'This sub-page on my user space is designed to provided a simplified set of help pointers for students and others I work with. 'It relates rather directly to a series of workshops (originally held in 2011/12 + 2012 + 2013) delivered towards creating and/or editing Wikipedia articles as an educational assignment...but is also useful in other Wikipedia training sessions.

Before you start!

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  • Wikipedia:WELCOME - Welcome to Wikipedia! (let's get to know each other a little bit...)

Be sure to look at the above pages! They are very important, and they will help you — even if you're not perfect the first second tenth seventeenth 33rd time!

You can also download a very helpful PDF which contains the essential elements to help you get to know how Wikipedia works.

OR have a look at The Grande Guide to Wikipedia - an excellent alternative introduction to Wikipedia.

Beginner

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Creating a New Article

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Editing an Existing Article

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Asking for Help

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Personal help on your talk page

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Intermediate

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There's also a wikitext cheatsheet you can download as a PDF.
  • Disambiguation - when a term/name refers to more than one topic covered by Wikipedia articles


[[File: | thumb | upright | right | alt= | caption ]]
<ref>{{cite web
 |url= 
 |title= 
 |author= 
 |date= 
 |website= 
 |publisher= 
 |access-date= 
}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite journal
 |last1= 
 |first1= 
 |last2= 
 |first2= 
 |date= 
 |title= 
 |journal= 
 |volume= 
 |issue= 
 |pages= 
 |publisher= 
 |doi= 
 |url= 
 |access-date= 
}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite book
 |last= 
 |first= 
 |author-link= 
 |title= 
 |publisher= 
 |series= 
 |date=  
 |doi= 
 |isbn= 
}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite book
 |last1        = 
 |first1       = 
 |last2        = 
 |first2       = 
 |author-link1 = 
 |author-link2 = 
 |editor       = 
 |title        = 
 |trans-title  = 
 |url          = 
 |access-date  = 
 |edition      = 
 |series       = 
 |volume       = 
 |date         = 
 |publisher    = 
 |location     = 
 |isbn         = 
 |doi          = 
 |page         = 
 |pages        = 
 |chapter      = 
}}</ref>
Single input:
{{convert|original_value|original_unit|conversion_unit|abbr=on}}
Range of values:
{{convert|orig_val1|range|orig_val2|original_unit|conversion_unit|abbr=on}}
Examples:
{{convert|60|and|170|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
{{convert|18|°C|°F}}
{{convert|3.21|kg|lb}}
Code Effect
{{CURRENTWEEK}} 51
{{CURRENTDOW}} 5
{{CURRENTMONTH}} 12
{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} December
{{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}} December
{{CURRENTDAY}} 20
{{CURRENTDAYNAME}} Friday
{{CURRENTYEAR}} 2024
{{CURRENTTIME}} 07:45
{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} 6,926,966
{{NUMBEROFPAGES}} 62,061,760
{{NUMBEROFUSERS}} 48,435,840
{{PAGENAME}} ToniSant/help
{{NAMESPACE}} User
{{REVISIONID}} -
{{REVISIONUSER}} ToniSant
{{localurl:pagename}} /wiki/Pagename
{{localurl:Wikipedia:Sandbox|action=edit}} /w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Sandbox&action=edit
{{fullurl:pagename}} //en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Pagename
{{fullurl:pagename|query_string}} //en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Pagename&query_string
{{SERVER}} //en.wiki.x.io
{{ns:index}} e.g. '{{ns:1}}' fullname of namespace e.g 'Talk'
{{SITENAME}} Wikipedia
<ref name="NAMEOFREF" />
{{blockquote |text= |sign= }}
<blockquote>
<p>QUOTED PARAGRAPH</p>
<p>NAME, SOURCE, REFERENCE</p>
</blockquote>
(This page is about USE1. For other uses, see About (disambiguation).)
{{About|USE1}}
(This page is about USE1. For other uses, see PAGE2.)
{{About|USE1||PAGE2}}
(This page is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE2.)
{{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2}}
(This page is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE2. For USE3, see PAGE3. For USE4, see PAGE4. For USE5, see PAGE5.)
{{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3|USE4|PAGE4|USE5|PAGE5}}
{|
|-
! scope="col" |COLUMN1
! scope="col" |COLUMN2
|-
|ROW1
|ROW1/COL2
|-
|ROW2
|ROW2/COL2
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" |COLUMN1
! scope="col" |COLUMN2
|-
|ROW1
|ROW1/COL2
|-
|ROW2
|ROW2/COL2
|}
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align: left;margin:0px;"
|- 
! style="width:20em;" |COLUMN1
! style="width:20em;" |COLUMN2
|- 
|ROW1
|ROW1/COL2
|-
|ROW2
|ROW2/COL2
|-
|}
{{col-begin|width=100%}}
{{col-break|width=}} 
{{col-end}}
Wiki Shortcut
Wikimedia Commons [[commons:]]
Wikipedia [[w:]]
Wiktionary [[wikt:]]
Wikibooks [[b:]]
Wikisource [[s:]]
Wikispecies [[species:]]
Wikiversity [[wv:]]
Metawiki [[m:]]
MediaWiki [[mw:]]
 * {{subst:uw-vandalism1|PageName}} ~~~~ (unintentional vandalism/test)
 * {{subst:uw-delete1|PageName}} ~~~~ (unintentional removal of content)
 * {{subst:uw-vandalism2|PageName}} ~~~~ (suitable for intentional nonsense or disruption)
 * {{subst:uw-delete2|PageName}} ~~~~ (variant for removal of content)
 * {{subst:uw-vandalism3|PageName}} ~~~~ ("please stop" for use after level 2 warning)
 * {{subst:uw-delete3|PageName}} ~~~~ (please stop removing content)
 * {{subst:uw-vandalism4|PageName}} ~~~~ (last warning for vandalism)
 * {{subst:uw-delete4|PageName}} ~~~~ (last warning for removing content)
 * {{subst:uw-vandalism4im|PageName}} ~~~~ (only warning; for severe or grotesque vandalism only)
 * {{subst:uw-delete4im|PageName}} ~~~~ (only warning; for many blankings in a short period of time)
{{rp|page=}}

Stuff you wanted to know about Wikipedia...but were afraid to ask!

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Still want more?

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See also: WP:PRIMER

 
Freedom of speech and profanity

Sometimes the question is posed whether Wikipedia allows freedom of speech regarding profanity. Our primary goal is to build an encyclopedia. Freedom of expression is valued, but only to the extent that it does not get in the way of that goal. Including information about offensive material is part of Wikipedia's encyclopedic mission; being offensive is not. We have many articles about profane and sexual subjects‍—‌prick, fuck, shit, fart, and so on. Although Wikipedia is not censored, if you were to put profanities on discussion pages, a quick ban might follow. This is especially true for usernames because these show up in many places where people do not want to be bothered by profanity. Repeated off-topic comments on article talk pages also might constitute a breach of policy.

To add this auto-updating template to your user page, use {{totd}}