Wikipedia has introduced a new "draft" feature in an attempt to encourage new writers to contribute widely to the online encyclopedia.
The new feature allows writers to save articles as draft and publish them later. The move comes as a contradiction to Wikipedia's earlier guidelines that required new articles to be accessible to the public immediately.
According to the Wikimedia Foundation, which controls Wikipedia, previous settings made articles appear instantly on the web search after a writer clicks "Save". This feature was an eminent factor that helped it grow into the world's sixth most-visited web site.
According to the online encyclopedia, more than 80 percent of articles submitted by new writers are deleted because they fail to meet the quality standards of the website. Moreover, Wikipedia also has a shortage of editors. Experienced editors leave the site while new ones are not encouraged enough to stick around for long durations.
"Thousands of new articles are deleted (sometimes within just minutes) because they don't meet essential requirements for what makes a good Wikipedia article," Steven Walling, Wikimedia Product Manager, said in a press release.
"By creating a draft, authors will have more time and space to gradually work on a new topic, and can get constructive feedback from other editors. In fact, even advanced Wikipedia editors sometimes use sub-pages of their user profile (sometimes called "sandboxes") as an unofficial draft space," Walling added.
The new feature is at its initial stages and requires a lot more work. The website plans on adding new features to the "Draft" facility in order to make it more useful for writers. This includes different design concepts, providing help and support during the drafting process and better guidelines for the publication of drafts as articles.
With the new launch, Wikipedia hopes to draw in more writers as well as editors to meet their shortage. The company has also launched free Wikimedia Usability testing sessions for feedback and reviews from online editors.
