User:Yunshui/Wikipedia is not rocket science

Pictured: not Wikipedia.

It's a common complaint that new editors flee Wikipedia in droves when faced with the complexities and arcana that form our policies and guidelines. The sheer size of pages such as Help:Cite or the image use policy is enough to deter even professional software engineers from trying to edit - and when your first edit is reverted, or your first article is deleted, you'll no doubt get an impersonal template message on your talkpage, furthering the idea that Wikipedia is unwelcoming to new editors, overburdened with bureauocracy and ultimately filled with bastards.

I contend that actually, Wikipedia is pretty damn easy to use. Editing is incredibly simple - there's a button at the top of the page that says "Edit"; click on it to edit. Sure, the markup is a little tricky, but simply taking a look around the code of other pages will show you how the basics work. As to what you add, surely that's just a matter of using your brain for a few moments? It's common sense that an encyclopedia wouldn't want an article about your pet ferret, so don't bother to write one. Free advertising is a myth, so why would anyone be willing to host an advert for your product, gratis, on the world's sixth-largest website? Unfounded allegations about your local politician's financial misdemeanours wouldn't be accepted by the local paper without some evidence, and they won't be accepted here either. Your college professor would fail you if you copied the content of your dissertation from a book, so what makes you think plagiarism is okay on Wikipedia?

Don't eat these.

Put simply, most of Wikipedia's rules are just common sense - crying, "but I didn't know the policy!" when the inevitable deletion-and-block combo platter hits your talkpage is like complaining about stomach pains after eating a handful of roofing nails.

Few people get it absolutely right first time, and Wikipedia's community recognises that - most of us are quite willing to help, if only by pointing you to the appropriate policy documents. You aren't expected to create a Featured Article on your first day, just to work within the bounds of basic human competence. With that in mind, it is not hard to learn how to edit - not only is there a substantial help section, linked to on the left of every single page, but just taking a look at articles similar to the one you want to create/edit will give you a good idea of how things are done here. If you can't be bothered to do that, then I suggest you get yourself a good proctologist, because you're going to be having some uncomfortable bowel movements with all those handfuls of nails in your system.