A userspace draft is a page where you can work on a proposed Wikipedia article or prepare substantial changes to an existing article. It is kept in your own userspace, usually on a subpage such as User:Example/My article or User:Example/sandbox/My article.
Userspace drafts are publicly accessible, but are not part of the encyclopaedia itself. You can work on your draft at your own pace, save your changes, and return to it later. If you are creating a new article, you can submit it to Articles for creation (AfC) for review when it is ready.
If you just want to start a new Wikipedia article, the Article Wizard is usually the easiest place to begin.
Userspace drafts vs draftspace
Wikipedia has two places for developing articles before publication into the encyclopaedia:
- Userspace: A subpage with User: at the beginning, such as
User:Example/My article. It can be useful for individual work, experiments, or preparing changes to an existing article. Other editors may view and edit it, but userspace conventions apply. - Draftspace: A page with Draft: at the beginning, such as Draft:Example, is in the Draft namespace, and is intended for developing new articles.
Neither type of draft is part of the encyclopaedia itself (which Wikipedia calls the mainspace), and both can be submitted for AfC review.
Creation
Warning: You are not logged in. Please create an account or log in to proceed.
You need to have a Wikipedia account and be logged in to create a userspace draft. You do not need to be autoconfirmed.
Enter a name for your userspace draft below. You only need to enter the subject's name, not User: or your username. The form will create a subpage of your sandbox, for example at User:Example/sandbox/My article.
When the editing window opens, replace the example text with your own writing. Select to save it. This creates a publicly visible draft in your userspace; it does not publish an article in the encyclopaedia or submit it for review.
You can also use your existing sandbox or create a subpage directly at a title such as User:Your Username/My article. For help with the basics of editing, see Help:Introduction and Help:Editing.
Add a draft notice
You can add {{Userspace draft}} to the top of your new userspace draft. This displays a notice that the page is a work in progress, links to useful tools, and a button to submit your userspace draft for review through Articles for creation. You do not need to add a second notice if one is already present.
Saving changes and finding your userspace draft
You can edit your draft whenever you like. Click each time you want to save your work.
To find your draft again, you can:
- Return to the page using your browser's bookmarks or history.
- Open your sandbox if you created it there.
- Visit Special:PrefixIndex and enter
User:YourUsername/to see subpages in your userspace. - Visit your contributions to find all the pages you have edited.
Visibility
Userspace is not private. Anyone can view pages in your userspace and their edit histories, even though they are not normally indexed by external search engines. Other editors can also edit your drafts, although they will generally avoid making substantial changes without good reason.
Do not include personal information you would not want made public. Pages in userspace must also follow Wikipedia's userspace guidelines and should not be used to host unrelated material.
Preparing and submitting drafts
When you are ready to turn your userspace draft into a Wikipedia article, follow the guidance at Articles for creation. It explains how to check whether your subject qualifies for an article, how to write and improve your draft, and how to submit it for review.
You can submit your userspace draft directly from userspace; you do not need to move it into the Draft namespace yourself. An AfC reviewer will normally move a submitted userspace draft into draftspace before reviewing it.
If your userspace draft is moved, its editing history will be preserved, and a redirect will usually remain at its original location. You can continue editing the draft at its new location. Being moved to draftspace does not mean your draft has been accepted or declined.
If you are preparing changes to an existing article rather than creating a new one, you don't need to use AfC. You can incorporate your changes into the existing article or discuss them on its talk page. If you have a conflict of interest, you should propose the changes through an edit request instead.
Moving or renaming drafts
The name of your userspace draft does not have to be the final article title. If it is accepted through AfC, the reviewer can choose a suitable title based on Wikipedia's article-title policy.
If you want to rename a draft yourself, or move it from userspace to draftspace, you can usually use the Move option if your account is autoconfirmed (normally at least four days old with at least ten edits). See How to move a page for instructions. Moving a page preserves its edit history.
If your draft has already been submitted, you can leave a note on your draft's talk page explaining what you would like it to be called. If the draft is accepted, the reviewer can move it to a suitable title when publishing it.
Autoconfirmed editors can usually create new articles directly in mainspace. New or unregistered editors who cannot create articles directly can use AfC instead.
If you have a conflict of interest, including if you are being paid to edit, you should use AfC. More experienced editors may also choose to use AfC if they would like another editor to review their draft before publication.
Unfinished drafts
You can leave an unfinished userspace draft and return to it later. However, drafts that have not been edited for an extended period may be deleted under certain circumstances:
- G13: A userspace draft that has been submitted through AfC may be eligible for deletion after six months without a human edit.
- U6: A userspace subpage belonging to an editor who has made few or no edits outside userspace may be eligible for deletion after six months without a human edit, even if it has not been submitted for review.
Other Wikipedia policies, including those concerning copyright violations and promotional content, also apply to userspace drafts.
If a draft was deleted as abandoned under G13 or U6, they can normally be restored on request at Requests for undeletion.
Unwanted drafts
If you want a page in your own userspace deleted, add {{db-userreq}} to the top of the page and publish your changes. An administrator will consider your request under criterion U1. Some pages may not be eligible, particularly if they were previously moved from outside your userspace.
You do not have to request deletion simply because you have stopped working on a draft. If the material might be useful to other editors, you could consider WikiProject Abandoned Drafts.
Getting help
- If you have questions about creating, improving, or submitting your draft, see the Articles for creation Frequently asked questions.
- For specific questions on why your draft was declined, read the reviewer's feedback or ask at the AfC Help desk.
- For friendly peer support regarding editing, sourcing, or policies, visit the Teahouse, a question and answer hub for new editors.