Wikipedia:Tips

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Tips on using and contributing to Wikipedia

Welcome! 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). Wikipedia also has an introduction for aspiring contributors that provides information and resources on the basics needed to comprehend, comment on, and edit Wikipedia. For other useful directories, see the navigation bar above. Tip of the day... Permission Requests Many editors often wonder how to request permission to use an image they found somewhere, or a section of text from another source. Try using one of the permission request templates created specifically for this purpose so that you don't have to fuss with all the details. Read more: Wikipedia:Example requests for permission   Prior tip - Next tip To add this auto-updating template to your user page, use {{Tip of the day}}. Become a Wikipedia tipster - Tips library, by subject Tips about Wikipedia as a whole How popular is Wikipedia? Don't believe everything you read How reliable is Wikipedia? What the world knows about us How does Wikipedia stack up? Advice for parents Wikipedia etiquette = Wikiquette Copyrights? Copyleft Welcome to Wikipedia! "Where do I begin?" Help Wikipedia help you The Wikipedia Adventure! Tips on accessing Wikipedia pages Explore Wikipedia's contents Wikipedia for your mobile... Browsing Mobile Wikipedia on your big screen Editing articles for web accessibility Finding your way around Wikipedia and beyond To see everything on Wikipedia about a subject area... The Wikipedia Curriculum Wikipedia has 22 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 When to use subpages Wiki-exploration: beyond Wikipedia... Wikimedia links and shortcuts Linking to non-Wikimedia wikis Can't find what you are looking for? Tips on searching Wikipedia industrial-powered search Highlight text on any website, then search Wikipedia for it with a single click Power search Wikipedia using AutoWikiBrowser Searching Wikipedia with regular expressions (regex) Search Wikipedia from any website Searching Wikipedia from any website Title searches Using Wikipedia's search box: Jump to the search box ⇧ Shift+Alt+F To search a specific namespace, include the prefix in searches Searching Wikipedia with Google: How to search Wikipedia with Google How to provide a Google search in a link Wikipedia-specific searching with Google When and how to exclude Wikipedia from your Google search Another way to search Wikipedia with Google 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. Wikipedia toolbar for Firefox Getting help A comprehensive index for editors Are you looking for help? Where to look for help Go to the right desk Ask for help at Wikipedia's Help Desk Stop by the Reference Desk Come visit the Teahouse Visit the Village Pump for technical issues Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Ask intelligent questions Keep track of your questions Do you need administrator assistance? Where to post requests Please return the favor Tips for contributors on getting started Create a user account Why create an account? The five pillars A plain & simple introduction A self-guided tutorial Please read department instructions Where to begin? Use the Article Wizard to easily create new articles Avoiding common mistakes How to improve Wikipedia's reliability Speed up your learning curve... Are you lost? Now what? (Are you lost, and do not know what to do?) Article development Article quality assessments Accuracy, quality and peer review Good article nominations Featured article candidates Please sign your name on talk pages How to customize your signature Custom signatures Advanced signatures How to move/rename a page How to add hidden editor notes in an article Watching for changes How to look at the changes to an article How to review user contributions Page history Where to write about current events What can be included in Wikipedia? Freedom of speech and profanity Tips on working with articles Be neutral, like Wikipedia Be neutral when editing Wikipedia Look before you leap What writing style to use No copies of primary sources Not everything that's true is verifiable Avoid trademarks Avoid using neologisms Preventing markup glitches How to start a new article How to create a new page Find articles for cleanup Basic copyediting 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 Table of contents The lead section Lead section size Cite your sources Where did that fact come from?! Don't use forums or emails as sources Forums and emails are not acceptable sources If you have privileged access to web pages... Citation Requests Acronyms and initialisms S.W.A.T., T.I.M, & the U.S.D.A Link to Wiktionary word definitions using Wikt: Pretty tables Using Math Footnotes Please fill-in edit summaries Please summarize your work using the Edit summary box Abbreviating edit summaries Automatic edit summary reminder Spell Checkers Fix double redirects Collaborations Tips on editing Check your work before you save, using Preview Undoing edits Search and replace while editing an article Dates in Wikipedia articles Section editing Section edit button How to enable right-click section editing Double click editing Edit Wikipedia faster with AutoWikiBrowser Power-editing with AutoWikiBrowser Search & replace in thousands of articles with AWB A better wiki editor: WikEd Counting your edits Getting your edit count Editcountitis Test-drive your edits using a sandbox Tips on creating and editing links How to make links to articles How to create a link to another article Linking articles: the internal link When not to use links Linking to a section of an article How to link to a section of an article Using Special:MyPage to make private links External links When to use external links Placing "External links" sections How to link to a category How to link to a category without categorizing the page Link tricks Short link pipe trick Interwiki links and shortcuts Create links faster Create links faster with link tricks Time-saving links: the "pipe trick" Time-saving links II How to make links look the way you want My link disappeared! How to use red links Google search link How to provide a link to a specific Google Search Sister projects & interwiki linking How to link to word definitions Wikimedia links and shortcuts Placing interlanguage links Link articles to their foreign-language counterparts Linking to non-Wikimedia wikis Category tips Category tips How to add an article to a category Placing category tags Sorting entries in the categories Find uncategorized articles How to create a category How to create a subcategory How to plant a CategoryTree! Find stubs and expand them Tips on working with specific types of pages Portals Working on the Main Page Featured content Another way to read or share Wikipedia: Books World of fiction Beware of instruction creep Redirects Redirect synonymous topic names Fansites, Forums, & other Webpage Articles Band articles List tips General topics lists The topic list Why have lists when there are categories? List building Alphabetical list of articles Disambiguation page tips Same titles, different meanings Formatting disambiguation pages Tips on working with images Image processing tools How to find legal photographs and graphics Permission Requests Where to upload images and media files Uploading Free Images Tag your image uploads Cite the source on all image uploads Where on the page to put images How to insert a picture into an article How to add a picture to an article Captions Brilliant pictures Boilerplate/template tips How to create reusable boilerplates What are templates used for? Using templates Placing templates Displaying one page within another = Transclusion How to transclude a page into the page you are editing Transclusion caveat Transclusion vs. Substitution Pick from a list of template parameter choices User page tips Your user page Displaying Tip of the day on your user page How to display the tip of the day on your user page Motto of the day... Your very own Wikipedia bookmark page User Sub Pages Userboxes Other ways to contribute Help reduce the Wikipedia backlog Wikipedia:Today's articles for improvement Join a WikiProject Welcoming Committee Wikipedia needs pictures. How you can help... How to help prepare the Main page Giving editor awards Becoming an Administrator Help test the MediaWiki software Running MediaWiki on your own computer When is a Wikipedia project a WikiProject? Spoken Wikipedia Digital audio editors Communicating with other editors Be forgiving to new users Love thy neighbor Talking to Wikipedians What did he say? (Wikijargon) Explaining Wiki markup to other users How to send a message to other editors How to fix unsigned comments Strikeout button Screenshots Posting on the Wikipedia Community Bulletin Board How to catch admin attention fast Try to see it my way! The fastest way to end a conflict: walk away Report problems on noticeboards In conflicts, reach consensus Mediation Centralizing project discussion Wikimedia-wide issues Wikimedia has mailing lists Watchdogging (monitoring) Wikipedia Preview tomorrow's featured article Use your watchlist How to make your watchlist easier to read How to watch for pages that don't exist yet How to enhance Recent changes Join the Recent Changes Patrol! Join the fight against vandalism WikiDefcon (Vandalism level indicator) Intruder alert! Intruder alert! (Vandalism-level warning) Configuring and customizing your account How to change your username Reserve your username on the sister projects, before it gets taken Customize appearance of dates Setting Wikipedia time to your time zone Super-customize your account with gadgets Troubleshooting Wikipedia's look and feel with skins How to adjust the height of your edit window How to enable right-click section editing How to enhance Recent changes Upgrade Recent Changes in my preferences User scripts User scripts User scripts examples Prove it with ProveIt Install your first javascript Tips on working faster Supercharge your browser Automating tasks on Wikipedia Automatic page loader Archives for lengthy pages Search box bookmarklet for your browser Wikipedia search box focus Are your hands full? (Use search box as a small but convenient clipboard) Making the editbox more visually pleasing Change text size easily when reading a page Change text size quickly (with Ctrl-mouse wheel) Toolbar links to access the WP pages you use the most Shortcuts Shortcuts Navigate fast using shortcuts Navigate faster using Wikipedia shortcuts Use Wikipedia shortcuts to navigate faster Work faster with keyboard shortcuts Keyboard shortcuts Navigation Use your browser's toolbar to navigate Wikipedia Your customizable Wikipedia navigation hub Navigation popups Power tool: Navigation Popups Become clairvoyant with Navigation Popups How to skip scrolling and clicking How to make redirects turn green so you can see them MetaTips Wikipedia's dozen most essential tips Wikipedia's ten 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! Note: this section is currently empty.

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Tip of the moment... How to create reusable boilerplates Pages intended to be reused as portions of other pages are called templates. The names of template pages start with the prefix Template:. A template can be included on another page using the syntax {{Page name}}, but do not include the prefix between the curly brackets!. On Wikipedia, templates are created to serve a variety of purposes, such as navigation boxes (e.g. Template:Europe), infoboxes, and notices (e.g. Template:Controversial). Read more: Wikipedia:Template   Prior tip - Next tip To add this template to your user page, use {{Totd-random}}. Become a Wikipedia tipster - Tips library, by subject

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