This is a WikiProject advice page. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more WikiProjects on Wikipedia or its process, as pertaining to topics within the WikiProject(s) area of interest. This page is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community.

This is a draft essay that attempts to list very specific instances of non-controversial edits in the main namespace, with examples and notes. It's not complete, nor has the community agreed to anything listed here. That's why You can edit this page right now and improve it.

1. Reverting or removing spam

   Notes: (strictly defined; see WP:SPAM)

   1. advertisements masquerading as articles
   2. external link spamming
   3. adding references with the aim of promoting the author or the work being referenced
2. Reverting or removing vandalism

   Notes: (this does not include removal of information you consider biased or unflattering; see: Types of vandalism and What is not vandalism)

   1. Abuse of tags
   2. Avoidant vandalism
   3. Blanking, illegitimate
   4. Copyrighted material, repeated uploading of
   5. Edit summary vandalism
   6. Gaming the system
   7. Hidden vandalism
   8. Image vandalism
   9. Link vandalism
   10. Page creation, illegitimate
   11. Page lengthening
   12. Page-move vandalism
   13. Silly vandalism
   14. Sneaky vandalism
   15. Spam external linking
   16. Template vandalism
3. Fixing spelling errors

   Notes: (remembering that Wikipedia recognizes regional variations in English usage)

4. Fixing grammar errors

   Notes: (remembering that Wikipedia recognizes regional variations in English usage)

5. Fixing spacing errors

   Examples: [1]

6. Removing duplicate content
7. Reverting or removing your own previous edits that were in violation of the Conflict of interest guideline

1. Deleting content that violates Wikipedia's biography of living persons policy

   Notes: specifically any contentious material about living persons (or recently deceased) that is unsourced or poorly sourced — whether the material is negative, positive, neutral, or just questionable — should be removed immediately and without waiting for discussion.

2. Making edits that have been agreed to on the Biographies of living persons Noticeboard

Add images per the CIO guideline's definition

Note: clarify "non-branded"

Notes: May be interpreted, and may allow for, the issue of "casual approval"

1. Making edits that have been agreed to on the article talk page
2. Making edits that have been agreed to on the Conflict of interest Noticeboard
3. Making edits that have been agreed to on the Paid Editor Help board

Note: all items listed here assume suitable references are already in the article, or are added during the edit(s)

1. Adding {{Infobox company}} to a company article, with the company name, and optionally any of the following fields: .....
2. Adding or Updating the business type of a company
3. Adding or Updating the location of a company headquarters
4. Adding or Updating the location and date when a company was founded
5. Adding or Updating the address of locations / geographic areas served
6. Adding or Updating Revenue number for a company
7. Adding or Updating Operating income number for a company
8. Adding or Updating Profit number for a company
9. Adding or Updating Total assets number for a company
10. Adding or Updating Total equity number for a company
11. Adding or Updating the number of Employees for a company
12. Adding or Updating the name(s) of company founder(s)
13. Adding or Updating the name of a company Chief executive officer
14. Adding or Updating the brand names or trade names of a company's products or services

1. Updating an article to signify that an event has happened, when the article currently lists the event as in the future

   Examples: [2]

   Notes: many areas that would fall under "events" that could be spammy or unsavory in other ways

Janitorial fixes

1. Adding the {{Reflist}} template

   Examples: [3]

   Backlog list: Category:Pages with missing references list

2. Fixing formatting problems in order to make the {{Reflist}} template work correctly

   Examples: [4], [5], [6], [7], [8]

   Backlog list: Category:Pages with missing references list

3. Adding {{subscription required}} to references from sources with paid-only access, such as HighBeam

   Examples: [9]

4. Fixing of citation syntax

   Examples: [10], [11]

   Backlog list: Category:Articles with incorrect citation syntax

Adding citations

Note: all items listed here assume the citation is a suitable reliable source

1. Adding citations to an un-referenced article, and removal of the associated {{Unreferenced}} tag

   Examples: [12] + [13]

   Backlog list: Category:Articles lacking sources

2. Adding citations to an article, and removal of the associated {{citation needed}} tag

   Backlog list: Category:Articles with unsourced statements

3. Adding citations to an article, when another editor has requested them
4. Adding citations to an article

   Examples: [14]

Tagging

1. Adding the {{citation needed}} tag to a factual statement that does not have a citation

   Examples:

   Notes:

   Counterexamples: [15] + [16]

2. Adding the {{Cite quote}} tag to a quotation that does not a have citation

1. Adding Interlanguage links, if a relevant article exists in another languages Wikipedia
2. Adding {{Commons}} tag, if relevant media exists on Wikimedia Commons
3. Adding {{Wikinews}} tag, if a relevant page exists on Wikinews
4. Adding {{Wikiquote}} tag, if a relevant page exists on Wikiquote

Janitorial

1. Activating categories from a draft that was moved into mainspace, by changing [[:Category:...]] to [[Category:...]]

   Examples: [17], [18]

1. Adding geographical coordinates and removing the associated {{Coord missing}} tag

   Backlog list: Category:Articles needing coordinates

1. Removing a {{proposed deletion}} tag, per Proposed deletion policy

   Examples: [19]

2. Contesting a speedy deletion by clicking on the Click here to contest this speedy deletion button, per Criteria for speedy deletion policy