1. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, and it combines several features. However, it is not the place for putting your point of view, advertising or promoting yourself, and it has certain guidelines.
2. Articles are to be written from a neutral point of view, with veritable sources, i.e. not opinions, interpretations or experience.
3. On Wikipedia, you don't own articles, it is free content to be edited and re-distributed.
4. Treat fellow editors with respect-avoid personal attacks, assume good faith, do not edit to make a point
5. The rules are not carved in stone:the rules evolve, and as such, do not worry too much about mistakenly breaking some in good faith.
Please now try and find an edit, or indeed article, which doesn't obey one of the rules. Please post a link to that page's history, and revert the edit, or if the article needs deleting, just post the link, there are special gadgets to delete pages. You may find this helpful. If you do use that link, do not start tagging the articles unless you are certain that you know how; there will be a lesson on tagging soon.
There is a whole lot of policy, and loads of guidelines on Wikipedia, so I will summarise the main ones, but it is for the best if you have had a look at this list of them all, but don't try and read them all. Below is a summary of what policies and guidelines are:
Policies should usually be followed, unless there is an unusual reason why they should not
Guidelines are less rigid, and are more a signpost, consensus is generally supporting guidelines
Essays, whilst the creator's opinion, should also be taken into account, especially if the creator is a respected editor
Bear in mind that common sense should prevail, and that there will be the odd exception (that doesn't mean to ignore them though)
If one persists in not adhering to the policies, and the edits made are not possibly beneficial, after a talk with the editor on a talk page, sanctions can be imposed (more detail here
Editors who are purposely disruptive can, and may, be blocked by administrators (also called sysops)#
Major polices are:
Ignore all rules: if a rule is preventing you making a beneficial act, ignore it. Do not use this as a get out of jail free card if you make a mistake
What Wikipedia is not: bear in mind that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, and not a news outlet, dictionary, ad site, and so on
Article titles: remember to follow correct syntax, and call the page the right name
Manual of Style (MoS): lists all the syntax things that need to be adhered to. Largely common sense
I will go more in depth on this on individual policies; but you may want to have a quick look through the list. Thanks,
OK, so that link is to the Beatles song. But on Wikipedia, there are times when you need some help. I thought it may be good to do this towards the beginning of the course, as otherwise you will be a perfect Wikipedian never needing help... Anyway, so there are several ways to get help on Wikipedia:
Go onto the Internet Relay Chat at this linkconnect. You don't have to use your Wikipedia log in, but it is best to. I try and help out there sometimes too, so you might see me there.
Put {{Help me}} on your talk page, and some helpful people will come and assist you (make sure to include your question).
This is the end of the overview section, so here is the test:
You see in the news about someone who was stabbed. He has received a fair amount of coverage, as it was in a high-end area of the capitol. Do they deserve an article? Explain
You are editing the page of a prominent author, and happen to know him very well. He is a nice bloke, and you want his article to reflect that. What do you do? Explain
You have written a very good article on a your favorite TV show. However, another editor is adding content about a little incident he had a few years ago. What can you do to make them stop? Explain
You have been told by a friend that there was a record heatwave in Gothenburg yesterday. Could you add this to an article? Explain
You see a great article on a news website about a party's victory in the local elections. You decide that it is so good, it deserves a Wikipedia page. You copy the page, and create it a Wikipedia article, and paste it there. Is this the right thing to do? Explain
You think that the article on Sweden is not showing enough about the fascinating workings of the TV service. You edit in how you know it works, helping people with your review of the service. Is this right? Explain
You get a book autographed by a sportsman at a book fair in Stockholm, so edit his page saying where he was and what he was doing. Is this right? Explain
You create a page on your sandbox about the environment of Sweden. You go back a couple of days later, and find it has been copied, and created by another user. Is this right? Explain
You see some text shamelessly copied from one of your articles on a leading news site. You consider action, as they have not acknowledged using your page! What should you do? Explain
A user swears all over your userpage (it happens) for undoing his edits to a page. Do you do the same to him? Explain
A new user has completely changed one of the articles you created, so you undo his edits, then post a vandalism warning on his user page. Is this right? Explain
You make a mistake, copying an article from the BBC website onto a Wikipedia article. What can you do?
You see an obviously vandalized article on something you know nothing about. Do you change it back again? Explain
A new user has removed all the content in one of the pages you created! What do you do?
You find a great blog with loads of information about a plant. Can you add it to the relevant article?
