Wikipedia:Trifecta/Simple rules draft

You may have heard that editing Wikipedia is complicated and bureaucratic, with thousands of pages of rules. What you may not have heard is you only need to know 3 rules before editing Wikipedia.

Rule 0. Ignore all rules

Further information: WP:IAR?

If a rule keeps you from improving Wikipedia, ignore it. We care about the spirit of the law, not the letter. Remember to be bold—if you make an honest mistake, we'll let you know so you can fix it. The only real rule is to use common sense. Don't be afraid to try something new—we don't do punishment here. (Well, mostly.)

Rule 1. Be nice

Further information: meta:Don't be a jerk

Be polite when you disagree with someone. Assume good faith—everyone else is here to improve the encyclopedia too. Focus on the edit, not the editor (don't make it personal). And don't steal other people's work!

Rule 2. Cite your sources

Further information: Reference desk

Everything on Wikipedia needs to come from a reliable source with a citation (link) to back it up. That means you can't add stuff you just made up or insert your own personal biases. Don't worry about formatting those citations—our built-in reference tool will handle that automatically for you.

Rule 3. If in doubt, talk it out

Further information: WP:Dispute resolution

Wikipedia is ruled by consensus. If another editor disagrees with you, you should discuss it on the talk page. Be prepared to justify your edits if someone else reverts them. Don't ignore other people's comments, and don't keep reinserting the same edit without discussing it first. For tricky disputes, look for an outside mediator.

See also

• Teahouse – help for new editors.
• Contributing to Wikipedia – a page that provides information and resources on the basics needed to use, comment on, and contribute to Wikipedia.
• Community standards and advice – a quick directory of community norms and related guidance essays.
• Advice pages – about advice pages written by WikiProjects.