Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers
Wikipedia is an encyclopedia written collaboratively by its readers. The site is a Wiki, meaning that anyone, including you, can edit any article right now by clicking on the edit this page link that appears at the top of every Wikipedia article.
Browsing Wikipediaj
Wikipedia contains a huge amount of information on all sorts of subjects. To check it out, go to the Main Page, find a subject that looks interesting, and start exploring. There's also a search box at the side of every page so you can find information quickly.
If you read something that you really like, why not drop a note on the article's talk page? First select the discussion link (look for it in the tabs above the page), to get to the talk page. Then select edit this page on the talk page, or click the + to the right of edit this page to simply add a new comment. We always love to get a little positive feedback.
If there's something we don't cover, or you're having difficulty finding what you're looking for, just ask us at the reference desk, or add the topic to our list of requested articles.
See also: Explore Wikipedia
Editing
Everyone can edit pages in Wikipedia - even this page! Just click the edit this page link at the top of any page (except for protected pages) if you think it needs any improvement. You don't need special credentials; you don't even need to be logged in. If you want to experiment first, without risk of "messing up" a real article, head over to the sandbox, where you can practice editing to your heart's content. To practice editing an existing page like this one, just copy and paste it into the sandbox. If you want to learn more, check out the Wikipedia Tutorial to learn the basic info you should know as a member of our project.
A simple way to start helping is just to use Wikipedia as you would any other encyclopedia, but when you spot a problem—a spelling mistake, perhaps, or an unclear sentence—click "edit this page" and fix it. Be bold in editing pages; if you can see a way of improving a page, do it. Don't worry too much about making mistakes; if you do get something wrong, you or anyone else can come along and fix it later. You may find this a bit intimidating at first, but see replies to common objections for an explanation of why the system still works. Although Wikipedia already has a lot of articles (6,937,616 at the last count), Wikipedia is constantly expanding with new articles written by people just like yourself. You can start a brand new article, or find an existing article and add an entirely new section to it.
We've got a few policies and guidelines you might want to look at. In particular, the neutral point of view policy means that articles should not be biased, and should represent differing views on a subject fairly and sympathetically. Also, please provide an edit summary explaining your changes so as to assist others with noticing and accepting your changes. If you find that your change gets removed or modified, check the page history, your talk page, or the article discussion page for possible reasons. All contributions to Wikipedia are released under the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL). This specifically ensures that Wikipedia will remain freely distributable in perpetuity (See Copyrights for more information).
Don't be discouraged
If you run into conflicts in your first forays into editing, then don't let it get you down. In any collaborative project there are clashes. Have a look at the Writers rules of engagement page as well as the other articles in the tutorial wing below. Use them to help you resolve the problems and learn how to become an active and productive contributor.
And if there's anything you don't understand - be it technical or social - and you're not sure where to look, just post a question on the Wikipedia:help desk, and someone will be happy to help you.
Have fun!
Want to join up?
Anyone can edit, of course, but there are advantages to creating an account if you want to contribute on a regular basis. If you want to join up, create an account and then introduce yourself to the community at the new user log.
See also
General information, guides and help
- About the project
- Help pages - help on editing, starting new articles, and many other topics.
- Wikipedia FAQs - frequently asked questions about the site.
- Glossary - a glossary of common Wikipedia terms.
- Policies and guidelines for contributors
- Manual of Style
For participants of similar sites
- Guide for h2g2 Researchers. For visitors from the h2g2 community.
- Guide for Everything2 noders. For visitors from the Everything2 community.
- Guide for Indymedia authors. For visitors from the Indymedia community.
Wikicivics
Tutorial Wing
- Wikiquette
- Neutrality
- Writers rules of engagement - dispute resolution.
- Faux pas avoidance
Department of Deeper Inquiries
The Wikipedia community
- Contact us
- Wikipedians - different listings of regular contributors; you may add yourself if you wish.