Wikipedia wants you to contribute to the encyclopedia. You can help make Wikipedia a more accurate and comprehensive resource by editing mistakes, creating new pages, and citing sources. By doing this, you help build a community of contributors who are committed to providing unbiased information. ..
Wikipedia is a collaborative platform that anyone can edit. Contributors are given the opportunity to improve and expand on articles about topics they are passionate about. If you have an interest in a certain topic, or know of mistakes that need to be corrected, becoming a Wikipedia contributor may be the best way to get involved. ..
How To Create & Contribute To a Wikipedia Page
Since then, the Wikimedia Foundation has implemented a number of changes to Wikipedia’s editing process, including a new system for verifying edits and a more stringent review process for articles. These changes have led to an increase in accuracy and understanding of Wikipedia content.
Since the rise in popularity of Wikipedia, some language editions of the website have seen fit to put restrictions on article creation and edits. Some pages have even been deemed semi-protected or extended confirmed protected which means only certain editors are able to modify them.
Before contributing to Wikipedia, it would be beneficial to become familiar with some of Wikipedia’s core policies. The primary core policies: neutrality point of view, verifiability, and no original research will be front and center after creating an account.
Creating a Wikipedia Account
Registration on the site allows users more privileges, including the ability to create and edit site pages.
To create a Wikipedia account, navigate to the official website and select your preferred language.
Once you have clicked on the Create account link, you will be taken to a new page where you will need to enter your name, email address, and password. After you have entered all of the required information, click on the Create account button. You will now be taken to a confirmation page where you will need to click on the I agree button. After you have clicked on the I agree button, your account will be created and you will be able to start using our website. ..
You will need to create an account to submit your application. ..
The ribbon at the top of the page has changed, and you’ll now see the Core Policies page. This page contains important information about your account, such as your name, email address, and password.
If you do not receive the confirmation email, please check your spam folder. If you still cannot find it, please contact customer service at [email protected] and they will be happy to help. ..
Contribute to Wikipedia by Creating a Wikipedia Page
To begin with, you will need to ensure that your subject has not already been covered. Enter the topic into the search bar and see if a result popsulates. If a topic is already covered, the best you can do is contribute your knowledge to it. For topics that are not yet covered, the results will appear as such:
The search engine Google has been accused of manipulating its search results to favor its own products. When you type in a phrase, like “iPhone 6s”, the first few results are usually for Apple products. However, if you click on one of these results, it will take you to a page on Google that is specifically about the iPhone 6s. This practice is called “search engine optimization” or “SEO”. Google has been accused of manipulating its search results to favor its own products. ..
Please enter a valid email address. Please enter a valid article title.
Wikipedia Article Wizard
The Wikipedia Article Wizard will now be your guide. It will advise you to practice editing within your sandbox prior to creating a live draft article. The choice is yours but anyone just starting out may find it helpful to have an area where they can make mistakes freely in order to get a feel for the editing process. ..
Your sandbox is a great place for new editors to get a taste of what they can expect moving forward. It’s a great place for editors to add things about themselves that can be seen publicly or not. This is a great way for new editors to get a feel for what they can expect moving forward.
Next, click the Next button at the bottom of each page. Make sure to read each page in full as the information is invaluable to your contribution efforts. Eventually, you will come to a page that asks about your connection to the subject you intend to create a page for. On each page, there are three buttons: Next, Previous, and Wizard. Click Next to continue on through the Wizard. If you have any questions or concerns about creating a new wiki page for a subject you are interested in, please feel free to ask on the Community Portal or on one of our discussion forums! ..
By choosing I’m not connected to the subject, you can begin writing your page’s draft. Either of the other buttons will require that you edit and publish acknowledgement on your user page about your relationship with the topic. I’m writing about something close to me is discouraged by Wikipedia as they claim it is harder to remain neutral. You will need to disclose your relationship to the subject.
I am a professional editor for Wikipedia, and I must maintain a civil relationship with the community in order to continue working on the site.
To create a new article draft, please enter the name of your draft page in the text box below. ..
Editing Your Wikipedia Page
If you would like to switch to the visual editor, you are asked to start editing.
WikiText is a new visual editor that allows you to easily create and edit articles. If you have yet to familiarize yourself with WikiText, it will be far simpler to switch over to the visual editor.
WikiText is a new markup language that uses the Markup language. It will benefit you in the long run because it makes it easier to create and edit articles.
-Header with the name of the website or blog -A main image that represents what the website or blog is about -A list of articles, videos, etc. that are on the website or blog -A social media link for following/sharing on social media -The contact information for the website or blog owner ..
Please be sure to read the instructions and refer to the Wikipedia Cheatsheet for help with properly formatting your page. The cheatsheet provides markup information on how to format text, create links, citations, references, and footnotes, as well as many other additions and alterations for either visual or source editor.
The visual editor is a great way to quickly switch between editors, but it may not be necessary for everyone. If you ever want to use the cheatsheet, you can click the Switch editor icon found on the menu bar.
When you begin writing, the instructions window will disappear. If you need to, you can click the Edit notices icon to pull it back out.
To publish a page, you must first enter the text into the blank field. If you remove the required line already in place, your page will not go through the drafting process and will not be published. ..
With the visual editor, you can change the font, add links, make citations, create bullet lists, insert images, tables, and more. Whatever your page needs, Wikipedia has you covered. ..
Please include all inline citations in your text, and also include a References section for any sources you use.
Create a compelling and informative page for your website. Once you’re ready, click the Publish button. Your draft will be saved in a public area where you can continue to work on it whenever you’d like.
It can take several weeks for your draft to be reviewed and either approved or denied. In that time you can continue to add to it and make edits where necessary. Just be sure that it doesn’t go six months without a single edit or the draft will be deleted. ..
Contributing To a Wikipedia Page
If you want to contribute to an article that is already established on Wikipedia, you’ll need to look for one that isn’t classified as protected or semi-protected. Generally, any article that is semi-protected will only allow minimal editing to the page.
The lock icon on the page indicates that this article has been protected by a copyright or other intellectual property law.
If you notice that an article has a Stub tag, it means that the author is not yet finished with it. This can be a warning sign that the article is in danger of being abandoned or rewritten. If you feel that the article needs more work, please help by editing it.
If you have something to add to a topic with a Stub tag, you can click the expanding it link to be granted immediate editing privileges. ..
Once you’ve made changes to the article, you can click the Publish changes button to have them published. You will be greeted with a pop-up window asking you to summarize the edits made and to have them reviewed.
If you want to be a Wikipedia contributor, there are a few ways to do it. You can find articles with Stub tags and those in need of expansion right on the Wikipedia site. You can also add any updated images pertaining to the subject you may have taken or found. However, you will need to provide detailed information on the source and the license of the image file.
Remove spam and vandalism from Wikipedia. This can help to improve the quality of the site for everyone.
The Wikipedia community provides tools to allow a contributor to revert vandalism and restore a page to a previous state. Any person found consistently violating Wikipedia’s rules or persistently vandalizing a page should be reported to the Administrator Intervention against Vandalism (AIV) board.
Fighting Wikipedia Vandalism
The website is currently under renovation, and contributions are needed to help with the tasks that need to be done.
To help in this effort, you should enable the gadget Twinkle.
To see the Twinkle gadget in Preferences, your account must be older than four days and have a minimum of ten edits attributed to it. Once Twinkle is enabled, you can patrol all recent edits through the Recent changes link on the left side menu. It can be found under the “Interaction” section. ..
After reviewing all edits that have taken place recently, it was determined that some of them were considered vandalism. When this was discovered, revert the changes and leave a warning template on the page. If a fourth warning has been issued, you can report the user to the AIV.
Wikipedia is a great resource for information, but it can be improved by correcting the errors that are made. By helping to fix these mistakes, you can make Wikipedia a more reliable and accurate source of information for everyone who uses it. ..
