Wikipedia:Tips

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Tips on using and contributing to Wikipedia

This is Wikipedia's tip library. Here you can digest how to use Wikipedia in bite-sized morsels. The tips listed below were created for the Tip of the day project, but are listed here by title and organized by subject area for your convenience. See also Tip of the day and the Tip of the day talk page (where the tips are written). For other useful directories, see the navigation bar above. Tip of the day... Becoming an Administrator Any user can become an administrator (AKA "sysop"). Admins have no special rights over the content of Wikipedia; they are like janitors. An admin can delete pages (in accordance with Wikipedia:Deletion policy), protect them (in accordance with Wikipedia:Protection policy), and block vandals (in accordance with Wikipedia:Blocking policy). All of these actions can be undone by any sysop. If you have been active on Wikipedia for some time (four to six months with at least 3000 edits is a good guideline), apply for adminship today if you want to help with the housekeeping. Read more: Wikipedia:Administrators Prior tip - Next tip To add this auto-updating template to your user page, use {{Tip of the day}}. Become a Wikipedia tipster Tips about Wikipedia as a whole Don't believe everything you read Help Wikipedia help you Copyrights? Copyleft How reliable is Wikipedia? What the world knows about us How popular is Wikipedia? "Where do I begin?" Tips on accessing Wikipedia pages Wikipedia for your cell phone or PDA Finding your way around Wikipedia and beyond "Where do I begin?" To see everything on Wikipedia about a subject area... Wikipedia has 20 sections, called namespaces Namespace entry points How to see a list of the pages in a namespace Wikipedia's alphabetical index of articles Getting a subpage listing How to get a list of a page's subpages Wikimedia links and shortcuts Linking to non-Wikimedia wikis Can't find what you are looking for? Tips on searching Highlight text on any website, then search Wikipedia for it with a single click Wikipedia-search with auto-completion How to search Wikipedia with Lycos Using Wikipedia's search box: When a search fails, check your spelling How to jump to the search box When "Go" doesn't work, try "Search" Using the prefix in searches Searching Wikipedia with Google: Search Wikipedia faster with Google search tricks Wikipedia-specific Google searchbox Wikipedia-specific searching with Google Search Wikipedia with Google's site-specific search feature Wikipedia-specific Google searchbox When and how to exclude Wikipedia from your Google search Another way to search Wikipedia with Google Search Wikipedia and Google at the same time Google Toolbar Current Site Search Button Firefox search tips: Wikipedia-specific searching within Firefox Wikipedia Search Box for Firefox Tips on bookmarking, creating access points, etc. How to change your default Main Page Wikipedia toolbar for Firefox Getting help Are you looking for help? Go to the right desk Ask intelligent questions I Ask intelligent questions II Keep track of your questions Do you need administrator assistance? Where to post requests Tips for contributors on getting started Create a user account Why create an account? How to sign your name on talk pages Advanced Signatures I Advanced Signatures II Please read department instructions Displaying Tip of the day on your user page Create your sister accounts now The five pillars Are you lost? Speed up your learning curve... Tips on working with articles Be neutral, like Wikipedia Be neutral when editing Wikipedia Look before you leap How to create a new page Page history SuggestBot is a fun way to pick pages to edit A fun way to pick pages to edit The three revert rule List the things to do for an article The lead section Lead section edit trick Placing a page's Table of Contents Section edit button Avoid trademarks Avoid using neologisms Cite your sources Where did that fact come from?! Don't use forums or emails as sources Forums and emails are not acceptable sources Citation Requests Acronyms and initialisms S.W.A.T., T.I.M, & the U.S.D.A Preventing markup glitches Working with table formatting Pretty tables Using Math Placing "External links" sections How to create reusable boilerplate Footnotes Please fill-in edit summaries Remember: fill-in the edit summary Abbreviating edit summaries Edit summary memory trick Spellcheck before you hit "Save" Spell Checkers Use "Show preview" to check your work before you hit "Save" Moving pages Fix double redirects Collaborations Tips on creating and editing links Using Special:MyPage to make private links Linking to another article How to create a link to another article Time-saving links: the "pipe trick" Time-saving links II Linking to a section Linking articles: the internal link Link tricks When not to use links External links Interwiki links and shortcuts Create links faster with link tricks Placing interlanguage links How to provide a link to a specific Google Search Short link pipe trick How to link to word definitions How to link to a category Sister projects & interwiki linking Time-saving links How to make links look the way you want Google search link My link disappeared! How to link to a section of an article How to link to a category without categorizing the page How to use red links Placing "External links" sections Wikimedia links and shortcuts Linking to non-Wikimedia wikis Category tips How to add an article to a category How to create a category How to create a subcategory Category tips Placing category tags Sorting entries in the categories Tips on working with specific types of pages Redirects Redirect synonymous topic names Band articles Working on the Main Page Featured content Beware of instruction creep When to use subpages List tips Topic list The topic list Why have lists when there are categories? List building Alphabetical list of articles Disambiguation page tips Formatting disambiguation pages Tips on working with images Placing images How to find legal photographs and graphics Tag your image uploads Cite the source on all image uploads Uploading Free Images Inserting a picture in an article Boilerplate/template tips Templates What are templates used for? Transclusion Placing templates How to transclude a page into the page you are editing Transclusion caveat Inclusion vs. Transclusion User page tips Your very own Wikipedia bookmark page Need ideas for your user page design? How to display the tip of the day on your user page User Sub Pages Userboxes Other ways to contribute Be a Help Desk volunteer Welcoming Committee Join the fight against vandalism Become an Administrator Help test the MediaWiki software Communicating with other editors Talking to Wikipedians What to do about unsigned comments What did he say? Wikijargon Be forgiving to new users Gain feedback on your editing from other editors Posting on the Wikipedia Community Bulletin Board How to catch admin attention fast Love thy neighbor In conflicts, reach consensus Explaining Wiki markup to other users Wikimedia-wide issues Strikeout button Centralizing project discussion Screenshots Wikimedia has mailing lists Watchdogging (monitoring) Wikipedia Preview tomorrow's featured article Use your watchlist How to watch for pages that don't exist yet How to enable the Enhance recent changes setting Join the Recent Changes Patrol! Join Wikipedia's Counter Vandalism Unit To count your edits, use Essjay's Edit Counter Editcountitis Configuring and customizing your account Reserve your username on the sister projects, before it gets taken How to change your username Keeping track of time How to adjust the height of your edit window Making the edit summary input field larger How to enable right-click section editing Double click editing How to disable the section edit links How to enable the Enhance recent changes setting Customize appearance of dates User scripts User scripts Install your first javascript Tips on working faster Your customizable Wikipedia navigation hub Think outside the box Think outside the box Wikipedia search box focus The edit toolbar How to enable right-click section editing Double click editing Shortcuts Navigate fast using shortcuts Navigate faster using Wikipedia shortcuts Use Wikipedia shortcuts to navigate faster Work faster with keyboard shortcuts Keyboard shortcuts Fast Wikipedia editing with AutoWikiBrowser Power-editing with AutoWikiBrowser Navigation popups Power tool: Navigation Popups MetaTips Wikipedia's dozen most essential tips Wikipedia's dozen most powerful tips Wikipedia's top ten essential tips Wikipedia's top ten power tips Six of one, half-a-dozen of the other These need sorting into the above categories Be sure to check for duplication - don't include them if they are already there! When is a Wikipedia project a WikiProject? The Wikipedia Curriculum Spoken Wikipedia Mediation Cabal Wiki-exploration: beyond Wikipedia... Fansites, Forums, & other Webpage Articles Viewing Persondata Making the editbox more visually pleasing Permission Requests The Lead Section Try and see it my way! Pick from a list of template parameter choices World of fiction Same titles, different meanings Brilliant pictures Undoing edits No copies of primary sources Dynamic date conversion Find stubs and expand them How to look at the changes to an article How to customize your signature When to use external links How to add a picture to an article How to skip scrolling and clicking Wikipedia etiquette = Wikiquette Section editing What writing style to use Where to write about current events Link articles to their foreign-language counterparts Automating tasks on Wikipedia Wikipedia needs pictures. How you can help... Accuracy, quality and peer review What can be included in Wikipedia? Freedom of speech and profanity Your user page Upgrade Recent Changes in my preferences Watching for changes If you have privileged access to web pages... Troubleshooting Wikipedia's look and feel with skins Go Search Not everything that's true is verifiable