- Identification
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What to do with them
A guide article is a status rating for any article in Wikitravel that is essentially complete, with enough information to be useful to any traveler. This is what a Wikitravel article is intended to be. Not only would you not need to consult another guide, you'd really have no reason to want to: it's all here.
Guide articles aren't necessarily perfect... just very close. For example, a city guide might not have a map, some of the listings might not exactly match our manual of style. The article may have perfect spelling and grammar but the prose is a bit dry and wikipedic. This prevents them from being considered "star" articles, which are the ones we hold up as examples of just how great a Wikitravel article can become.
See also: Stub articles, Outline articles, Usable articles, Star articles.
[edit] Identification
The criteria for what makes a "guide" article varies depending on what the subject is. For example, an article about a city must have multiple hotel and restaurant listings, but that doesn't make sense for an article about an entire region, which should instead have a listing of the cities in that region. Obviously the criteria for a travel topic or phrasebook would be different. See Wikitravel:Article status for links to the specific criteria for each kind of article.
A complete list of all current "guide" articles can be found in Category:Guide articles.
[edit] What to do with them
If you find an article that meets the criteria for "guide" 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 guide article. Unlike the "stub" and "outline" tags, which are 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 guide about a city looks like this: {{guidecity}} which makes this appear on the page:
This is a guide article. It has a variety of good, quality information including hotels, restaurants, attractions, arrival and departure info. Plunge forward and help us make it a star!
The other kinds of "guide" tags are {{guideregion}}, {{guidecountry}}, {{guidepark}}, {{guidetopic}}, {{guidephrasebook}}, and {{guideitinerary}}.
You can add one of these messages at the bottom of the page. This tells readers that this article should be all they'll need to plan their visit... but acknowledges that there's always room for improvement (and updates) and invites them to make the article even better.
[edit] Upgrade
If you find a "guide" article and you can see what's holding it back from becoming a "star"... plunge forward! If you know your way around Illustrator or Inkscape, make a map for it. If you have a good eye for detail, comb through the listings and fix any formatting mistakes. If you have a flair for the English language, give the text a full-body massage with a happy ending, and make it sing. Give the article that final nudge from "great" to "insanely great".
The specific criteria varies depending on the kind of article (i.e. city, country, etc.) but a star article is as good as it gets. At that point it's a guide to be proud of, and should be nominated to be a "star".
