User talk:English836/Adoption

Basic Policies and Background of Wikipedia
Alright, English836! Let the fun begin!

We'll start with the basics. The most fundamental and important policies of Wikipedia are its Five Pillars. They are as follows:


 * Wikipedia is an encyclopedia.
 * This means that Wikipedia strives to provide accurate information on all areas of knowledge. You must be able to back up everything you say with reliable sources and you cannot just make things up. Wikipedia is not a list of facts, a place for your own opinions or advertising, or a dictionary.


 * See also: What Wikipedia is not


 * Wikipedia has a neutral point of view
 * This simply means that Wikipedia does not advocate any particular view. It equally represents every major point of view, without giving any "undue weight" or presenting it as the best or correct view. Points of view should be verifiable as well.


 * See also: The Neutral Point of View policy


 * Wikipedia has free content
 * This means that Wikipedia can contain absolutely no Copyright Violations. All its text is licensed accordingly. You also need to remember that anyone can edit any article, so no one person can take ownership of a single article; rather, it is the community's article.
 * ''See also: GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), which all Wikipedia's text is licensed under

This means that all editors have to behave accordingly. In order to avoid edit wars and Three-revert-rule violations (making more than 3 reverts to an article in under 24 hours), try to reach consensus instead. Also, don't mess with Wikipedia to make a point and assume that others are doing what they think is right for the encylopedia.
 * Wikipedia has a code of conduct


 * See also: WikiLove: An essay

If a rule gets in the way of you improving the encyclopedia, ignore it! Be Bold when you update a page. Even if you think you made a mistake, or if you're unsure how helpful your edits are, perfection is not required! Sure, it should be aimed for, but any good-faith contribution to the encyclopedia is helpful! Once again, BE BOLD!
 * Wikipedia does not have firm rules (besides these five pillars)


 * See also: Ignore all rules

Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question. If you have one, ask it; I enjoy discussion :) Also, tell me when you're finished with all this, but no rush, as this is very important information. Happy editing, ( ar  ky  ) 02:21, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

WikiMarkup
Wikipedia has it's own special "language" called "WikiMarkup". It is very important, therefore, to know a good deal of it when you begin to write an article.

Internal links
An internal link is a link that links to any page within Wikipedia. They are formatted like this:
 * For example:  becomes Giraffe.

An internal link can display alternate text through the use of a pipe character "|"
 * For example:  becomes A long-necked animal that lives on the plains of Africa.

Normal text can also be blended into a link.
 * For example:  becomes I like Giraffes.

Internal links can link across namespaces.
 * For example:  becomes Neutral point of view.

They can also use Pipe tricks.
 * For example:  (note the pipe character before the two end brackets) becomes Neutral point of view
 * For example:  becomes Orange.

Redirects
A redirect is a page that, if accessed, sends you to a related page automagically. For an example of this, see Gill net. Note how at the top of the page it says (Redirected from Gill net). Voila!
 * For example:  redirects whatever page it was on to United States.

When you've finished this portion of the lesson, just tell me and I'll continue on to the next stage of your WikiMarkup lesson. Happy editing, ( ar  ky  ) 01:20, 24 November 2007 (UTC)