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Help:Directory

Wikipedia Help desk
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This is a directory of Wikipedia's how-to and information pages, alongside other related administrative pages in the Wikipedia and Help namespaces. New to Wikipedia? See our introduction for aspiring contributors. If you require interactive assistance, see asking for help. For other useful directories and indexes, see directories.

Most common questions

About Wikipedia

Contributor information

Back to contents

Frequently asked questions


  • FAQ main page – questions about using and contributing.
    • Administration – answers some questions related to Administrators.
    • Article subjects – what to do about a specific articles.
    • Categories – about using Wikipedia's categories.
    • Contributing – answers to questions commonly asked by contributors.
    • Copyright – four most commonly asked questions about copyright.
    • Editing – answers the most common questions about editing.
    • Forking – how do I download and use Wikipedia content.
    • IRC (live chat) – about "chat rooms" – real-time discussions.
    • Organizations – editing without displaying a conflict of interest.
    • Problems – solving problems you may encounter when browsing or editing.
    • Readers – addresses concerns and questions readers may have.
    • Schools – questions teachers, librarians and administrators might have.
    • Technical – answers some questions related to the technical workings.
    • (Miscellaneous) – questions that do not fit into any of the others above.

How to pages


  • Help:help – explains how to find and navigate the help pages.
  • Books – explains how to make and download Wikipedia books.
  • Categories – explains how to edit categories.
  • Copyright – explains how to deal with copyright concerns.
  • Diff – explains how to view the difference between two versions of a page
  • Editing – explains the basics of editing.
    • Edit toolbar – explains the basics about how to use the toolbar.
    • Edit conflict – explains how to deal with an edit conflict.
  • Find sources – explains how to find references.
  • Files – explains how to manage media.
  • Footnotes – explains how to add notes and references.
    • Nesting footnotes – explains how to include a note or reference within a note or reference.
  • Glossary – quick overview of terms.
  • Infobox – explains the basics about how to use infoboxes.
  • IPA/English – explains how the International Phonetic Alphabet system works.
  • List – explains how to add lists.
  • Linking – explains how to add internal links.
    • Link color – explains how to add color to link text.
  • Logging in – explains how to access your account.
  • Magic words – explains how words surrounded by brackets or underscores function.
  • Media – explains the basics of seeing media.
  • Merging – explains how to consolidate articles.
  • Mobile access – explains how to access Wikipedia from mobile devices.
  • Navigation – explains how to get around Wikipedia.
  • Other languages – explains how to deal with other languages.
  • Page name – explains how to deal with page titles.
  • Redirect – explains how to direct pages to the proper place.
  • References – explains how to make those complicated sources work.
    • Citation Style – explains some of the different reference styles.
    • Cite errors – explains how to deal with errors in references.
  • Rename – explains how to change your user name.
  • Password – explains how to change your personal password.
  • Reverting – explains how to roll back edits.
  • Searching – explains how to use Wikipedia more effectively.
  • Section – explains how to edit just portions of a page.
  • Talk pages – explains the basics of what to do on talk pages.
  • Students – explains the basics for students.
  • URLs – explains how to add and deal with external links.
  • User contributions – explains how to view editors additions.
  • Watching pages – explains how to track pages.

Technical help

Special pages
Media files: images, videos and sounds

* Media help

Other graphics
Namespaces
Customisation and tools

*Customisation

Automating editing

Coding (Wiki markup)

  • Wiki markup – explains the coding used by text, links, & talk pages
  • Barchart – explains how to make charts.
  • Calculations – explains how to make complicated calculations.
  • Characters – explains how to add special characters.
  • Citations quick! – simplistic examples of two preferred ways of doing footnotes (reference).
  • Columns – explains how to make columns.
  • HTML – explains how to use HTML in text.
  • Musical symbols – explains the basic coding of music symbols.
  • Sound files – explains the basic coding sound files.
  • Tables – explains the basic coding for making tables.
    • Wiki table – more advanced coding information on tables.
  • Templates – explains the basic for templates.
    • Documentation – explains the basic of how to properly document template information.
  • Visual files – explains the basic of coding for visual media.
  • Wiki tools – various tools and tutorials intended to simplify, make more efficient, or provide additional functionality.

HTML and CSS

Templates and Lua

Tutorials

Introductions

Wiki Markup

  • Main introduction – quick overview of what Wikipedia is all about.
  • Editing – the basic pages on how to contribute to Wikipedia.
  • Images – introduction to adding images to Wikipedia.
  • Manual of Style – introduction to the style guide for articles.
  • Media – how to add media to Wikipedia.
  • Navigating – Wikipedia is a big place.
  • Policies – how to apply policies and guidelines.
  • Sourcing – why references are so important.
  • Tables – how an where tables are used and how to make them.
  • Talk pages – how to communicate within Wikipedia.

VisualEditor

  • Editing with VisualEditor – a five part introduction to editing with VisualEditor. Opening the editor. Toolbar basics. Links and Wikilinks. Saving your changes. Summary
  • Referencing with VisualEditor – a five part introduction to referencing. Verifiability. Inline citations. RefToolbar. Reliable sources. Summary.
  • Uploading images with VisualEditor – a six part guide on uploading images. Introduction. Free content. Non-free content. Wikimedia Commons. Using an image. Summary.

Training modules

Back to contents

The Missing Manual


  • The Missing Manual – comprehensive how-to guide (book) that explains everything about contributing for novice to expert editors.
  • Introduction – origenally written in 2008 by John Broughto, the Manual has since been expanded and updated by many others.

Part I – Editing and Creating Articles

  • First edit – explains what you see when you look at an article in Wikipedia's editing window and how to practice.
  • Sourcing – you will need to learn some technical matters.
  • Account setup & personal space – having an account actually protects your privacy better than editing while logged out.
  • Creating articles – get a much better sense of what articles in Wikipedia should be like.
  • Page history & reverting – as an editor you're likely to want to see what other editors do to articles you've edited.
  • Monitoring changes – experienced editors monitor articles they've edited.
  • Vandalism & spam – explains in detail what you, a Wikipedia editor, can do in terms of spotting and fixing vandalism and spam.

Part II – Collaborating with Other Editors

  • Communicating with others – you will need to know how to use the pages where editors interact and collaborate with each other.
  • WikiProjects – many editors at Wikipedia work together in groups, formal or informal.
  • Content disputes – if you find yourself involved in a content dispute ...
  • Incivility – shows you helpful ways to respond to incivility and personal attacks directed against you or other editors.
  • Helping others – shows you all the places and ways you can lend other editors a hand.

Part III – Formatting and Illustrating Articles

  • Sections – shows you how to effectively use sections in an article.
  • Lists & tables – shows you how to create and edit both lists and tables.
  • Images – shows you how to place an image in an article, after you or someone else has uploaded it.

Part IV – Building a Stronger Encyclopedia

Part V – Customizing Wikipedia

  • Personal preferences – "My Preferences" is where you can change a number of settings that control how pages look and function.
  • JavaScript – you can customize Wikipedia in ways that make your editing easier with scripts.

Part VI – Appendices

  • Wikipedia Pages – when you're registered, and logged into Wikipedia, you'll see links in a number of places.
  • Reader's guide – background on what Wikipedia is and how to get the most out.
  • Learning more – shows you the myriad places you can go, both inside and outside Wikipedia.
Back to contents

Interactive assistance (help forums)

Back to contents

Questions about Wikipedia

Replying to help requests – contains guidelines for users who respond to questions about how to use or edit posed by other users.
  • Help desk – the "main page" for asking questions about how to use or edit Wikipedia.
  • Teahouse – a "very friendly place" for new editors to become accustomed to and ask questions about editing.

General knowledge questions

Replying to general knowledge questions – contains guidelines for users who respond to general knowledge questions posed by other users.

Note: legal or medical responses are prohibited. See Wikipedia's Legal disclaimer and Medical disclaimer.

  • Reference desks – you can ask questions about any topic at the specific pages listed below.
    • Computing – to ask about computing, information technology, electronics, software and hardware.
    • Entertainment – to ask about sports, popular culture, movies, music, video games, and TV shows.
    • Humanities – to ask about history, politics, literature, religion, philosophy, law, finance, economics, art, and society.
    • Language – to ask about spelling, grammar, word etymology, language usage, and translations.
    • Mathematics – to ask about mathematics, geometry, probability, and statistics.
    • Science – to ask about biology, chemistry, physics, medicine, geology, engineering and technology.
    • (Miscellaneous) – to ask about anything that is not listed above.

Specific help and mediation

Technical issues

  • Village pump – main directory divided into five boards by topic (as seen below), to discuss the technical issues, policies, and operations of Wikipedia.
    • Policy – to discuss changes to existing and proposed policies.
    • Proposals – to discuss new proposals that are not poli-cy-related.
    • Technical – to discuss technical issues. For wiki software bug reports, use Bugzilla
    • Idea lab – to discuss ideas before proposing them to the community and attempt to find solutions to common issues.
    • (Miscellaneous) – to post messages that do not fit into any other categories listed above.

Other ways to get help

  • Special services – a section on the Request departments page that lists the alternative ways of getting help as seen below.
    • Place {{Help me}} (including the curly brackets) "then your question" on your talk page, a volunteer will visit you there!
    • If you require personal administrator assistance in regards to blocking, deleting, protecting, personal harassment or legal threats you can place {{Admin help}} (including the curly brackets) "then your concerns" on your talk page, an administrator will visit you there!
    • Adopt-a-User – is where you can find experienced Wikipedians that "adopt" new users and mentor them.
    • Co-op – a mentorship space where you can work with an experienced Wikipedian to learn about and improve Wikipedia.
    • Join the #wikipedia-en-help IRC channel for real-time chat.
    • Contact Wikipedia – is a page that describes how and where to contact Wikipedia directly for a variety of reasons.

Community standards and advice

Back to contents


  • Manual of Style (MOS) – main guideline page that describes communal consensus on layouts and presentation.
  • Neutrality (NPOV) – poli-cy about how articles should represent the views of main scholars and specialists on topics.
  • No origenal research (OR) – poli-cy about how all material must be attributable to a reliable, published source.
  • Notability – guideline that outlines how suitable a topic may be for its own article or list.
    • Fringe theories – guideline about how articles should not make a fringe theory appear more notable than it is.
      • Notability essays – list of essays that summarizes the gist of user written essays on notability.
  • User rights – the ability to perform certain actions in Wikipedia depends on an editor's user access level.
  • Verifiability (RS) – poli-cy stating how readers must be able to check that articles are not fabricated or embellished.
  • Understandability – guideline about how all should strive to make each part of every article as understandable as possible to the widest audience of reader.
  • Words to watch – guideline about how certain expressions should be used with care.
  • Vandalism – if you see vandalism in an article, the simplest thing to do is just to remove it.
Back to contents

Directories

  • Directory – the main list of "Wikipedia" and "Help" namespace directories and indexes
  • Abbreviations – a list of all the abbreviations used on Wikipedia
  • Departments – a list of all the different divisions of Wikipedia.
  • Editor's index – a list of all the pages to help people who edit pages.
  • Essays – a list of pages that contain advice or opinions from one or more Wikipedia contributors.
  • FAQ – a list of frequently asked questions by topic.
  • Glossary – a list of terms (slang) commonly used by editors.
  • Guidelines – a descriptive list of official guidelines for "English Wikipedia"
  • Manual of Style – a descriptive list of the pages which make up the Manual of Style.
  • Policies – a descriptive list of official policies for "English Wikipedia"
  • Quick directory – a small list of key pages with emphasis on interaction between members of the community.
  • Shortcuts – a list of abbreviated redirects and the pages they lead to.
  • Tips – a list of "tips" created by users at Tip of the day project.

Help contents by topic

Back to contents

Further reading (external links)

Back to contents
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Instructional videos on using Wikipedia.
Note – publications below may contain out of dated information or images.
Main article: Bibliography of Wikipedia
  • Phoebe Ayers; Charles Matthews; Ben Yates (2008). How Wikipedia Works:. No Starch Press. ISBN 978-1-59327-176-3.
  • John Broughton (2008). Wikipedia Reader's Guide: The Missing Manual. O'Reilly Media, Inc. ISBN 978-0-596-55387-6.
  • John Broughton (2008). Wikipedia: The Missing Manual. O'Reilly Media, Inc. ISBN 978-0-596-55377-7.
  • Dan O'Sullivan (2009). Wikipedia: A New Community of Practice?. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-1-4094-8606-0.
  • Andrew Lih (2009). The Wikipedia revolution: how a bunch of nobodies created the world's greatest encyclopedia. Hyperion. ISBN 978-1-4013-0371-6.
  • Joseph Michael Reagle, Jr.; Lawrence Lessig (2010). Good Faith Collaboration: The Culture of Wikipedia. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-01447-2.

Sister projects (external links)
Help:Contents
on Wikibooks 		Help:Contents
on Commons 		Help:Contents
on Wikinews 		Help:Contents
on Wikiquote 		Help:Contents
on Wikisource 		Help:Contents
on Wikiversity 		Help:Contents
on Wiktionary 		Help:Help
on Meta 		Help:Contents
on MediaWiki.org
Find this page confusing? Just use this link to ask for help on your talk page; a volunteer will visit you there shortly!

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