Wikipedia:Did you know

For instructions on how to suggest new articles for DYK consideration, see Template talk:Did you know.

See also: Learning DYK: The Unofficial Guide

Did you know?
Introduction and rules
Introduction	WP:DYK
General discussion	WT:DYK
Guidelines	WP:DYKCRIT
Reviewer instructions	WP:DYKRI
Nominations
Nominate an article	WP:DYKCNN
Awaiting approval	WP:DYKN
Approved	WP:DYKNA
April 1 hooks	WP:DYKAPRIL
Holding area	WP:SOHA
Preparation
Preps and queues	T:DYK/Q
Prepper instructions	WP:DYKPBI
Admin instructions	WP:DYKAI
Main Page errors	WP:ERRORS
History
Statistics	WP:DYKSTATS
Archived sets	WP:DYKA
Just for fun
Monthly wraps	WP:DYKW
Awards	WP:DYKAWARDS
Userboxes	WP:DYKUBX
Hall of Fame	WP:DYK/HoF
List of users ...
... by nominations	WP:DYKNC
... by promotions	WP:DYKPC
Administrative
Scripts and bots	WP:DYKSB
On the Main Page	T:DYK
Main Page errors	WP:ERRORS
To ping the DYK admins	{{DYK admins}}

Wikipedia:Did you know (DYK) is the project page for the "Did you know" section on the Main Page. The DYK section showcases new or expanded articles that are selected through an informal review process. It is not a general trivia section. The choice of articles is subject to a set of criteria that are set out on this page.

The other sections of changeable content on the Main Page are coordinated at In the news, Picture of the day, Selected anniversaries, Today's featured list (currently Mondays and Fridays), and Today's featured article. More general discussion of the main page takes place at Talk:Main Page, and errors are reported at Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors.

Aims and objectives

Over 700 new articles are created and many more expanded each day on the English Wikipedia. DYK showcases new and improved content by presenting a series of facts ("hooks"), some of them accompanied by images, which link to selected articles. The hooks appear for a limited period in the "Did you know...?" box on the Main Page. Editors whose articles appear in DYK will receive an acknowledgement on their user talk pages. The choice of articles is subject to a series of criteria (see DYK rules below). Editors may nominate their own or someone else's work for a DYK appearance.

DYK aims to achieve the following five goals:

• To showcase new and improved content, illustrating to readers the continuous improvement and expansion of Wikipedia's corpus of articles;
• To highlight the variety of information on Wikipedia, thereby providing an insight into the range of material that Wikipedia covers;
• To present facts about a range of topics which may not necessarily otherwise receive Main Page exposure;
• To acknowledge the work that editors do to expand and improve Wikipedia, encouraging them to continue their efforts and thereby contributing to editor retention and ongoing content improvement;
• To encourage readers to edit articles that appear on DYK or start their own, thus facilitating the recruitment of new editors.

What DYK is not

DYK is not:

• A smaller-scale version of either featured content or Good Articles, though selected Good Articles do appear in the DYK box. Articles must meet the basic criteria set out on this page but do not have to be of very high quality. It is fine for articles to be incomplete (though not unfinished), to have red links, to be capable of being expanded or improved further, and so on. As DYK's main purpose is to showcase new and improved content, it is not expected that articles appearing on DYK would be considered among the best on Wikipedia.
• A collection of general trivia. The articles featured are specifically new and improved ones which meet the criteria set out below.
• A means of advertising, or of promoting commercial or political causes. While it is fine to cover topics of commercial or political interest, DYK must not provide inappropriate advantage for such causes (e.g. during election campaigns or product launches).

DYK rules

Further information: Wikipedia:Did you know/Supplementary guidelines and Wikipedia:Did you know/Onepage

DYK consists of a series of "hooks", which are interesting facts taken from Wikipedia's newest content, of the format "Did you know that...?" Thus, to nominate something to appear on DYK, an editor must either write or identify new content (see below for what qualifies as "new") and propose an interesting "hook".

DYK is only for articles that, within the past seven days, have been either

• created
• expanded at least fivefold
• newly sourced and expanded at least twofold (only if the article was an unsourced BLP)
• promoted to good article status

(As a guideline, an expansion of fivefold or more is acceptable; the decision on whether an expanded article is appropriate for the template will depend on the updating administrator's judgment). For workpages first developed in user space, the date the workpage is posted to article namespace is counted as the first day towards the DYK seven-day rule.

Any user may nominate a DYK suggestion; self-nominations are encouraged.

Eligibility criteria

Four basic criteria are used to determine whether a nomination is eligible for DYK, together with a review requirement. Other criteria may arise as a result of community discussion or policy (more details appear at Wikipedia:Did you know/Supplementary guidelines), but the following criteria account for most cases:

1. New – A nominated article must be new (when nominated).

a) For DYK purposes, a "new" article is no more than seven days old, and may not consist of text spun off from a pre-existing article.

b) Former redirects, stubs, and other articles in which the prose portion has been expanded fivefold or more within the past seven days are also acceptable as "new" articles. The content with which the article has been expanded must be new content, not text copied from other articles. The length of both the old and new versions of the article is calculated based on prose character count, not word count. Prose character count excludes wiki markup, templates, lists, tables, and references; it is calculated using User:Dr pda/prosesize.js or a similar extension.

c) Former unsourced BLPs (such as those in this category) that have been thoroughly sourced and in which the prose portion has been expanded twofold or more within the past seven days are also acceptable as "new" articles. The content with which the article has been expanded must be new content, not text copied from other articles. The length of both the old and new versions of the article is calculated based on prose character count, not word count. Prose character count excludes wiki markup, templates, lists, tables, and references; it is calculated using User:Dr pda/prosesize.js or a similar extension.

d) Articles that have been worked on exclusively in a user or user talk subpage or at articles for creation or in the Draft namespace and then moved (or in some cases pasted) to the article mainspace are considered new as of the date they reach the mainspace.

e) Articles that have been featured (bold link) in a blurb on the main page's In the news section are ineligible. (Articles linked at ITN not in bold, including the recent deaths section, are still eligible.)

f) Articles that are translations from other wikis count as new articles.

g) Articles designated as Good articles within the past seven days, regardless of whether they were expanded, are also eligible.

2. Long enough – The article must be of sufficient length.

a) Articles must have a minimum of 1,500 characters of prose (ignoring infoboxes, categories, references, lists, and tables etc.) The number of characters may be measured using this script (most accurate) or this one or this tool.

b) DYK articles may freely reuse public domain text per Wikipedia's usual policy, with proper attribution. However, because the emphasis at DYK is on new and original content, text copied verbatim from public domain sources, or which closely paraphrases such sources, is excluded both from the 1,500 minimum character count for new articles, and from the x5 expansion count for x5 expanded articles.

c) Lists: Proposed lists need 1,500+ characters of prose, aside from the listed items themselves.

d) In practice, articles longer than 1,500 characters may still be rejected as too short, at the discretion of the selecting reviewers.

3. Cited hook – The fact(s) mentioned in the hook must be cited in the article. (See more information under The hook, below.) Facts should have an inline citation. The article as a whole should use inline, cited sources.

a) The hook should include a definite fact that is mentioned in the article and interesting to a broad audience.

b) Each fact in the hook must be supported in the article by at least one inline citation to a reliable source, appearing no later than the end of the sentence(s) offering that fact. Citations at the end of the paragraph are not sufficient.

4. Within policy – Articles for DYK must conform to the core policies of Verifiability, Living Person Biographies and Copyright. Nominations should be rejected if an inspection reveals that they are not based on reliable sources, violate WP:BLP, or have problems with the close paraphrasing or copyright violations of images and/or text.

a) Articles must meet the neutral point of view policy. Articles on living individuals are carefully checked to ensure that no unsourced or poorly sourced negative material is included. Articles and hooks that focus unduly on negative aspects of living individuals or promote one side of an ongoing dispute should be avoided.

5. Review requirement – QPQ – For every nomination you make you must review one other nomination (unrelated to you)‍—‌this is called quid pro quo or QPQ. Exception: If you have fewer than five DYK credits (whether or not self-nominated) you are exempt from this requirement.

You can do your QPQ review before or after you make your nomination, but before your nomination is approved you will need to provide a link, at your nomination, to your completed QPQ review. For help in learning the reviewing process, see the reviewers' guide.

The hook

Format

• The title of the new article (or the text that pipes to it) must be in bold and linked to the new article.
• The hook should start an asterisk (*) to create a bullet, then a space, three periods (not the ellipsis character …) and a space; and end with a question mark. Example:

* ... that '''milk''' can come from cows?

• The hook should be concise: fewer than about 200 characters (including spaces and the question mark, but not including the ... or any (pictured). While 200 is an outside limit, hooks slightly under 200 characters may still be rejected at the discretion of the selecting reviewers and administrators.
• If a passage from a reliable non-English source is quoted in the article as translated by a Wikipedia editor (because no published translation is available) a phrase from that translation can be quoted in the hook, subject to the discretion of the selecting reviewers and administrators. Ideally the nominator will vouch for the translation from his personal knowledge.
• A hook is subject without notice to copy-editing as it moves to the main page. The nature of the DYK process makes it impractical to consult users over every such edit. Watch the suggestions page to ensure that no issues have been raised about your hook; if you do not respond to them, your hook may not be featured at all.
• About eight hooks are usually selected at once, depending on page balance, so the items selected fit with whatever else is on the main page at that time. Check by using the links on T:DYK/P1: "See how this template appears on both today's Main Page and tomorrow's Main Page." to see if the DYK template balances the rest of the main page layout.

Content

• The hook should refer to established facts that are unlikely to change, and should be relevant for more than just novelty or newness.
• The hook should be neutral.
• Articles and hooks that focus unduly on negative aspects of living individuals should be avoided.
• Articles and hooks featuring election candidates up to 30 days before an election in which they are standing should be avoided, unless the hook is a "multi" that includes bolded links to new articles on all the main candidates.
• If the subject is a work of fiction or a fictional character, the hook must involve the real world in some way.
• When you write the hook, please make it "hooky", that is, short, punchy, catchy, and likely to draw the readers in to wanting to read the article. Shorter hooks are preferred to longer ones, as long as they don't misstate the article content.

Images

• Pictures and videos accompanying the DYK hook should be:
  1. freely licensed (PD, GFDL, CC, etc.—not fair use): the main page can have only freely licensed pictures;
  2. suitable, attractive, and interesting at a 100 × 100 px resolution;
  3. already in the article; and
  4. relevant to the article.
• The first hook in the set must have an associated image.
• The standard image and video code is <div style="float:right;margin-left:0.5em;"> [[File:filename.jpg|100x100px|ALT TAG]]</div>.
• If there are no suggestions with appropriate images, you can usually use a flag for a topic with a national connection.
• Fair-use images are not permitted. Please find a related free image (PD, GFDL, CC etc.) as an alternative.
• The first item "hook" should be modified to include (pictured) (or perhaps (pictured, flag of Zdxyrastan) or whatever) in the appropriate place to make the connection to the image.
• Administrators: when you add an image to DYK, it is automatically protected, so simply add an {{mprotected}} notice to the image description page (or {{C-uploaded}} plus a copy of the author attribution and the licence tag if you have uploaded a temporary copy from Commons).
• Sounds: Sounds accompanying the DYK hook should have similar qualities to pictures, and should be formatted using {{DYK listen|filename.ogg|Brief description}}

Date requests

The special occasion holding area is where an editor can request that the hook appear in the "Did you know" section on the Main Page on a particular date, such as to coincide with an important or significant event. For example, the DYK project posts Wikipedia:April Fool's Main Page/Did You Know items each year on April Fools' Day. There are two separate reviews for hook date requests: 1) approving the hook under Wikipedia:Did you know#The hook and 2) indicating whether to list the hook on the date requested. In indicating whether to list the hook on the date requested, consider:

• DR1: The hook is part of a DYK special occasion project.
• DR2: The hook should not put emphasis on a commercial release date of the article subject.
• DR3: Listing a hook on the Main Page during the requested date does not make the hook itself non-neutral.

• DR3a: Listing a hook that mentions a product or company on the Main Page during the requested date does not, by itself, make the hook promotional of that product or company.

The DYK process

• Rules (WP:DYK and WP:DYKAR) – how DYK works
• DYK talk (WT:DYK) – for general discussion of the project

• Includes issues with current or past nominations which may need wider discussion than on the corresponding nomination page (in which case add a note to the nomination page).
• There is also a dedicated IRC channel, #wikipedia-en-dyk ^connect.

• Nominations (T:TDYK) – where nominations are proposed and discussed

• The nomination is checked against DYK criteria; reviewers may also suggest improvements or alternatives to the hook.
• List of promising new articles generated by AlexNewArtBot may be a source for potential nominations

• Prep areas (T:DYK/P1, T:DYK/P2, T:DYK/P3, and T:DYK/P4) – where hook "sets" are assembled and finalized

• See Wikipedia:Did you know/Guide.

• Queues (T:DYK/Q and subpages) – finalized hook sets are moved here from "prep" by an administrator, where they wait for their Main Page appearance

• The admin moving the hooks to the live template may edit or reject any hook at their discretion.

• Did you know... template (T:DYK) – the hooks currently appearing on the main page; DYKUpdateBot moves sets here from the Queue area according to a schedule.
• Old DYK entries are archived at Wikipedia:Recent additions after they leave the main page.
• Errors (WP:ERRORS) – to report concerns about DYK items currently on the main page

• If necessary an admin may edit or replace a hook on main page by changing the DYK template.

• If a factual error is reported when the hooks are on the front page, try to replace the hook with another fact from the article, rather than just removing it.
• In the case it has to be removed, try to replace it with another hook from the suggestions page.
• If it is the first hook and hence has an associated picture, you must replace it with another hook with a picture.

DYK participants

Active editors

Any editor may volunteer and assist with DYK, simply by contributing to the department operations.

(Edit this list)

Actively involved

The following admins or template editors are (or would like to be) actively involved in the DYK process.

• AirshipJungleman29 (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Aoidh (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• BorgQueen (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Casliber (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Cwmhiraeth (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Daniel Case (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Gatoclass (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Ganesha811 (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Isabelle Belato (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Kusma (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Lee Vilenski (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Launchballer (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Mifter (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• ONUnicorn (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• RoySmith (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Schwede66 (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• theleekycauldron (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Waggers (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Z1720 (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)

Willing to help

The following admins are not actively involved, but are willing to lend a hand if needed.

• 28bytes (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Berig (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• BD2412 (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA) - I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out.
• ComplexRational (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA) Happy to provide a second opinion or promote a prep to queue as needed.
• Graeme Bartlett (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA) I have helped out in the past
• HJ Mitchell (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA) - active around ITN and WP:ERRORS but happy to help if needed.
• Juliancolton (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• King of Hearts (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA) - King_of_Hearts on IRC
• Kingturtle (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA) - If you ever need help proofreading, copyediting, paraphrasing or checking sources, just post a note on my talk page.
• KTC (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Mailer diablo (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA) (whenever there's backlog)
• Nick-D (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA) Happy to help if asked - including fixing hooks while they're on the main page.
• Orlady (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Rlendog (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Samir (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA) (was active in maintaining DYK in 2006, happy to help out anytime)
• Shubinator (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• SoWhy (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA) - Whenever asked/needed or if I notice that it's needed :-)
• Stifle (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA) - If I'm around, feel free to ask. I'm a Commons admin too.
• TheSandDoctor (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Vanamonde93 (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA) I'll do my best to help every so often, but my activity is limited by RL.
• Victuallers (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
• Wehwalt (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)

Other editors

The following users who are not administrators are actively involved in one or more aspects of DYK, including reviewing and vetting nominations, updating the template, and discussing DYK issues: (edit this page)

• BlueMoonset (talk · contribs)
• Bruxton (talk · contribs)
• Cielquiparle (talk · contribs)
• Cl3phact0 (talk · contribs)
• DannyS712 (talk · contribs)
• DimensionalFusion (talk · contribs)
• Double Plus Ungood (talk · contribs)
• Epicgenius (talk · contribs)
• evrik (talk · contribs)
• Feminist (talk · contribs)
• Hog Farm (talk · contribs) – willing to help, although not the best choice for anything highly urgent
• Jeff G. (talk · contribs)
• JuniperChill (talk · contribs)
• Kavyansh.Singh (talk · contribs)
• Kingsif (talk · contribs)
• MeegsC (talk · contribs)
• Narutolovehinata5 (talk · contribs)
• NightWolf1223 (talk · contribs)
• PrimalMustelid (talk · contribs)
• Royiswariii (talk · contribs)
• Vaticidalprophet (talk · contribs)
• Volunteer Marek (talk · contribs)

The following users are frequent nominators and contributors to DYK:

• 3family6 (talk · contribs)
• 7&6=thirteen (talk · contribs)
• Alansohn (talk · contribs)
• Cbl62 (talk · contribs)
• Gerda Arendt (talk · contribs)
• Hassocks5489 (talk · contribs)
• Leomk0403 (talk · contribs)
• Oltrepier (talk · contribs)
• P199 (talk · contribs)
• Soman (talk · contribs)
• SounderBruce (talk · contribs)
• TonyTheTiger (talk · contribs)
• Trillfendi (talk · contribs)
• West Virginian (talk · contribs)
• Xoak (talk · contribs)

History

DYK made its first Main Page appearance on February 22, 2004. The article, pencil sharpener, was developed by Raul654. An April 2004 archived copy shows DYK located in the space now occupied by In the News. Credit recognition for article creators started on November 24, 2004, DYK began placing DYK notifications on article talk pages on January 13, 2006, and nominators started receiving credit on May 13, 2006.

See also

• Category:Wikipedia Did you know, for other DYK pages
• Category:Pending DYK nominations