userspace Draft

This is an information page. It is not one of Wiki's policies or guidelines; rather, its purpose is to explain certain aspects of Wikipedia's norms, customs, technicalities, or practices. It may reflect differing levels of consensus and vetting.

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A userspace draft is a draft of an article (or part of an article) associated with a specific user account and stored in the user namespace. Userspace drafts are distinct from drafts located in the Draft namespace. You must create a user account to have your own userspace, and you must be logged in to use it. Explanation:

• Every registered user on Wikipedia has their own "userspace" (or "userpage") – for instance, a user named "Example" has a userspace called User:Example – and User:Example/Lipsum is a page (actually a subpage) called "Lipsum" in Example's userspace.
• Userspace is part of Wikipedia and its use is governed by community rules, but it is not part of the encyclopedia. (The encyclopedia part of Wikipedia is called the "mainspace" – e.g., Lorem ipsum is a page in mainspace.)
• Userspace Drafts are typically made on a "user subpage" that starts with "User:". Use this format [[User:UserHandle/Lipsum]] (which creates User:UserHandle/Lipsum). Adapt that format to your personal needs.
• For a list of all your drafts (and any other subpages you have), click on "Contributions" (at the very top right of any Wikipedia page, if you're logged in), then scroll to the bottom and click the "Subpages" link.
• Note: every edit you make to a userspace draft is potentially visible online to anyone, even though it's in your own space. Also, your edits are "saved" by hitting the same big, blue "Publish changes" button you see when editing existing Wikipedia articles. Don't be confused by the term "publish" in this context; it's not the same as actually moving a draft into the main encyclopedia for everyone to find and read. Many people consider only that element as publishing, whereas the reality is that everything we do here is published online, whether made in a userspace, a sandbox, a draft article, or a main article.
• As a courtesy, when you have a page in your userspace you no longer need, add {{db-userreq}} to the top of the page. It will be deleted shortly.
• In an RfC regarding the applicability of Wiki: Notability to drafts within the userspace and draftspace, it was determined that community consensus amounted to "notability guidelines do not apply to userspace and draftspace drafts."
• Articles in the Wiki: Draft namespace can be edited and moved into the main encyclopedia by anyone. So you can create the draft in your personal userspace, move to the draft namespace to be edited by anyone, and later moved to the main encyclopedia.

This page is referenced in the Wiki Glossary.

 

• Wiki: User pages
• Template:Userspace draft
• Template:My sandbox