User:Elcobbola/Sandbox3

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The featured article criteria are demanding requirements to ensure that featured articles (FAs) are of the highest quality. The criteria have profound collateral effects on Wikipedia, as FAs exemplify the project’s best work.

Criterion three, oft neglected, sets forth the following:

"[A featured article] has images and other media where they are appropriate to the subject, with succinct captions and acceptable copyright status. Non-free images or media must meet the criteria for the inclusion of non-free content and be labelled accordingly."

[edit] Why criterion three is important

Criterion three exists for organizational, stylistic and legal reasons. General goals are as follows:

• Production of a quality encyclopedia
• Safeguarding of Wikipedia's mission to produce perpetually free content for unlimited distribution, modification and application by all users in every media
• Minimization of legal exposure by limiting the amount of non-free content under strictly defined circumstances

[edit] Criterion elements

[edit] Appropriate[ness] to the subject

Appropriateness is relatively self-explanatory. Before submitting an article for an FA review, it is advisable to ensure that the images directly illustrate corresponding prose. Appropriateness is also relevant to WP:NFCC#8, which is discussed in detail further down.

[edit] Example

• The January 7, 2008, Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy article provides an example of use not appropriate to the subject. Despite having an acceptable copyright status, Image:German dead at Verdun.jpg fails to meaningfully or appropriately illustrate Rosenstock-Huessy (he was not amongst the dead), his involvement in the conflict (he organized courses for the troops) or the conflict itself (the mass grave is, at best, only aftermath).

[edit] Succinct captions

A copy of the 1939 edition of Writer's Market, published by Writer's Digest Books rests next to William Faulkner's Underwood Universal Portable typewriter in his office at his home, Rowan Oak, which is now maintained by the University of Mississippi in Oxford as a museum.

The requirement of succinct captions is an extension of criterion 1A, which stipulates that "prose [be] engaging, even brilliant, and of professional standard". Brevity and focus are important not only for the sake of good writing, but for facilitation of readability. Captions should provide context by relating the image to the corresponding prose without being so long as to lose the reader's interest.

[edit] Example

• The February 19, 2008, Writer's Digest article provides an example of a caption that is entirely too long (reproduced to the right). The caption provides substantial superfluous information including 1) the typewriter's specific model type, 2) the use of the room (home office), 3) the location of home, 4) the current status of the home and 5) the structure's caretaker. This level of detail is not only unnecessary, but the sheer volume of text is likely to dissuade visitors from reading the caption.

• An alternative caption, such as "A copy of Writer's Market, a Writer's Digest publication, rests next to William Faulkner's typewriter" would provide context, some level of detail and satisfy the succinct caption requirement.

[edit] Acceptable copyright status

[edit] Images in general

[edit] Non-free content

[edit] Other image considerations

From Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Images:

• Start an article with a right-aligned image.
• Avoid sandwiching text between two images facing each other.

From Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Captions:

• Captions always start with a capital letter.
• A sentence fragment caption should not end with a period.
• If a complete sentence occurs in a caption, it, and any sentence fragments in that caption, should end with a period.
• Captions should not be italicized, except for words that would otherwise be italicized.

[edit] Further reading