Hello PropertyArn and welcome to Wikipedia! Thanks for your edits to our free content collaboratively edited encyclopedia! Wikipedia was founded in 2001 by big brother (Jimbo or Jimmy Wales) and little brother (Larry Sanger). From our early life with UseModWiki (now available at nostalgia wiki) we are now one of the top ten most visited websites in the world and have 6,909,271 articles in English. There is a total of 1,252,133,499 edits to all pages (not just articles) and 120,786 registered users have edited in the last 30 days. (Update all stats.)
The fundamental principles of Wikipedia are the five pillars. They state that:
 | Wikipedia is an encyclopedia |
 | Wikipedia is written from a neutral point of view |
 | Wikipedia is free content that anyone can edit, use, modify, and distribute |
 | Editors should treat each other with respect and civility |
 | Wikipedia does not have firm rules |
If you are planning on starting a new article, read Your first article before you begin. Your subject needs to be notable—it must have been discussed in multiple reliable sources. Articles with subjects that are not notable may be deleted. Consider using:
Post a new message
to my talk page.
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- Articles for creation — experienced editors will review your article before deciding if it should go live
- The article wizard — you will be guided through creating an article. Unregistered (IP) editors cannot use this process as they are unable to create pages.
- If you use this process your article will go live immediately. It may be tagged for speedy deletion if it is unsuitable for Wikipedia.
- Requested articles — for where you have an idea for an article but do not wish to write the content. Another editor may start the article in the future.
If after reading all this you don't feel so confident about your new article, don't worry. Every contributor doesn't need to write their own article, and there isn't really much left to write about! Consider joining a WikiProject to meet editors interested in your subject areas and help improve articles to good or featured status.
When posting on discussion or talk pages, please remember to sign and date your comments by typing four tildes (~~~~). This will automatically produce your signature (something like Example (talk)). Your signature can be customised in your preferences; please remember to adhere to the signatures guideline if
you do so.
A useful page for newcomers (newbies) is the New contributors help page, and at some point, you'll need to read through and understand all the Policies and guidelines. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me on my talk page (click the button to the right) or go to the Teahouse Question and Answer board. Once again, welcome! RainCity471 (whack!) 14:06, 30 October 2013 (UTC)