Starting a New WikiProject: Step-by-Step Process and Proven Best Practices

Starting a new WikiProject on Wikipedia isn’t just about creating another page. It’s about building a team, setting clear goals, and keeping momentum alive in a space where most volunteer efforts fade within weeks. If you’ve noticed a gap in coverage-say, every article on 1980s indie films is missing citations, or every biography of women engineers lacks proper sourcing-you’re not alone. Thousands of editors have felt the same. But most never start a project. Here’s how to do it right.

What Exactly Is a WikiProject?

A WikiProject is a group of editors who collaborate on a specific topic area to improve Wikipedia’s coverage. It’s not a formal organization. There’s no budget, no staff, no headquarters. Just people who care enough to show up, talk, and fix things together. Think of it like a neighborhood cleanup crew, but for articles. Some WikiProjects are huge-like WikiProject Medicine a collaborative effort to improve medical content on Wikipedia, with over 2,000 active contributors and standardized citation templates-while others are small, focused efforts on niche subjects like WikiProject Video Games a long-running initiative that maintains quality standards for game-related articles, including ratings and infobox templates.

Successful WikiProjects share three things: a clear scope, consistent activity, and documented guidelines. Without those, they become ghost towns.

Step 1: Identify the Gap

Don’t start a WikiProject because you like the topic. Start it because the topic is under-served. Look at the numbers.

• Search for articles on your topic using Wikipedia’s search and sort by “Most linked to.” Are there fewer than 50 articles? That’s a red flag.
• Use Category:Articles needing additional references a dynamic category that automatically collects articles lacking citations, often used by WikiProjects to identify priority targets. Filter by your subject. If half the articles in this category relate to your topic, you’ve found your starting point.
• Check the Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team a historical initiative that assessed article quality and coverage gaps, still referenced by editors to identify underdeveloped areas lists. These show which topics are missing from Wikipedia’s core coverage.

For example, in 2024, a group of editors noticed that over 70% of articles on African-American inventors lacked reliable sources. They didn’t just fix a few pages-they started WikiProject African-American Inventors a focused initiative to improve biographical coverage of underrepresented inventors, now with over 120 articles rated as B-class or higher. That’s how you turn a problem into a project.

Step 2: Draft a Project Page

Every WikiProject needs a home. That’s the project page, usually at Wikipedia:WikiProject/[Topic]. Don’t just copy another project’s template. Customize it.

Your project page must include:

• Scope: What you’re covering-and what you’re not. Be specific. Example: “Covers all U.S. state highways built before 1980. Does not cover modern traffic signs or road safety campaigns.”
• Goals: What does success look like? “By June 2026, improve 80% of articles in this category to C-class or higher.”
• Guidelines: How should articles be structured? What sources are preferred? Example: “Use peer-reviewed journals from JSTOR or university press books. Avoid blogs, news aggregators, and personal websites.”
• Task List: A simple checklist of common fixes: add citations, expand leads, fix infoboxes, tag stubs.

Use the Template:WikiProject a standardized template used to format WikiProject pages, ensuring consistency across all projects and improving discoverability to structure your page. It’s not optional. Editors expect it.

Step 3: Recruit Editors-But Don’t Beg

Don’t post on the Village Pump and hope for the best. Target the right people.

• Find editors who’ve edited at least 5 articles on your topic in the last year. Go to their talk pages. Say: “I’m starting a project to improve coverage of [topic]. Would you be open to helping?”
• Join existing talk pages on related articles. Leave a polite, helpful comment: “I’m working on a WikiProject to improve articles like this. Would you be interested in joining?”
• Use Wikipedia:Teahouse a welcoming space for new and experienced editors to ask questions and find collaborators, often used to recruit volunteers for new WikiProjects to reach editors who are active but not yet specialized.

Don’t ask for “anyone who cares.” Ask for “one editor who’s edited three articles on this topic in the last six months.” You’ll get better results.

Step 4: Set Up Tools and Tracking

Without tracking, your project will drift. Use these tools:

• Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Directory a centralized index of all active WikiProjects, used by editors to find and join initiatives based on topic or activity level-list your project here. It’s how others find you.
• Use Category:WikiProject [Topic] a dynamic category that automatically collects all articles tagged by a WikiProject, making it easy to monitor progress and identify gaps to group all related articles. Tag them with {{WikiProject [Topic]}}.
• Set up a Wikipedia:Article Alerts a notification system that flags newly created or edited articles in specific categories, helping WikiProjects respond quickly to changes feed for your category so you know when new articles appear.
• Create a monthly progress report. Post it on your project talk page. Even if it’s just: “We added 12 citations, improved 5 stubs, and recruited 2 new editors.”

These aren’t fancy tools. They’re simple, but they turn chaos into structure.

Step 5: Keep the Momentum

Most WikiProjects die because no one checks in. Here’s how to avoid that:

• Hold a monthly “edit-a-thon.” It doesn’t have to be live. Just post: “This week, let’s focus on adding citations to articles about [topic]. Here’s a list of 10 to start with.”
• Recognize contributors. Tag editors who make big improvements. A simple “Thanks, @User, for expanding this article!” goes a long way.
• Update your project page every 90 days. If your goals are outdated, change them. If your guidelines are too strict, loosen them. Flexibility beats perfection.
• Don’t try to fix everything. Pick one small win each month. “We got all articles on [topic] to at least C-class.” That’s a win.

One project, WikiProject Women in Science a long-standing initiative focused on expanding biographies of female scientists, now with over 2,000 articles tagged and 150 active editors, stayed alive for 15 years by doing exactly that: one small task, every month.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Starting too broad: “WikiProject History” is doomed. “WikiProject 19th-Century American Railroad Maps” has a chance.
• Ignoring policy: Your project can’t override Wikipedia’s core policies. No original research. No biased sourcing. No exclusive access to “inside” sources.
• Not tagging articles: If you don’t use the project template, no one else will know your project exists.
• Waiting for perfection: Your first draft of the project page doesn’t need to be flawless. Get it up. Fix it later.

What Happens When It Works?

Successful WikiProjects don’t just improve articles-they change how Wikipedia works. WikiProject Medicine a collaborative effort to improve medical content on Wikipedia, with over 2,000 active contributors and standardized citation templates created citation standards now used across 120,000 articles. WikiProject Women in Red a global initiative to create biographies of notable women, which has added over 1 million articles since 2015 added over a million articles in less than a decade.

Your project might not hit those numbers. But it doesn’t need to. If you improve 50 articles, train three new editors, and leave behind clear guidelines-you’ve done more than most.

Next Steps

Ready to start? Here’s your checklist:

1. Identify 5-10 under-served articles on your topic.
2. Write a draft of your WikiProject page using the standard template.
3. Reach out to 3 editors who’ve worked on similar articles.
4. Post your project on the WikiProject Council Directory a centralized index of all active WikiProjects, used by editors to find and join initiatives based on topic or activity level.
5. Set a monthly goal: “Improve 5 articles by [date].”

You don’t need to be an expert. You just need to show up-and keep showing up.