Contributing FAQ
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
This page of frequently asked questions is devoted to answering those questions commonly asked by contributors to Wikipedia.
Getting started
How can I contribute?
- For how to volunteer, seeHelp:Introduction.
- For how to donate, seem:Donations FAQ.
Why would I want to contribute?
Do I have to register to edit pages?
- No.Anyonecan edit without any kind of registration (except disruptive users who have beenblocked).
What, then, is the point of getting an account?
- There are many reasons: seeWikipedia:Why create an account?
Is there a minimum age requirement to contribute or register?
- No.Anyoneofany agemay edit articles or register. Wikipedia does not even require that users disclose their age when registering!
- Note that users who identify themselves as minors (generally those under 16 years of age) are encouraged, and will be required, to protect their identities via safe practices where the posting of personal information is concerned. SeeWikipedia:Protecting children's privacy.
Do I have to use my real name?
- No. Real names are not required; some Wikipedians use real names, some don't: seeWikipedia:Username.
How do I change my own username?
What does that word mean?
- On talk pages and in the edit summaries of a page history, you will often see editors using terminology and abbreviations which are unique to Wikipedia.
- rvorrevert,usually in anedit summary,indicates that the page has been reverted to a previous version, often because of vandalism.
- NPOVmeans working towards aNeutral point of view,whilst its opposite,POV,is used to suggest that an edit was biased.
- ToWikifymeans to add internal links and other formatting to an article which was mostly plain text.
- dabmeans a small touch, and can also be short fordisambiguation,or improving a link so that it goes straight to the relevant article.
- For a more comprehensive list seeWikipedia:Glossary.
What is the difference between a page and an article?
- The term "page" encompasses all the material on Wikipedia, including encyclopedia topics, talk pages, documentation, andspecial pagessuch asRecent Changes."Article" is a narrower term referring to a page containing an encyclopedia entry. Thus, all articles are pages, but not all pages are articles. SeeWikipedia:What is an articlefor more.
What is an "orphan"?
- Anorphanis an article that no other article links to. Such articles can be found on Wikipedia, but it is preferable that another article should link to each article. You can find a list of orphans atCategory:Orphaned articles.
What is a stub?
- A stub on Wikipedia is a very short article, usually of one paragraph or less. For a more comprehensive explanation, please refer toWikipedia:Stub.
What is disambiguation?
What is a minor edit? When should I use it?
- When editing a page, a logged-in user has the option to flag an edit as "minor." You should flag an edit as minoronlywhen you believe it is an edit that no one would object to, such as fixing spelling or grammar.
- This feature is important because users can choose tohideminor edits in their view of theRecent Changespage, to keep the volume of edits down to a manageable level.
- See also:Wikipedia:Minor edit.
Are there any rules or guidelines I should be aware of?
- Yes. SeeWikipedia:Policies and guidelines.There are a lot, but you'll get the hang of it!
What is "Recent Changes", and what do the abbreviations used there mean?
- Recent Changes lists all the edits that have been made over a given time period. SeeWikipedia:Recent Changes.
Are there any standard formats, for things like dates for example?
- Yes. We have aManual of Stylethat articles should follow.
What do I do if I find two articles on the same subjects?
- You couldmergethem yourself if you are feelingbold.Pick themost suitable page name(which may not necessarily be one of the existing ones!). If you're not sure which name to use, or whether the two articles should really be merged, use the procedure atHelp:Merging.You can also make a mention of the problem on the list ofWikipedia:Proposed mergers.
What is the ideal/maximum length of an article? When should an article be split into smaller pieces?
Can we debate or talk about the subjects here?
- No.Wikipedia is not a forum.Talk pages are for discussing improvements to the article.
I've found vandalism, or I've damaged a page by mistake! How can I restore it?
- SeeHelp:Reverting.
Which languages can I use?
- On the English Wikipedia, use English, unless you're mentioning a name or a quotation that has no known English translation.
- If you want to write articles in other languages, you need to do it in an edition of Wikipedia in that language. As of 2024, there are editions of Wikipedia in more than 300 languages, and their full list can be found atm:List of Wikipediason the Meta site. If your language is not in the list, see the next section.
Can I create a new Wikipedia in my language?
- Yes! If there is no edition of Wikipedia in your language yet, and you would like to change that, read the pageHow to start a new Wikipediaon the Meta site to find out how to create a new language edition of Wikipedia. This will require some work from you, but it's a great thing to do for the people who speak your language.
Should I useAmerican EnglishorBritish English?
- The official policy is to use British spelling when writing about British topics, and American English for topics relating to theUnited States.General topics can use any one of the variants, but should generally strive to be consistent within an article. See Wikipedia'sManual of Stylefor a more detailed explanation.
- Use of one English variation in article titles can cause aSearchin another variant to fail. In this case, it is recommended that you create a new article using the alternative spelling thatredirectsto the main article.
How do I check spelling on a page?
- A spelling checker has been requested for Wikipedia, but has not been implemented yet, except as athird-party extension.Some common web browsers have a built-in simple spell checker for forms such as Wikipedia editing forms. You may also install a browser addon for more advanced spelling and grammar checking, such asLanguageTool,or use another online spelling checker. When editing a larger article, it may be more convenient to paste the text into yourtext editororword processorfirst, to edit and check the spelling there, and then paste your corrected text back into Wikipedia editor to complete your contribution.
- There is alist of common misspellings,which you can use to check if a listed misspelling is on any page in the database, although this process fails to identify any misspelled words not on that list.
Why are some links red?
- A page with that name has not yet been created. You can click on that link and start a page with that name. But be careful: there may already be articles on similar topics, or an article on the same topic under a different name. It's pretty important to hunt around for similar topics first. SeeWikipedia:Article titlesfor information on naming pages, andWikipedia:Red linkfor more guidance on red links.
- If you just registered, your username is probably shown as linking to a page that doesn't exist. Don't worry! This just means you haven't filled out your user page yet. Click on the link and tell the world all about yourself! SeeWikipedia:User pagefor more information.
What about the pale blue links?
- Those are external links; i.e. those that link to pages outside Wikipedia. They looklike this.
What happens when two users edit a page at the same time?
- This is called anedit conflict.You'll get a conflict screen that displays both versions in separate windows, along with a summary highlighting the differences, and instructions on how you should proceed. It's virtually impossible to lose any data.
What happens if my computer or browser crashes mid-edit, or if the server does not respond?
- You may lose your edit. Some modern web browsers, as well as the MediaWiki software, may be able to recover your edits when you restart your browser, but it's not certain that it will succeed. To some extent, you can guard against this by editing in a text editor for major work (but note that with regard to a system crash this does not help, unless you save frequently to disk, use a cloud-based editor such asEtherpadorGoogle Docs,or an editor with automatic saving such asAtom).
- When you get a time-out when you try to save, you might or might not lose your edit depending on yourweb browser.Some browsers (e.g.OperaandMozilla Firefox) will recover the text you have tried to save if you use the back-button. In other browsers, you will lose your edit. You can protect against this by copying the text (at least to the clipboard of your system).
How do I learn about changes to certain topics without having to go there from time to time?
- If you are a logged-in user, on every page you will see either a link that says "Watch this article", or a small five-pointed star next to "View history". If you click on it, the article will be added to yourpersonal watchlist.Your watchlist will show you the latest changes on your watched articles.
What file formats should I use for pictures/videos?
- For images, useJPEGfor photographs, andSVGfor drawings and logos.PNGcan also be used. UseGIFfor inline animations.
- For video,Ogg Theorais currently the only recommended format. SeeWikipedia:Image use policyfor more.
What file format should I use for sound?
- Multiple encodings are encouraged.WAVandOgg Vorbisare allowed, butMP3is not.
One of the contributors is being unreasonable. Help!
I've made a suggestion on an article's talk page, but have not gotten any responses. How long should I wait before implementing my suggested change?
- PerWikipedia:Be bold,there's no need to wait at all. Simply make your change. If someone else disagrees with it, they can always revert the change, and then you can talk the issue out with that person.
Can I change the default number of contributions displayed in the "My contributions" list?
- No. You can, however, change the settingon the pageand bookmark the resulting page.
Why was the article I created deleted?
- New articles are deleted for not following Wikipediapolicies and guidelines.SeeWikipedia:Why was my article deleted?
Why was the edit I made removed?
- There are a variety of reasons (somecommon reasons). The first thing you should do is look at the history page for the article you edited. This will tell you who changed it, when they changed it, and hopefully a short reason why they changed it. If it says something likesee talk,then you should look at thetalk pagefor the article. Also, you should look at yourown talk pageto see if you have a message there. If you don't find a reason that is satisfactory, politely ask in the article's talk page about your proposed change, and maybe you will get suggestions about changes that you can make so that your change will go in, or you may get reasons why your change should not happen.
Links: external and multilingual
Should I translate pages across the various Wikipedias?
- Yes, it's a good idea to cross-pollinate. Please give credit to the contributors of the original article by noting that you have done so, with a link to the original, in the edit summary or at the article's talk page. SeeWikipedia:Translationfor further information.
What about using machine translation?
- Machine translationis useful for obtaining the general idea of a text in an unfamiliar language, but it produces poor translations and should not be used on its own. If you want to use machine translation as a translationaidand intend to edit the result, please go ahead if you think it would be helpful.Do notpaste a machine translation directly into an article.
How can I tell if an article exists in another language Wikipedia?
- We try to build links between different language pages – that's one way of seeing if an article exists elsewhere. If you don't see the language links at the left of a page, go looking for the corresponding article(s) on foreign Wikipedias. If you find them, make a link both ways; if not, you can translate. Bear in mind that article may not be in one-to-one correspondence between Wikipedias. SeeWikipedia:Interlanguage linksandWikipedia:Multilingual coordinationfor more information.
Is it ok to link to other sites?
- External links are certainly allowed. Properly used, they increase the usability of Wikipedia. Keep in mind, however, that Wikipedia is not aweb directory;external links should support the content of the article, not replace it. An article should be more than a container for external links, and the content should not require the reader to leave the site to understand the subject.
- Do not place advertising links in Wikipedia. Commercial sites are obvious, but this prohibitionusuallyincludes links to fansites and discussion forums as well unless the site is a notable one in the field. As a general rule of thumb: if you wish to place the link in Wikipedia in order to drive traffic to a site, it probably doesn't belong here.
- The current convention is to place external links in a separate "External links" section at the bottom of the article. Sites used as references for the article should be listed under a "References" section, or sometimes placed within the article as a footnote. SeeWikipedia:How to edit a pagefor different ways to create external links.
- See therelevant guidelinefor more examples on when external links are appropriate.
- There are many templates that help to add formatted links to specific sites atCategory:External link templates.For example, you can link articles about books to the online copies of those books onProject Gutenbergusing the template{{Gutenberg}}.
Copyrights
I have, or can get, special permission to copy an image or article to Wikipedia. Is it OK to do that?
- Unless the article you want to copy to Wikipedia is covered byCreative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License(CC-BY-SA), a CC-BY-SA-compatible license or is in the public domain, it cannot be used on Wikipedia. Images, too, must be public domain or licensed under one of allowed licenses atWikipedia:Image copyright tags.You have to ask the copyright holder of the material to license it so it can be used. SeeWikipedia:Requesting copyright permission.Under very limited conditions we can use copyrighted material even if it is not licensed compatibly; seeWikipedia:Non-free contentfor how and when.
- The text of Wikipedia is covered by the (CC-BY-SA) and, in most cases, theGNU Free Documentation License(GFDL) (unversioned, with no invariant sections, front-cover texts, or back-cover texts). Images are covered by various free licenses (see theWikimedia Foundation Licensing Policy).
I have an out-of-copyright image (or text) that is reproduced in an in-copyright book. Can I scan / type it into Wikipedia?
- Providing they haven't altered the image then they can't claim a copyright on it. If it was in the public domain before they used it, it's still in the public domain afterward.
Does using aGIFimage in Wikipedia violate its patent?
- No. The patent of theLZWcompression algorithm used with the GIF format has expired.
Miscellaneous
Can I really change whatever I want on Wikipedia?
- Yes, you can on almost any page. There are some pages on Wikipedia that areprotected,so that onlyadministratorscan modify them. This includes pages like theMain Page,which are permanently protected, or normal articles which are temporarily protected during the resolution of anedit war.Some pages are alsosemi-protected,so that anonymous and new users cannot edit them, to reduce vandalism. The vast majority of pages on Wikipedia are editable by anyone, at any time, and any changes made will be reflected instantly.
How do I get a count of my edits?
- Your edit count, including deleted edits, is displayed when you enteryour preferences.
- There are a number of tools callededit countersthat can display the total count of your edits as well as the number of edits in various namespaces.
How do I edit the Main Page?
More FAQ topics
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)