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[[Category:WikiProject Council|Proposals]]
'''A [[WP:WikiProject|WikiProject]] is a group of editors who want to work together.''' A WikiProject is '''not''' a subject area, a group of pages, a banner on talk pages, or any of the infrastructure used to support the group. '''If you do not have a group of editors, you do not have a WikiProject.''' Successful groups normally begin with '''about 10 active, experienced editors.''' Experience with participating in and collaborating in an existing group is particularly helpful.
{{caution|1='''Do not''' create any new WikiProject pages without prior discussion. That includes all "WikiProject (Name)" pages, categories, and templates. If you want to draft a page for your group, then use '''[[Special:MyPage/sandbox|your personal sandbox]]'''.}}
== Proposing a WikiProject ==
=== You probably shouldn't. Really. ===
Most new proposals fail, because they're started by new editors who are looking for a way to meet other editors. The proposals process is ''not'' a recruiting step. Of the few proposals that resulted in pages being created, most became inactive within a year. Usually, they were started by inexperienced editors. Often, the subject area was too small (e.g., about a single musician).
What you should do instead of creating yet another failed proposal is join one of the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject_Council/Directory|two thousand existing projects]] and/or try to [[Wikipedia:REVIVE|revive]] one of the many dormant WikiProjects. The best way to find a relevant group is to check the talk page for your main article. Alternatively, you can use the [[Special:Search|search]] box below to locate existing WikiProjects and task forces:<inputbox>
type=fulltext
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prefix = Wikipedia:WikiProject
searchbuttonlabel= Search WikiProjects
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placeholder=e.g. Women scientists
</inputbox>
=== If you have a small group of editors ===
If you have a couple of editors you're working with regularly, you can create a "user group". That means that you and your fellow editors use your User: and User_talk: pages to coordinate your work in the [[Wikipedia:Userspace|userspace]] of one of your members. This does not require permission from anyone. '''Do not create new templates or categories. If your group only exists in userspace, do not 'tag' articles on their talk pages.'''
=== If you have a larger group of editors ===
Starting in 2025, we are trialing a new proposal process. The main goal is to reduce the number of failed attempts to start groups, and thus to reduce the number of abandoned and defunct pages that the rest of the community has to clean up later. Meeting this goal inevitably means putting restrictions on creating pages, templates, and categories for new groups.
Here is the first iteration of the new process. This process is for '''existing, larger groups of editors'''. If you don't already know who else is in your group, you're definitely not ready to make a proposal. <mark>You must recruit multiple participants '''before''' writing a proposal</mark>.
# '''Be an experienced editor'''. If you haven't made ''thousands of edits'' over the course of ''at least a year'', you should not try to start a new group. You should also be experienced with how WikiProjects operate. Join a few!
# '''Recruit participants ''before'' writing a proposal'''. Talk to active, experienced editors about whether they think a new group is needed. Get ''prior'' agreement from about 10 people to join the new group. The proposals process is ineffective at recruiting potential members, so you need to find the participants first.
# '''Identify the scope'''. If the group will be focused on a subject area, there should be ''many thousands'' of articles in that subject. Check the main categories on key articles (e.g., [[:Category:Rappers]] for a group focusing on [[Rappers]], or [[:Category:COVID-19]] for a group focusing on [[COVID-19]]).
#* Groups focused on any individual person or single group '''will not''' be approved. If you want to start a group around a musician or a band, join [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians]] instead. If you want to start a group around a film, join [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Film]] instead. If you want to start a group around a business, join [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Companies]] instead. If you want to start a group around a politician, join [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Politics]] instead.
# '''Work with existing groups'''. Look on the talk pages of key articles to find existing groups (e.g., [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Hip-hop|WikiProject Hip-hop]], [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Music/Music genres task force|Music/Music genres task force]], and [[Wikipedia:WikiProject African diaspora|African diaspora]] on [[Talk:Rapping]]). Talk to those existing groups about whether they feel your proposed scope would overlap with the existing groups, and whether they think a separate group would be helpful. (If you are unable to find any related groups, then ask for help at [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Council]].)
# '''Post a proposal''' at [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Council]].
## Use a section heading of <code>== Proposing a new WikiProject [name of your group here] ==</code>
## [[Wikipedia:Ping|Ping]] the editors who have agreed to join the group. They need to join this discussion and confirm that they will actively participate in the new group, if it is created.
## Invite all existing related WikiProjects to the discussion. (Post links in your proposal to your notifications.) Explain why none of those groups is good enough for your purposes. Give an answer that is more convincing than "They're about this subject in general, and I only want to work on articles about this one thing in specific".
## Explain what your goal is (e.g., "I want to improve articles on this subject" or "I want to find out if any of these articles are nominated for deletion" or "I want to meet other editors who are fans of this subject"). Sometimes your actual goals can be met through other, easier methods.
## Explain why you think this group will still be active in five years. (It will be much easier to convince people if several of the participants have already been active for more than five years.)
# '''Wait for approval'''. The decision will be made by consensus, probably within a couple of weeks. Please don't create any templates or categories for your potential group before then. (Cleaning up abandoned templates and categories is a hassle.)
== Proposing a task force ==
Any existing WikiProject can create a [[WP:TASKFORCE|task force]] whenever it chooses, so the normal place to propose a task force is at the parent WikiProject's talk page. Announcing the task force elsewhere is permitted but neither required nor usually helpful.
==Closing proposals==
Proposals are generally closed as successful if the scope is sufficiently broad ''and'' multiple active, experienced editors are interested in participating in the group. Proposals are otherwise closed as unsuccessful. Follow the instructions at [[:Template:REMOVE THIS TEMPLATE WHEN CLOSING THIS WIKIPROJECT PROPOSAL|the template documentation]]. Please add a link to the proposal (successful or otherwise) in the archives of this page.
For help with setting up the infrastructure, see [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Guide/WikiProject]] or post at [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject_Council|the WikiProject Council talk page]] to request help.
==See also==
''This section is about the old process.''
*[[:Category:Open WikiProject proposals]] <small>(includes all current proposals, plus those pending re-categorization as abandoned or archived)</small>
*[[:Category:Abandoned WikiProject proposals]]
{{WikiProject Footer}}
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[[Category:Wikipedia proposals]]
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