Wikipedia:Training/Meta
Getting started
Printable guides
These printable PDF documents have instructions related to the basics of Wikipedia.
- Wiki markup quick reference – a one-page quick reference (included in the Welcome to Wikipedia brochure) to help you remember the most frequently used wiki markup codes.
- References – explains why references are important, what the expectations for sourcing on Wikipedia are, where to place references, and the basics of adding "ref" tags.
- Citing your sources – explains in more detail how to create footnotes for citing sources, and how to cite the same source multiple times.
- Using talk pages – explains how to use talk pages to communicate with other editors.
- Choosing an article – explains the Dos and Don'ts of choosing an article to work on.
- Avoiding plagiarism – explains what plagiarism is on Wikipedia—including "close paraphrasing"—in addition to why and how to avoid it.
- Moving out of your sandbox – explains the proper way for students to move their work from sandboxes into an article they are working with.
- Polishing your articles – explains how to apply final touches to a student's article, such as adding images and links.
- "Did You Know" submissions – explains how to format a Did You Know (DYK) submission.
On-wiki tutorials
- Contributing to Wikipedia - provides information, links, videos and other resources on the basics needed to comprehend, comment on, and editing.
- Wikipedia:Tutorial – General introduction to Wikipedia
- Wikipedia:Article wizard – Walkthrough of the requirements for articles, including notability and sources
- Wikipedia:Picture tutorial – Explains how to insert pictures into Wikipedia articles using wikitext
- Wikipedia:Graphics tutorials (advanced) – advice about advanced image editing
- User sandbox tutorial – Your own sandbox for experimenting, with instructions on the wiki basics
Writing articles
Printable guides
- Evaluating Wikipedia brochure – covers the basics of what makes a high-quality article on Wikipedia.
- Editing Wikipedia articles: Biographies - specific guidance on editing biographies.
- Editing Wikipedia articles on ecology – specific guidance on editing ecology-related topics.
- Editing Wikipedia articles on medicine – specific guidance on editing medicine-related topics.
- Editing Wikipedia articles on psychology – specific guidance on editing psychology-related topics.
- Editing Wikipedia articles on sociology – specific guidance on editing sociology-related topics.
- Editing Wikipedia articles on women's studies – specific guidance on editing topics related to women's studies.
Article-writing tutorial videos
| Article creation | Article improvement |
|---|---|
| A demonstration, recorded live, of how to create a Wikipedia article (7 min 50 sec) | A look at how to assess the shortcomings of an article and improve it (4m 22s) |
| Article assessments | Article evolution |
| An exploration of the standard article assessment system, with examples of each quality level (11m 30s) | A trip through the history of an article, from humble beginnings to Good Article status (6m 25s) |
Getting help
For most kinds of help on Wikipedia—technical questions; policies and guidelines; etiquette; conflicts with editors; feedback and reviews of your work—the first place you should turn is the "Discussion" tab of your course page. On the course talk page, you can also see what questions and requests for feedback your classmates posted, and you may be able to learn from the answers they got or answer their questions yourself.
- Go to your course page, click the “Discussion” tab, and post your question or request in a new section. (Be sure to sign your post with four tildes — ~~~~ — and enter an edit summary before you save it.)
- If you don't get a response within a day or two, ask your instructor.
Other ways to get help
Discussions in the right places
- Article talk pages – The talk pages of articles are typically where discussions about the content of articles take place. Other editors may leave messages about your work here. If someone reverts changes you make to an article, the talk page is where you should start a discussion. Put it on your watchlist!
- Wikipedia Content Expert – If a member of the Wiki Education Foundation's staff has been assigned to your course, you can find them on your course page, and contact them through their talk page to discuss problems and ask questions about Wikipedia (US/Canada only).
- Campus or Online Volunteers – A volunteer may be assisting your course, you can find their names on your course page, and contact them through their talk page to discuss problems and ask questions about Wikipedia.
- Course talk page – This is the main place for discussing your assignments, posting problems or questions that come up, and giving and receiving feedback about your articles. Put it on your watchlist!
- WikiProject talk pages – These are message boards for users interested in editing articles about particular topics.
Static help
- Help:Contents – Is the main help page that will guide you in the right direction. The help page may be reached at any time by clicking help displayed under the ► Interaction tab on the left side of all pages.
- Help:Menu – Is a main menu-style page that will direct you to the right place to find information.
- Help:Contents/Directory – Is a descriptive listing of all Wikipedia's informative, instructional and consultation pages.
Interactive help
- The Teahouse - A place for new editors to introduce themselves, asks questions, and find support from other editors
- The Help desk - Where you can ask questions about how to use and edit Wikipedia
- If you place
{{Help me}}(including the curly brackets) "then your question" on your talk page, a volunteer will visit you there!
Other problems
- If you have conflicts with another editor that you don't want to post about publicly, try talking with your instructor or any experienced Wikipedians your class is working with.
- For subject-specific questions related to your course, talk to your instructor(s), teaching assistants, and classmates.
Analyzing your contributions
- Wikipedia article traffic statistics – a tool for charting how many hits any given article gets, great for comparing different kinds of articles at different times, e.g., Genetics (in the school year) vs. (in the summer), or YouTube (with weekend spikes) and Simpsons (with spikes when new episodes come out). Students can also use it to see how many people are reading their articles over the course of the class (and beyond).
- Edit counter – a tool for charting how many edits you've made over time, which types of pages you've edited, and which pages you've edited most.
 | This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Welcome to Wikipedia
We can't wait to see what you'll share.
If you are part of a course that involves contributing to Wikipedia, you've come to the right place. After completing this orientation, you'll be ready to help build the world's knowledge by contributing your own expertise to Wikipedia.
Please press the forward arrow below to go on to the next page.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
About this Orientation…
1 Core: The core policies and guidelines that govern content development on Wikipedia.
2 Editing: The technical skills you'll need to edit Wikipedia. You will also be introduced to the Wikipedia Community: a vital part of your editing experience.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Navigating this orientation
Here's how this orientation works.
Menu Tab
Click on "Menu" at the top of the page, and you'll see links to all of the pages in this training. You can click "back" on your browser to return to where you were.
Forward and Backward
The arrows at the bottom of the page will allow you to move forward and backward through your module, and will take you to the next step in the sequence.
Links
We've intentionally limited the number of links that will take you out of the modules, just to keep things simple. Most of these links will be found under the Resources tab.
NOTE: If you click on a link you will be taken away from the orientation. If possible, open all links in new browser tabs so you can return to the training when you're ready! Otherwise, you will need to use the back button on your web browser.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Let's begin…
We hope the material found in this orientation will provide you with practical information to help you get started on Wikipedia. We also hope that this will help you find your own place in the Wikipedia community. This is the encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and the way it gets better is from people like you editing to improve it.
Important!
When you complete all modules of the training, we'll ask you to push a few buttons and (optionally) leave some brief feedback for us, using your Wikipedia username. Make sure you finish the steps at the end to receive credit from your instructor for completing the training!
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Wikipedia Training: Module 1 complete!
Module 1: Welcome and Introductions
Module 2: The core of Wikipedia
Module 3: Editing Basics
Module 4: Advanced Editing
- Click on the forward arrow to go on to learn about the Core Policies of Wikipedia.
- 12: No original research
- 13: Copyright and plagiarism
- 14: Want to know more about Wikipedia’s policies and guidelines?
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
An introduction to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines
This module will provide a basic overview of Wikipedia’s core policies and guidelines.
When you finish, you should be able to answer:
- What are Wikipedia's core policies and guidelines?
- What are copyright and plagiarism on Wikipedia?
- How are copyright and plagiarism handled?
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
An introduction to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines
Although Wikipedia is the encyclopedia anyone can edit, that doesn't mean that everyone can edit it independently. Article development is not the result of chaotic, random edits.
Wikipedia is the result of a community that follows five guiding principles (pillars), and makes sure these principles are followed by others. There's also a governance structure that shapes the content development process.
Without this community, there's no Wikipedia. And when you edit Wikipedia, you're a part of this community. So it's best to learn what's expected!
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Wikipedia's Five Pillars
These five guiding principles are key to how Wikipedia works.
Wikipedia's Five Pillars:
- Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia
- Wikipedia has a neutral point of view
- Wikipedia is free content
- Wikipedians should interact in a respectful and civil manner
- Wikipedia does not have firm rules
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Wikipedia's Five Pillars: Number 1
Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia.
It incorporates elements of general and specialized encyclopedias, almanacs, and gazetteers.
Maybe this seems obvious. But it's important because it highlights what Wikipedia is NOT.
- Wikipedia is NOT a soapbox, an advertising platform, a vanity press, an experiment in anarchy or democracy, an indiscriminate collection of information, or a web directory.
- Wikipedia is NOT a dictionary, a newspaper, a book or instruction manual, or a collection of source documents.
- However, note that there are Wikimedia sister projects that serve all of the above purposes (namely wiktionary, wikinews, wikibooks, and wikisource, respectively).
What does this mean for you? Ask yourself: Does my contribution look like a blog post? An advertisement? A newspaper? A how-to guide? If you've written something aside from an encyclopedia article, something is amiss!
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Wikipedia's Five Pillars: Number 2
Wikipedia has a neutral point of view.
Strive for articles that document and explain the major points of view in a balanced and impartial manner. Avoid false balance. Wikipedia's neutrality policy requires that articles fairly represent all significant viewpoints that have been published by reliable sources, in proportion to the prominence of each viewpoint in the published, reliable sources. Giving due weight and avoiding giving undue weight means that articles should not give minority views or aspects as much of or as detailed a description as more widely held views or widely supported aspects. Generally, the views of tiny minorities should not be included at all.
- Avoid advocacy. Characterize information and issues, don't debate them. Let the facts speak, and the reader to make up their own mind.
- In some areas there may be just one well-recognized point of view; in other areas we describe multiple points of view, presenting each accurately and in context, and NOT presenting any point of view as "the truth" or "the best view".
Tip: If a sentence begins with "This means that...", "I think...," "The benefits of..." or something like it, you're submitting something that probably doesn't belong on Wikipedia. Likewise, words such as "Interestingly," "Actually," etc, are a form of editorializing, and should be avoided. "Interesting" to whom? "Actually," compared to what?
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Wikipedia's Five Pillars: Number 3
Wikipedia is free content that anyone can edit, use, modify, and distribute.
A crucial bit of this pillar is what it means to be 'free.'
The original content at Wikipedia, as contributed by people just like you—as opposed to copyrighted, non-free content that is used at Wikipedia under a claim of fair use, such as short quotations and some low resolution images—is automatically dually-licensed under highly free copyright licenses (CC BY-SA and the GFDL) that allow it to be taken, used, and modified by the public at large (even for commercial purposes), so long as suitable credit and a posting of the licenses accompanies its reuse.
An important takeaway is that most of the content added to Wikipedia must be original – written in one's own words. Reliable sources are cited to show that the information is verifiable, but the words and sentences are not copied except under limited fair use, such as including short quotations from sources, which must be marked as such using quote marks, and cited to the source of copying using an inline citation. Outside of such limited exception, copying and pasting copyrighted content into Wikipedia is illegal, as copyright infringement, and unethical as plagiarism. It is therefore crucial to understand the material you are adding, process it, rephrase it from a neutral perspective, and then add the content, while citing the corroborating source.
- Respect copyright laws, and do not plagiarize sources. Limited use of non-free content is allowed under a valid claim of fair use, but strive to find free alternatives to any media or content that you wish to add to Wikipedia.
- Since anyone can edit and modify Wikipedia articles, don't panic if you see your articles edited, or some of your contributions reverted. While you own under a free license the copyright of text you add to Wikipedia, if it is to sufficiently creative, you do not own the pages you added it to and have no right to control any page, which anyone can change or even seek to have deleted.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Wikipedia's Five Pillars: Number 4
Editors should interact with each other in a respectful and civil manner.
- Respect and be polite to your fellow Wikipedians, even when you disagree.
- Apply Wikipedia etiquette, and avoid personal attacks. Talk to people you disagree with, try to find consensus, avoid edit wars, and remember that there are over four million other articles on the English Wikipedia you could work on instead.
- Act in good faith, and never disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point.
- Be open and welcoming, and assume good faith on the part of others.
- When conflict arises, discuss details on the talk page, and if needed, follow the dispute resolution process.
This doesn't apply exclusively to conflicts. Being polite means responding to messages left by editors, thanking other editors for their help, and checking back after an edit to see if anyone has responded. If you were building a house and someone offered to help you paint, you wouldn't just walk away! You're building an encyclopedia with a community's help. Always be mindful of the community around you.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Wikipedia's Five Pillars: Number 5
Wikipedia does not have firm rules.
- Rules in Wikipedia are not carved in stone, as their wording and interpretation are likely to change over time.
- The principles and spirit of Wikipedia's rules matter more than their literal wording, and sometimes improving Wikipedia requires making an exception to a rule.
- Be bold (but not reckless) in updating articles and do not worry about making mistakes. Prior versions of pages are saved, so any mistakes can be corrected.
A lot of Wikipedia editing is about using your best judgment, and you may be asked to explain the edits you make. Explaining why you decided to do something is just part of being in a community of people.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Beyond the Five Pillars…
Beyond the five pillars, there are a few more important policies and guidelines to keep in mind. First:
Verifiability
Since Wikipedia is the online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, for content to remain in Wikipedia it must be verifiable, which means that people reading and editing the encyclopedia can check that information comes from a reliable source.
- Although all content must be verifiable, not all content must be actually verified by citation to a reliable source. You do not normally need to cite a source, for example, to corroborate that the sky is blue. Nevertheless, citing reliable sources for all significant facts in an article is the recommended practice and Wikipedia's best articles, its featured content, must do so to meet the criteria for achieving that status.
- There are four types of material that must be cited to a reliable source, using an inline citation, in order to be included:
- All quotations;
- Any statement that has been challenged (e.g., by being removed, questioned on the talk page, or tagged with
{{citation needed}}, or any similar tag); - Any statement that you believe is likely to be challenged; and
- Contentious material, whether negative, positive, or neutral, about living persons.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Beyond the Five Pillars…
Notability
Is the subject of the article you want to work on notable enough for an encyclopedia? This guideline helps to clarify the notability question. In some cases, you may need to justify to other Wikipedians why the article topic is notable and should remain in Wikipedia. Coverage in published, reliable, secondary sources that are entirely independent of the subject, and which treat the subject in substantive detail is the key to notability.
Thousands of new Wikipedia articles are started every day. Volunteer Wikipedia editors work hard to review each of these pages to determine whether they are appropriate for an encyclopedia. Notability is one of the key criteria for their decisions.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Beyond the Five Pillars…
Notability
The basic requirement for a topic to have its own article is: significant coverage in published, reliable, secondary sources that are independent of the subject.
- significant coverage means that sources address the subject directly in detail, so no original research is needed to extract the content. Significant coverage is more than a trivial mention but it need not be the main topic of the source material.
- Published means "made available to the public in some form".
- reliable sources, for the sake of establishing notability, generally means at least two independent source from reputable publishers. For example, mainstream newspaper articles, non-vanity books, established magazines, scholarly journals, television and radio documentaries – sources with editorial oversight and a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy.
This means generally not random personal websites, blogs, forum posts, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, self-published sources like open wikis (including other Wikipedia articles), etc. (These need not necessarily be in English or be available for free or online.) Multiple sources from the same author or organization are considered a single source for establishing notability.
- independent and secondary excludes works produced by those affiliated with the subject or its creator. While primary and other connected sources may be useful to verify certain facts, they must be used with caution and do nothing to establish notability. In short, we are looking for secondary sources written by third parties to a topic that have no vested interest in the subject of their writing or coverage.
This means generally not anything written by or on behalf of the subject or anyone connected with the person or organization in any way; not the subject's own website, not the subject's social media, not interviews (with the person, or of an organization's employees, officers or other insiders), and not press releases, regardless of where they are republished. An unconnected source is, for example, a newspaper reporter covering a story that they are not involved in except in their capacity as a reporter.
Verifiable information on topics that do not meet the notability guideline may still be included within articles on broader topics.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Beyond the Five Pillars…
No original research
Typical academic writing requires students to do original research, have a point of view, and argue it. Wikipedia, however, is a tertiary source of information—based on a collection of secondary sources writing about a primary source.
Simply put, Wikipedia is not a place to publish original research, but rather is a summary of what has been written in reliable sources about the original topic or research.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Copyright and plagiarism
You might think you know what plagiarism is, and how to avoid it. But Wikipedia is a little bit different. The rules cover not only copy-and-paste plagiarism, but also close paraphrasing and copyright violations. And the stakes are high: the consequences of committing plagiarism in a Wikipedia class assignment are the same as handing in a paper you didn't write.
Whether direct copying or close paraphrasing, plagiarism and copyright violation are disruptive and time-consuming for volunteers to clean up. Except for brief quotations—which must be clearly disclosed as such through the use of quote marks (or by set off), and cited to the source of copying using an inline citation—copying content from copyrighted sources into Wikipedia is not only against Wikipedia policy but is illegal.
It can also result in real life implications for those involved, such as academic demotion or expulsion at some universities, and users editing under their real names may leave behind a permanent Internet record of their plagiarism and infringement.
This video lays out what you need to know to avoid these pitfalls! Make sure you watch it before you move on to the next slide.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Copyright and plagiarism
"If I copy only a
couple of paragraphs
from a book, is that ok?"
"You may be violating copyright laws as well as Wikipedia copyright guidelines."
"Also, if you add these paragraphs, a fellow contributor will need to come along and remove this content."
"Even if you're working in your sandbox, please don't do it. Copyright and plagiarism policies apply to everything on Wikipedia—including sandboxes."
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Want to know more about Wikipedia's policies and guidelines?
Check out Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines.
In the next module you’ll learn how to edit Wikipedia.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Wikipedia Training: Module 2 complete!
Module 1: Welcome and Introductions
Module 2: The Core of Wikipedia
Module 3: Editing Basics
Module 4: Advanced Editing
- Click on the forward arrow to go on to learn about Editing Wikipedia.
- 13: Want to try more markup?
- 14: How do I use talk pages?
- 15: How to use a sandbox for existing articles
- 16: How to use a sandbox for stub articles
- 17: How to use a sandbox for new articles
- 18: My watchlist and how to use it
- 20: The Wikipedia Community
- 21: Decision-making by consensus
- 22: The Bold, Revert, Discuss cycle
- 23: Tips for effective discussion
- 24: Where to get help
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
— Joseph Lapka, San Francisco State University
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Editing Wikipedia
This module focuses on the basic editing skills necessary to successfully contribute to Wikipedia and collaborate with other editors.
By the end of this section, you should be able to answer:
- What basic editing skills do I need to know to contribute to Wikipedia?
- What is important to know about the site (anatomy)?
- Where can I practice editing?
- What role does the Wikipedia community have in editing content?
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Getting started
The best way to learn how to edit Wikipedia is just to jump in and get started.
If your class has a major Wikipedia component, the instructor may have set aside time in class for a hands-on introduction to wiki mark-up. Alternatively, you can open Wikipedia in another browser window and follow along with the example exercises as you continue this orientation.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Getting started: Basic tasks
Some of the typical editing and formatting tasks you can try out to begin with are:
- Bolding and italicizing text
- Creating headers
- Editing subsections
- Creating bulleted and numbered lists
- Creating links
- Creating references
- Starting a sandbox page
You should also familiarize yourself with:
- The distinctions among article pages, talk pages and user pages
- The use of talk pages
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Getting started: Creating an account
If you haven't done so already, it's time to create your Wikipedia user account. If editing basics are being covered in class, be sure to create your account ahead of time. Each individual student editor must have their own account.
- Take a moment to look at Wikipedia's username policy and consider how anonymous you would like to be on Wikipedia. You need not use your real name, although many Wikipedians choose to do so. Keep in mind that your username must not imply shared usage of your account, appear to be promotional, register as the name of a company, group, institution or product, impersonate other people, or be likely to offend, and, once chosen, cannot be easily changed.
- When you've chosen a username, click "Create account" at the top right and follow the instructions.
- Adding an email address to your account is strongly recommended; this allows you to send and receive emails with other editors. (Your email address is not revealed when other users contact you.) You can also receive email notifications whenever pages you are interested in get changed, if you wish. And if you forget your Wikipedia password, you can have it emailed to you — but only if you add your email address to your account!
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Working in a sandbox
A user sandbox is a personal wiki page(s) where you can experiment, practice editing, plan out articles, or begin drafting articles before moving them into the article "mainspace” on Wikipedia—where live articles are read and edited.
To go to your default sandbox page, simply click the Sandbox link, which can be found at the top right whenever you are logged in.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Congratulations on creating a sandbox!
Later on, you can use that sandbox (or a new one — you can create as many as you need) to work on content for Wikipedia.
If you leave the template code at the top, {{User sandbox}}, you can use the link in that template to easily submit your sandbox work to be moved into Wikipedia as a new article.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Text editing: '''boldness''' and [[links]]
Now it's time to get started editing! You can navigate to your own sandbox page in another browser window to try it out for yourself.
The wiki code for bold text is like this:
'''bold''' = bold
Creating a wikilink to another article looks like this:
[[bold]] = bold
That link to the article bold will redirect you to Emphasis (typography). To link to an article with a different name than the text, use a piped link, like this:
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Citing your sources
This is how to create citations manually on Wikipedia in order to cite appropriate sources.
Any editor can challenge unreferenced material by adding a {{fact}} tag which adds the famous [citation needed] tag. Editors are encouraged to remove unreferenced contentious material on sight. Wikipedia no longer accepts new articles on living people unless they are referenced, and other unsubstantiated articles often end up getting deleted. So when you add information to an article, be sure to include your references, preferably in the form of inline citations. Citations allow other editors and readers to verify the information.
To add an inline citation to an article, follow these steps:
- Check that the bottom of the page has a "References" section. If not, type:
==References== - Check that the References section either has the text
{{reflist}}or<references />. If not, type:{{reflist}}. This determines where your references will appear on the page. - Now click after the text you would like to create a reference for.
- Now type in
<ref>tag before your reference and type</ref>after your reference. Wiki software will automatically add your inline reference number.
You can also use the Cite gadget, described on the next page, to insert the <ref> tags and citation details.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Citing your sources
This video demonstrates the use of the "Cite" gadget in the edit toolbar.
You can also use the Cite gadget in the editing toolbar to automatically create the wikicode for citations.
- Click Cite in the toolbar at the top of the edit window.
- Position the cursor where you want to add a citation.
- Click the Templates pulldown, then selection the type of source: general webpage, news article, book, or journal article.
- Fill out the details of the source.
- Click Insert.
If you enter a Ref name, you can reuse the same citation elsewhere in the article without needing to re-enter the details. Click Named references to re-use a citation that includes a Ref name.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
How are talk pages used?
Watch this video if you'd like an overview of how to use talk pages.
Good editing on Wikipedia is more than coding edits, it's collaborating on content.
That happens on Talk pages, where edits are discussed, praised, or debated.
Making an edit is often just the start of your editing! You'll be able to make suggestions, comment on edits, even help decide what Wikipedia should be.
Most pages on Wikipedia have a Talk page behind it: articles, user pages, even sandbox pages. Click on the "Talk" or "Discussion" tab in the upper left corner of any page to access its talk page.
Wikipedians assume you'll be reading messages left in user and article Talk pages, and you can use them to leave messages for others.
You can leave an indented reply to someone else's message by beginning a line with one or more colons. Be sure to sign your messages with four tildes (~~~~) to mark it with your username and a timestamp.
:Leave an indented reply like this.--~~~~
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
How to use a sandbox for existing articles
When you start to revise larger chunks of an existing article, it's a good idea to draft your first significant edits into a sandbox. Don't copy the whole article, just choose the small piece you want to work with. Note though, that when you do so you must provide copyright attribution in your edit summary, by stating the copying taking place and wikilinking the source of the copying. A model edit summary: "Copied content from [[page name]]; see that page's history for attribution."
Trying to rewrite an entire article in a sandbox can be annoying to editors who work on that article. Other editors will keep making good edits or expansions to that article while you are revising an old version in parallel in your sandbox; if you just copy and paste the whole article from your sandbox sometime later, you will undo all of those edits! Focus on small chunks of the text you want to edit instead.
It's polite to use the talk page of the article to link to your sandbox when you are ready to copy things over. That way editors can see what you're up to, and post suggestions to the talk page before you start. Once you are happy with your sandbox draft, you can place another notice on the talk page of the article with a link to the sandbox, explaining what you've done and asking for comments on it once you've added it to the main page.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
How to use a sandbox for stub articles
For expanding a short article that doesn't provide encyclopedic coverage (known as a stub), beginning from a sandbox can be helpful. Here you can write and rewrite before going "live."
Small articles that are expanded by a factor of five within a short period (and are well-referenced) are also eligible as "Did You Know" entries (a section on the Main page); working in a sandbox until reaching that threshold may be a good idea.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
How to use a sandbox for new articles
For starting a new article, you may first want to draft the article in a user sandbox named after the topic, such as
User:Stan Lee/Project X,just as you would when expanding an existing article. Work on it until it meets the basics requirements for new articles: it should be based on significant coverage of the topic, in reliable sources that are independent of the topic.
When you are ready to make it live on Wikipedia, try asking an experienced editor you've encountered to look it over and see if it meets the basic requirements for new articles. One way is to submit the article to the Articles for creation project. To do this, copy, paste and save this code at the top of the draft article: {{subst:submit}}
Articles can however, be moved directly to the article mainspace. Click the Move tab, then move it out of your sandbox to its final title. Note that if the page has problems from the perspective of experienced users, it is far more likely that the page will be nominated for deletion if you move it yourself, without having it checked first.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
My watchlist and how to use it
So, you've drafted something in a sandbox and moved it into the mainspace. How do you know when other editors have a suggestion?
A personal watchlist is an easy way to keep track of all the pages to which you are contributing. You can use your watchlist to monitor article changes, conversations and editor collaboration.
When you add an article to your watchlist, you also watch the corresponding Talk page, so if someone responds to your article edits on the Talk page, it will show up on your watchlist.
You'll want to know when someone has offered advice on your article or edits, or you may see your work disappear! You can set your email preferences to receive email whenever pages on your watchlist are changed.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
My watchlist and how to use it
By default, your watchlist will show only the most recent change to a page you are watching. You can change your watchlist preferences to show all changes, not just the most recent; this can be helpful if you're collaborating intensely on just one or a few pages.
You can watch this video if you'd like a more detailed overview of the basics of creating and using watchlists.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
The Wikipedia Community
The English Wikipedia has about 30,000 active editors (as of 2013). We range from niche editors who build articles in a particular subject area, to "WikiGnomes" who work quietly formatting pages and tying up loose ends, to vandal fighters who monitor recent changes and revert bad edits, to reviewers who help run Wikipedia's peer review processes, to administrators who clean up messes and block disruptive editors, to policy wonks who analyze how Wikipedia works and discuss ways to improve it—and many more roles.
What we have in common is that we care—often very deeply—about Wikipedia. Although we come from different perspectives (and often disagree!) we're all here to try to make Wikipedia better.
Don't be shy! The great thing about Wikipedia is that you can make friends by asking questions and inviting other editors to help and collaborate!
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Decision-making by consensus
Consensus is the main way decisions are made on Wikipedia, both in terms of article content and how Wikipedia itself is run. It's not a matter of voting, and nobody is in charge over a final say.
Instead, the consensus view on Wikipedia represents the facts that even opposing sides agree are relevant. Wikipedia's concept of consensus doesn't necessarily mean that everyone agrees, but it involves an effort to incorporate all editors' legitimate concerns, while respecting Wikipedia's policies and guidelines.
When disagreements occur, we resolve them through discussion—usually on the relevant Talk page. Since Wikipedia articles should be written from a neutral point of view—fairly describing significant viewpoints on a subject without endorsing any of them—it is almost always possible to reach consensus about article content, even if editors themselves have fundamentally different points of view on the subject.
The ideal Wikipedia article on a controversial topic is one where partisans on both sides would read it and say, "my viewpoint is described accurately".
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
The Bold, Revert, Discuss cycle
The Bold, Revert, Discuss cycle is one good way to think about the consensus editing process.
1 Be Bold: If you think you can make an article better, but you aren't sure whether others will disagree with the changes you want to make, you should start by boldly editing as you think best, making sure to cite source that verify any information additions.
2 Revert: If your edit gets reverted by another editor, that's okay! You've simply met an editor with a different view about the article. This is your chance to see Wikipedia's consensus model in action. Check the edit summaries and the Talk page to see why the other editor reverted your edit. (Do not simply make your edit again; that's not building consensus, that's the beginning of an edit war: It's actually seen as very aggressive, and could get you temporarily blocked!)
3 Discuss: Start a discussion on the Talk page (if the other editor has not done so already) — politely! After all, you both want to improve Wikipedia. Explain why you made the edit. Work with the other editor(s) to develop a consensus. Be confident, but listen and consider all objections. When you've found some common ground, you can make more edits.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Tips for effective discussion
For productive discussions, remember to:
- Assume good faith: Wikipedia, being on the internet, is often a place for misunderstanding tone. Always assume other editors are trying to improve the project, mean well, and aren't being deliberately rude.
- Likewise, try to be your best self in responding to feedback: don't get defensive or angry. Whenever an edit is challenged, it has nothing to do with you as a person, and everything to do with improving Wikipedia. Be polite, and discuss article content rather than editors. Never make personal attacks, even in retaliation.
- Read messages people have left on the talk pages of articles you are editing. There may be a concern that will change the way you see your own plan to edit. Try to respond quickly, ideally within a few hours.
- Remember to keep an eye on the Watchlist for the pages you edit. (Did you set up email notifications in your preferences? You should!)
- Always sign your posts on talk pages using four tildes so that others can follow who is saying what. Put
~~~~at the end of your message (not in the edit summary box). - When you intend comments for a specific editor, make sure they get notified. You can either:
- a.) start your comment on any Talk page with a reply template, like
{{reply to|SomeUsername}}. That way, User:SomeUsername automatically gets a notification about your message; or - b.) leave a message on their User Talk page (with a link to the comments, if the discussion is happening on a different page).
- a.) start your comment on any Talk page with a reply template, like
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Where to get help
This training has prepared you to contribute to Wikipedia. But you'll keep learning as you keep editing and mastering the skills you need to build up a history of top-quality contributions to Wikipedia. You can find a variety of written help materials and additional videos in the Resources tab above.
If you need help, here are some resources you can bookmark or download:
Materials for self-study
- Help:Contents is the main help page that will guide you in the right direction. The help page may be reached at any time by clicking help displayed under the ► Interaction tab on the left side of all pages.
- Help:Contents/Directory is a descriptive listing of all Wikipedia's informative, instructional and consultation pages.
- Editing Wikipedia is a guide to editing basics.
- Evaluating Wikipedia can help you learn what makes a good or bad Wikipedia article.
- There are handy reference sheets on using talk pages and avoiding plagiarism.
- You may wish to bookmark or print out a copy of the editing cheatsheet for a quick reference on wiki syntax.
Community help
- The Teahouse, a place for new editors to introduce themselves, asks questions, and find support from other editors.
- The Help desk, where you can ask questions about how to use and edit Wikipedia.
- If you place {{Help me}} (including the curly brackets) then your question on your talk page, a volunteer will visit you there!
- The help channel for live chat help from other Wikipedians.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Wikipedia Training: Module 3 complete!
Module 1: Welcome and Introductions
Module 2: The core of Wikipedia
Module 3: Editing Basics
Module 4: Advanced Editing
- Click on the forward arrow to continue on to the last module.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Editing articles: advanced topics
This module goes into more detail on some of the trickier aspects of writing for Wikipedia and some common pitfalls for students doing Wikipedia assignments
By the end of this section, you should be able to answer:
- How do I choose the right article to work on?
- What is expected from a good Wikipedia article?
- How can I get an article on Wikipedia's Main Page?
- How can I get feedback on my article?
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Choosing articles
Choosing the right first article to work on—and finding the right title for it, if it's a new article—can make a big difference.
Here are a few guidelines for the kinds of articles that may be appropriate to start out on, and what kinds of articles to avoid. These guidelines were created based on feedback and experiences of professors, students and Wikipedians.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Choosing articles
Not such a good choice
Articles that are "not such a good choice" for newcomers usually involve factors such as a lack of appropriate research material, highly controversial topics that may be well developed already, broad subjects or topics for which it is difficult to demonstrate notability.
- You probably shouldn't try to completely overhaul articles on very broad topics (e.g., Law).
- You should probably avoid trying to improve articles on topics that are highly controversial (e.g., Global Warming, Abortion, Scientology, etc.). You may be more successful starting a sub-article on the topic instead.
- Don't work on an article that is already of high quality on Wikipedia, unless you discuss a specific plan for improving it with other editors beforehand.
- Avoid working on something only sparsely covered by literature. Wikipedia articles cite secondary literature sources, so it is important that you have enough sources to provide a neutral point of view and be verifiable.
- Don't start articles with titles that imply an essay-like approach (e.g., The Effects That The Recent Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis has had on the US and Global Economics). These type of titles, and most likely the content too, may not be appropriate for an encyclopedia.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Choosing articles
Good choice
- Choose a topic that is well established in its field, but only weakly represented on Wikipedia. The best choice is a topic for which a lot of literature is available but which isn't covered extensively on Wikipedia.
- Gravitate toward "stub" and "start" class articles. These articles often have only 1-2 paragraphs of information and are in need of expansion. You can see an article’s rating by visiting its talk page, and relevant WikiProject pages can provide a list of stubs that need improvement.
- Before creating a new article, do an in-depth search of related topics on Wikipedia to make sure your topic isn't already covered. Often, an article may already exist under another name, or the topic may be covered as a subsection of a broader article.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Help with choosing articles
If you would like some guidance choosing a good topic to work on, here are some options:
- Ask your instructor, who may have compiled a list of potential topics and may know which topics have appropriate sources available.
- If your course has a Wikipedia Content Expert, you can contact him or her through the course page.
- Post a question at the Help Desk or the Teahouse. The more specific you can be about what you're interested in writing about and what potential topics you're looking at, the better. You'll have to check back later to the page where you post your question to see what suggestions people have for you.
Here are some ways to browse for articles to work on:
- Check Wikipedia:Requested articles to see if any of the requested articles are relevant.
- Check the Stub categories to look for underdeveloped articles in a particular topic area.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
The "Did you know" process
Getting your new article to appear on the Main Page of Wikipedia as a "Did you know" entry is a great first goal, as soon as you move out of a sandbox. To be eligible, an article must:
- conform to Wikipedia's core policies regarding verifiability, neutral point of view, and copyright;
- have been created (or expanded five-fold) within the last seven days;
- be about 3 or 4 paragraphs long, at the least;
- be supported with citations to reliable sources.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
The "Did you know" process
You can read more about the Did You Know process in general, or check out the step-by-step instructions if you think you'd like to try it.
Be sure you understand the requirements and conventions of the "Did you know" process before submitting your article. Your instructor or any experienced editors working with your class may be able to help; for large classes, it's often best to spread out nominations over a few days or even a few weeks, to avoid overburdening the review process.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
The perfect article
The checklist for a perfect article starts out simply enough:
- Fills a gap
- Has a great title
- Starts with a clear description of the subject
...
But it's a long list. And the last thing on it is...
...
- May not be attainable.
So don't worry about making your article perfect. Take it one step at a time.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
From stub to Featured article
Wikipedia articles usually start humbly, developing and improving gradually over time — even when they are largely written by just one or a few contributors.
Typically, you start by making a stub, just a paragraph or two that serves to identify the topic, with enough sourcing to assure readers that it ought to have its own article. As you expand the article — perhaps nominating it for DYK along the way — you divide it into sections on different aspects of the topic.
Once the article is relatively comprehensive — at least touching on the major aspects of the topic — you should get some advice from other editors. After incorporating that feedback, if you think it meets the Good article criteria, you can nominate it for Good article status, working with the reviewer(s) to fix any major shortcomings.
After more polish and more research to cover every significant aspect of the topic, you can attempt the Featured article process. If, by the end, the article meets the more stringent Featured article criteria, then the article will be eligible to have its day on Wikipedia's Main Page, where it draws the attention of tens of thousands of readers.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Article grading scheme
Wikipedia has a grading scheme for articles, which can be useful for figuring out how to improve your article. These are the basic quality levels.
| FA | The article meets the featured article criteria and has gone through the FA candidates process. |
| GA | The article meets the good article criteria and has gone through a successful good article nomination. |
| B | The article is mostly complete and without major issues, but requires some further work to reach good article standards. |
| C | The article is substantial, but is still missing important content or contains a lot of irrelevant material. |
| Start | An article that is developing, but which is quite incomplete and may require further reliable sources. |
| Stub | A very basic description of the topic. |
You can check out the full grading scheme for more detail about these quality assessments.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Adding images and other media
Most articles on Wikipedia can benefit from an appropriate illustration. To find an image (or a video or sound file), try browsing related Wikipedia articles as well as doing some searches on Wikimedia Commons. If you have an original image you created, you can upload that to Wikimedia Commons and then add it to Wikipedia articles.
The basic code for adding an image to a Wikipedia article is like this:
[[File:Example.jpg | thumb | This is the caption. ]]
This video walks through the process of uploading a photo and adding it to an article. For more advanced image syntax, check out the picture tutorial.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Barnstars and other WikiLove
If you want to recognize another editor for doing good work, or you want to say "thank you" for their help, or you just want to be friendly, you can share WikiLove with another editor. Just go to the person's userpage and click the heart icon to bring up the WikiLove tool. You can select what kind of award to give them, add a personal message, and automatically add it to their talk page.
This video gives a little bit of background on barnstars, the traditional symbol of appreciation for good work on Wikipedia, and shows how to award them with WikiLove.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Specialized help pages
There is much more help material available on Wikipedia, much of it specialized for very specific types of articles or specific editing tasks. Here are a few help pages that are particularly relevant to students working on Wikipedia:
- How to edit medical topics — Medical topics have particularly stringent rules for the proper use of sources, so if you're going to work on medicine-related articles (including psychology), this is a helpful primer. You can also read a pdf primer on editing medical topics, or for editing in psychology or sociology.
- Citing books — If you're working primarily from books as your sources, citing different pages at different points in the article, this guide shows how you can format the citations. We also have a .pdf you can use as a reference.
- Here are some helpful do's and don't's for choosing an article.
- Module 5: Background — If you want to learn more about Wikipedia and its history, you can check out the optional fifth module of this orientation.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
You've completed Wikipedia orientation. Congratulations!
Click the "Certification and Feedback" button to certify that you've completed this training. Otherwise, you may be asked to take it again.
You'll also be asked to let us know what you thought about it. We'd love your help in figuring out how to make the training better!
Be sure that you are signed in to your Wikipedia account first. If not, log in now. Otherwise, there will be no record that you completed the training.
(If the above button does not work for you, you can manually add your username to the training completion list here.)
| How was the orientation?
Let us know what you thought about the Wikipedia training. Did it answer your questions? Was there something missing? Leave whatever feedback you feel like sharing. |
- What I liked
...
- What I didn't like
...
- What was missing
...
- What was unnecessary
...
- If you tried the interactive editing tutorial, what did you think of it?
...
--~~~~
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
How a ragtag band created Wikipedia
Click the image to go to the video on YouTube. You will need to press 'back' on your browser to return to this module.
| This Wikipedia page has been superseded by training content on dashboard.wikiedu.org and outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org and is retained primarily for historical reference. |
Why Wikipedians are Weird
Click the image to go to the video on YouTube. You will need to press 'back' on your browser to return to this module.