Newly created articles are checked for obvious problems by members of the New pages patrol. These editors collaborate to identify articles which do not meet the criteria for inclusion and/or to tag them for any glaring issues that need attention. Article classification codes are assigned (on the article's talk page) based on an assessment of the article's quality. The assessment class codes may be updated by any contributor as the article is improved.

Typically, an article may begin with a Stub-class or Start-class code and be upgraded to C-class, then B-class as the article becomes more complete. Next, an article might be submitted to the peer review process to receive ideas and critical feedback from other editors. Upon successful completion of the peer review, an article might then be nominated for GA-Class ( Good Article) status. At each step, the nominator is expected to implement the feedback they receive.

Articles achieving GA status are then potential candidates for FA-Class ( Featured Article) status. Examples of featured articles are viewable daily at Wikipedia's Main Page.