Dispatches: Main page day
If you are one of the primary editors of a featured article (FA), the day the article is featured on the main page can be one of the most exciting and nerve-wracking parts of being a Wikipedian. You and your collaborators have endeavored to prepare an outstanding article suitable for Wikipedia's diverse readership, and main page day will be a major test. Your work will be presented to the world as an example of our best work, and is likely to be scrutinized by many readers and editors who might otherwise not have seen it. From the moment the article hits the main page at midnight UTC, its readership will grow exponentially; many of these readers will have their own thoughts about the article and may edit it accordingly.
Most of your new readers will be unfamiliar with what you've been through to achieve FA status for the article: the research, the writing, the checking, the revising, peer review, more revising, and finally, featured article candidacy. They may make a comment or an edit that goes against a consensus that took weeks to achieve. They may question a sentence, a source, or even the notability of the entire article. However, with the right preparation you'll breeze through main page day.
This dispatch is intended to prepare you for that day and to help you deal with issues that may arise. If you take nothing else from this page, remember:
- The article will be edited by people you've never heard of.
- The article will not be protected from editing in anticipation of main page day, although its title and the opening that is displayed on the main page will be temporarily protected.
- The article will be vandalized by readers who think it is entertaining to do so.
- Stay calm!