Editing Encyclopedia:Editing policy (section)

==Creating articles==
The guideline [[Wikipedia:Notability]] describes what is needed to support the creation of a new article.

=== Mass page creation ===
{{Shortcut|WP:MASSCREATE}}
{{See also|Wikipedia:Bot-created articles}}
Any large-scale automated or semi-automated content page creation task must be approved by the community.<ref>This requirement [[Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)/Archive 66#Proposal: Any large-scale semi-/automated article creation task require BRFA|initially applied to articles]] but has since been expanded to [[Wikipedia talk:Bot policy/Archive 28#Semi-automated Portal creation|include all "content pages"]], [[Wikipedia:Reader#Project versus content|broadly meaning]] pages designed to be viewed by [[Wikipedia:Reader|readers]] through the [[WP:MAINSPACE|mainspace]]. These include [[WP:ARTICLE|articles]], most visible [[WP:CAT|categories]], [[WP:FILES|files]] hosted on Wikipedia, mainspace [[WP:EDITNOTICE|editnotices]], and [[WP:PORTALS|portals]].</ref><ref>While no specific definition of "large-scale" was decided, a suggestion of "anything more than 25 or 50" [[Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)/Archive 66#Proposal: Any large-scale semi-/automated article creation task require BRFA|was not opposed]].</ref> Community input may be solicited at [[WP:Village pump (proposals)]] and the talk pages of any relevant WikiProjects. Creators must ensure that all creations are strictly within the terms of their approval. All mass-created articles (except those not required to meet [[WP:GNG]]) must cite at least one source which would plausibly contribute to GNG, that is, which constitutes significant coverage in an independent, reliable, secondary source.<ref>{{section link|Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Requests for comment/Article creation at scale/Closing statement#Question 2: Should we require (a) source(s) that plausibly contribute(s) to WP:GNG?}}</ref>

Alternatives to simply creating mass quantities of content pages include creating the pages in small batches or creating the content pages as subpages of a relevant WikiProject to be individually [[WP:MOVE|moved]] to public-facing space after each has been reviewed by human editors. While use of these alternatives does not remove the need for approval, it may garner more support from the community at large.

Mass creation by automated means may additionally require approval as specified by [[Wikipedia:Bot policy]]. Approval of a bot for mass creation does not override the need for community consensus for the creation itself, nor does community consensus for a creation override the need for approval of the bot itself.

Note that while creation of ''non''-content pages (such as redirects from systematic names, or maintenance categories) is not covered by this mass creation policy, other policies, such as [[Wikipedia:Bot policy]], still apply.