Wikivoyage:Usable articles

A usable article is a status rating for any article in Wikivoyage that has enough information to be useful for an adventurous traveler. That is, by using the information in the article, they can (for example) get to a destination, find good places to sleep and eat there, and have some pointers for what to see or do.

Of course, length doesn't guarantee usability. An article about a destination can go on for pages and pages and still not give enough of the information you need to survive there. Each article should cover its subject with the appropriate depth or breadth. But if you do not know how to get there, or where to stay if you do, then the article is not very useful. Such an article would still be an "outline", even though it has a lot of content.

In general, usable articles are not really complete articles, however. They may not offer many options for where to eat and sleep. They may not contain much information about nightlife or shopping, for example. Or they may be lacking much helpful information about the destination in general, or nearby destinations. This prevents them from being considered true "guide" articles.

Identification

The criteria for what makes a "usable" article varies depending on the subject. A city article is expected to have some hotel and restaurant listings, but that doesn't make sense for an article about an entire region, which should instead have a listing of cities in that region. National parks may be leave-no-trace camping and wilderness; an article for a small, isolated remote village may indicate a lack of hotels (or restaurants) and suggest alternatives. Obviously the criteria for a travel topic or phrasebook would be even more different.

See Wikivoyage:Article status for an overview of article status criteria, or the following links for usable criteria for specific article types:

Wikivoyage:City article status (also for districts and rural areas)
Wikivoyage:Region article status (also for continents, continental sections, and main city articles for cities with districts)
Wikivoyage:Country article status
Wikivoyage:Itinerary status
Wikivoyage:Travel topic status
Wikivoyage:Phrasebook status
Wikivoyage:Park article status
Wikivoyage:Airport article status

A complete list of all current "usable" articles can be found in Category:Usable articles.

What to do with them

Tag

If you find an article that meets the criteria for "usable" but hasn't been tagged as such, or if you improve an article to the point that it qualifies, please tag it appropriately.

There's special markup in our software to mark something as a usable article. Unlike the "stub" tag, which is generic enough to apply to any kind of article, we have different tags for the different kinds of articles. For example, the tag for a usable article about a city looks like this: {{usablecity}} which makes this appear on the page:

This city travel guide to Usable articles is a usable article. It has information on how to get there and on restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.

The other kinds of "usable" tags are {{usabledistrict}}, {{usableruralarea}}, {{usableregion}}, {{usablecountry}}, {{usableairport}}, {{usablepark}}, {{usablediveguide}}, {{usabletopic}}, {{usablephrasebook}}, and {{usableitinerary}}.

This district travel guide to Usable articles is a usable article. It has information for getting in as well as some complete entries for restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.

This rural area travel guide to Usable articles is a usable article. It has information on how to get there and on restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.

This region travel guide to Usable articles is a usable article. It gives a good overview of the region, its sights, and how to get in, as well as links to the main destinations, whose articles are similarly well developed. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.

This country travel guide to Usable articles is a usable article. It has information about the country and for getting in, as well as links to several destinations. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.

This huge airport travel guide to Usable articles is a usable article. It has information on flights and ground transportation as well as some complete entries for food and beverage options at the airport. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.

This park travel guide to Usable articles is a usable article. It has information about the park, for getting in, about a few attractions, and about accommodations in the park. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.

This dive guide to Usable articles is a usable article. It has information on location and equipment as well as some complete entries on what to see. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.

This travel topic about Usable articles is a usable article. It touches on all the major areas of the topic. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.

This Usable articles is a usable article. It explains pronunciation and the bare essentials of travel communication. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.

This itinerary to Usable articles is a usable article. It explains how to get there and touches on all the major points along the way. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.

You can add one of these messages at the bottom of the page. This tells adventurous readers that the article might be adequate for them to use, but acknowledges that it's not up to the standard that we hope all Wikivoyage articles will eventually achieve. Also, it invites them to add whatever they can to make the article better.

Upgrade

If you find a "usable" article about a subject you know a bit about, or if you're planning a trip and doing some additional research beyond what you find in the article, you can help upgrade an article to an actual "guide". Find information to add to any missing or sparsely-populated sections. Add more options for places to eat or sleep (especially different kinds: add a budget hostel if the existing listings are all for five-star hotels). Also, if the existing information isn't formatted clearly, or doesn't look like our style guidelines, fix them up.

The specific criteria varies depending on the kind of article (i.e. city, country, etc.) but the general theme of a better-than-just-usable article is that it is more or less complete, covering every subtopic that a good guide should, and with enough detail that people can pick and choose which information to act on. At that point it's a real guide, and the tag can be changed to {{guidecity}} (or whichever kind of guide it is).

Re-evaluate outline to usable upgrade tasks
Ensure all listing have coordinates
Check all external links are valid.