While using a public domain work as the basis for a Wikipedia article may be a good idea (see public domain resources for a selection), please do not include large source documents within articles. We try to collect free (public domain or copyleft) source documents in a single place, Wikisource, where they can be annotated and translated. This reduces duplication across wikis, and frees articles from the context of the source documents. Keep in mind that Wikipedia articles are subject to merciless editing, so if a document is the subject of an article, yet is included in it, it might not be the same document for long! Even long quotation sections should be moved—to Wikiquote.
Two date formats are commonly used in Wikipedia articles: December 2, 2009 and 2 December 2009. These are referred to as alphanumeric dates. The first is used in articles with a connection to the United States, and the second in articles relating to most Commonwealth countries (although no preference is expressed for Canada). In articles with no particular national affiliation, to prevent needless edit warring, the established date format should not be changed. However any given article should use just one of the two formats consistently. Dates that are all numeric are highly discouraged to avoid confusion, however if used must be in the YYYY-MM-DD format and never in YYYY-DD-MM format.
A stub is an article that provides at least a basic definition but does not go much beyond it. It may not be the perfect article yet, but each stub should have the potential to become one. See Wikipedia:Find or fix a stub for ways to locate stubs. For example, click what links here on that same page, or on Template:Stub (the stub notice).
Still not enough stubs? Then try Wikipedia:Requests for page expansion, or set the threshold for stub display in your user Preferences. That option sets a number of characters threshold value. Links to articles with fewer characters are shown in dark red. This makes it very easy to spot stubs. If the stub notice is a generic notice consider sorting the stub into a stub category.
...and compare!
In the page history for any page, click (prev) (#9 on the image top right—click on the image to see a larger version) to see the changes for any version from the one just before it. To compare a series of versions, just click any two radio-buttons to select the set of versions, then click the Compare selected versions button (this only works if you have JavaScript enabled).
You should be presented with a screen that shows you which words have been removed and which ones have been added (affected words are highlighted in red). You always can revert to an earlier version by selecting it from the history, editing and saving it. We call these "diffs" because the URL has the word "diff" in it. Diff is short for difference.
There is an input field in your user Preferences (in the Signature section, down the page). You can use that to specify a unique nickname to be displayed as your signature instead of your registered account name. This field may also be used to custom design your signature with wiki markup (check the box labeled Treat the above as Wiki markup).
Whenever you sign a post with ~~~ (nickname only), or ~~~~ (includes nickname and timestamp), your new nickname or wiki-markup will be used. Bonus tip #1: ~~~~~ (timestamp only).
Bonus tip #2: To display a nickname, the software adds [[User:Name| to the beginning of the nickname, and ]] to the end. So, by entering something like Klaaus Meieer]] [[User talk:Klaaus Meieer|(talk), you can "trick" the software into adding another link at the end, in this case, to your talk page, which will look like this: Klaaus Meieer (talk).
While Wikipedia is not a web directory, external links are allowed where appropriate. They generally are listed under a == level 2 heading == called "External links", even if there is only one link. The best way to create external links is to type "[URL link title]". For example, [http://www.wikibooks.org Wikibooks] will become Wikibooks. However, such short link titles generally are frowned upon.
Try to describe your external links, so that the reader has a pretty good idea where it will take them before clicking on it. In the body of articles, do not use external links where Wikipedia links exist. For example, in an article about Wikimedia, a link to Wikibooks (the Wikipedia article about the project) would be more appropriate than a direct link to Wikibooks.org.
Is your text editor window too large and you cannot reach the Preview and Save buttons without scrolling? Try reducing the number of rows of the window at your user Preferences Editing tab.
To add an image to a page, type [[File:image-file-name.jpg|caption]] where you want to insert the image. You can add various options separated with a vertical bar: "|", also known as a "pipe", after the image name. For example, [[File:image-file-name.jpg|thumb|185px|A caption]] will automatically generate a right-aligned thumbnail of the image with a width of 185 pixels and the caption "A caption", and [[File:image-file-name.jpg|left]] will produce a left-aligned full size image version. Bonus tip: Adding a video or audio clip uses nearly the same procedures.
When you are done editing, you do not have to scroll or click to summarize your edits, nor to Preview or Save the article.
You can jump to the Edit summary box by pressing the Tab ↹ key.
To preview the article, press Alt+⇧ Shift+p.
To save the article, press Alt+⇧ Shift+s or press ↵ Enter when the cursor is in the Edit summary box.
To see the changes you have made so far, press Alt+⇧ Shift+v.
Another policy we value highly is Wikipedia:Etiquette—(Wikiquette)—please try to be nice to everyone, all of the time. Good natured collaboration keeps Wikipedia running smoothly and developing rapidly. It makes the Wikipedia community a friendly place to be and it makes Wikipedia a fun place to volunteer. Personal attacks are not tolerated, and may result in those responsible being blocked. If you get into a conflict, remain calm and endeavor to resolve the dispute peacefully.
If you have created an account, you might notice little [edit] links on some pages. An [edit] link is shown for every heading on a page. Sometimes you will see two edit links per heading ([edit|edit source]). In that case, the [edit] link will launch the VisualEditor, a WYSIWYG editor, and the [edit source] link will launch a text based editor. You can create a level 2 heading by typing ==Headline==, a level 3 heading by typing ===Headline===, and so on, all the way up to level 5. Level 1 headings are reserved for system use only. The [edit] link lets you edit only the text that is below this heading and above the next one. This is especially useful for long talk (discussion) pages. If you do not like the [edit] links, you can turn them off in your user Preferences by disabling the VisualEditor. If you use a modern web browser, you also can enable the option Enable section editing by right clicking on section titles instead of, or in addition to, Enable section editing via [edit] links.
If you want to create a new section at the bottom of a talk page, click the New Section link in the navigation links under the heading This Page. Bonus tip: In your user Preferences under Editing you can enable section [edit] links for the lead section of articles too. Be sure to save your changes.
Wikipedia articles are composed and formatted according to the Manual of Style (MOS). MOS sets the house standard on Wikipedia for attributes like link formatting, capitalization, punctuation, and sections. MOS includes guidelines for biographies, citations, titles, dates and numbers, proper names, and many other stylistic details.
Some examples of the elements of style in the MOS are:
- Article titles—use normal body text capitalization for titles (beginning letter, capitalize proper nouns, etc.), and apply the singular form in titles wherever possible.
- Capitalization—do not capitalize all words in section headings, or non-proper nouns
- Link placement—list external links in their own section at the bottom of an article
- Punctuation—remember the serial comma (Oxford comma) and logical quotes
- Sections—an informative lead section is important. See also a user-written lead creation essay.
To place the MOS template at the right on your User page for easy reference, edit your User page and copy/paste: {{style}} (including the curly braces).
Please follow the MOS guidelines when you update an article.
The current events portal is used to describe current world-wide events of note, not just in politics, but also in science, culture, technology, sports, entertainment and many other areas. The information in question should be added to any relevant articles as well. However, Wikipedia does not offer first-hand news reports on breaking stories (use Wikinews for that). Instead, the in the news section on our Main Page mentions and links to entries of timely interest that are (and this is crucial) nonetheless encyclopedia articles that have been updated to reflect an important current event. Non-Administrators can suggest items or changes to this Main Page section by editing the candidates page, from which administrators will update the live template from time to time.
Do you know any languages other than English? If so, you also can contribute to the Wikipedia in those languages, or translate articles from that Wikipedia into the English Wikipedia. Do not forget to include an interlanguage link when you translate a new article. To help coordinate with other language Wikipedias, you can join the Wikimedia Embassy. Also, check out how other languages are doing with our multilingual statistics.
The Wikipedia help page, Advice for parents, is provided to help parents, guardians, teachers, and other adults consider the best way to allow children they are responsible for to engage with Wikipedia safely and enjoyably.
The most useful piece of advice guardians can give to younger editors is to never divulge any personally identifiable information (name, age, location, school) on Wikipedia—or anywhere else publicly available on the Internet for that matter. Wikipedia is not censored, and contains explicit material and images. Parental controls may be able to help.
You may also be interested in another independent project, the Schools' Wikipedia—a specific selection of about 5,500 articles from the English Wikipedia, suitable for school children, which has been checked and edited for this audience.
Uploading hundreds of files or changing thousands of pages can be tedious. Limited automation is allowed on Wikipedia as long as it follows certain policies. The easiest way is to use AutoWikiBrowser.
Or, you always can grab your favorite scripting language and write a bot, but there is no need to reinvent the wheel: most modern programming languages have a MediaWiki library already written, there is a full list or programming languages and libraries here. Once you have written the code, you can request approval to trial run your bot. Once approved, your bot will be flagged, so it can be hidden from the list of recent changes. Alternatively you can request someone else take care of the whole matter for you.
Wikipedia always needs free images! If you have a collection of photos you have taken, consider articles that might benefit from any of them. If you have a camera, look for important subjects in your area. Maybe you can fulfill a picture request. If you are an artist or a photographer, consider joining the WikiProject Illustration to collaborate with others. Please upload any public domain images of interest you have (see Wikipedia:Public domain resources) but try to keep fair use images to a minimum per the guidelines.
We strive to make Wikipedia as accurate and as good as possible. If you see something you know is wrong, be bold and fix it. If you see something that seems wrong, leave a note on the article talk page and remove questionable assertions if no supporting evidence is provided. You can also use a verification template to add a citation needed tag after the text in question.
Peer review for accuracy and quality happens constantly through the Recent changes page and watchlists. A review can also be solicited on Wikipedia:Peer review, Wikipedia:Article assessment, and Wikipedia:Good article nominations. If you believe an article is really good, nominate it at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates. More sophisticated approval mechanisms are under constant discussion. Regardless, we do not guarantee accuracy and have a variety of other disclaimers. These are linked from every page, so please do not add more disclaimers to articles!
There is a semi-automated peer review available. The easiest way to install the script is to enable it as a Gadget: go to your user Preferences and check off the MoreMenu, adds Page and User dropdown menus to the toolbar... entry under Appearance and hit save. Each article page will then have a Page and User pull down menu near the top; go to the article; hover on Page; hover on Tools; click on Peer reviewer.
Wikipedia has only a few limitations on what topics it covers. Recipes and how-to articles are not included in the main namespace, but just about everything else is.
In which other encyclopedia do you find a list of sex positions, an article about nose picking or one about William Shatner's version of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds? As long as an article is verifiable, informative and neutral, it has a pretty good chance of being acceptable (see Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not for some other common rules). We strive to collect the sum of human knowledge, some of which may be trivial, but nevertheless is part of our cultures and our histories. Wikipedia is not paper—we need not worry about space constraints.
Sometimes the question is posed whether Wikipedia allows freedom of speech regarding profanity. Our primary goal is to build an encyclopedia. Freedom of expression is valued, but only to the extent that it does not get in the way of that goal. Including information about offensive material is part of Wikipedia's encyclopedic mission; being offensive is not. We have many articles about profane and sexual subjects—prick, fuck, shit, fart, and so on. Although Wikipedia is not censored, if you were to put profanities on discussion pages, a quick ban might follow. This is especially true for usernames because these show up in many places where people do not want to be bothered by profanity. Repeated off-topic comments on article talk pages also might constitute a breach of policy.
Wikipedia is not Yahoo! Answers. But if you have a general question such as, "Why is the sky blue?", and you cannot find a Wikipedia article that answers it, you can ask your question at the Wikipedia:Reference desk. If it turns out that no article on the subject exists, you can request one be written at Wikipedia:Requested articles.
Creating a Wikipedia account has many benefits! For example, users with accounts have the ability to start new pages, edit semi-protected pages, rename pages, and upload images. Other benefits include having your own user page, a personal watchlist, the ability to implement a plethora of gadgets, and the potential to become an administrator!
To create an account, all you have to do is click on the "Sign in / create account" link, click on "Create one", enter a username, a password (twice), then click the "Create account" button. Consider attaching an email address to your account for user account password recovery, to receive system updates, or to receive email from other users. Nobody will see your email address until you choose to send them an email or reply to theirs.
Any user on Wikipedia can create a User page. While you are logged in, your name appears in the top middle section of the screen. Click on the name and then create or edit your User page. Tell us about yourself and your motivation to participate in this project. Other users can leave comments on your Talk page. For experiments and personal projects, you also can create subpages to your User page, or you can use your User sandbox.
Cannot get enough of Wikipedia? Then join our mailing lists! A mailing list is a shared address for a list of recipients. Anyone subscribed to the list can send e-mail to that address and thereby reach all other subscribers. This is a convenient way to discuss complex issues with multiple people. There is a WikiEN-l list which is used for discussing policies and current issues related to the English Wikipedia, and there is Wikipedia-l for language-independent discussions. If you want to help developing MediaWiki, join Wikitech-l and share your ideas. For a complete list see m:Mailing lists.
Have you tried the Advanced options in your Recent changes user preferences settings? It requires a modern browser to work and is disabled by default.
Unlike the normal "recent changes" page, these options can summarize edits to the same page and let you dynamically expand and collapse the list items. For multiple edits to the same page, it also provides a single "changes" link which will show you a view of the differences (diffs) between these combined edits and the last non-recent revision.
After changing the Advanced options, the "Recent changes" list takes effect immediately and can be reversed by unchecking any option.
Clicking the "Recent changes" link in the interaction menu on every page will give you a list of all edits in the last few minutes. If you just want to watch for changes to articles you have edited, use your Watchlist. You can add articles to your Watchlist by clicking "Watch this page" tab (starred) at the top of any article (the talk page will be auto-watched, too). You can click "Related changes" in the toolbox menu on any page to see changes made to the pages linked from the one you are viewing. And finally, you can click the "My contributions" link to view a log of your edits; if yours is no longer the edit marked with "top", then someone else has edited the page.
The "perfect" Wikipedia article is built on solid research (remember to cite your sources). Contrary to popular belief, not all information is available for free on the Internet. Some research is only published in scientific journals and books (ask your library for remote lending services); some material is available only in commercial, password-protected electronic databases. If you have access to useful research material, please add the relevant information to Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange, a central portal to find Wikipedians with access to such resources. Remember we can only use facts from sources such as these, not a particular copyrighted expression thereof.
If you are a qualified user you can request access to the databases of paywalled resources proctored by The Wikipedia Library. Qualification usually involves having 500–1000 main namespace edits and 6–12 months tenure editing on Wikipedia.
The MediaWiki software that runs Wikipedia is under constant development. Do you want to see the latest, greatest features? Then head over to test.wikipedia.org, where the development branch is tested. But be careful. That wiki runs in debugging mode, so even the smallest problem in the code might cause it to spew out error messages. Take a look at the list of features under development in the MediaWiki roadmap. MediaWiki already is one of the most feature-rich wiki engines; see the MediaWiki feature list. MediaWiki and its dependencies are open source, so if you are the inquisitive type, please take a look at the code and help improve it.
Wikipedia should function and look right in any web browser. However, depending on the layout of an individual page and the Wikipedia skin set in your User preferences, a page layout might be broken in your browser. If the problem occurs on a single page, edit the page to fix it yourself. If you cannot fix it, put a message on the Talk page for the page (a screenshot always helps!). If the problem occurs on all pages, try a different skin. Your browser might have some minor issues. These are listed at Wikipedia:Browser notes.
The Teahouse is a friendly place to help new editors become accustomed to Wikipedia culture, ask questions, and develop community relationships. Memorize this shortcut to get to the Teahouse quickly: WP:THQ = Wikipedia:Tea House Questions.
- Ask questions about using Wikipedia and volunteers will respond as soon as possible.
- Visit the Teahouse to learn from other new editors' questions, and the replies from experts.
- Contribute an answer to a Teahouse question as you learn more about editing Wikipedia.
One of the most important criteria for inclusion of articles in Wikipedia is verifiability. Wikipedia is not a place to publish original research. Instead, we restate, summarize and structure knowledge that has already been published in many forms. So, wherever possible, include a source for your information that readers can follow up.