RuneScape:Stubs

A stub is a very short article, generally of one paragraph or less. Most stubs fail to cover all but the most trivial subjects completely. However, this does not mean the stub is not a legitimate article—it just needs to be expanded.

When creating or editing a "stub" article, remember that its value is primarily in what it will become, and that it must grow if it is to become anything at all. Don't assume that additions and improvements will immediately pour in of themselves. The best way to draw the attention of others into contributing is by editing it yourself, even a small copyedit &mdash; your edit will appear on the recent changes page, where many seasoned users love to follow the action, and jump in where there's work being done. You don't have to do extensive research to create a foundation on which others will be eager to build, but you should be thoughtful enough to simply add what you know, or correct what you may know is incorrect (try not to call someone else's work "wrong"). Among the traditional proverbial suggestions about Wikidom, there is the idea that articles should not be "perfect" &mdash; having a misspelled word or two draws a reader into correcting that article and being interested in adding more (however, please don't deliberately insert spelling mistakes in order to lure other editors to participate). A summary of this idea might be focus on writing an article or editing it &mdash; don't try to do both. Below are a few suggested guidelines:


 * 1) Provide a "This is a stub" message by adding   .
 * 2) Follow the standards of correct English. Write in full, clear sentences.
 * 3) Give a clear, precise definition or description of your topic.  Avoid fallacies of definition.  For biographies and articles about non-concepts (e.g., about countries and cities), definitions are impossible, so begin with a clear, helpful, informative description of the subject.  State what a person is famous for, where a place is and what it is known for, the basic details of an event and when it happened, etc.  A good definition or description may encourage potential contributors by suggesting the limits of the article, indirectly summarizing what needs to be done.  For example, Salvador Allende was the President of Chile from 1970 until 1973 would be a good description.
 * 4) Make sure any relevant linkable words have been linked.
 * 5) Submit the article with a Summary comment that will attract the attention of others to your stub. If nothing else, cut and paste the stub itself into the Summary field when you save your article.
 * 6) Feel some responsibility for your stub article. There is a fine line between helping by outlining out what needs to be done, and being annoying by not doing anything yourself. If nobody contributes to your stub for a few weeks, roll up your sleeves and expand it yourself. Take the fact that nobody has contributed as a hint that your stub might not have been that great, and if nothing else, try to make it a better stub.

It is possible to follow these guidelines without writing a treatise. Generally, for the shortest of Perfect Stubs, two sentences will do fine — as long as they're two good sentences. (And if you don't know enough about a topic to write two good sentences, do consider not writing a stub.) The extra time and concentration required will pay off in a higher probability that you get the ball rolling on something, rather than putting up a static object of derision.

Admittedly, these guidelines are in some sense irrelevant because no matter what you do, someone will probably fix the article for you. That's the beauty of a wiki! But if you want to contribute something positive, and you cannot write the whole article yourself, then at least let your contribution be an implicit invitation to participation.