Wikipedia:United States Education Program/Courses/Technical Writing (James Lipuma)/Getting help

For most kinds of help on Wikipedia—technical questions; policies and guidelines; etiquette; conflicts with editors; feedback and reviews of your work—the first place you should turn is the "Discuss" tab of this course page. On the course talk page, you can also see what questions and requests for feedback your classmates posted, and you may be able to learn from the answers they got or answer their questions yourself.


 * 1) Go to your course page, click the “Discussion” tab, and post your question or request in a new section.  (Be sure to sign your post with four tildes and enter an edit summary before you save it.)
 * 2) If you don't get a response within a day or two, ask your Campus Ambassador.

Immediate help
Looking for immediate help from a Wikipedia Ambassador? Click the big purple button on the right.

Enter your Wikipedia username, fill out the CAPTCHA, and click "Connect" to enter chat. Then explain what you need help with.

If no one replies within about 3-5 minutes, try this help channel instead.

Other problems

 * If you have conflicts with an Ambassador or another editor that you don't want to post about publicly, talk to another Ambassador or your instructor.
 * For subject-specific questions related to your course, talk to your instructor(s), teaching assistants, and classmates.

Glossary of places to get help

 * Article talk pages – The talk pages of articles are typically where discussions about the content of articles take place. Other editors may leave messages about your work here.  If someone reverts changes you make to an article, the talk page is where you should start a discussion.  Put it on your watchlist!
 * Campus Ambassadors – Your Campus Ambassadors hold office hours and may be able to meet with you to discuss problems and questions about Wikipedia.
 * Course talk page – This is the main place for discussing your assignments, posting problems or questions that come up, and giving and receiving feedback about your articles. Put it on your watchlist!
 * Help desk – This page is an additional forum for getting help from Wikipedians.
 * IRC channels – These are chatrooms where experienced Wikipedians can often give you immediate help or advice. #wikpedia-en-help and #wikipedia-en-classroom are good places to start looking for help.
 * WikiProject talk pages – These are message boards for users interested in editing articles about particular topics.