Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2021 December 31

= December 31 =

Making a new article
Dear Wikipedia Team, Being a 6th grader, I have absolutely no idea on how to make a new article. I looked at some of the examples, and they all look like some complicated code. How will I make my article without having to learn coding? Sincerely, NeraSpikeFire — Preceding unsigned comment added by NeraSpikeFire (talk • contribs) 07:39, 31 December 2021 (UTC)
 * It gets better, everything is MUCH easier to understand when you're adult than when you're 6th grade. I can't stand the alienese of the easiest "real code" (Python?) yet still learned the important parts of Wikicode pretty quick at an older age (though I'm still a technical person). The code elements that are in articles most often are usually the ones to learn first but to be honest someone will probably come along and fix it if you just write it in English, make tables like this:

Thing 1

29.9 days, red

Thing 2

32 days, blue


 * and put the webpages or book page numbers where you got your info in parentheses every time the page you got your info from changes, or they will say why they think this article is not allowed in this form (need better sources, only high schools are notable enough for a whole article by default etc), it's not easy to make something so bad that they're allowed to delete ASAP or as soon as they get a 2nd opinion instead of giving you at least a week to come up with arguments against deletion (i.e. this subject has x Google hits, is that enough? or policy i.e. Notability says X) and they're supposed to put a big box on the article top that links to the "should we delete?discussion"'s webpage. One thing that is easier to delete immediately is WP:biographies of living persons. They're not supposed to allow many kinds of biographies of the living or recently dead for reasons like privacy and bias. Trust me, Wikicode is far easier to learn than real code, some of the most useful ones for your first article are: text inside  is a link to that article but to be honest some random passerby would do it for you by the time a few editors have read it, that but different brackets/braces (I don't know correct name):


 * shows that template, adding different relevant categories by adding copies of Category:Example to the bottom means more readers will find it but someone else will do it for you eventually (don't put Category:Example obviously, put things like Category:Japan or whatever blue link is relevant and someone will change it to the right subcategory if you have put it in one too broad), this code: Example.jpg makes an image and so on. Checking what the code spits out with the preview button is recommended. Also Wikipedia is not like a paper encyclopedia, it's WP:uncensored and Content disclaimer even says those x hertz flash images that give epileptics seizures could be on the site, if from nothing else then from vandalism (I've used Wikipedia very extensively for over a dozen years and have only seen image trolling once, when someone put a penis photo on a large percent of the site with one simple trick, they put code that stops low-level editors from changing widely-broadcast things after that). If you look up something like circumcision it could have the most graphic photo you could imagine right at the top or lower down. And not just subjects like war crimes and X and R-rated subjects, if you don't want to see naked people you can't even see the whole article on human beings, at least without turning off images which can be done in at least 1 simple way but I only know how to do it on 2000s-era Internet Explorer. Help:Options to hide an image has all the ways, including one that puts placeholders in the articles that you click if the caption sounds OK. One more tip, don't read the part of an article on a movie, video game, amusement park ride, etc that says what happened if you don't want to know from beginning to end yet (like plot twists and spoilers and tape-delayed Olympics events, Usain Bolt smashed world record!, it's all over the Internet and newspapers!, watch our TV channel 12 hours from now to find out if he wins!), there's no warning about that either. Don't look at the wrong medical books, social media posts and movies if you don't want plot spoilers about what the opposite sex looks like either. Heck your parents may have already or soon will make you see full-view natural birth video at school by signing the permission slip without realizing some US schools have been showing that for many years, I can't image what Europe schools show. commons.wikimedia.org is very useful, put something in the search bar like bicycles and it'll show links to all the bicycle pictures, put the image code above on the article and change File:Example.jpg to the one on commons and that image will appear on the article. Commons is just as uncensored as Wiki so if you put something like surgery in the search bar well you're going to see a lot of blood. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 19:29, 31 December 2021 (UTC)
 * Hello, . Writing an acceptable new Wikipedia article is challenging for any new editor, especially a 6th grader. Your goal is very difficult but not impossible if you are willing to play by the rules. You need to learn the basics of wikicode or the visual editor. Even more importantly, you need to learn what is acceptable and what is not acceptable on Wikipedia. Spend some time studying Wikipedia's Policies and guidelines and the good advice at Your first article. Cullen328 (talk) 08:08, 31 December 2021 (UTC)

You're welcome! My top tip is to start by trying to edit a few existing articles. We have a lot of obscure rules that are much more important (and frustrating for newbies) than the technical "complicated code" bits, which others can help you with when you're ready. Just try not to get upset if people undo your work or 'spoil' it. There's a large community of experienced and generally friendly and helpful editors out there who will be happy to advise you and help you along the way. And who knows, maybe in a few years, you'll become an administrator? --Dweller (talk) Old fashioned is the new thing! 10:39, 31 December 2021 (UTC)


 * You can create a draft page say Draft:Cornucopia of knowledge, but you will not yet be able to create an article. You can just start with plain text. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 06:30, 1 January 2022 (UTC)