Some of those who create content on Wikipedia may have lamented the fact that anything you type gets published immediately for the world to see after you hit ‘save’. Now, the online encyclopedia is introducing drafts as it seeks to give writers more time and space to type up a more comprehensive article — starting with the English-language site.
All users on Wikipedia now have an option to start drafts before publishing. A draft simply has “Draft:” before the title of the page that is being created. Drafts are not visible to readers using Wikipedia’s default search, or on external search engines such as Google, though they may appear in advanced search options.
Wikipedia says recent data shows that about 80 percent of the articles started by brand new users are deleted, and drafts may help ease this problem by letting writers get constructive feedback from other editors, and giving them time to review their articles more thoroughly before publishing. However, the team also emphasizes that Wikipedia articles are still all works in progress even after being published, “and this fact won’t change any time soon.”
➤ New draft feature provides a gentler start for Wikipedia articles [Wikipedia]
Thumbnail image via Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
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