Wikipedia:Not everything needs a WikiProject
Wikiprojects are pages where a group of Wikipedia editors coordinate and organize the work related to a certain topic of articles, such as those related to a certain country. However, there may be as many topics as articles, and we can't and shouldn't have that many WikiProjects. There are not that many editors, because of systemic bias, and fragmentation counters organization. It is always better to fit specific topics into bigger wikiprojects, than creating a new specific wikiproject. For example, WikiProject Film, WikiProject Rock music or WikiProject Video games will always work better than WikiProjects about a specific film, band or video game. Note that the scope is not just a raw number of involved articles, and it's a higher requirement than that for the creation of a category. A band is usually a very narrow topic for a WikiProject; and an active band with many CDs and members is likely to still be so. The WikiProject should go beyond just a main article and content forks from it. If you are a fan or supporter of something, and want that article to improve, have in mind that interested editors will not appear out of nowhere just because there is a WikiProject. It may be a better idea to skip all that behind-the-scenes work, and simply go ahead and improve the article yourself. You can always ask for help at higher wikiprojects, or seek peer review. The organization of the work of a single article (or a main article with forks or closely-related articles) can be done at the talk page. Often, a flurry of activity around a topic that will lead editors to think that the next logical step is a WikiProject. For example, if a band releases a new album editors who are fans of that band will work on writing an article on that album. While they are at it, they will go back and update the article about the band with information about the new album, and while they are there, they will spend a while improving that page too. This sudden burst of band-related activity does not mean there is cause for a WikiProject. While the project might be active for a while, will it still be active in a year? A month? Perhaps the activity will die down before you've even finished building the wikiproject page. Always think about the long term potential activity of the project. Just because there is activity now does not mean that it will continue. Have in mind, as well, that there is no special recognition to the creator of a WikiProject, so don't rush to create a project "before someone else does it". Recognition is usually for the users that make a strong and continuous work on the topic, no matter if they created the project or joined it years after its creation.
 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article or a Wikipedia policy, as it has not been reviewed by the community. |
Wikiprojects are pages where a group of Wikipedia editors coordinate and organize the work related to a certain topic of articles, such as those related to a certain country. However, there may be as many topics as articles, and we can't and shouldn't have that many WikiProjects. There are not that many editors, because of systemic bias, and fragmentation counters organization.
It is always better to fit specific topics into bigger wikiprojects, than creating a new specific wikiproject. For example, WikiProject Film, WikiProject Rock music or WikiProject Video games will always work better than WikiProjects about a specific film, band or video game. Note that the scope is not just a raw number of involved articles, and it's a higher requirement than that for the creation of a category. A band is usually a very narrow topic for a WikiProject; and an active band with many CDs and members is likely to still be so. The WikiProject should go beyond just a main article and content forks from it.
If you are a fan or supporter of something, and want that article to improve, have in mind that interested editors will not appear out of nowhere just because there is a WikiProject. It may be a better idea to skip all that behind-the-scenes work, and simply go ahead and improve the article yourself. You can always ask for help at higher wikiprojects, or seek peer review. The organization of the work of a single article (or a main article with forks or closely-related articles) can be done at the talk page.
Often, a flurry of activity around a topic that will lead editors to think that the next logical step is a WikiProject. For example, if a band releases a new album editors who are fans of that band will work on writing an article on that album. While they are at it, they will go back and update the article about the band with information about the new album, and while they are there, they will spend a while improving that page too. This sudden burst of band-related activity does not mean there is cause for a WikiProject. While the project might be active for a while, will it still be active in a year? A month? Perhaps the activity will die down before you've even finished building the wikiproject page. Always think about the long term potential activity of the project. Just because there is activity now does not mean that it will continue.
Have in mind, as well, that there is no special recognition to the creator of a WikiProject, so don't rush to create a project "before someone else does it". Recognition is usually for the users that make a strong and continuous work on the topic, no matter if they created the project or joined it years after its creation.