User:Proteins/New user account tutorial

You need to have a user account for many common tasks on Wikipedia, such as creating new articles, uploading images, keeping a watchlist to monitor changes, and so on. A full list of the benefits can be found here. This tutorial describes the three simple steps to get an account on Wikipedia.

Before starting, you should think of a username and password. Wikipedia has a few guidelines on choosing a username, and some suggestions on choosing a secure password. This tutorial covers some key issues you should consider.

A video has been made of this tutorial.

Step 1
The first step to getting a user account is clicking on the Log in / create account link in the upper right-hand corner, as illustrated here.



Step 2
That brings you to a second page, the normal log-in window. On this page, you'll want to click on the link saying "Create one", as illustrated below. You can safely ignore everything else on this page.



Step 3
This brings you to the final page. In the middle of the page, you'll find a form that you'll fill out to start your account. Above and below that form are links to information that you should read before choosing a user name and a password. Some key questions are:


 * Should you use your real name?
 * Remember, you are not required to identify yourself in any way and there may be disadvantages to using your real name. However, experts may find that their contributions have greater credibility if they use their real names and connect their Wikipedia user page with their professional webpage.
 * Is your password secure enough?
 * Does your user name violate some policies of Wikipedia, such as not mentioning corporate names?

Once you've read the material and decided on a user name and password, you're ready to fill in the form! Begin by typing in the word seen in the CAPTCHA image, which prevents computer programs from registering themselves as users. Then fill in your chosen user name and password, a repetition of the password and an optional e-mail address. Then click on the "Create account" button, and your account will be started. In particular, you should see your user name highlighted in red at the very top of the page, on the same line with some other user commands such as my talk, my preferences , my watchlist , my contributions , and log out. We'll cover those commands in a later tutorial.