Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2018 July 18

= July 18 =

Related to an idea for an online Wikipedia course
Hi. I have been editing Wikipedia for a short while now (2000+ edits) but still am a newbie with lots to learn. I understand there are various pages explaining Wikipedia guidelines and there are other more experienced editors who help clear things out when there is a confusion related to how Wikipedia works... But wouldn't it be nice if there was a more interactive way and coordinated way of conveying information to new editors who want to stay here for a long time? Now getting to the points the idea is this - Can there be an online course for Wikipedia like the ones on Coursera (https://www.coursera.org/) or edX (https://www.edx.org/). A proper course with videos and quizzes and interactive elements and the history of Wikipedia and basic help navigating wikipedia for future editors, how the largest volunteer community in the world works, how things are resolved on controversial topics, so many things can be covered sequentially... I am not sure though how i can get a second opinion on this idea or where to ask it and push it forward to people who can actually execute this if this idea is good enough. Would mailing info-en@wikimedia.org be a good idea, or does the Wikipedia Foundation already have this idea, the idea is already out there or is it just sufficient to leave this idea here? Thank you. DiplomatTesterMan (talk) 16:08, 18 July 2018 (UTC)
 * This is a reference desk (for finding sourced [don't laugh] information on various topics). The WP:Help desk is for questions related to Wikipedia itself.  The closest thing to what you are describing (that I'm aware of) is at WP:Training.  Also, WP:The Wikipedia Adventure looks like a basic getting started tutorial in a "game" format. 2606:A000:1126:4CA:0:98F2:CFF6:1782 (talk) 16:31, 18 July 2018 (UTC)


 * There are some books along those lines, How Wikipedia Works being one. Dunno about a video course.  It doesn't seem like a good idea to me.  The editors the most conversant with Wikipedia's 1000s of rules and regulations tend to be pretty annoying and unproductive.  The one advice I'd give anyone arriving here is identify some editors who you think are good, and try to edit the way they do.  The "dialect" will take care of itself over time.  173.228.123.166 (talk) 00:18, 19 July 2018 (UTC)