Wikivoyage:Star potential
A star potential is a guide article very close to fulfilling the criteria for becoming a star article. Not only would you not need to consult another guide, you'd really have no reason to want to: it's all here. Yet some small issues hold it back from being absolutely perfect. For example, a city guide might not have a map, or some listings might miss a phone number or opening hours. This prevents them from being considered "star" articles, which are the ones we hold up as examples of just how great a Wikivoyage article can become.
Keep in mind that a star potential is not a status rating. It's a practical list so our users can find the articles that only need a small amount of work in order to be perfect.
See also: Stub articles, Outline articles, Usable articles, Star articles.
Identification
[edit]What makes a "star potential" varies depending on what the subject is. For example, an article about a city must have multiple hotel and restaurant listings, but that doesn't make sense for an article about an entire region, which should instead have a listing of the cities in that region. Obviously the criteria for a travel topic or phrasebook would be different. See Project:Article status for links to the specific criteria for each kind of article.
A complete list of all current "star potentials" can be found in Category:Star potential.
What to do with them
[edit]Tag them
[edit]If you find an article that meets the criteria for "star potential" but hasn't been tagged as such, or if you improve an article to the point that it qualifies, please tag it.
There's special markup in our software to mark something as an outline.
There is special markup in our software to mark something as a star potential. It looks like this: {{starpotential}} which makes this appear on the page:
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This article has Star potential. It's well written with great information. However, for Star status it needs both to be entirely complete and to exactly match the manual of style. If you see how it can be improved, please plunge forward or point it out on the talk page. |
You can add one of these messages at the top of the Talk page. This encourages readers to put a little effort in to turn the article into a star.
Improve them
[edit]If you find a "star potential" and you can see what's holding it back from becoming a "star"... plunge forward! If you know your way around Illustrator or Inkscape, make a map for it. If you have a good eye for detail, comb through the listings and fix any formatting mistakes. If you have a flair for the English language, give the text a full-body massage with a happy ending, and make it sing. Give the article that final nudge from "great" to "perfect".
The specific criteria varies depending on the kind of article (i.e. city, country, etc.) but a star article is as good as it gets. At that point it's a guide to be proud of, and should be nominated to be a "star".
When an article is just starting out, we often need all the information we can get to get the article started, and style and detail comes second. Even some touting is occasionally tolerated just to get information in the guide. Additions to star potentials should notably improve the quality of an already great article, and fully comply with the style guidelines. However, this doesn't mean that you shouldn't always plunge forward to add your latest discovery at a destination.