Wikipedia:WikiProject Orphanage

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 incoming 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 pages patrol
New pages feed Page curation
Protected pages Protection policy
Short pages
Uncategorized pages Categorization
Uncategorized categories
Uncategorized templates
Unused categories
Unused files (images)
Unused templates
Without interwiki links
Most interwiki links
Wanted pages
Most-wanted articles
See also: Maintenance departments

There are 62,808 articles tagged as orphans out of a total 6,803,960 articles on Wikipedia. This is 0.92% 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
Amwyll Rwden (talkcontribs) ?
Ainlina (talkcontribs) Active
Correogsk (talkcontribs) Active
Manishearth (talkcontribs) Writing de-orphaning app (Student)
Lamro (talkcontribs) Active
ErikTheBikeMan (talkcontribs) Active
Arbitrarily0 (talkcontribs) Active
Mavromatis (talkcontribs) Semi-Active
Sultec (talkcontribs) Active
Jtle515 (talkcontribs) Active when I get around to it
Mjquin_id (talkcontribs) Active when I have time
Cae prince (talkcontribs) Active whenever I can spare time
OlEnglish (talkcontribs) Active
Daiyusha (talkcontribs) Active
AncientToaster (talkcontribs) Active when I remember
Dylanfromthenorth (talkcontribs) Active but new to it
chrisjj (talkcontribs) Active
Watercleave (talkcontribs) Active
Jminthorne (talkcontribs) Active
Miyagawa (talkcontribs) Active
Tech12 (talkcontribs) Active when I can
Georgejdorner (talkcontribs) Active in field of World War I aviation
Blacktav (talkcontribs) Actively wanting to learn
Blackash (talkcontribs) Active
slaporte (talkcontribs) Active
RAFIAMAN (talkcontribs) Active
Molestash (talkcontribs) Active
Sadads (talkcontribs) Active, particularly in novels. Also removing unneeded tags using AWB
otr500 (talkcontribs) Active
MaynardClark (talkcontribs) Semi-Active
Adhirk (talkcontribs) Active whenever I'm in office
Kwamikagami (talkcontribs) Scan the new lists for language articles: let me know if there's a search term I should add to the AWB filter.
Cwmhiraeth (talkcontribs) Active
lezelmaz (talkcontribs) Active
Breawycker (talkcontribs) Active when I can
Mgumn (talkcontribs) Active, but very, very new
Jonathandeamer (talkcontribs) Newly active as of February 2012
Adamkriesberg (talkcontribs) Active, Feb 2012
Tosk_Albanian (talkcontribs) V. active
DJB3.14 (talkcontribs) Active
Mfbjr (talkcontribs) Active, new
jamesmcmahon0 (talkcontribs) Active
andrewman327 (talkcontribs) Active
Cypherquest (talkcontribs) Active
CaitlinStewart (talkcontribs) Active
Molly-in-md (talkcontribs) Active
Laurenthian (talkcontribs) Active
Kvng (talkcontribs) Active
Jonathan Tessier (talkcontribs) Active
Danielh32 (talkcontribs) Active: main activity is adding movies to actor's filmography
gbawden (talkcontribs) Active
SpiritedMichelle (talkcontribs) Active
Gilded Snail (talkcontribs) Active
dnllnd (talkcontribs) Sporadically active
Lucasstar1 (talkcontribs) Active, and new.
Lakun.patra (talkcontribs) Active
Coolabahapple (talkcontribs) Active
Knope7 (talkcontribs) Active
TheEditor867 (talkcontribs) Active
Green daemon (talkcontribs) Active
Gimubrc (talkcontribs) Active, new user, new member
ShuffleboardJerk (talkcontribs) Very Active
Laatu (talkcontribs) Active, but new to de-orphaning :)
Eno Lirpa (talkcontribs) Active
F1lover22 (talkcontribs) Semi-Active (I Have Exams)
Pianoman320 (talkcontribs) Active
BlackcurrantTea (talkcontribs) Sporadically active, concentrating on the Feb 2009 backlog
Dthomsen8 (talkcontribs) Active
Info2Learn (talkcontribs) Whenever I get the chance!
Pufferfyshe (talkcontribs) Active, at least a little bit
AmericanAir88 (talkcontribs) Active
SpiritPrince (talkcontribs) Active when I can
Milesjolly1997 (talkcontribs) Active
StraussInTheHouse (talkcontribs) Active
Tt 225 (talkcontribs) Active, doing some of the 2009 backlog
Mcampany (talkcontribs) Active
Nat965 (talkcontribs) Active when I can
Oronsay (talkcontribs) Active
Jmfcomo (talkcontribs) Semi-Active, maybe?
Jmertel23 (talkcontribs) Active
Narky Blert (talkcontribs) 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
Greyjoy (talkcontribs) Active
Robincantin (talkcontribs) Active
Teratix (talkcontribs) Active
Atlantic306 (talkcontribs) Active
Geekdiva (talkcontribs) Active when my real-life limitations allow (new as of 12/18)
SamCordes (talkcontribs) Active
James Hyett (talkcontribs) Active
DannyS712 (talkcontribs) semi-Active
rollidan (talkcontribs) Semi-active (I'm a student)
Sam Sailor (talkcontribs) Active
Bsoyka (talkcontribs) Semi-Active (Student)
OliverEastwood (talkcontribs) Active
Chialynn (talkcontribs) Active
Robincantin (talkcontribs) Active I've been doing a few every day.
Azrkhan (talkcontribs) Active
VFF0347 (talkcontribs) Active - New to the Project as of Sept 2019, I will try to de-orphan several (3-5) each week here at the outset.
The Lord of Math (talkcontribs) Active
SoftHiss (talkcontribs) Active Joined 3/5/2020.
Epluribusunumyall (talkcontribs) Active Also a student, but will try to be active as much as possible during quarantine
The war moose (talkcontribs) Active
Brad Thomas Hanks (talkcontribs) Active
I-Bin-A-Bibi (talkcontribs) Active
VersaceSpace (talkcontribs) Active when I can be (stop adding me to the inactive section)
Sideriver84 (talkcontribs) Semi-Active
TsunamiPrincess (talkcontribs) Active I am here to help, as often as I can.
Midknight1342 (talkcontribs) Active I'm here to help the best I can!
Dr. Moist Vanilla (talkcontribs) 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 (talkcontribs) Active
SparklingSnail (talkcontribs) Active
Smoresmores (talkcontribs) Active
RedPurpleX (talkcontribs) Active
AryaHedgehog (talkcontribs) Active New!
DevSpenpai (talkcontribs) Active
Herravondure (talkcontribs) Active
Lyricalcarpenter (talkcontribs) Active (New!)
A.a.m.tm (talkcontribs) Active when possible
Perfect4th (talkcontribs) Active
Panthermail (talkcontribs) Active, I am a student but i will do my best to clear the backlog!
Demt1298 (talkcontribs) Active
evrik (talkcontribs) Activish
Ruud Buitelaar (talkcontribs) Active
BrendaJaneF (talkcontribs) Active, Just started (July 2022) my attempts at linking articles so I might be a bit slow.
AiGenly (talkcontribs) Active
Morscho (talkcontribs) Active, I will try to be as active as possible
Contrawwftw (talkcontribs) Active
2006toyotacorrola (talkcontribs) Active
Scatterleaf (talkcontribs) Active, new
Wikiwow1102 (talkcontribs) Active
LonelySchoolbag143 (talkcontribs) Active, I will try to de-orphan as much as possible!
Knowpanther (talkcontribs) Have lots of work!!!
Switchpanel (talkcontribs) Active
Ernsanchez00 (talkcontribs) Just started (February 2023), I'm not too sure how to de-orphan the article.
KatProsodi (talkcontribs) Active
Persent101 (talkcontribs) Active
Anxietykazoo (talkcontribs) Active
manumaker08 (talkcontribs) semi-Active
YourLeastFavorite (talkcontribs) Just trying this out to see what I can do
Looklook look at me (talkcontribs) Active whenever I can be
Leafy46 (talkcontribs) Active, will help out where I can
Fortunaa (talkcontribs) Active
Tableguy28 (talkcontribs) Active
Millows (talkcontribs) Active
TrademarkedTarantula (talkcontribs) Active
Turtlecrown (talkcontribs) Active: targeting articles beginning 'Sa-' using All category list (Oct 2023); just started using Quarry for 'Sa-' false orphans
GraziePrego (talkcontribs) Active
JohnLaurensAnthonyRamos333 (talkcontribs) Active
Disc the Band (talkcontribs) Active
Orange sticker (talkcontribs) Active
Ms.Aloisia (talkcontribs) Active whenever I have time
Apothewiki (talkcontribs) Semi-Active
Cl3phact0 (talkcontribs) Active
Masterhatch (talkcontribs) Active
SmileySnail (talkcontribs) Active
Flux55 (talkcontribs) Active
Rublamb (talkcontribs) Active
TofuTomaso (talkcontribs) Active, started February 2024
GoldenBootWizard276 (talkcontribs) Semi-active

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 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Pico del Teide (talkcontribs) Inactive
Joanna Ingles (talkcontribs) Inactive
Tadramgo (talkcontribs) Inactive
Sassf (talkcontribs) Inactive
leujohn (talkcontribs) Inactive
Jagordon (talkcontribs) Inactive
Raven1977 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Qsung (talkcontribs) Inactive
RockManQ (talkcontribs) Inactive
Bharathprime (talkcontribs) Inactive
mynameinc (talkcontribs) Inactive
CaveatLector (talkcontribs) Inactive
m9999 (talkcontribs) Inactive
freenaulij (talkcontribs) 2007 December 14
JetLover (talkcontribs) 2008 May 1
Lights (talkcontribs) 2008 July 11
Lex Kitten (talkcontribs) 2008 February 25
gs44631 (talkcontribs) 2008 March 22
kodmkl (talkcontribs) 2008 July 31
leobold1 (talkcontribs) 2008 June 9
Fattyjwoods (talkcontribs) 2008 July 12
LadyEditor (talkcontribs) 2008 May 26
Karces (talkcontribs) 2008 July 10
Cookiecutter43 (talkcontribs) 2008 August 5
Fbu08 (talkcontribs) 2008 September 9
Ericloyd (talkcontribs) 2008 September 16
Vrefron (talkcontribs) 2008 September 17
Zane McFate (talkcontribs) 2008 October 8
Mrammaraskar (talkcontribs) 2008 October 11
Marie_eileen (talkcontribs) 2008 October 24
Aviationalyours (talkcontribs) 2008 November 2
Hairlossmatters (talkcontribs) 2008 November 3
Foolestroupe (talkcontribs) 2008 November 3
Hunting dog (talkcontribs) 2008 November 7
Avocado (talkcontribs) 2008 November 28
Unscented (talkcontribs) 2008 December 17
Bonatto (talkcontribs) 2008 December 13
Oddbodz (talkcontribs) Inactive
Jim Cartar (talkcontribs) Inactive
Rtewqq (talkcontribs) Inactive I'll try to help as much as I can – last edit in 2016
Seraphim (talkcontribs) Inactive – last edit in 2014
Adam Schwing (talkcontribs) Inactive – last edit in 2010
SkyWalker (talkcontribs) Inactive
Puddingpie (talkcontribs) Inactive
Penguin0267 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Hippie Metalhead (talkcontribs) Inactive
Danielspencer91 (talkcontribs) Inactive (I'm a Student!)
Syed (talkcontribs) Inactive
Annelid (talkcontribs) Inactive
Pinkygirl91 (talkcontribs) Inactive
ssaa08 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Aditya (talkcontribs) Inactive
PiFanatic (talkcontribs) Inactive
Sgc21896 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Leif edling (talkcontribs) Inactive
Josemanimala (talkcontribs) Inactive
Annalise (talkcontribs) Inactive
SaltedCracker (talkcontribs) Inactive
Avalik (talkcontribs) Inactive
Adamuu (talkcontribs) Inactive
Postcard Cathy (talkcontribs) Inactive
wingedcheetah (talkcontribs) Inactive
Sebwite (talkcontribs) Inactive, specializing in adding navboxes to pages
Unionhawk (talkcontribs) Inactive
Flipper24 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Scoreed (talkcontribs) Inactive, new
shraktu (talkcontribs) Inactive
Carlton Bankz (talkcontribs) Inactive, new
Aboriginal Noise (talkcontribs) Inactive, did this at another website
Lonefolf (talkcontribs) Inactive
Deepak D'Souza (talkcontribs) Inactive
Rambler24 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Biglovinb (talkcontribs) Inactive
Wackofnotrade (talkcontribs) Inactive
Jeffrey Mall (talkcontribs) Inactive
Fletch79 (talkcontribs) Inactive
royalsabri (talkcontribs) Inactive
Kamots (talkcontribs) Inactive
scoutHawk_01 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Dan Tromedlov (talkcontribs) Inactive
Majestic27 (talkcontribs) Inactive
CheeseDeluxe (talkcontribs) Inactive
Mattg82 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Youre dreaming eh? (talkcontribs) Inactive, new
Eguygabe (talkcontribs) Inactive
Beeb144 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Twaitsey (talkcontribs) Inactive
Chrisraynash (talkcontribs) Inactive
Optiguy54 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Gz33 (talkcontribs) Inactive
kstueve (talkcontribs) Inactive
Hippychickali (talkcontribs) Inactive
Ajstov (talkcontribs) Inactive
Aqua3993 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Bryher16 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Lmaggiesmith (talkcontribs) Inactive
LordVetinari (talkcontribs) Inactive
Deadlyninja (talkcontribs) Inactive
Lrkleine (talkcontribs) Inactive
Scalziand (talkcontribs) Inactive
USchick (talkcontribs) Inactive
Adhirk (talkcontribs) Inactive
DeFaultRyan (talkcontribs) Inactive
TheAMmollusc (talkcontribs) Inactive
Christopholes (talkcontribs) Inactive
ArcAngel (talkcontribs) Inactive
fulleraaron (talkcontribs) Inactive
HarveyMGB (talkcontribs) Inactive
Feedintm (talkcontribs) Inactive
Jdcollins13 (talkcontribs) Inactive
StewartNetAddict (talkcontribs) Inactive
DoctorKubla (talkcontribs) Inactive
marie22446688 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Listmeister (talkcontribs) Inactive
Ewokonfire (talkcontribs) Inactive
Neuhmz (talkcontribs) Inactive
Benjamil (talkcontribs) Inactive
Adsandy (talkcontribs) Inactive
Mrmagikpants (talkcontribs) Inactive
StampArt (talkcontribs) Inactive
SirkusSystems (talkcontribs) Inactive
Acronin3 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Yorkshiresoul (talkcontribs) Inactive
Traveler100 (talkcontribs) Inactive
FoCuSandLeArN (talkcontribs) Inactive
LaunchAxis (talkcontribs) Inactive
SarahStierch (talkcontribs) Inactive
The Giant Purple Platypus (talkcontribs) Inactive
Mathijsvs (talkcontribs) Inactive
Gaurav Pruthi (talkcontribs) Inactive
Justinralphman888 (talkcontribs) Inactive
ToastyMallows (talkcontribs) Inactive
paul_oz2013 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Osy (talkcontribs) Inactive
Bloody Huntman (talkcontribs) Inactive
Michael73072 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Anniepresto (talkcontribs) Inactive
TheFlyingFoot (talkcontribs) Inactive
Lau liz van (talkcontribs) Inactive
Cookiesaretasty (talkcontribs) Inactive
A3BDFAD9EC0B (talkcontribs) Inactive
PaintedCarpet (talkcontribs) Inactive
Depthdiver (talkcontribs) Inactive
Tim1357 (talkcontribs) Inactive
R.M. 221 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Thebrainkid (talkcontribs) Inactive
LukasMatt (talkcontribs) Inactive
123chess456 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Nicholasemjohnson (talkcontribs) Inactive
payam22 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Vin09 (talkcontribs) Inactive
pgold009 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Lilianarice (talkcontribs) Inactive
WookieeV (talkcontribs) Inactive
Vrac (talkcontribs) Inactive
Matthespian (talkcontribs) Inactive
Eventflow (talkcontribs) Inactive
NAFS-India-2008 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Samjared (talkcontribs) Inactive
JeremiahY (talkcontribs) Inactive
3gg5amp1e (talkcontribs) Inactive
Ouanor (talkcontribs) Inactive
Brackattax (talkcontribs) Inactive
Green Green Wave (talkcontribs) Inactive
Yamont (talkcontribs) Inactive
EllsworthSchmittendorf (talkcontribs) Inactive
MorbidEntree (talkcontribs) Inactive
Ajpolino (talkcontribs) Inactive
Bonifate (talkcontribs) Inactive
Skylord_a52 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Sparklegirl87 (talkcontribs) Inactive
CoolieCoolster (talkcontribs) Inactive
SewerCat (talkcontribs) Inactive
TordenOfItami (talkcontribs) Inactive
Outoftheazul (talkcontribs) Inactive
Clawsyclaw (talkcontribs) Inactive
nerdgoonrant (talkcontribs) Inactive
ThePortaller (talkcontribs) Inactive
TheLordJagged (talkcontribs) Inactive
Ds2320 (talkcontribs) Inactive
TemTem (talkcontribs) Inactive
Mr. Anon515 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Melodydove (talkcontribs) Inactive
JF1982 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Topindian (talkcontribs) Inactive
FiveFaintFootprints (talkcontribs) Inactive
Shadow of the waxwing slain (talkcontribs) Inactive
Rap Chart Mike (talkcontribs) Inactive
aurornisxui (talkcontribs) Inactive
Starbreezexd (talkcontribs) Inactive
amitavanath12 (talkcontribs) Inactive
Non-monic (talkcontribs) Inactive
Rhea Nawar (talkcontribs) Inactive
Njavedd (talkcontribs) Inactive
Krazio (talkcontribs) Inactive
KazMalKen (talkcontribs) Inactive
Allenros (talkcontribs) Inactive
TuorEladar (talkcontribs) Inactive
OldGalileo (talkcontribs) Inactive
Jmaxx37 (talkcontribs) Inactive

Progress[edit]

Orphaned articles
Subtotals
May 2014179
June 2014218
July 2014246
August 2014229
September 2014326
October 2014140
November 201488
December 2014206
January 2015221
February 2015311
March 2015237
April 2015264
May 2015219
June 2015295
July 2015188
August 2015454
September 2015439
October 2015520
November 2015450
December 2015452
January 2016221
February 2016198
March 2016385
April 2016453
May 2016404
June 2016698
July 2016526
August 2016821
September 2016560
October 2016361
November 2016276
December 2016254
January 2017730
February 2017760
March 2017720
April 2017378
May 2017542
June 2017505
July 2017183
August 2017420
September 2017349
October 2017286
November 2017113
December 2017168
January 2018223
February 2018403
March 2018373
April 2018160
May 2018124
June 2018612
July 2018175
August 2018220
September 2018587
October 2018276
November 2018179
December 2018553
January 2019821
February 2019500
March 2019755
April 2019250
May 2019433
June 2019457
July 2019407
August 2019373
September 2019301
October 2019884
November 2019568
December 2019265
January 2020376
March 2020304
April 2020557
May 2020776
June 2020450
July 2020410
August 2020421
September 2020448
October 2020572
November 2020493
December 2020339
January 2021928
February 2021532
March 2021513
April 2021523
May 2021497
June 2021336
July 2021488
August 2021316
September 20211
October 2021479
November 2021841
December 20211,316
January 20221,214
February 2022821
March 2022715
April 20221,657
May 2022580
June 2022628
July 2022593
August 2022594
September 2022685
October 2022845
November 20221,463
December 2022812
January 2023736
February 2023424
March 2023718
April 2023693
May 2023515
June 2023627
July 2023746
August 20231,579
September 20231,819
October 2023605
November 2023686
December 2023721
January 2024973
February 20241,730
March 20241,563
Undated articles5

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]

  • orpThis user is working to reduce the orphaned pages backlog
    – Custom userbox


Description Template Example
Add link to orphaned articles by subject. {{WikiProject cleanup group|Orphaned articles|Physics}}
Orphaned articles in Physicsthe tool's wiki page
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]

See also[edit]

WikiProject orphan lists[edit]

Obsolete orphan lists[edit]

These are kept for historical purposes only, they are no longer used:

References[edit]

External links[edit]