Wikipedia:Stub
 | This page documents an English Wikipedia editing guideline. Editors should generally follow it, though exceptions may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on this guideline's talk page. |
 | This page in a nutshell: An article too short and incomplete to provide more than rudimentary information about a subject should be marked as a stub by adding a stub template from the list here to the end of the article. Anyone can edit a stub article, or remove a stub template from an article which is no longer a stub. |
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A stub is an article deemed too short and incomplete to provide encyclopedic coverage of a subject. As of 2024, almost half of Wikipedia's articles could be considered stubs.
This page provides a general guide for dealing with stubs: the first section, Basic information, contains information that is recommended for most users; and the second section, Creating stub types, contains more specialized material.
Existing stub categories can be found at Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/Stub types, as maintained by the WikiProject Stub improvement collaborative.
Basic information
A stub is an article that, although lacking the breadth of coverage expected from an encyclopedia, provides some useful information and is capable of expansion. Non-article pages, such as disambiguation pages, lists, categories, templates, talk pages, and redirects, are not regarded as stubs.
If a stub has little verifiable information, or if its subject has no apparent notability, it may be deleted or be merged into another relevant article.
While a "definition" may be enough to qualify an article as a stub, Wikipedia is not a dictionary. The distinction between dictionary and encyclopedia articles is best expressed by the use–mention distinction:
- A dictionary article is about a word or phrase and will often have several different definitions for it
- An encyclopedia article is about the subject denoted by the title but usually has only one definition (or in some cases, several definitions that are largely the same) but there may be several equivalent words (synonyms) or phrases for it.
Sizable articles are usually not considered stubs, even if they have significant problems or are noticeably incomplete. With these larger articles, a cleanup template is usually added instead of a stub template.
How big is too big?
Over the years, different editors have followed different rules of thumb to help them decide when an article is likely to be a stub. Editors may decide that an article with more than ten sentences is too big to be a stub, or that the threshold for another article may be 250 words. Others follow the Did you know? standard of 1,500 characters in the main text, which is usually around 300 words.
There is no set size at which an article stops being a stub. While very short articles are very likely to be stubs, there are some subjects about which very little can be written. Conversely, there are subjects about which a lot could be written, and their articles may still be stubs even if they are a few paragraphs long. As such, it is impossible to state whether an article is a stub based solely on its length, and any decision on the article has to come down to an editor's best judgment (the user essay on the Croughton-London rule may be of use when trying to judge whether an article is a stub). Similarly, stub status usually depends on the length of prose text alone; lists, templates, images, and other such peripheral parts of an article are usually not considered when judging whether an article is a stub.
That said, AutoWikiBrowser is frequently set to automatically remove stub tags from any article with more than 500 words. This threshold was chosen because it is very unlikely that any article containing more than 500 words is correctly classified as stub.
Creating and improving a stub article
A stub should contain enough information for other editors to expand upon it. The key is to provide adequate context—articles with little or no context usually end up being speedily deleted. Your initial research may be done either through books or reliable websites. You may also contribute knowledge acquired from other sources, but it is useful to conduct some research beforehand to ensure that your facts are accurate and unbiased. Use your own words: directly copying other sources without giving them credit is plagiarism, and may in some cases be a violation of copyright.
Begin by defining or describing your topic. Avoid fallacies of definition. Write clearly and informatively. State what a person is famous for, where a place is located and what it is known for, or the basic details of an event and when it happened. As of 2024, most stubs contain two to seven sentences (50–150 words).
Next, try to expand upon this basic definition. Internally link relevant words, so that users unfamiliar with the subject can understand what you have written. Avoid linking words needlessly; instead, consider which words may require further definition for a casual reader to understand the article. Most stubs link out to 5–20 other Wikipedia articles, often averaging about two links per sentence.
Lastly, a critical step: add sources for the information you have put into the stub; see citing sources for information on how to do so in Wikipedia. Most stub articles have one to three inline citations; some also list sources at the end of the page, as general references.
How to mark an article as a stub
After writing a short article, or finding an unmarked stub, you should insert a stub template. Choose from among the templates listed at Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/Stub types, or if you are unsure what template to use, just use a generic {{stub}}, which others can sort later. Stubs should never be manually added to stub categories—always use a template.
Per the Manual of Style, the stub template is placed at the end of the article, after the External links section, any navigation templates, and the category tags, so that the stub category will appear after all article content. Leave two blank lines between the first stub template and whatever precedes it (one blank line leaves the stub category notice butted up against any preceding navigation template; it takes two blank lines in the edited text to produce one blank line in the displayed text). As with all templates, stub templates are added by simply placing the name of the template in the text between double pairs of curly brackets (e.g., {{Wikipedia-stub}}). Stub templates are transcluded, not substituted.
Stub templates have two parts: a short message noting the stub's topic and encouraging editors to expand it, and a category link, which places the article in a stub category alongside other stubs on the same topic. The naming for stub templates is usually topic-stub; a list of these templates may be found here. You need not learn all the templates—even simply adding {{stub}} helps (see this essay for more information). The more accurately an article is tagged, however, the less work it is for other sorters later, and the more useful it is for editors looking for articles to expand.
If a more specific stub template than is currently on an article exists and completely covers the subject of the article, remove the more general template and replace it with the more specific type (for example, an article on Morocco may be stubbed with {{Africa-stub}}. If it is solely about Morocco, remove the template and replace it with {{Morocco-stub}} – don't simply add {{Morocco-stub}} and leave {{Africa-stub}} in place). One specific template can often replace multiple more general types (for example, {{UK-sport-bio-stub}} can replace both {{UK-bio-stub}} and {{sport-bio-stub}}).
If an article overlaps several stub categories, more than one template may be used, but it is strongly recommended that only those relating to the subject's main notability be used. A limit of three or, if really necessary, four stub templates is advised.
Stub-related activities are centralised at Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting (shortcut Wikipedia:WSS). This project should be your main reference for stub information, and is where new stub types should be proposed for discussion prior to creation.
Removing stub status
Once a stub has been properly expanded and becomes a larger article, any editor may remove its stub template. No administrator action or formal permission is needed. Stub templates are usually located at the bottom of the page, and usually have a name like {{something-stub}} if you are using the classic wikitext editor rather than VisualEditor.
Many articles still marked as stubs have in fact been expanded beyond what is regarded as stub size. If an article is too large to be considered a stub but still needs expansion, the stub template may be removed and appropriate {{expand section}} templates may be added (no article should contain both a stub template and an expand template).
When removing stub templates, users should also visit the talk page and update the WikiProject classifications as necessary.
Be bold in removing stub tags that are clearly no longer applicable.
Locating stubs
- Category:Stub categories the main list of stub categories and of articles contained within them
- Category:Stubs deprecated, but still receives a few articles periodically
- Special:Shortpages
These categories can be used with AutoWikiBrowser (AWB) to make bulk changes to stub types, or the sub-program within AWB called DataBase Scanner can be used to find articles by number of characters or words to locate potential stubs needing categorization or other tagging and/or expansion. This stand-alone application requires the operator be approved and the installation of the program on a personal computer (Linux, Mac, or PC). An alternate process using the web-based tool PetScan (no installation required) can also be used to locate articles by minimum or maximum size, the intersection of stub categories along with another category of interest, templates on the page, date of last edit, and namespace.
Creating stub types
WikiProject Stub sorting
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- Stub types (sections)
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- Stub types (full list)
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- To do
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- Naming conventions
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| Wikipedia:Stub | talk |
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| Proposals (A) | talk |
- Current month
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| Criteria (A) (discontinued) | talk |
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Please propose new stub types at WikiProject Stub sorting/Proposals so that they may be discussed before creating them.
In general, a stub type consists of a stub template and a dedicated stub category, although "upmerged" templates are also occasionally created which feed into more general stub categories.
If you identify a group of stub articles that do not fit an existing stub type, or if an existing stub category is growing very large, you can propose the creation of a new stub type which is debated at Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/Proposals.
Example
An example of a stub template is {{Website-stub}}, which produces:
 | This website-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
The stub category, Category:Website stubs, lists all articles containing the {{Website-stub}} template.
Guidelines
Several guidelines are used to decide whether a new stub type is useful. These include the following:
- Is there a stub type for this topic already? (Check Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/Stub types.)
- Will the new type be well-defined? (Stub categories are a tool used by editors to expand articles. Good topic definition makes stubs easier to sort accurately.)
- Does the new stub type cover ground not covered by other type, or create a well-defined subtype that does?
- Will there be a significant number of existing stubs in this category? (Ideally, a newly created stub type has 100–300 articles. In general, any new stub category should have a minimum of 60 articles. This threshold is modified in the case of the main stub category used by a WikiProject.)
- Would your new stub type overlap with other stub types? (Stub types form a hierarchy and as such are usually split in specific ways. Compare other stub splits at Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/Stub types.)
- If you are breaking a subtype out of an existing type, will the new creation reduce the size of the parent by a significant amount? (This is not an absolute necessity, but is often a catalyst for the creation of stub categories. Stub categories containing over 800 articles are typically considered to be "over-sized", and in need of such sub-types.)
If you think you have satisfied these guidelines, it is highly recommended that you propose the new stub type at stub type proposals page. This allows for debate on matters relating to the stub type that may not have occurred to the proposer, and also allows for objections if the split does not satisfy stub guidelines. If there are no objections within five days, you may create the new stub type.
New stub templates
After the creation of a new stub type has been discussed at Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/Proposals and agreed upon, a template can be created. The name of this should follow the stub type naming conventions, and will usually be decided during the discussion process.
All stub templates should link to a stub category. This may be a category specific to the topic of the template, or the template might be "upmerged" to one or more less specific categories – for example, a template for Andorran history might link to a stub category for European history and a general Andorran stub category. This is often thought to be desirable when a stub type is proposed in anticipation of future use, but is not currently over the size threshold; or where an existing stub type has a finite number of well-defined subdivisions, with some numerically viable as subtypes, and others not.
As stub templates can sort articles into more general categories, the bar for the creation of a stub template is not as high as the bar for the creation of a dedicated stub category; a template should still be used on more than just one or two pages, but does not necessarily require 60. In fact, the creation of a stub template may be a helpful tracking tool for determining whether the topic is approaching the 60-article minimum to justify a category, as the template's "what links here" can be used to count how many articles are using the template.
Adding a small image to the stub template (the "stub icon") is permitted, so long as the image is public domain or has a free license—fair use images must not be used in templates. Stub icons should be small, preferably no more than about 40px in size.
The standard code for stub templates is found at: {{asbox}}. This template can be used (without substitution).
New stub categories
The name of the stub category should also have been decided during the proposal process and will also follow the naming guidelines.
The text of a stub category should contain a definition of what type of stubs are contained in it and an indication of what template is used to add stubs to it. The {{WPSS-cat}} template should also be placed on the category, to indicate that it has been created after debate at Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/Proposals. The new stub category should also be added to the Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/Stub types list.
The new stub category should be correctly added into other categories. These should include at least three specific categories:
- The analogous permanent category ("permcat")
- At least one higher level ("parent") stub category
- Category:Stub categories
Thus, for example, Category:France stubs, should be in an equivalent permcat (Category:France), parent stub category (Category:Europe stubs), and Category:Stub categories.
The creation of stub categories can be partially automated by using {{Stub category}} as follows:
{{Stub category|article=[[A]]|newstub=B|category=C}}
A: Insert the description of the category here.B: Insert the name of the new stub template here.C: Insert the name of an appropriate parent non-stub category.
In the example given above, the formatting would look like this:
{{Stub category|article=[[France]]|newstub=France-stub|category=France}}
which would produce this:
 | This category is for stub articles relating to France. You can help by expanding them.
To add an article to this category, use {{France-stub}} instead of {{stub}}. |
This syntax also automatically adds the new category to Category:Stub categories, though parent stub categories and {{WPSS-cat}} still need to be added manually. It also automatically pipes the stub category with "Σ", so that appears at the end of the list of subcategories in non-stub category C. This effectively moves it away from navigation categories to place it alongside other editing- and cleanup-related categories.
If you have some doubts or comments regarding any part of the process, do not hesitate to address them or ask for assistance at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Stub sorting.
Stubbing existing articles
On occasion, an article may have significant problems that create opportunities to remove most of its content. This may be done in response to an article that is heavily biased, either for or against its subject; in response to an article that has some verifiable material but is otherwise full of original research, self-published, or primary sources; in response to a VRT complaint; or a variety of other reasons.
If enough content is removed that all that remains is a stub, a stub template should be added to the article, if it does not already have one.
Stub types, WikiProjects, and assessment templates
When a new WikiProject commences, one of the first things its creators often do is decide whether or not a specific stub type should be created for it. Often there is no real problem, as WikiProject topics frequently coincide with subjects of specific stub types. On other occasions, there will be no specific stub type, and thus a new type should be proposed.
Occasionally, a WikiProject will seek to have a stub category which is too small, or a stub type which runs contrary to the way stubs are normally split. This can create conflict between that project and WikiProject Stub sorting, or, more importantly, between that one stub type and one or more other stub types. Even where there is an existing stub type, there may be conflict, as often the definition of a topic as used for stub sorting may not be identical to that used by its specific WikiProject. It should be remembered in cases like this that, while a specific WikiProject may be looking for a solution for its concerns, WikiProject Stub sorting is attempting to make a coherent and cohesive system that works for all editors. The system needs to be as compatible as possible with the needs of all WikiProjects, and also with the needs of casual editors, and others who are participants in any WikiProject.
Assessment templates are a way around this problem, and more often than not a far more useful tool for WikiProjects. Assessment templates have several distinct advantages over stub types for WikiProjects. The templates are placed on article talk pages, where they are less likely to be seen as controversial (the placing of stub templates on controversial articles has frequently been a source of edit warring). They allow all articles within a topic area to be assessed and catalogued by a related project—not just stub articles. They allow an indication to be made of exactly what work needs to be done on an article. They also allow workgroups that are subgroups of WikiProjects to have their own specific templates that are better suited to their tasks.
See also
- Wikipedia:Content assessment
- Wikipedia:Stub Makers
- List of stub templates (or the easier-to-load list of subpages here)
- Wikipedia:Requested articles, Wikipedia:Most-wanted articles
- Wikipedia:Writing better articles for help expanding stubs
- Category:Wikipedia essays about stubs, including: