Wikipedia:Plain

The basic mechanics of Wikipedia can take a few days to become comfortable, but once mastered, open up the entire encyclopedia to you. This page will try to simply explain what you need to know to start editing quickly and avoid major stumbling blocks.

For a similar short introduction to the principles and practices of Wikipedia, see WP:SIMPLE, the simplified ruleset.

Editing most Wikipedia pages is easy. Wikipedia uses two methods of editing: the WYSIWYG VisualEditor (VE), and classic editing through wiki markup (Wikitext language) using the Wikipedia text editor. The explanations on this page deal with wiki markup editing (the method most used). For instructions on using VisualEditor see the VisualEditor user guide.

Formatting



 * Edit. Nearly every page on Wikipedia has two edit links on it, either in the page itself or at the top of the screen. Click [edit] (if there is only one edit link) or [edit source] (if there are two edit links) and you will see a place where you can type and make changes. It will look a little different since Wikipedia uses a language called "markup". Don't worry if it looks intimidating. Just try a few small changes and copy what others do that gets the result you want. Press the Page preview button until it looks right. If you cannot get it the way you want it, click on the Cancel link.
 * Basic markup. Markup language is a very simple way to add formatting with symbols. These can be inserted using the editing tool bar or manually. Otherwise, just type normally.
 * Looks
 * For italics, type two apostrophes around the word like this.
 * For bold use three apostrophes:.
 * For bold and italics use five:.
 * Sections and lists
 * Section headers are made with the equals sign on each side. . More equals signs make smaller sub-sections., and so on. You won't use a level 1 header, since that is the title of the page itself.
 * Bulleted lists are made by putting  at the beginning of each line.
 * Numbered lists are made by putting  at the beginning of each line.
 * Links
 * Links from one Wikipedia page to another are made with two brackets on each side of the word like . To make a link go to a different page than the word it shows, use a pipe:.
 * Links to external websites are made with one bracket on each side like . These are used in the External links section of an article.
 * Images are added with . The "thumb" part is just a size and should be left in.
 * Paragraphs and references
 * Line breaks and paragraphs require hitting [return] or [enter] twice (showing an empty line in between).
 * References go between ref tags:  Place these after the punctuation of the sentence they are used in.
 * Preview and save. If you want to see a draft of your changes, click [Show preview]; otherwise click [Save] and your edit will go live.
 * Page structure. Articles follow a common format. Start with the introduction, a few paragraphs summarizing the page. Make the first mention of the page's subject bold. Place the article's content in level 2 headers like, only capitalizing the first word unless there are subsequent proper nouns. The last sections can add information such as See also, References, and External links, in that order. Place those sections in level 2 headers as well.

Communication

 * Talk pages. In addition to the pages you read for information, for almost every Wikipedia page there is a corresponding talk page where discussion happens among editors. To use the talk page, click [edit] and add your comments. To create a new topic, click [new section] at the top of the page, give the section a title, and leave your comment. New topics go at the end of the page.
 * Indenting. To make conversations easier to follow, place your comments below the one you are responding to and indent it using a colon . Each colon moves the comment farther to the right, so if the person above you used 3 colons   you should use 4  . To start a new talk page topic, click [new section] at the beginning of the page and type a title with your comment, or start a new level 2 heading for the same effect.
 * Signatures. On talk pages but not article pages, all comments should be signed with  . Once saved, this will turn into your username or IP address with a timestamp.
 * Edit summaries. Leave a brief note about what you did and why any time you make an edit. Place it in the edit summary box before you click Save.

Adding references

 * Good sources: Newspapers, books, journals, magazines, industry publications, and expert websites; independent of the subject, with a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy; somewhere or someone you would trust if you read it, knowing that they did their homework and don't want to get the information wrong.
 * Manual references: Use reference tags after the period: ...end of sentence. Place at the end of the sentence after the punctuation.
 * Better references with templates: These are thorough and easy to use. Click [edit], and place the cursor at the end of the sentence you want to reference. Using the editing toolbar, click [cite] or and choose the source type (web, book, television...). Fill out the fields you know, click [enter], and [save] when ready.
 * Reference section: References should appear at the end of the page. Make a level 2 header: . Then place  below the header. You don't have to type out the references there; instead, place them inside the article after the sentence they support. They'll appear automatically.

Adding images
To use a picture on Wikipedia, you need permission from the owner/photographer:
 * If it is your own picture, then you can just upload it yourself, from WP:UPLOAD, saying "It is entirely my own work". This link will take you to Commons, where free files are hosted.
 * If it is not yours, then you need permission from the owner one of two ways:
 * They could put it on a website like Flickr, or their own website with a compatible license that permits commercial reuse and modification — meaning others can replicate it, change it, and even sell it, as long as others down the line agree to the same and to give attribution to the original owner. A Flickr compatible license is Creative Commons Share Alike (CC-BY-SA 2.0). Then we can upload it.
 * Have the owner email permission with the attached picture to: permissions-commons@wikimedia.org saying they permanently release it to Wikipedia under an open license which allows commercial reuse and modification with attribution. Releasing it under Creative Commons Share Alike is an easy way to do that. The e-mail should say that they are the creator and/or sole owner of the exclusive copyright of the photograph(s) of the attached photo (or the photo at EXACTWEBSITEADDRESSHERE), give the name of the uploaded file on Wikipedia (File:EXACTNAMEHERE), and be signed and dated. Then we can host it.
 * After uploading, put the file in a Wikipedia page by adding  to any Wikipedia page.

Navigating Wikipedia

 * Article: Where content happens. These contain encyclopedic material which must be backed up by sources. Don't sign your name on these.
 * Talk: Where talk happens. Every article page has one, linked at the beginning of the page. Use them for collaboration and dispute resolution by clicking [Talk] at the beginning of the page.
 * History: Where prior versions of an article are stored (talk pages have them too). Click [View history] at the beginning of a page and you'll see all prior edits to the page.
 * User: Your personal page (or someone else's). Linked at the top right of every page, with a blue link and your name. Put stuff here to explain what you are about and why you are here.
 * User talk: Your personal talk page. Use this to facilitate discussions and collaboration. Also used for notices and warnings.
 * Wikipedia: Information about policies, guidelines and advice for editing. These are quite detailed. They come in handy eventually.
 * Help: Basic how-to material. These pages cover everything from markup to templates.  A good place to start.
 * File: Where images are. These store all of the details about photographs and other media. The name of the file page is also the name of the file.
 * Special pages: Specific functions such as History, Recent changes, and Page logs. You can spot them because they don't have talk pages.

Finding pages

 * Search: The easiest way to get around. Type your query in the box at the top right and pick from the results.
 * Directory: The full department directory and quick directory are good tools. Or just ask someone and they'll give you a link.
 * Google: Wikipedia is very well indexed by Google and searching for a term, even about an editing question, followed by "wiki" or "wikipedia" usually pulls up what you need.

Static help
The Help:Contents may be accessed by clicking Help displayed in  ► Interaction at the top left of all pages.
 * Frequently Asked Questions: Common questions about using and contributing.
 * Help:Menu: Is a menu-style page that will direct you to the right place to find information.
 * Help:Contents/Directory: Is a descriptive listing of Wikipedia's informative, instructional and consultation pages.

There is the editing tutorial if you would like to know more about how things are done. There is also the comprehensive  missing manual that can guide you step-by-step on just about anything.

Interactive help
If you do get stuck, there are volunteers available to answer your questions, see asking for help for more information.