Welcome to WikiProject Orphanage!
WikiProject Orphanage is dedicated to clearing up the immense backlog of orphaned articles. There are thousands of articles and images on Wikipedia with few or no links to them. The value of this project should not be underestimated as the wikilink is one of the important characteristics of a wiki and is indeed what provides Wikipedia with its ease of quick information retrieval. Plus, if you are new to Wikipedia, de-orphaning articles is a great way to learn a wide variety of useful skills. De-orphaning, when done correctly, will allow you to learn how to navigate within Wikipedia, how to format wikilinks, and how to utilize cleanup tags.
Goals and scope[edit]
| Special pages (maintenance) | Information |
|---|---|
| Broken redirects | |
| Dead-end pages | Dead-end pages |
| Dormant pages | Forgotten articles |
| Double redirects | Double redirects |
| Lonely pages | Orphaned articles |
| Long pages | |
| New pages | New page patrol |
| New pages feed | Page curation |
| Protected pages | Protection policy |
| Short pages | |
| Uncategorized | Categorization |
| Uncategorized cats | |
| Uncategorized templates | |
| Unused categories | |
| Unused files (images) | |
| Unused templates | |
| Without interwiki links | |
| Most interwiki links | |
| WantedPages | |
| Most-wanted articles | |
| See also: Maintenance departments |
There are 84,960 articles tagged as orphans out of a total 6,504,168 articles on Wikipedia. This is 1.31% of the total articles, and an incredible amount to work on, so we need your help.
While it may seem simple at first, not every article can be de-orphaned, and de-orphaning can be a difficult task, so this project aims to educate and make it easier. But please remember that de-orphaning is about maintaining and improving the quality of individual articles by integrating them with others in a relevant and meaningful way; it's not about keeping score. The value of de-orphaning is not determined by the number of incoming links you added or how many orphan tags you removed, but rather by the quality of integration. Therefore, the primary goal of the Orphanage is to improve Wikipedia by building the web in a way that enhances the quality of all affected articles.
Note that this project deals primarily with articles rather than images. For orphaned images, see Category:Orphaned non-free use Wikipedia files.
Our current aim is to clear the backlog of orphaned articles on Wikipedia, so that all articles can be found by a series of links from the Main Page. Note that an article with categories can be found in this way because it can be reached from other articles that share the category; however, categories currently are not counted in the definition of orphan. The project also aims to make the process of de-orphaning easier. Through collaborating with other projects, providing information, and above all helping editors to cooperate, the Orphanage will make the task of de-orphaning a little less daunting. If you have any ideas or suggestions on how to help us improve in our goal, please feel free to leave a message on the talk page.
What can we all do to help?[edit]
Surely you're wondering what you can do to help our cause. With the current backlog all the help that is offered is welcomed. De-orphaning an article is a good way to start.
Suggestions for how to de-orphan[edit]
Suggestions for how to de-orphan an article provides information regarding how to find articles that can be linked to orphans and add them. There is also a host of other relevant information in the main article.
Participants[edit]
To add yourself to the list of participants, edit this section and add your username to the bottom of the Active list using this format:
{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Orphanage/table|Your Username|Active}}
To receive Backlog drive notifications on your talkpage please add your name here. If you would like a userbox, to proclaim your project participation on your user page, it can be found in the template section below.
Active members[edit]
| Name | Status |
|---|---|
| Jim Cartar (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Rtewqq (talk • contribs) | Active I'll try to help as much as I can – last edit in 2016 |
| Seraphim (talk • contribs) | Active – last edit in 2014 |
| Adam Schwing (talk • contribs) | Active – last edit in 2010 |
| Amwyll Rwden (talk • contribs) | ? |
| Ainlina (talk • contribs) | Active |
| SkyWalker (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Puddingpie (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Correogsk (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Penguin0267 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Manishearth (talk • contribs) | Writing de-orphaning app (Student) |
| Lamro (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Hippie Metalhead (talk • contribs) | Active |
| ErikTheBikeMan (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Arbitrarily0 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Mavromatis (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active |
| Danielspencer91 (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active (I'm a Student!) |
| Sultec (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Jtle515 (talk • contribs) | Active when I get around to it |
| Syed (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Mjquin_id (talk • contribs) | Active when I have time |
| Cae prince (talk • contribs) | Active whenever I can spare time |
| Annelid (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Pinkygirl91 (talk • contribs) | Active When I Can |
| ssaa08 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| OlEnglish (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Daiyusha (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Aditya (talk • contribs) | Sporadically active |
| PiFanatic (talk • contribs) | Active when I've got the time |
| AncientToaster (talk • contribs) | Active when I remember |
| Sgc21896 (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active |
| Leif edling (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Josemanimala (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Annalise (talk • contribs) | Sporadically active |
| SaltedCracker (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Avalik (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active |
| Dylanfromthenorth (talk • contribs) | Active but new to it |
| Adamuu (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Postcard Cathy (talk • contribs) | Active |
| chrisjj (talk • contribs) | Active |
| wingedcheetah (talk • contribs) | Active but new and quite busy |
| Sebwite (talk • contribs) | Specializing in adding navboxes to pages |
| Unionhawk (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active |
| Flipper24 (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active |
| Scoreed (talk • contribs) | Active but new |
| shraktu (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Watercleave (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Carlton Bankz (talk • contribs) | Active, but new |
| Aboriginal Noise (talk • contribs) | Active, did this at another website |
| Lonefolf (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active |
| Jminthorne (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Miyagawa (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Deepak D'Souza (talk • contribs) | Active, at least 1 every day I log on |
| Rambler24 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Biglovinb (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Wackofnotrade (talk • contribs) | Actively trying 2 help w/out messing up |
| Jeffrey Mall (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Fletch79 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| royalsabri (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Tech12 (talk • contribs) | Active when I can |
| Kamots (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active |
| scoutHawk_01 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Dan Tromedlov (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Georgejdorner (talk • contribs) | Active in field of World War I aviation |
| Blacktav (talk • contribs) | Actively wanting to learn |
| Blackash (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Majestic27 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| CheeseDeluxe (talk • contribs) | Active, when I'm not GA reviewing |
| Mattg82 (talk • contribs) | Active, remove unneeded tags using AWB |
| Youre dreaming eh? (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active, but new |
| slaporte (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Eguygabe (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active |
| Beeb144 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Twaitsey (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Chrisraynash (talk • contribs) | Sporadically Active |
| Optiguy54 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Gz33 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| kstueve (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Hippychickali (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Ajstov (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Aqua3993 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Bryher16 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| RAFIAMAN (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Lmaggiesmith (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Molestash (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Sadads (talk • contribs) | Active, particularly in novels. Also removing unneeded tags using AWB |
| LordVetinari (talk • contribs) | Active when I can |
| otr500 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Deadlyninja (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Lrkleine (talk • contribs) | Active, but learning |
| Scalziand (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active |
| MaynardClark (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active |
| USchick (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Adhirk (talk • contribs) | Active whenever I'm in office |
| DeFaultRyan (talk • contribs) | Sporadically active when I've got time |
| Kwamikagami (talk • contribs) | Scan the new lists for language articles: let me know if there's a search term I should add to the AWB filter. |
| TheAMmollusc (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Cwmhiraeth (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Christopholes (talk • contribs) | Semi-active |
| ArcAngel (talk • contribs) | Active |
| fulleraaron (talk • contribs) | Active |
| HarveyMGB (talk • contribs) | Sporadically Active |
| lezelmaz (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Breawycker (talk • contribs) | Active when I can |
| Mgumn (talk • contribs) | Active, but very, very new |
| Feedintm (talk • contribs) | Semi-active. Mostly spending time on adding/removing orphan tags |
| Jdcollins13 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| StewartNetAddict (talk • contribs) | Newly-Active. Introducing links and removing orphan tags. |
| Jonathandeamer (talk • contribs) | Newly active as of February 2012 |
| Adamkriesberg (talk • contribs) | Active, Feb 2012 |
| DoctorKubla (talk • contribs) | Active |
| marie22446688 (talk • contribs) | Active, new and learning |
| Listmeister (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Ewokonfire (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active |
| Tosk_Albanian (talk • contribs) | V. active |
| Neuhmz (talk • contribs) | Semi active |
| Benjamil (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Adsandy (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Mrmagikpants (talk • contribs) | Active, new |
| StampArt (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active, new |
| SirkusSystems (talk • contribs) | Active |
| DJB3.14 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Mfbjr (talk • contribs) | Active, new |
| Acronin3 (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active |
| Yorkshiresoul (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Traveler100 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| FoCuSandLeArN (talk • contribs) | Active |
| jamesmcmahon0 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| LaunchAxis (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active |
| SarahStierch (talk • contribs) | Active |
| The Giant Purple Platypus (talk • contribs) | Active, new |
| andrewman327 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Mathijsvs (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Gaurav Pruthi (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Justinralphman888 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| ToastyMallows (talk • contribs) | Active |
| paul_oz2013 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Osy (talk • contribs) | Active, new |
| Bloody Huntman (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Cypherquest (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Michael73072 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Anniepresto (talk • contribs) | Active & new |
| CaitlinStewart (talk • contribs) | Active |
| TheFlyingFoot (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Lau liz van (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Cookiesaretasty (talk • contribs) | Active, when I have time |
| A3BDFAD9EC0B (talk • contribs) | Active |
| PaintedCarpet (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Depthdiver (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Tim1357 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Molly-in-md (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Laurenthian (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Kvng (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Jonathan Tessier (talk • contribs) | Active |
| R.M. 221 (talk • contribs) | Newly-Active |
| Danielh32 (talk • contribs) | Active: main activity is adding movies to actor's filmography |
| Thebrainkid (talk • contribs) | Active |
| LukasMatt (talk • contribs) | Active |
| gbawden (talk • contribs) | Active |
| SpiritedMichelle (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Gilded Snail (talk • contribs) | Active |
| 123chess456 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Nicholasemjohnson (talk • contribs) | Active |
| payam22 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| dnllnd (talk • contribs) | Sporadically active |
| Vin09 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| pgold009 (talk • contribs) | Active, new |
| Lilianarice (talk • contribs) | Active |
| WookieeV (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Vrac (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Matthespian (talk • contribs) | Active, and New |
| Lucasstar1 (talk • contribs) | Active, and new. |
| Lakun.patra (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Eventflow (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Coolabahapple (talk • contribs) | Active |
| NAFS-India-2008 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Samjared (talk • contribs) | Active |
| JeremiahY (talk • contribs) | Active |
| 3gg5amp1e (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Ouanor (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Brackattax (talk • contribs) | Newly active, will help when I can |
| Knope7 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| TheEditor867 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Lucasstar1 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Green Green Wave (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Green daemon (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Gimubrc (talk • contribs) | Active, new user, new member |
| ShuffleboardJerk (talk • contribs) | Very Active |
| Laatu (talk • contribs) | Active, but new to de-orphaning :) |
| Eno Lirpa (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Yamont (talk • contribs) | Will find ways to add links |
| EllsworthSchmittendorf (talk • contribs) | Active |
| F1lover22 (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active (I Have Exams) |
| MorbidEntree (talk • contribs) | Active when possible (I have school and other WikiProjects). |
| Ajpolino (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Bonifate (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active (new user) |
| Pianoman320 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| BlackcurrantTea (talk • contribs) | Sporadically active, concentrating on the Feb 2009 backlog |
| Dthomsen8 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Skylord_a52 (talk • contribs) | Sporadically active |
| Sparklegirl87 (talk • contribs) | Active but I am new |
| CoolieCoolster (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Info2Learn (talk • contribs) | Whenever I get the chance! |
| SewerCat (talk • contribs) | Somewhat active |
| TordenOfItami (talk • contribs) | New |
| Forceradical (talk • contribs) | Active&new |
| Outoftheazul (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Clawsyclaw (talk • contribs) | Casually active |
| nerdgoonrant (talk • contribs) | Active |
| ThePortaller (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Pufferfyshe (talk • contribs) | Active, at least a little bit |
| AmericanAir88 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| SpiritPrince (talk • contribs) | Active when I can |
| Milesjolly1997 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| TheLordJagged (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Ds2320 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| StraussInTheHouse (talk • contribs) | Active |
| TemTem (talk • contribs) | Active but new, focusing on the February 2009 backlog |
| Mr. Anon515 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Melodydove (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Tt225 (talk • contribs) | Active, doing some of the 2009 backlog |
| JF1982 (talk • contribs) | Active, but new and still learning |
| Mcampany (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Topindian (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Nat965 (talk • contribs) | Active when I can |
| Oronsay (talk • contribs) | Active |
| FiveFaintFootprints (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Jmfcomo (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active, maybe? |
| Jmertel23 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Shadow of the waxwing slain (talk • contribs) | Active-ish |
| Narky Blert (talk • contribs) | Active? Maybe. I spend most of my time fixing bad links to WP:DAB pages (current backlog 8,213) – but have de-orphaned a few pages, and have taken a few {{orphan}} tags off when there was a link or two in. It's a WikiGnomish sort of thing |
| Rap Chart Mike (talk • contribs) | Active when I can be |
| Greyjoy (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Robincantin (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Teratix (talk • contribs) | Active |
| aurornisxui (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Atlantic306 (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Geekdiva (talk • contribs) | Active when my real-life limitations allow (new as of 12/18) |
| SamCordes (talk • contribs) | Active |
| James Hyett (talk • contribs) | Active |
| DannyS712 (talk • contribs) | semi-Active |
| Starbreezexd (talk • contribs) | Active |
| amitavanath12 (talk • contribs) | Active I'll try to help as much as possible |
| rollidan (talk • contribs) | Semi-active (I'm a student) |
| Sam Sailor (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Bsoyka (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active (Student) |
| OliverEastwood (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Chialynn (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Non-monic (talk • contribs) | (Over)Active |
| Rhea Nawar (talk • contribs) | Active when I'm here |
| Robincantin (talk • contribs) | Active I've been doing a few every day. |
| Njavedd (talk • contribs) | Active I'm a student, I'll try my best to help out |
| Krazio (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Azrkhan (talk • contribs) | Active |
| VFF0347 (talk • contribs) | Active - New to the Project as of Sept 2019, I will try to de-orphan several (3-5) each week here at the outset. |
| KazMalKen (talk • contribs) | Casual active I'm a student, I'll try my best to help out |
| The Lord of Math (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Allenros (talk • contribs) | Active |
| SoftHiss (talk • contribs) | Active Joined 3/5/2020. |
| TuorEladar (talk • contribs) | Active I will try my best. I'm a student, though. |
| Epluribusunumyall (talk • contribs) | Active Also a student, but will try to be active as much as possible during quarantine |
| OldGalileo (talk • contribs) | Active |
| The war moose (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Brad Thomas Hanks (talk • contribs) | Active |
| I-Bin-A-Bibi (talk • contribs) | Active |
| VersaceSpace (talk • contribs) | Active when I can be (stop adding me to the inactive section) |
| Sideriver84 (talk • contribs) | Semi-Active |
| TsunamiPrincess (talk • contribs) | Active I am here to help, as often as I can. |
| Midknight1342 (talk • contribs) | Active I'm here to help the best I can! |
| Dr. Moist Vanilla (talk • contribs) | Active I'm here a few times a week, will try to come here as much as I can as I am a student. |
| JoeNMLC (talk • contribs) | Active |
| SparklingSnail (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Smoresmores (talk • contribs) | Active |
| RedPurpleX (talk • contribs) | Active |
| AryaHedgehog (talk • contribs) | Active New! |
| DevSpenpai (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Herravondure (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Lyricalcarpenter (talk • contribs) | Active (New!) |
| A.a.m.tm (talk • contribs) | Active when possible |
| Perfect4th (talk • contribs) | Active |
| Panthermail (talk • contribs) | Active, I am a student but i will do my best to clear the backlog! |
Inactive list[edit]
These former members haven't been seen around in a while or are unfortunately no longer involved with WikiProject Orphanage. We hope they'll come back and move themselves to the active list!
| Name | Status |
|---|---|
| Aervanath (talk • contribs) | Inactive |
| Pico del Teide (talk • contribs) | Inactive |
| Joanna Ingles (talk • contribs) | Inactive |
| Tadramgo (talk • contribs) | Inactive |
| Sassf (talk • contribs) | Inactive |
| leujohn (talk • contribs) | Inactive |
| Jagordon (talk • contribs) | Inactive |
| Raven1977 (talk • contribs) | Inactive |
| Qsung (talk • contribs) | Inactive |
| RockManQ (talk • contribs) | Inactive |
| Bharathprime (talk • contribs) | Inactive |
| mynameinc (talk • contribs) | Inactive |
| CaveatLector (talk • contribs) | Inactive |
| m9999 (talk • contribs) | Inactive |
| freenaulij (talk • contribs) | 2007 December 14 |
| JetLover (talk • contribs) | 2008 May 1 |
| Lights (talk • contribs) | 2008 July 11 |
| Lex Kitten (talk • contribs) | 2008 February 25 |
| gs44631 (talk • contribs) | 2008 March 22 |
| kodmkl (talk • contribs) | 2008 July 31 |
| leobold1 (talk • contribs) | 2008 June 9 |
| Fattyjwoods (talk • contribs) | 2008 July 12 |
| LadyEditor (talk • contribs) | 2008 May 26 |
| Karces (talk • contribs) | 2008 July 10 |
| Cookiecutter43 (talk • contribs) | 2008 August 5 |
| Fbu08 (talk • contribs) | 2008 September 9 |
| Ericloyd (talk • contribs) | 2008 September 16 |
| Vrefron (talk • contribs) | 2008 September 17 |
| Zane McFate (talk • contribs) | 2008 October 8 |
| Mrammaraskar (talk • contribs) | 2008 October 11 |
| Marie_eileen (talk • contribs) | 2008 October 24 |
| Aviationalyours (talk • contribs) | 2008 November 2 |
| Hairlossmatters (talk • contribs) | 2008 November 3 |
| Foolestroupe (talk • contribs) | 2008 November 3 |
| Hunting dog (talk • contribs) | 2008 November 7 |
| Avocado (talk • contribs) | 2008 November 28 |
| Unscented (talk • contribs) | 2008 December 17 |
| Bonatto (talk • contribs) | 2008 December 13 |
| Oddbodz (talk • contribs) | Inactive |
Progress[edit]
A progress graph and monthly summary of tagged orphans is at Category:Orphaned articles.
Note that the bot addbot started tagging orphans in February 2009, which accounted for the large number of orphans tagged that month.
For in-depth details, see the Wikipedia:Orphan information page.
Templates[edit]
- {{Orphan}} – a template to be put directly on the article if it satisfies the orphan criteria. Currently recommended for use only if an article has zero incoming links.
- {{Orphan|date=May 2022|incat=May 2022}} – if the article has no link and probably never will, but is well categorised.
- {{Orphan|date=May 2022|att=May 2022}} – once you have unsuccessfully attempted to de-orphan the article. Leave "date" as the date on the original orphan template (if one exists), and set "att" to equal the month and year you attempted to de-orphan the article.
- {{Orphaned essay}} – for essays that are found to be orphaned.
- {{User Wikipedia Orphan}} – the userbox for this project.
- {{subst:Welcome de-orphaner}} – a welcoming template to encourage new project members.
- {{subst:Welcome de-orphaner2}} – a slightly different welcoming template, to invite de-orphaners to the project.
{{WikiProject cleanup group|Orphaned articles|WikiProject name}}- add link to orphaned articles by subject.
| Description | Template | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Add link to orphaned articles by subject. | {{WikiProject cleanup group|Orphaned articles|Physics}}
|
 | ||
| Add link to orphaned articles by subject. Within todo list | {{tasks
|cleanup={{WikiProject cleanup list|France}}
|geocoord= {{WikiProject cleanup group|All articles needing coordinates|France}}
|orphans= {{WikiProject cleanup group|Orphaned articles|France}}
|photo= [[:Category:Wikipedia requested photographs in France]]
}}
|
|
Categories[edit]
| Click on "►" below to display subcategories: |
|---|
Subpages[edit]
- List of all subpages of this page
See also[edit]
- Help:Drawing attention to new pages
- Wikipedia:Build the web
- Wikipedia:Integrate
- Wikipedia:Walled garden
- WikiProject Abandoned Articles
- WikiProject Council/Proposals/Navbox
WikiProject orphan lists[edit]
Obsolete orphan lists[edit]
These are kept for historical purposes only, they are no longer used:
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Orphanage/Articles orphaned without redirects - List of orphans from a 2003 database dump
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Orphanage/Orphaned Articles - List of articles from a 2004 database dump
References[edit]
External links[edit]
