Wiki 24:Featured article documentation

This is a guide for completing the Featured Article update of each month.

By the end of each month, the voting period for the next Featured article is closed. The latest featured article is destined to be showcased on the Main Page for the new month. But, if an administrator or other user has not updated the wiki by the start of the next month to reflect the latest winner, you can follow this guide to accomplish the task personally.

Updating the appropriate pages is a brief process that should take no longer than a few minutes. It consists mostly of copying and pasting, and a small amount of original writing. The steps listed below can be completed in any order, but it is important that they all be completed in one sitting to ensure that no steps are forgotten and to prevent confusion. Changes to this process must be agreed upon by consensus.

Step 1: update the Main Page template
The first step listed here is the most time consuming, so let's get it out of the way first. Go to the ballot area and determine which article won the vote by counting which nominee has the most support votes that were not cancelled by opposition votes. Then, take a few minutes to write a brief, interesting, and sufficiently detailed paragraph about the winning article. It can incorporate elements from the winner's introduction. Make sure there are no spelling or grammatical errors in your paragraph, as this description will show up on the main page, and errors there are especially unacceptable. Then, go to:
 * Template:FeaturedArticle

and delete the previous month's description. Paste the description you wrote for the new winner in, and replace the picture from the old winner with the best image from the new one. Link directly to the new winner in the "Read the article here" part beneath the description. Then, bump last month's winner down to the Recently featured section below that, which should now also contain the winner from two months back as well. Preview the changes, and if it looks good, save them. In a few moments the Main Page will reflect your work.

Step 2: update the winning article
Now, visit the winning article's page and add   to the very top of the page, followed by two blank lines. Scroll to the bottom of the winner, and then insert:   as the very last category. If the other categories are alphabetized, paste the same alphabetization scheme in this category too.

Step 3: update the last month's winner
Then go to last month's winner which is the featured article you replaced the content about in the template in step one. There, you will delete  from the top of its page. Do not remove the category from the bottom. Next, go to the: talk page for last month's winner and paste   at the top. If no talk page exists, just create it and paste the template.

Step 4: blank the voting area
Next visit the ballot area, found at:
 * Wiki 24:Featured article candidates

where all you have to do is blank the voting area (to leave room for the new ballots) and change the name of the month in the header.

Step 5: update the FA list
Finally, the simplest step, go to:
 * Wiki 24:Featured articles

and scroll down, add the current month, and link the winner like the other featured articles.