Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, is a collaborative platform where anyone can contribute and edit information. Editing a Wikipedia page might seem daunting at first, but it’s a straightforward process once you understand the basics. This comprehensive guide will walk you through each step, from creating an account to making substantial edits, ensuring your contributions are valuable and adhere to Wikipedia’s guidelines.
Why Edit Wikipedia?
Contributing to Wikipedia is a great way to share your knowledge, correct inaccuracies, and improve the quality of information available to millions of people worldwide. Whether you’re an expert in a particular field, a passionate enthusiast, or simply someone who wants to make a positive impact, your contributions can make a difference.
Before You Begin: Understanding Wikipedia’s Policies
Before you start editing, it’s crucial to familiarize yourself with Wikipedia’s core policies. These policies ensure that the information on Wikipedia is reliable, neutral, and verifiable.
- Neutral Point of View (NPOV): All articles must be written from a neutral perspective, presenting all significant viewpoints fairly and without bias. Avoid expressing personal opinions or promoting a particular agenda.
- Verifiability: All information must be verifiable by citing reliable sources. This means providing references to published sources such as books, journal articles, reputable websites, and news articles.
- No Original Research (NOR): Wikipedia articles should not contain original research. This means you cannot publish your own theories, analysis, or unpublished findings. Stick to summarizing and synthesizing information from existing reliable sources.
- Notability: Topics covered on Wikipedia must be notable, meaning they have received significant coverage in reliable sources. This ensures that Wikipedia focuses on subjects that are of general interest and importance.
- Copyright: Respect copyright laws. Do not copy text or images from other sources without permission or proper attribution. Wikipedia uses a Creative Commons license, meaning that contributions are freely available for reuse and modification.
Step-by-Step Guide to Editing a Wikipedia Page
1. Create a Wikipedia Account
While you can make minor edits anonymously, creating an account is highly recommended. Having an account allows you to track your contributions, communicate with other editors, and gain credibility within the Wikipedia community. To create an account:
- Go to the Wikipedia website (www.wikipedia.org).
- Click on the “Create account” link in the top right corner of the page.
- Fill out the registration form, providing a username, password, and email address (optional but recommended for password recovery and communication).
- Complete the CAPTCHA verification to prove you are not a bot.
- Click the “Create account” button.
2. Find the Page You Want to Edit
Use the search bar at the top of the Wikipedia page to find the article you want to edit. You can also browse Wikipedia by category or follow links from other articles.
3. Access the Editing Interface
Once you’ve found the page you want to edit, you’ll need to access the editing interface. There are two main ways to edit Wikipedia pages:
- Visual Editor: This is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor that allows you to edit the page directly, similar to using a word processor. It’s generally easier for beginners.
- Source Editor: This editor allows you to edit the page’s underlying code, which uses a markup language called Wiki markup. It offers more control over the formatting and structure of the page but requires learning Wiki markup syntax.
To choose your preferred editor, go to your user preferences:
- Log in to your Wikipedia account.
- Click on your username in the top right corner of the page.
- Click on “Preferences”.
- Go to the “Editing” tab.
- Under “Editing mode”, choose your preferred editing mode (VisualEditor or Source Editor). You can also set it to “Use visual editor as default when possible”.
- Click “Save”.
To start editing a page, click the “Edit” button at the top of the page. If you have selected the Visual Editor as your default, the page will open in the Visual Editor. If you have selected the Source Editor, the page will open in the Source Editor. You can usually switch between the two editors by clicking on the pencil icon in the top right corner of the editing interface and selecting “Visual editing” or “Source editing”.
4. Making Edits with the Visual Editor
The Visual Editor provides a user-friendly interface for making changes to the page content. Here’s how to use it:
- Editing Text: Simply click on the text you want to edit and start typing. You can format the text using the toolbar at the top of the editor, which includes options for bolding, italicizing, creating headings, adding lists, and more.
- Adding Links: To add a link to another Wikipedia page or an external website, select the text you want to link and click the “Link” button (it looks like a chain link). A pop-up window will appear where you can search for a Wikipedia page or enter the URL of an external website.
- Adding Images: To add an image, click the “Insert” button in the toolbar and select “Images and media”. You can then search for images on Wikimedia Commons (a repository of freely licensed images) or upload your own image (ensure you have the necessary rights to do so).
- Adding Citations: Adding citations is crucial for verifying the information you add. To add a citation, select the text you want to cite and click the “Cite” button in the toolbar. You can then choose from different citation templates (e.g., website, book, journal) and fill in the required information.
- Adding Tables: To add a table, click the “Insert” button in the toolbar and select “Table”. You can then customize the table by adding rows and columns and formatting the content.
5. Making Edits with the Source Editor
The Source Editor allows you to edit the page’s underlying code using Wiki markup. While it may seem intimidating at first, learning Wiki markup can give you more control over the formatting and structure of the page.
Here are some common Wiki markup elements:
- Headings: Use equal signs (=) to create headings. The number of equal signs determines the heading level. For example:
= Heading 1 === Heading 2 ===== Heading 3 ===
- Bold and Italic: Use apostrophes (‘) to bold and italicize text:
''Italic text'''''Bold text''''''''Bold and italic text'''''
- Lists: Use asterisks (*) for unordered lists and number signs (#) for ordered lists:
* Item 1* Item 2# Item 1# Item 2
- Links: Use square brackets ([]) to create links:
[[Wikipedia Page]](internal link)[https://www.example.com Example Website](external link)
- Citations: Use
<ref>tags to add citations:Text to be cited.<ref>Source information</ref>
- Tables: Tables are created using a combination of pipes (|) and hyphens (-):
{|| Heading 1 || Heading 2|-| Cell 1 || Cell 2|}
Many helpful toolbars and shortcuts are available in the Source Editor to assist with formatting. Hovering over the buttons will show tooltips with their functions.
6. Preview Your Changes
Before saving your edits, it’s essential to preview them to ensure they look as intended. Both the Visual Editor and the Source Editor have a “Show preview” button that allows you to see how your changes will appear on the live page.
7. Write a Clear and Concise Edit Summary
Below the editing window, you’ll find a field labeled “Edit summary”. This is where you should briefly describe the changes you’ve made. A good edit summary helps other editors understand your contributions and makes it easier to track changes to the page. For example:
- “Added information about [topic] with citation from [source]”
- “Corrected grammatical error in [section]”
- “Updated statistics based on latest data from [source]”
- “Removed unsourced claim”
8. Save Your Changes
Once you’re satisfied with your edits and have written a clear edit summary, click the “Publish changes” button (in Visual Editor) or the “Save page” button (in Source Editor) to save your changes. You may be prompted to complete a CAPTCHA verification before your changes are saved.
9. Monitor Your Edits and Engage with the Community
After saving your edits, it’s a good idea to monitor the page to see if other editors make any changes or have any questions about your contributions. You can also engage with other editors on the page’s talk page, which is a discussion forum where editors can discuss improvements to the article.
Tips for Making Effective Edits
- Start Small: If you’re new to editing Wikipedia, start with small, straightforward edits, such as correcting typos or adding a missing citation. This will help you get familiar with the editing process and build confidence.
- Focus on Verifiability: Always provide reliable sources for the information you add. This is crucial for ensuring the accuracy and credibility of Wikipedia articles.
- Maintain a Neutral Point of View: Avoid expressing personal opinions or promoting a particular agenda. Present all significant viewpoints fairly and without bias.
- Be Respectful and Collaborative: Wikipedia is a collaborative project, so be respectful of other editors and be willing to discuss and compromise on disagreements.
- Use the Talk Page: If you have a major change in mind or disagree with another editor, use the talk page to discuss the issue and reach a consensus before making significant changes to the article.
- Be Patient: Your edits may be reverted or modified by other editors. Don’t take it personally. Instead, try to understand their reasoning and work together to improve the article.
- Check Your Spelling and Grammar: Before saving your changes, carefully proofread your work to ensure that there are no spelling or grammatical errors.
- Use Proper Formatting: Use Wiki markup or the Visual Editor to format your edits correctly. This will make the article more readable and professional-looking.
- Avoid Vandalism: Vandalism, such as deliberately adding false or misleading information, is strictly prohibited and can result in your account being blocked.
Advanced Editing Techniques
Once you’re comfortable with the basics of editing Wikipedia, you can explore some advanced techniques to enhance your contributions:
- Creating New Pages: If you want to create a new Wikipedia page, first make sure that the topic meets Wikipedia’s notability criteria. Then, search for the topic on Wikipedia to see if a similar page already exists. If not, you can create a new page by typing the title of the page into the search bar and clicking the red link that says “Create the page.”
- Using Templates: Templates are pre-formatted boxes that can be used to add information to articles in a consistent and organized way. There are templates for everything from citations to infoboxes to navigation boxes.
- Working with Images: You can add images to Wikipedia articles from Wikimedia Commons. When adding images, be sure to provide a caption that describes the image and its relevance to the article.
- Contributing to WikiProjects: WikiProjects are groups of editors who are working to improve Wikipedia’s coverage of a particular topic. Joining a WikiProject can be a great way to collaborate with other editors and contribute to a specific area of interest.
- Using Bots: Bots are automated programs that can be used to perform repetitive tasks on Wikipedia, such as fixing typos or adding citations.
Dealing with Reverts and Disputes
Sometimes, your edits may be reverted by other editors. This can be frustrating, but it’s important to remain calm and professional. Here’s how to deal with reverts and disputes:
- Understand the Reason for the Revert: Check the edit summary to see why your edit was reverted. If the reason is unclear, ask the editor who reverted your edit for clarification on the article’s talk page.
- Discuss the Issue on the Talk Page: If you disagree with the revert, explain your reasoning on the article’s talk page. Be respectful and avoid personal attacks.
- Provide Sources: If your edit was reverted because it lacked sources, provide reliable sources to support your claims.
- Seek Mediation: If you’re unable to resolve the dispute on your own, you can seek mediation from a neutral third party.
- Avoid Edit Wars: An edit war is when two or more editors repeatedly revert each other’s edits. Edit wars are disruptive and can result in your account being blocked. If you’re involved in an edit war, stop reverting and discuss the issue on the talk page.
Conclusion
Editing Wikipedia can be a rewarding experience. By following these steps and adhering to Wikipedia’s policies, you can contribute to a valuable resource for knowledge and information. Remember to be patient, respectful, and collaborative, and your contributions will be appreciated by the Wikipedia community.
Resources
- Wikipedia:Tutorial
- Wikipedia:Five pillars
- Wikipedia:How to edit a page
- Wikipedia:Citing sources