Wikipedia:WikiProject National Register of Historic Places/Assessment

Welcome to the Assessment Division of the National Register of Historic Places WikiProject. This department focuses on assessing the quality of articles under the scope of the National Register of Historic Places project. The resulting article ratings are used within the project to aid in recognizing excellent contributions and identifying topics in need of further work.

The assessment is done in a distributed fashion through parameters in the {{WikiProject National Register of Historic Places}} project banner. The banner automatically adds articles to categories based on quality and importance.

FAQ

1. What is the purpose of the article ratings?

The rating system allows the project to monitor the quality of articles in our subject areas, and to prioritize work on these articles. Please note, however, that these ratings are primarily intended for the internal use of the project, and do not necessarily imply any official standing within Wikipedia as a whole.

2. How do I add an article to the WikiProject?

Just add {{WikiProject National Register of Historic Places}} to the talk page; there's no need to do anything else.

3. Someone put this project's banner on an article, but it doesn't seem to be within the project's scope. What should I do?

Because of the large number of articles we deal with, we occasionally make mistakes and add tags to articles that shouldn't have them. If you notice one, feel free to remove the tag, and optionally leave a note on the project's talk page (or directly with the person who tagged the article).

4. Who can assess articles?

Any member of the National Register of Historic Places WikiProject is free to add or change the rating of an article. Editors who are not participants in this project are also welcome to assess articles, but should defer to consensus within the project in case of procedural disputes.

5. How do I rate an article's quality?

Check the quality scale below and select the level that best matches the state of the article; then, follow the instructions below to add the rating to the project banner on the article's talk page. Please note that some of the available levels have an associated formal review process that must be followed; this is documented in the assessment instructions.

6. How do I rate an article's importance?

Check the importance scale below and select the level that best matches the subject of the article; then, follow the instructions below to add the rating to the project banner on the article's talk page. Please note that for an article to be added to some of the higher importance levels, the project must be notified in advance on the project talk page.

7. What if I don't agree with a rating? Can I request that someone else rate an article?

Of course; to do so, simply remove the current quality or importance rating already present on the article's talk page. If no rating is currently there, be patient; a member of this project will eventually get around to rating it. If you'd like, you can drop a note at the project talk page to bring the specific article to the attention of our volunteers.

9. What if I have a question not listed here?

For any other issues not covered in this FAQ, leave a message on the project's talk page, and someone will respond to your query directly.

Assessment instructions

By quality

An article's quality assessment is generated from the class parameter in the {{WikiProject Banner Shell}}. Articles that have the {{WikiProject National Register of Historic Places}} project banner on their talk page will be added to the appropriate categories by quality.

The following values may be used for the class parameter to describe the quality of the article (see Wikipedia:Content assessment for assessment criteria):

FA (for featured articles only; adds articles to Category:FA-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		FA
A (adds articles to Category:A-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		A
GA (for good articles only; adds articles to Category:GA-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		GA
B (adds articles to Category:B-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		B
C (adds articles to Category:C-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		C
Start (adds articles to Category:Start-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		Start
Stub (adds articles to Category:Stub-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		Stub
FL (for featured lists only; adds articles to Category:FL-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		FL
List (adds articles to Category:List-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		List

For non-standard grades and non-mainspace content, the following values may be used for the class parameter:

Category (for categories; adds pages to Category:Category-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		Category
Disambig (for disambiguation pages; adds pages to Category:Disambig-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		Disambig
Draft (for drafts; adds pages to Category:Draft-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		Draft
File (for files and timed text; adds pages to Category:File-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		File
Project (for project pages; adds pages to Category:Project-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		Project
Redirect (for redirect pages; adds pages to Category:Redirect-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		Redirect
Template (for templates and modules; adds pages to Category:Template-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		Template
NA (for any other pages where assessment is unnecessary; adds pages to Category:NA-Class National Register of Historic Places articles)		NA
??? (articles for which a valid class has not yet been provided are listed in Category:Unassessed National Register of Historic Places articles)		???

Quality scale

Label	Criteria	Reader's experience	Editing suggestions	Examples
FA	The article has attained featured article status by passing an official review. More detailed criteria The article meets the featured article criteria: A featured article exemplifies Wikipedia's very best work and is distinguished by professional standards of writing, presentation, and sourcing. In addition to meeting the policies regarding content for all Wikipedia articles, it has the following attributes. It is: well-written: its prose is engaging and of a professional standard; comprehensive: it neglects no major facts or details and places the subject in context; well-researched: it is a thorough and representative survey of the relevant literature; claims are verifiable against high-quality reliable sources and are supported by inline citations where appropriate; neutral: it presents views fairly and without bias; stable: it is not subject to ongoing edit wars and its content does not change significantly from day to day, except in response to the featured article process; and compliant with Wikipedia's copyright policy and free of plagiarism or too-close paraphrasing. It follows the style guidelines, including the provision of: a lead: a concise lead section that summarizes the topic and prepares the reader for the detail in the subsequent sections; appropriate structure: a substantial but not overwhelming system of hierarchical section headings; and consistent citations: where required by criterion 1c, consistently formatted inline citations using footnotes—see citing sources for suggestions on formatting references. Citation templates are not required. Media. It has images and other media, where appropriate, with succinct captions and acceptable copyright status. Images follow the image use policy. Non-free images or media must satisfy the criteria for inclusion of non-free content and be labeled accordingly. Length. It stays focused on the main topic without going into unnecessary detail and uses summary style where appropriate.	Professional, outstanding, and thorough; a definitive source for encyclopedic information.	No further content additions should be necessary unless new information becomes available; further improvements to the prose quality are often possible.	Avery Coonley School Monadnock Building
A	The article is well organized and essentially complete, having been reviewed by impartial reviewers from this WikiProject or elsewhere. Good article status is not a requirement for A-Class. More detailed criteria The article meets the A-Class criteria:  A Provides a well-written, clear and complete description of the topic, as described in Wikipedia:Article development. It should be of a length suitable for the subject, appropriately structured, and be well referenced by a broad array of reliable sources. It should be well illustrated, with no copyright problems. Only minor style issues and other details need to be addressed before submission as a featured article candidate. See the A-Class assessment departments of some of the larger WikiProjects (e.g. WikiProject Military history).	Very useful to readers. A fairly complete treatment of the subject. A non-expert in the subject would typically find nothing wanting.	Expert knowledge may be needed to tweak the article, and style problems may need solving. Peer review may help.	Examples needed
GA	The article has attained good article status by passing an official review. More detailed criteria The article meets the good article criteria: A good article is: Well-written: the prose is clear, concise, and understandable to an appropriately broad audience; spelling and grammar are correct; and it complies with the Manual of Style guidelines for lead sections, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation. Verifiable with no original research: it contains a list of all references (sources of information), presented in accordance with the layout style guideline; reliable sources are cited inline. All content that could reasonably be challenged, except for plot summaries and that which summarizes cited content elsewhere in the article, must be cited no later than the end of the paragraph (or line if the content is not in prose); it contains no original research; and it contains no copyright violations or plagiarism. Broad in its coverage: it addresses the main aspects of the topic; and it stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail (see summary style). Neutral: it represents viewpoints fairly and without editorial bias, giving due weight to each. Stable: it does not change significantly from day to day because of an ongoing edit war or content dispute. Illustrated, if possible, by media such as images, video, or audio: media are tagged with their copyright statuses, and valid non-free use rationales are provided for non-free content; and media are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions.	Useful to nearly all readers, with no obvious problems; approaching (but not equalling) the quality of a professional encyclopedia.	Some editing by subject and style experts is helpful; comparison with an existing featured article on a similar topic may highlight areas where content is weak or missing.	Wells Fargo Building (Philadelphia) Hartford City Courthouse Square Historic District
B	The article is mostly complete and without major problems, but requires some further work to reach good article standards. All major aspects of the topic are covered in a good amount of detail, with no major omissions in coverage, even if the article is not complete. No major issues with prose or references, and the article could be improved to GA-quality without too much additional work. More detailed criteria The article meets the six B-Class criteria: The article is suitably referenced, with inline citations. It has reliable sources, and any important or controversial material which is likely to be challenged is cited. Any format of inline citation is acceptable: the use of <ref> tags and citation templates such as {{cite web}} is optional. The article reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain obvious omissions or inaccuracies. It contains a large proportion of the material necessary for an A-Class article, although some sections may need expansion, and some less important topics may be missing. The article has a defined structure. Content should be organized into groups of related material, including a lead section and all the sections that can reasonably be included in an article of its kind. The article is reasonably well-written. The prose contains no major grammatical errors and flows sensibly, but does not need to be of the standard of featured articles. The Manual of Style does not need to be followed rigorously. The article contains supporting materials where appropriate. Illustrations are encouraged, though not required. Diagrams, an infobox etc. should be included where they are relevant and useful to the content. The article presents its content in an appropriately understandable way. It is written with as broad an audience in mind as possible. The article should not assume unnecessary technical background and technical terms should be explained or avoided where possible.	Readers are not left wanting, although the content may not be complete enough to satisfy a serious student or researcher.	A few aspects of content and style need to be addressed. Expert knowledge may be needed. The inclusion of supporting materials should also be considered if practical, and the article checked for general compliance with the Manual of Style and related style guidelines.	Gudgeonville Covered Bridge Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings
C	The article is substantially developed, but may still lack content or contain irrelevant material. The article should have some references to reliable sources, but may still have significant problems or require substantial cleanup. More detailed criteria The article is better developed in style, structure, and quality than Start-Class, but fails one or more of the criteria for B-Class. All major aspects of the topic (history, design, key buildings or location where relevant) are covered in some detail. The sections on each aspect may be incomplete, and there may be issues with sourcing or prose quality, requiring editing for clarity, balance, or flow. The article may contain policy violations, such as bias or original research.	Useful to a casual reader, but would not provide a complete picture for even a moderately detailed study.	Considerable editing is needed to close gaps in content and solve cleanup problems and improve prose quality.	Nerstrand City Hall Medical Arts Building (Knoxville, Tennessee) Delavan Terrace Historic District
Start	An article that is partially developed, but which is quite incomplete and may lack adequate reliable sources. More detailed criteria At least one important aspect of the topic covered in reasonable detail, ideally but not necessarily in a structured section. In practice, this will usually be its history, though it could be architecture or key buildings depending on the article.	Provides some meaningful content, but most readers will need more.	Provide references to reliable sources. The article also needs substantial improvement in content and organization, including covering multiple aspects of a single listing.	Alabama State University Historic District Badu Building
Stub	A very basic description of the topic; minimal content, no structured information. More detailed criteria May explain the nature of the property and why it is significant, and perhaps a bit of its history and design, but little more (and often less). Usually very short; but, if the material is irrelevant or incomprehensible, an article of any length falls into this category.	Provides very little meaningful content; may be little more than confirming the site is listed on/related to the NRHP.	Any editing or additional material can be helpful. The provision of meaningful content should be a priority.	Anderson House (Haymakertown, Virginia) Palestine Commercial Historic District
FL	The article has attained featured list status. More detailed criteria The article meets the featured list criteria: Prose. It features professional standards of writing. Lead. It has an engaging lead that introduces the subject and defines the scope and inclusion criteria. Comprehensiveness. (a) It comprehensively covers the defined scope, providing at least all of the major items and, where practical, a complete set of items; where appropriate, it has annotations that provide useful and appropriate information about the items. (b) statements are sourced where they appear, and they provide inline citations if they contain any of the four kinds of material absolutely required to have citations. (c) In length and/or topic, it meets all of the requirements for stand-alone lists; does not violate the content-forking guideline, does not largely duplicate material from another article, and could not reasonably be included as part of a related article. Structure. It is easy to navigate and includes, where helpful, section headings and table sort facilities. Style. It complies with the Manual of Style and its supplementary pages. (a) Visual appeal. It makes suitable use of text layout, formatting, tables, and colour; and a minimal proportion of items are redlinked. (b) Media files. It has images and other media, if appropriate to the topic, that follow Wikipedia's usage policies, with succinct captions. Non-free images and other media satisfy the criteria for the inclusion of non-free content and are labeled accordingly. (c) Accessibility. It uses proper formating to be accessible to all readers. Bulleted and unbulleted lists and tables are structured correctly. Visual media, if included, utilize alternative (alt) text. Stability. It is not the subject of ongoing edit wars and its content does not change significantly from day to day, except in response to the featured list process.	Professional standard; it comprehensively covers the defined scope, providing a complete set of items, and has annotations that provide useful and appropriate information about those items.	No further content additions should be necessary unless new information becomes available.	List of National Historic Landmarks in Alabama List of National Historic Landmarks in Indiana
List	Any list of sites listed on the NRHP.	Organization of the list should be logical and useful to the reader.	Lists should link to Wikipedia articles (existing or not), appropriately named and organized.	Any sublist of United States National Register of Historic Places listings
Category	Any category falls under this class.	Categories are mainly used to group together articles within a particular subject area.	Large categories may need to be split into one or more subcategories. Be wary of articles that have been miscategorized.	Any subcategory of Category:National Register of Historic Places
Disambig	Any disambiguation page falls under this class.	The page serves to distinguish multiple articles that share the same (or similar) title.	Additions should be made as new listings of that name are listed. Redlinks are acceptable, so long as they conform to WP:MOSDAB by including an accompanying bluelink.	Smith House Main Street Historic District
File	Any page in the file namespace falls under this class.	The page contains an image, a sound clip or other media-related content.	Make sure that the file is properly licensed and credited.	File:Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad.png
Redirect	Any redirect falls under this class.	The page redirects to another article with a similar name, related topic or that has been merged with the original article at this location.	Editor involvement is essential to ensure that articles are not mis-classified as redirects, and that redirects are not mis-classified as articles.	Grand Opera House (Meridian, Mississippi)
Template	Any template falls under this class. The most common types of template include infoboxes and navboxes.	Different types of template serve different purposes. Infoboxes provide easy access to key pieces of information about the subject. Navboxes are for the purpose of grouping together related subjects into an easily accessible format, to assist the user in navigating between articles.	Infoboxes are typically placed at the upper right of an article, while navboxes normally go across the very bottom of a page. Beware of too many different templates, as well as templates that give either too little, too much, or too specialized information.	Template:Infobox NRHP
NA	Any non-article page that fits no other classification.	The page contains no article content, and is probably not useful to any casual reader.	Look out for misclassified articles. Currently many NA-class articles need to be re-classified.	WP:NRHP

By importance

An article's importance assessment is generated from the importance parameter in the {{WikiProject National Register of Historic Places}} project banner on its talk page:

{{WikiProject National Register of Historic Places|importance=???}}

The following values may be used for the importance parameter to describe the relative importance of the article within the project:

Top (adds articles to Category:Top-importance National Register of Historic Places articles)		Top
High (adds articles to Category:High-importance National Register of Historic Places articles)		High
Mid (adds articles to Category:Mid-importance National Register of Historic Places articles)		Mid
Low (adds articles to Category:Low-importance National Register of Historic Places articles)		Low
Related (adds articles to Category:Related-importance National Register of Historic Places articles)		Related
NA (adds articles to Category:NA-importance National Register of Historic Places articles)		NA
??? (articles for which a valid importance rating has not yet been provided are listed in Category:Unknown-importance National Register of Historic Places articles		???

The importance parameter should be assigned according to the importance scale below.

Importance scale

Label	Criteria	Examples
Top	Articles about the NRHP itself Sites agreed at wt:NRHP to have truly exceptional importance Top level list-articles of NHLs, of NRHPs	National Register of Historic Places National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 State Historic Preservation Office National Park Service National Register of Historic Places listings in the United States
High	National Historic Landmarks NRHP-listed sites with NPS designations (NMON, NHS, etc.) Architectural styles reflected in 500 or more NRHPs Architects of 100 or more buildings on the NRHP Geography-organized NHL lists, and top NRHP list for each state A few exceptions to be discussed at wt:NRHP	Manzanar Greek Revival architecture Frank Lloyd Wright List of National Historic Landmarks in Alabama
Mid	Listed individually on the NRHP, plus other state or local significance Click [show] for more information. Most NRHP-listed sites are of low importance. However, as a rule of thumb, 10%-15% of sites in a state or region should be rated at higher importance. These sites could include: structures or locations associated with a particularly important local historical event structures or locations associated with a particularly well-known person or organization structures which are the best or most influential work by a well-known architect structures that are particularly representative of a certain architectural style structures or locations that possess some locally unique trait (for example, the oldest building in a large city) historic districts which include a number of individually significant structures structures or locations that are relatively well-known, whose articles are likely to be more widely read Nearly all of these sites should be rated mid-importance. However, a very few exceptional sites may merit a high-importance rating. Please propose these exceptions at the project talk page. Listed individually on the NRHP, and evaluated at the "national" level of significance Thematic Resources/MPS studies Architectural styles reflected in 50 or more NRHPs Architects with 50 or more buildings on the NRHP County/parish/city list-articles; other top-level list-articles	Atalaya Castle Herkimer Home State Historic Site Boundary Markers of the Original District of Columbia Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches Shingle Style architecture Albert Kahn National Register of Historic Places listings in North Side Chicago
Low	All other NRHP sites or districts Architects with 10 to 50 buildings on the NRHP List-articles subordinate to other NRHP articles List-articles covering specific types of properties Lists of NRHP listings inside another district, park, or entity other than a city, county, parish, or state	Los Angeles Plaza Historic District Ward Wellington Ward List of properties in Hartford City Courthouse Square Historic District List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in New York National Register of Historic Places in Yosemite National Park
Related	Contributing properties Delisted properties Broad lists of properties, many of which are on the NRHP Event articles that are significantly related to the history of NRHP listings	Soulé Steam Feed Works Kinzua Bridge List of plantations in the United States Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire (event at the Brown Building) Great Fire of 1910 (motivation of North Idaho 1910 Fire Sites TR)
NA	Non-article pages	Template:Infobox NRHP Category:National Register of Historic Places articles by importance