannyS712 (talk · contribs) Fixing references, taking over stale drafts that I want to work on --DannyS712 (talk) 07:37, 23 December 2018 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  39. Robert McClenon (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) Going through the list of abandoned drafts, declining or rejecting most of them, submitting a few for review. Robert McClenon (talk) 16:51, 17 January 2019 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  40. Rocky 734 (talk · contribs) I'm interested in editing errors in Wikipedia articles specially spelling mistakes. 07:38, 19 February 2019 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  41. IamMattDavies (talk · contribs) Stuff about railways & trains in England, Scotland and Wales. Helped with Parliamentary train recently. IamMattDavies (talk) 15:46, 28 December 2019 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  42. ToxiBoi (talk · contribs) I am currently interested in adding content to drafts surronding video games or music — for example, Joseph Montague — and finding references, handling edit requests and copyediting miscellaneous drafts. 00:33, 18 April 2020 (UTC)
  43. Pythoncoder Occasional participant in Wikipedia:WikiProject Abandoned Drafts/Stale drafts —pythoncoder (talk | contribs) 20:43, 4 April 2021 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  44. I-Bin-A-Bibi (talk · contribs) Already a member of Project Orphanage and Guild of Copy Editors - Looking forward to help! (o≧▽゜)o —I-Bin-A-Bibi (talk) 16:24, 7 August 2021 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  45. DGG (talk · contribs)-- I have for the last year been regularly screening everything in AfC G13 eligible-soon except those dealing with athletes or entertainers, but I concentrate on academics. If I think they have possibilities, most I just improve a little in the hope of further fixes later. But I will look at and fix and move to mainspace any draft on a clearly notable academic (as a rough screen, someone who holds a professorship) --notify me on my usertalk page. I will also look at deleted drafts, and undelete them if they have possibilities--you can ask me for that also. ˜ DGG ( talk ) 02:09, 16 December 2021 (UTC)Reply[reply]
  46. Fayenatic london (talk · contribs) – I check backlinks after category page moves, including user pages, and make use of abandoned work that I stumble across in this way. – Fayenatic London 11:06, 3 November 2022 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Articles[edit]

New articles to be adopted

Please feel free to list your own Abandoned Drafts-here (newer articles at the top, please), along with a short description of what work is necessary, and add the draft to the abandoned drafts for adoption category.

If you would like to adopt one of these articles, please feel free to move them to your own subspace and remove them from this list.

Articles that have been adopted

Review and assessment[edit]

Assessment

Assessment
WikiProject article quality grading scheme
Class Criteria Reader's experience Editing suggestions Example
 A The article is well-organized and essentially complete, having been reviewed by impartial reviewers from a WikiProject, like military history, or elsewhere. Good article status is not a requirement for A-Class.
More detailed criteria
The article meets the A-Class criteria:
 A

Provides a well-written, clear and complete description of the topic, as described in Wikipedia:Article development. It should be of a length suitable for the subject, appropriately structured, and be well referenced by a broad array of reliable sources. It should be well illustrated, with no copyright problems. Only minor style issues and other details need to be addressed before submission as a featured article candidate. See the A-Class assessment departments of some of the larger WikiProjects (e.g. WikiProject Military history).

Very useful to readers. A fairly complete treatment of the subject. A non-expert in the subject matter would typically find nothing wanting. Expert knowledge may be needed to tweak the article, and style issues may need addressing. Peer review may help. 102nd Intelligence Wing
(as of March 2010)
B The article is mostly complete and without major issues, but requires some further work to reach good article standards.
More detailed criteria
The article meets the six B-Class criteria:
  1. The article is suitably referenced, with inline citations. It has reliable sources, and any important or controversial material which is likely to be challenged is cited. Any format of inline citation is acceptable: the use of <ref> tags and citation templates such as ((cite web)) is optional.
  2. The article reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain obvious omissions or inaccuracies. It contains a large proportion of the material necessary for an A-Class article, although some sections may need expansion, and some less important topics may be missing.
  3. The article has a defined structure. Content should be organized into groups of related material, including a lead section and all the sections that can reasonably be included in an article of its kind.
  4. The article is reasonably well-written. The prose contains no major grammatical errors and flows sensibly, but it does not need to be "brilliant". The Manual of Style does not need to be followed rigorously.
  5. The article contains supporting materials where appropriate. Illustrations are encouraged, though not required. Diagrams, an infobox etc. should be included where they are relevant and useful to the content.
  6. The article presents its content in an appropriately understandable way. It is written with as broad an audience in mind as possible. The article should not assume unnecessary technical background and technical terms should be explained or avoided where possible.
 Readers are not left wanting, although the content may not be complete enough to satisfy a serious student or researcher. A few aspects of content and style need to be addressed. Expert knowledge may be needed. The inclusion of supporting materials should also be considered if practical, and the article checked for general compliance with the Manual of Style and related style guidelines. KV55
(as of November 2009)
C The article is substantial, but is still missing important content or contains a lot of irrelevant material. The article should have references to reliable sources, but may still have significant issues or require substantial cleanup.
More detailed criteria
The article is better developed in style, structure and quality than Start-Class, but fails one or more of the criteria for B-Class. It may have some gaps or missing elements; need editing for clarity, balance or flow; or contain policy violations such as bias or original research. Articles on fictional topics are likely to be marked as C-Class if they are written from an in-universe perspective.
 Useful to a casual reader, but would not provide a complete picture for even a moderately detailed study. Considerable editing is needed to close gaps in content and address cleanup issues. Architecture of Sweden
(as of May 2009)
Start An article that is developing, but which is quite incomplete and may require further reliable sources.
More detailed criteria
The article has a usable amount of good content but is weak in many areas. Quality of the prose may be distinctly unencyclopedic, and MoS compliance non-existent; but the article should satisfy fundamental content policies such as notability and BLP, and provide sources to establish verifiability. No Start-Class article should be in any danger of being speedily deleted.
 Provides some meaningful content, but the majority of readers will need more. Provision of references to reliable sources should be prioritised; the article will also need substantial improvements in content and organisation. Real analysis
(as of November 2006)
Stub A very basic description of the topic.
More detailed criteria
The article is either a very short article or a rough collection of information that will need much work to become a meaningful article. It is usually very short, but if the material is irrelevant or incomprehensible, an article of any length falls into this category.
 Provides very little meaningful content; may be little more than a dictionary definition. Any editing or additional material can be helpful. The provision of meaningful content should be a priority. Geodia gibberosa
(as of July 2009)
List Meets the criteria of a stand-alone list, which is an article that contains primarily a list, usually consisting of links to articles in a particular subject area. There is no set format for a list, but its organization should be logical and useful to the reader. Lists should be lists of live links to Wikipedia articles, appropriately named and organized. List of aikidoka
(as of June 2007)

Userboxes[edit]

Feel free to use the following userboxes on your userpage or elsewhere: ((User WP Abandoned Drafts))

This user is a participant in WikiProject Abandoned Drafts.

Categories[edit]

Click on "►" below to display subcategories:
WikiProject Abandoned Drafts
Click on "►" below to display subcategories:
Userspace drafts

Templates[edit]

Resources[edit]

Related WikiProjects

Categories