Contents

Wikipedia:Temporary versions of articles

Essay on editing Wikipedia

This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

Shortcut WP:TEMPORARY

Atemporary version is a saved version of a page in Main Article Space in which the editor who saves the changes actually has plans to make more permanent changes at a later time or date, or has the strong expectation that one or more other editors will. The later time may be a few minutes or days later, or may be indefinite. A temporary version may or may not have an incomplete appearance to the reader.

• Wikipedia is a work in progress. Technically, few if any pages can ever be complete. Additionally, many pages are about ever-changing subjects and require non-stop updates.
• Some pages are so complicated that it is impossible to complete them or complete certain changes in a single edit. But there is a desire for them to be in mainspace prior to their completion.
• Some pages are so long that it is difficult for a single editor to complete the entire page, and help may be needed from others.
• They can be used as a neutral location when it is likely that some involved editors would not like to edit a draft in another particular editor's user-space.

• Wikipedia is for the readers more than the editors. A page in a temporary state gives a bad impression of the page and of Wikipedia altogether.
• Temporary versions may lack accuracy or neutrality.
• One might view making a temporary version as harmless. But the number of times a page is viewed varies for each article. If an article is viewed around 6000 times in a day, that is approximately 4 views per minute. That means for each minute that passes between saving different edits, about 4 people have viewed the page. This is acceptable if the article is simply incomplete, but is problematic when the information is out-of-date or otherwise inaccurate, especially with a living person or otherwise sensitive subject.
• Editors can avoid temporary versions by performing all proposed changes in their own userspace, as a draft, and then transferring their planned final version to the article when they are done.

There are various templates that can be used to indicate that a page is in a temporary state:

• {{New page}}, to indicate that the page has just been created and may not be complete
• {{Newlist}}, for lists that are not complete
• {{Userspace draft}}, for new articles temporarily in userspace
• {{In use}}, to indicate that the page is in the process of an update that is taking multiple edits at the present time, and others should not disturb the page
• {{Under construction}}, to indicate that the page is undergoing a major revamping, but that others are welcome to edit during this process
• {{Incomplete list}}, to indicate a list is in the process of being built and that others should help expand it
• {{Dynamic list}}, to indicate the list can never remain in a complete or steady state. The list covers an ever-changing topic, and will likely always need updates.
• {{Update}}, to indicate that the information on a page is in need of an update