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Learn to Edit Wikipedia

This guide cover the basics of learning to edit Wikipedia, including creating an account, editing text, creating references, and adding images. It was developed out of a workshop session by Michael Barera, a Wikipedian with over a decade of experience.

What you will learn

  1. What Wikipedia is and how it is written ​
  2. How to create a Wikipedia account​
  3. How to make simple edits with VisualEditor, Wikipedia’s modern “what you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG) editing interface​
  4. A brief introduction to Wikitext markup (the original way to edit Wikipedia)​
  5. How to communicate with other Wikipedians (using talk pages)​
  6. How to add references to Wikipedia articles​
  7. How to add images to Wikipedia articles​
  8. Where and how to learn more about editing Wikipedia, including advanced skills

What Wikipedia is...​

  • Wikipedia bills itself as "the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit"​
    • It is free in both the gratis sense that it does not cost money to access its content as well as the libre sense that its content is useable and reusable for its readers, with very few limitations​
    • Anyone can edit Wikipedia, even without an account, although some articles are protected so that non-registered users or, rarely, most users cannot edit them​
  • Wikipedia has five principal tenants that it calls "pillars":​
  1. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia​
  2. Wikipedia is written from a neutral point of view​
  3. Wikipedia is free content that anyone can use, edit, and distribute​
  4. Wikipedia editors should treat each other with respect and civility​
  5. Wikipedia has no firm rules​