How Wikipedia Works

Chapter 10. The Life Cycle of an Article

So far, we’ve broadly examined Wikipedia from the perspective of readers and editors. Of course, a Wikipedia reader can come and go as he or she pleases, and even the most ardent Wikipedia editor abandons his or her computer from time to time. But a Wikipedia article is always on the website, day in and day out.

So, how do things look from that article’s perspective?

Let’s follow Artie the Article, created by Eddie the Editor. Perhaps Artie’s title is [[Gingerbread cottage architecture]], the title used previously in Chapter 6.

Birth of an Article

Eddie types Gingerbread cottage architecture into the search field. He discovers the article doesn’t yet exist, follows the Start the Page link from the search page, ...