Wikipedia:Stabilizing featured articles

There is currently a discussion among members of the Wikipedia community as to whether Wikipedia should begin to "stabilize" articles after a certain point in their development — that is, static versions of articles which have gone through some sort of review process, and are periodically replaced with versions developed by the standard, collaborative methods upon which Wikipedia has always relied. Such stabilization gives Wikipedia the ability to point definitively at articles and say that their quality has been certified, the articles can be trusted, and even vandals cannot diminish this status.

Such proposals meet with the criticism that it will slow article development, will further divide administrators who will be able to edit stabilized articles from other editors who won't, and will make the entire contribution process far more complicated. The greatest concern, however, is that stabilizing articles in such a manner that changes need to be requested before they are seen will limit the freedom that draws many editors here in the first place, the lure of a massive encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

This proposal aims to achieve the benefits of stabilization while addressing the concerns of the community, all while using the software we already have in place.