***This is a work in progress, with the article title TBD. Feel free to make edits if you'd like.***
***A subset of this article could be used for a shorter, "Essential Information" type page (i.e., without Wiki marking, etc.)
Welcome to Wikipedia! This overview will provide some information about Wikipedia, how to write a Wikipedia article, where to find help and how the collaborative process works. Assistance can be found in Help documentation, tutorials and through individuals available to support you, too. There are great tools for finding information, such as by searching categories based upon your subject. You may engage with a Wikiprojects community formed to manage subjects or administrative tasks, such as resolving issues with existing articles. A key to successfully creating an article is learning the terminology used in documentation and discussions with others. Generally, the links on this page will keep you here. If you click on any of the "For more information links" you will be taken to a page that will go into greater detail about the topic.
This page is written for people interested in creating an article, so let's get started!
What it is
What it is not
For more information see:
An individual creates an article. A number of individuals may become involved in the article, especially if it's a topic of wide interest, by editing the article or expanding its content.
"Sandbox" or "user space"
Article wizard
Things to consider
For more information see:
The very top of the page generally contains information, coded in Wiki markup, that provides information about the article, flags it for specific situations, such as the inclusion of an initial image and/or an information box containing basic details.
Templates
Images
Information boxes
For more information see:
An introduction, usually called "the lead", summarizes the information in an article. If there are article sections, also called headings, then the information in the introduction does not need to be referenced as it is referenced in the body of the article.
There are no codes to identify this area as an introduction. It is the text you type after anything at the top of the page (e.g., templates, information boxes or images) and before any subsequent sections. Many short articles are limited to a text in the form of an introduction, without additional sections apart from one for references.
For more information see:
--info to come with links --discuss "main article" and "see also" links
For more information see:
As in any encyclopedia, Wikipedia content must be verifiable on the basis of information published on the web, in a journal or in a book.
For more information see:
--info to come with links
For more information see:
If you've written primarily in word processing applications, you may not know that behind the scenes there are codes the control how the information is used and displayed. Individuals who write articles in Wikipedia control the way the information will appear. That can include:
For more information see:
Article creation is very much a collaborative effort. In the beginning it is good to ask for review by the appropriate Wiki Project. The individual who started the article is subject to guidelines and input from editors to ensure accurate, quality, verifiable and objective article writing.
In the process of getting the article ready for inclusion in the main Wikipedia space, it may be updated by other Wikipedia editors. Their edits could be based upon:
There is an opportunity to undo editors revisions. Before doing so, though, it's best to determine if the reason for the revision was due to guidelines or for proper formatting. Often when an someone makes a revision they will leave a reason or type of change in the edit history. On the article page you are reviewing, click on "View History". You will see one row for each change that was made to an article. On a given row the edit summary is at the right-most portion of the row. As an example: (→Color theory and technique: caption ce) (undo) means that the individual updated the "Color theory and technique" section, specifically copy editing the caption for an image.
Your article may be edited by several editors. There are some editors who specialize in areas such as spelling, formatting references, the applicable Wiki Project (topical content), objective point of view, layout of images and more. Just as in everyday life, there are a lot of people with different approaches and opinions. If there's doubt about how something should be managed, it's usually resolved through consensus, and likely with key individuals from the applicable Wiki Project.
For more information see:
The best way to manage questions that you have about an article or determine why certain changes have been made is to start a discussion.
There are several ways to start a conversation.
--info to come with links
For more information see:
Click on "show" to see more information about starting an article."
Editing tips for new editors |
---|
Stay polite and reasonable, and if you mess up, let the other person know you're a new editor, so they understand it's not deliberate. Avoid battles and serial reversions or you'll get a block: see WP:3RR. Leave it for a bit and work on something else instead.
See how other people interpret things, and also what other people are doing wrong, so you can avoid it. Check out WP:AN/I and WP:AFD to get an idea of how things are viewed.
Never put your own knowledge, views or analysis in an article. Everything has to come from a sound published source. First of all find a good source—something mainstream, not a blog or a fan site. See what it says and use that information, but paraphrase it: never copy and paste. Then put in a reference to show where the information came from. Referencing is key to good editing. You should be especially careful when adding material about living people.
Some of the coding (mark up) on Wiki is difficult, or other things like categories might not be easy to work out. Find another article similar to the one you're working on, click the edit button, then copy the relevant code, categories, stub notice or whatever, and paste it into your own article, changing the text where necessary. You can also do this for the coding for images (NB no need to specify "right": that's the default). There's a row of useful buttons above the edit box (highlight the text, then click the button) and various options below it.
It is also a very good idea to study existing articles to see how they are written, the tone used, the headings and references etc, but make sure you look at one that's done well. The highest standard is a featured article: check some out.
It's best to get experience before you do this. However, the first thing is to make sure the subject is notable. This means that it has to be written about in existing sources (see "Content" above). To be on the safe side, prepare it in a user sub-page (aka sandbox), where it will be safe, and get an experienced editor to check it out before uploading it to the main encyclopedia (aka article space).
You can create extra pages from your user page. Type:
on your user page or talk page. Then click the red link to start the page. Obviously replace "Tyrenius" with your own user name. You can change "Draft" to any title you prefer. You can create several such pages for different purposes.
Make your own reference store of all the things you find useful—coding, templates, links to useful pages, names of editors you might want to consult etc. You can do this on your user page or create a sub-page for it.
If you want your edits to last and your articles to be kept, the key is to reference them. You can put the guide below on your user or talk page by pasting:
|
This is a Wikipedia user page, not an article. If you find this page on a site other than Wikipedia, be aware that you are viewing a copy of the page on a mirror site, with which the user "Tyrenius" is not personally affiliated. The original page is located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Tyrenius. |
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***This is a work in progress, with the article title TBD. Feel free to make edits if you'd like.***
***A subset of this article could be used for a shorter, "Essential Information" type page (i.e., without Wiki marking, etc.)
Welcome to Wikipedia! This overview will provide some information about Wikipedia, how to write a Wikipedia article, where to find help and how the collaborative process works. Assistance can be found in Help documentation, tutorials and through individuals available to support you, too. There are great tools for finding information, such as by searching categories based upon your subject. You may engage with a Wikiprojects community formed to manage subjects or administrative tasks, such as resolving issues with existing articles. A key to successfully creating an article is learning the terminology used in documentation and discussions with others. Generally, the links on this page will keep you here. If you click on any of the "For more information links" you will be taken to a page that will go into greater detail about the topic.
This page is written for people interested in creating an article, so let's get started!
What it is
What it is not
For more information see:
An individual creates an article. A number of individuals may become involved in the article, especially if it's a topic of wide interest, by editing the article or expanding its content.
"Sandbox" or "user space"
Article wizard
Things to consider
For more information see:
The very top of the page generally contains information, coded in Wiki markup, that provides information about the article, flags it for specific situations, such as the inclusion of an initial image and/or an information box containing basic details.
Templates
Images
Information boxes
For more information see:
An introduction, usually called "the lead", summarizes the information in an article. If there are article sections, also called headings, then the information in the introduction does not need to be referenced as it is referenced in the body of the article.
There are no codes to identify this area as an introduction. It is the text you type after anything at the top of the page (e.g., templates, information boxes or images) and before any subsequent sections. Many short articles are limited to a text in the form of an introduction, without additional sections apart from one for references.
For more information see:
--info to come with links --discuss "main article" and "see also" links
For more information see:
As in any encyclopedia, Wikipedia content must be verifiable on the basis of information published on the web, in a journal or in a book.
For more information see:
--info to come with links
For more information see:
If you've written primarily in word processing applications, you may not know that behind the scenes there are codes the control how the information is used and displayed. Individuals who write articles in Wikipedia control the way the information will appear. That can include:
For more information see:
Article creation is very much a collaborative effort. In the beginning it is good to ask for review by the appropriate Wiki Project. The individual who started the article is subject to guidelines and input from editors to ensure accurate, quality, verifiable and objective article writing.
In the process of getting the article ready for inclusion in the main Wikipedia space, it may be updated by other Wikipedia editors. Their edits could be based upon:
There is an opportunity to undo editors revisions. Before doing so, though, it's best to determine if the reason for the revision was due to guidelines or for proper formatting. Often when an someone makes a revision they will leave a reason or type of change in the edit history. On the article page you are reviewing, click on "View History". You will see one row for each change that was made to an article. On a given row the edit summary is at the right-most portion of the row. As an example: (→Color theory and technique: caption ce) (undo) means that the individual updated the "Color theory and technique" section, specifically copy editing the caption for an image.
Your article may be edited by several editors. There are some editors who specialize in areas such as spelling, formatting references, the applicable Wiki Project (topical content), objective point of view, layout of images and more. Just as in everyday life, there are a lot of people with different approaches and opinions. If there's doubt about how something should be managed, it's usually resolved through consensus, and likely with key individuals from the applicable Wiki Project.
For more information see:
The best way to manage questions that you have about an article or determine why certain changes have been made is to start a discussion.
There are several ways to start a conversation.
--info to come with links
For more information see:
Click on "show" to see more information about starting an article."
Editing tips for new editors |
---|
Stay polite and reasonable, and if you mess up, let the other person know you're a new editor, so they understand it's not deliberate. Avoid battles and serial reversions or you'll get a block: see WP:3RR. Leave it for a bit and work on something else instead.
See how other people interpret things, and also what other people are doing wrong, so you can avoid it. Check out WP:AN/I and WP:AFD to get an idea of how things are viewed.
Never put your own knowledge, views or analysis in an article. Everything has to come from a sound published source. First of all find a good source—something mainstream, not a blog or a fan site. See what it says and use that information, but paraphrase it: never copy and paste. Then put in a reference to show where the information came from. Referencing is key to good editing. You should be especially careful when adding material about living people.
Some of the coding (mark up) on Wiki is difficult, or other things like categories might not be easy to work out. Find another article similar to the one you're working on, click the edit button, then copy the relevant code, categories, stub notice or whatever, and paste it into your own article, changing the text where necessary. You can also do this for the coding for images (NB no need to specify "right": that's the default). There's a row of useful buttons above the edit box (highlight the text, then click the button) and various options below it.
It is also a very good idea to study existing articles to see how they are written, the tone used, the headings and references etc, but make sure you look at one that's done well. The highest standard is a featured article: check some out.
It's best to get experience before you do this. However, the first thing is to make sure the subject is notable. This means that it has to be written about in existing sources (see "Content" above). To be on the safe side, prepare it in a user sub-page (aka sandbox), where it will be safe, and get an experienced editor to check it out before uploading it to the main encyclopedia (aka article space).
You can create extra pages from your user page. Type:
on your user page or talk page. Then click the red link to start the page. Obviously replace "Tyrenius" with your own user name. You can change "Draft" to any title you prefer. You can create several such pages for different purposes.
Make your own reference store of all the things you find useful—coding, templates, links to useful pages, names of editors you might want to consult etc. You can do this on your user page or create a sub-page for it.
If you want your edits to last and your articles to be kept, the key is to reference them. You can put the guide below on your user or talk page by pasting:
|
This is a Wikipedia user page, not an article. If you find this page on a site other than Wikipedia, be aware that you are viewing a copy of the page on a mirror site, with which the user "Tyrenius" is not personally affiliated. The original page is located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Tyrenius. |
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