Wikipedia has long become an indispensable lifesaver for many issues from various fields of knowledge. Wikipedia is a popular online encyclopedia, which is considered the most complete of all existing encyclopedias. It is unlikely that there will be an alternative to it in the near future. Wikipedia may seem like an unreliable encyclopedia, nevertheless the information posted there is quite reliable. In particular, due to the fact that it is necessary to indicate the source of information in Wikipedia articles, and also due to the fact that the pages are periodically checked by experienced participants and edited.
Wikipedia pages and articles should be written in an encyclopedic style, a calm and in a neutral format. Creating a new article or wiki page on an Internet encyclopedia or editing information already available is not easy but noble. To start it, you need to decide on what topic you know enough useful information.
But how to edit a Wikipedia page?
Do you know how to edit Wikipedia pages? Or do you have a question that how can anyone edit Wikipedia pages? Although, virtually all users of the encyclopedia know that it is collaborative platform and many people feel insecure to help with the inclusion of articles. To solve this problem and contribute to increasing the quantity and quality of available content, we have prepared a few simple steps to edit a Wikipedia page.
The following tips correspond to the actual edition of the article. But Wikipedia has a testing area, ideal for new users. In that draft area, you can practice those step-by-step steps and apply it for real when you have mastered the editing techniques.
• Step 1: Open the Wikipedia page you want to edit, but be careful. Those marked pages with a gold star can only be changed by users with special accounts.
• Step 2: Click on the “Edit” tab, located at the top of the page.
• Step 3: Make changes to the text. Care must be taken with formatting and commands for inserting references and notes. In the Wikipedia guide, all the existing formatting commands are listed, but the main one is the internal link.
• Step 4: In order for your source to be more reliable, you should insert the references and bibliographic data whenever possible on which you relied to write such information. There are several ways to present your sources, but the most used in the collaborative encyclopedia is the reference at the end. To insert it, just type the source between the and commands, placing the {{references}} template at the end of the article.
• Step 5: When editing wiki pages, make sure you are aware of all the essential rules and guidelines that Wikipedia itself governs. Those rules are important and one must follow all of them in order to create or edit a page on Wikipedia.
• Step 6: Never add promotional or advertising content in your Wiki page or article. It will cause your page to be removed within no time.
• Step 7: When you have finished entering the texts and commands, write a summary of the edition that briefly explains what changes you have made.
• Step 8. Click on the “Show preview” button to see how your article will look. This tool is important, as it will display possible formatting failures, but without saving the changes made.
• Step 9: To make the changes permanent, click on the “Save page” button. Wikipedia will show a Captcha to check if the editing is being done by a person, and not by a bot or machine.
• Step 10: When typing the text in the corresponding box, press the “Save page” button again. Ready! The article already has the information and references you added.
Useful life hacks for collaborating with Wikipedia
Stick to optimal page length
Too long articles are a signal for paid Wikipedia editors to pay attention to the page and check it for significance and reliability. If a company does not have 100 years of experience in the market, it is not worth writing a scientific treatise about it. It is enough to tell who you are, what you do and what you have achieved. But too short pages look suspicious. Let the article be more than 1000 words.
Link your page to others
Often, editors delete articles that are not related to anything in their meaning. So before you write about your company, make sure there is an article on Wikipedia about the industry you work in or the technology you use.
Add a link to the article on pages of similar topics – such a system of internal links will increase the level of trust of editors. For example, if you sell innovative software, mentioning you would be appropriate on the Software category page.
Any participant can propose an article for removal, and the decision is made based on the results of a vote by administrators. If you make serious mistakes, your page will be deleted within a few hours.
On Wikipedia, any advertising techniques are prohibited on pain of deleting the page or even blocking it. There are a bunch of Wikipedia editing rules that you should adhere in order to make your page and article flawless. You can only talk about yourself in a neutral way, adhering to an objective point of view. For example, you cannot write that your company’s products are the best. Unless, of course, independent research confirms this. And even then, you must write about it with restraint – no emotion or personal opinion are considered.
To restore, you need to submit a special application and substantiate your request. Be polite – for inappropriate behavior, insulting participants and too heated discussions, you can get a blockage.
The discussion takes at least a week, after which a decision is made. If the article is controversial, the discussion can go on indefinitely. But if the article is restored, a special label will appear on it, which will save the page from repeated deletion.
Conclusion
There are more than 150 rules and requirements for articles, including the technical standards for the design that Wikipedia requests. Creating a page is a really laborious process. But this guide will make it easier – you will evaluate your chances of being posted on Wikipedia and are more likely to write an article that will pass admin moderation.
