'This sub-page on my user space is designed to provided a simplified set of help pointers for students and others I work with. 'It relates rather directly to a series of workshops (originally held in 2011/12 + 2012 + 2013) delivered towards creating and/or editing Wikipedia articles as an educational assignment...but is also useful in other Wikipedia training sessions.

Before you start! edit

  • Wikipedia:WELCOME - Welcome to Wikipedia! (let's get to know each other a little bit...)

Be sure to look at the above pages! They are very important, and they will help you — even if you're not perfect the first second tenth seventeenth 33rd time!

You can also download a very helpful PDF which contains the essential elements to help you get to know how Wikipedia works.

OR have a look at The Grande Guide to Wikipedia - an excellent alternative introduction to Wikipedia.

Beginner edit

Creating a New Article edit

Editing an Existing Article edit

Asking for Help edit

Personal help on your talk page edit

Intermediate edit

There's also a wikitext cheatsheet you can download as a PDF.
  • Disambiguation - when a term/name refers to more than one topic covered by Wikipedia articles


Images edit

[[File: | thumb | upright | right | alt= | caption ]]

Cite web edit

<ref>{{cite web
 |url= 
 |title= 
 |author= 
 |date= 
 |website= 
 |publisher= 
 |access-date= 
}}</ref>

Cite journal edit

<ref>{{cite journal
 |last1= 
 |first1= 
 |last2= 
 |first2= 
 |date= 
 |title= 
 |journal= 
 |volume= 
 |issue= 
 |pages= 
 |publisher= 
 |doi= 
 |url= 
 |access-date= 
}}</ref>

Cite book (short) edit

<ref>{{cite book
 |last= 
 |first= 
 |author-link= 
 |title= 
 |publisher= 
 |series= 
 |date=  
 |doi= 
 |isbn= 
}}</ref>

Cite book (extended) edit

<ref>{{cite book
 |last1        = 
 |first1       = 
 |last2        = 
 |first2       = 
 |author-link1 = 
 |author-link2 = 
 |editor       = 
 |title        = 
 |trans-title  = 
 |url          = 
 |access-date  = 
 |edition      = 
 |series       = 
 |volume       = 
 |date         = 
 |publisher    = 
 |location     = 
 |isbn         = 
 |doi          = 
 |page         = 
 |pages        = 
 |chapter      = 
}}</ref>

Metric conversions edit

Single input:
{{convert|original_value|original_unit|conversion_unit|abbr=on}}
Range of values:
{{convert|orig_val1|range|orig_val2|original_unit|conversion_unit|abbr=on}}
Examples:
{{convert|60|and|170|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
{{convert|18|°C|°F}}
{{convert|3.21|kg|lb}}

Variables edit

Code Effect
{{CURRENTWEEK}} 18
{{CURRENTDOW}} 6
{{CURRENTMONTH}} 05
{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} May
{{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}} May
{{CURRENTDAY}} 4
{{CURRENTDAYNAME}} Saturday
{{CURRENTYEAR}} 2024
{{CURRENTTIME}} 00:28
{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} 6,819,900
{{NUMBEROFPAGES}} 60,591,425
{{NUMBEROFUSERS}} 47,348,248
{{PAGENAME}} ToniSant/help
{{NAMESPACE}} User
{{REVISIONID}} -
{{REVISIONUSER}} ToniSant
{{localurl:pagename}} /wiki/Pagename
{{localurl:Wikipedia:Sandbox|action=edit}} /w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Sandbox&action=edit
{{fullurl:pagename}} //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagename
{{fullurl:pagename|query_string}} //en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pagename&query_string
{{SERVER}} //en.wikipedia.org
{{ns:index}} e.g. '{{ns:1}}' fullname of namespace e.g 'Talk'
{{SITENAME}} Wikipedia

Recalling named reference edit

<ref name="NAMEOFREF" />

Quotes edit

{{blockquote |text= |sign= }}

Blockquotes edit

<blockquote>
<p>QUOTED PARAGRAPH</p>
<p>NAME, SOURCE, REFERENCE</p>
</blockquote>

About edit

(This page is about USE1. For other uses, see About (disambiguation).)
{{About|USE1}}
(This page is about USE1. For other uses, see PAGE2.)
{{About|USE1||PAGE2}}
(This page is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE2.)
{{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2}}
(This page is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE2. For USE3, see PAGE3. For USE4, see PAGE4. For USE5, see PAGE5.)
{{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3|USE4|PAGE4|USE5|PAGE5}}

Tables (borderless) edit

{|
|-
! scope="col" |COLUMN1
! scope="col" |COLUMN2
|-
|ROW1
|ROW1/COL2
|-
|ROW2
|ROW2/COL2
|}

Tables (wikitable) edit

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" |COLUMN1
! scope="col" |COLUMN2
|-
|ROW1
|ROW1/COL2
|-
|ROW2
|ROW2/COL2
|}

Collapsible tables (Default: collapsed) edit

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align: left;margin:0px;"
|- 
! style="width:20em;" |COLUMN1
! style="width:20em;" |COLUMN2
|- 
|ROW1
|ROW1/COL2
|-
|ROW2
|ROW2/COL2
|-
|}

Columns edit

{{col-begin|width=100%}}
{{col-break|width=}} 
{{col-end}}

Interwiki links edit

Wiki Shortcut
Wikimedia Commons [[commons:]]
Wikipedia [[w:]]
Wiktionary [[wikt:]]
Wikibooks [[b:]]
Wikisource [[s:]]
Wikispecies [[species:]]
Metawiki [[m:]]
MediaWiki [[mw:]]

Vandalism response templates edit

 * {{subst:uw-vandalism1|PageName}} ~~~~ (unintentional vandalism/test)
 * {{subst:uw-delete1|PageName}} ~~~~ (unintentional removal of content)
 * {{subst:uw-vandalism2|PageName}} ~~~~ (suitable for intentional nonsense or disruption)
 * {{subst:uw-delete2|PageName}} ~~~~ (variant for removal of content)
 * {{subst:uw-vandalism3|PageName}} ~~~~ ("please stop" for use after level 2 warning)
 * {{subst:uw-delete3|PageName}} ~~~~ (please stop removing content)
 * {{subst:uw-vandalism4|PageName}} ~~~~ (last warning for vandalism)
 * {{subst:uw-delete4|PageName}} ~~~~ (last warning for removing content)
 * {{subst:uw-vandalism4im|PageName}} ~~~~ (only warning; for severe or grotesque vandalism only)
 * {{subst:uw-delete4im|PageName}} ~~~~ (only warning; for many blankings in a short period of time)

Page citations edit

{{rp|page=}}

Stuff you wanted to know about Wikipedia...but were afraid to ask! edit

Deletionism and inclusionism in Wikipedia edit

No Original Research edit

Still want more? edit

See also: WP:PRIMER

 
Time-saving links II

Sometimes you may be editing an article and want to link a plural to its singular form. For example, to link "Fred Foo was famous for his study of puddles" to puddle, you could link it like so: [[puddle|puddles]]. However, you can save time instead by writing [[puddle]]s.

This also works with adjectives (for example, [[Japan]]ese), regular verbs in present or past tense (for example, [[dance]]s or [[dance]]d) and any other suffixes or prefixes.

However, this method does not work with spelling changes, for example: [[try]]ied does not work; you have to enter [[try|tried]]. It also does not work with possessives, so you may want to use [[Fred Foo|Fred Foo's]] to get Fred Foo's. Using [[Fred Foo]]'s will look like Fred Foo's, i.e. the possessive suffix unlinked, in plain text, and black instead of blue.

Note: if a redirect exists from puddles to puddle you don't actually need to do any piping, it's fine to link [[puddles]] too.

Read more:
To add this auto-updating template to your user page, use {{totd}}