Wikipedia:Historical archive/Substub

Please note that this policy is still under discussion.

If stubs are the ugly ducklings of Wikipedia, then substubs are the unhatched eggs. If you come across one, peck at it by replacing {{stub}} with {{substub}} at the bottom of the page, producing:

Template:Substub Better yet, break it out of its shell by turning it into a regular stub. Even better, aim for a ~~full-grown swan~~ full-length article. To see a list of substubs, see Category:Substubs.

Differences between a stub and a substub

Substubs are simply a type of stub.

Stubs are actually long enough to have a tad of useful information in them. Substubs are usually no longer than a dictionary definition, and usually contain information that anyone would know.

Stubs are usually easy to expand upon because they have some general information with which to build a much longer article, like asking a mason to draw a house: you get a pretty detailed floor plan. Substubs contain very little information, or worse, false or misleading information, like asking a three-year-old to draw a house and getting a box for the house and a triangle for the roof.

Stubs are usually created by a person who wants to see the article expanded either by himself or herself or by someone who really knows the subject of the article. Substubs are usually created by people just because they can, then they leave without looking back.

A substub without even any information relevant to its title, however, is patent nonsense and a candidate for speedy deletion (but please try a Google test, as some subjects may sound very weird to those unfamiliar with them).

Examples

Constructed for example purposes

Stub

Substub

An airplane is a machine that flies through the air. It was created by the Wright brothers in 1903. It is able to fly because the wing shape creates greater air pressure under the wing than above it.

Today, the Boeing 747 line of airplanes has revolutionized commercial air travel and mass transit, making inter-continental flights not only possible but commonplace.

Airplanes are flying machines with wings.

A computer in the modern sense of the word is a machine that computes information electronically. They nowadays use transistors and microchips to process data. They normally use the binary number system, which is composed of ones and zeros.

A computer processes information with a mouse. It is in binary.

Real substubs in Wikipedia

Residential area	A residential area is an area of a city that houses individuals, but not industry or large businesses.
Belinea	Belinea is a manufacturer of monitors.
Power Rangers: SPD	Power Rangers: SPD is a new Power Rangers season coming in 2005.

Bottom line

Stubs are short. Substubs are really, really short.

How to fix a substub

Turn it into a stub

Provide a "This is a stub" message by adding {{stub}}. (See Wikipedia:Boilerplate text for more.)
Follow the standards of proper English. Write in full, clear sentences.
To aid in your expansion work, you can incorporate and cite references about the topic in books, magazines, or newspapers; visit external links, if any, within the article; or you can search Google or Yahoo! for information about the topic. [This paragraph is itself a stub and should be expanded.]
Give a clear, precise definition or description of your topic. Avoid fallacies of definition. For biographies and articles about non-concepts (e.g., about countries and cities), definitions are impossible, so begin with a clear, helpful, informative description of the subject. State what a person is famous for, where a place is and what it is known for, the basic details of an event and when it happened, etc. A good definition or description may encourage potential contributors by suggesting the limits of the article, indirectly summarizing what needs to be done. For example, Salvador Allende was the President of Chile from 1970 until 1973 would be a good description.
Try to give more than just a definition — at least a little more. It doesn't hurt to be provocative, as long as you attempt to be unbiased and reasonably accurate. What is interesting and important about the subject? If your introduction would make someone want to read further, then it will probably entice someone to write further. As little as one extra sentence can turn a good description into a brilliant stub, e.g. Salvador Allende was the President of Chile from 1970 until 1973. The CIA might have been involved in the coup that ousted him. With a start like that, you don't have to know any more yourself; a dozen contributors will be falling over themselves to fill in the details.
Make sure any relevant linkable words have been linked. But be careful about which words you link to; see naming conventions. e.g. Salvador Allende was the President of Chile from 1970 until 1973. The CIA might have been involved in the coup that ousted him.
Submit the article with a Summary comment that will attract the attention of others to your stub. If nothing else, cut and paste the stub itself into the Summary field when you save your article.
Feel some responsibility for your stub article. There is a fine line between helping by outlining out what needs to be done, and being annoying by not doing anything yourself. If nobody contributes to your stub for a few weeks, roll up your sleeves and expand it yourself. Take the fact that nobody has contributed as a hint that your stub might not have been that great, and if nothing else, try to make it a better stub.
Don't just add links. Links are fine normally, but just on their own, they say very little about the topic you are writing about.

If you want to turn it into a full article

Go for it.

If you don't want to turn it into a stub

Add {{substub}} to the bottom of the page, replacing {{stub}} if necessary, and mention the substub in your edit summary to make it easier for the RC patrol to notice.
(Optional) If shortness of the article is but one of a number of problems, such as POV or wikification, then add {{cleanup}} to the top of the page and list it on Wikipedia:Cleanup.

Possible copyright violations

If the substub contains a possible copyright infringement then you could report it as a possible copyvio, but the words in a substub are likely to be so obvious that they are generic and uncopyrightable, so a quick rewrite is probably best.

Move dictionary definitions to Wiktionary

See: Wikipedia:Things to be moved to Wiktionary

Don't create substubs in the first place!

Please don't create articles that are merely substubs. Instead, create articles which are normal stubs, because stubs are much less of a hassle to fix. The creation of substubs should be discouraged.