Help:Contents
To start, click on what you need assistance with below, or search all the help pages using the search box to the right. You may also browse the Help menu or the Help directory.
Read or find an article
The Readers' FAQ and our about page contain the most commonly sought information about Wikipedia.
For simple searches, there is a search box at the top of every page. Type what you are looking for in the box. Partial matches will appear in a dropdown list. Select any page in the list to go to that page. Or, select the magnifying glass "Go" button, or press ↵ Enter, to go to a full search result. For advanced searches, see Help:Searching.
There are other ways to browse and explore Wikipedia articles; many can be found at Portal:Contents. Also see our disclaimer for cautions about Wikipedia's limitations.
Edit an article
Contributing is easy: see how to edit a page. For a quick summary on participating, see contributing to Wikipedia. For a listing of introductions and tutorials by topic, see getting started. Or play the Wikipedia Adventure to learn to edit in an hour. The Cheatsheet can remind you of basic wiki markup.
Be bold in improving articles! When adding facts, please provide references so others may verify them. If you are affiliated with the article subject, please see our conflict of interest guideline.
If you feel someone is bullying you or if you don't understand why your edits are being reverted, you can ask for help at the Help desk or at the Teahouse. Volunteers will respond as soon as possible.
If you're looking for places you can help out, the community portal is the place to go. You can practice editing and experiment in a sandbox.
Report a problem with an article
If there is a problem with an article about yourself, a family member, a friend or a colleague, please read Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons/Help and, if necessary, add a discussion to the biographies of living persons noticeboard.
If you spot a problem with an article, you can fix it directly, by clicking on the "Edit" link at the beginning of that page. See the "edit an article" section of this page for more information.
If you don't feel ready to fix the article yourself, please post a message on the article's talk page. This will bring the matter to the attention of others who work on that article. There is a "Talk" link at the beginning of every article page.
Alternatively you can contact us. If it's an article about you or your organization, see Contact us – Subjects.
Create a new article or upload media
Check Your first article to see if your topic is appropriate, then the Article wizard will walk you through creating the article.
Once you have created an article, see Writing better articles for guidance on how to improve it and what to include (like reference citations).
For contributing images, audio or video files, see the Introduction to uploading images. Then the Upload wizard will guide you through that process.
Factual questions
If searching Wikipedia has not answered your question (for example, questions like "Which country has the world's largest fishing fleet?"), try the Reference Desk. Volunteers there will attempt to answer your questions on any topic, or point you towards the information you need.
Stuck?
For your convenience, answers have been recorded for the most frequently asked questions.
You can find also where to ask questions or make comments.
You can ask questions about using Wikipedia at the Help desk or at the Teahouse. Volunteers will respond as soon as possible.
Or and a volunteer will visit you there!
You can get live help with editing in the help chatroom.
For help with technical issues, ask at Village pump (technical)
Directories
- Directory: main list of directories and indexes.
- Help directory: for informative, instructional and consultation pages.
- Request directory: for services and assistance that can be requested on Wikipedia.
- Tips library: where you can digest how to use Wikipedia in bite-sized morsels.
Protocols and conventions
- Policy directory: official policies for "English Wikipedia"
- Guideline directory: official guidelines for "English Wikipedia"
- Manual of Style directory: pages related to the style manual of Wikipedia articles.
- Departments: for the different divisions of Wikipedia.
- Editor's index: for everything an editor needs to know to work on Wikipedia.
- Essay directory: for Wikipedia namespace essays.
- Dashboard: for current discussions taking place throughout Wikipedia.
- WikiProjects: for people who want to work together as a team to improve Wikipedia.
MediaWiki software
- Wiki markup: for the syntax used by Wikipedia to format a page.
- HTML: for HTML5 elements, or tags and their attribute.
- Templates: for templates used within Wikipedia.
Help by topic
- Help Menu: for searching by subject matter.
- Navigating Wikipedia: for searching and browsing the encyclopedia.
- Joining Wikipedia: how to get involved.
- Editing Wikipedia: has general help for editors.
- Links and references: has help for creating links, or dealing with references
- Images and media: how to use images, videos and sound files
- Keeping track of changes: how to track the evolution of a page, or follow a user.
- Policies and guidelines: for community standards.
- Asking questions: volunteers will attempt to answer.
- The Wikipedia community: how to submit or debate a proposal.
- Resources and lists: has resources for editors.
- Account settings: has tips and tools for registered users.
- Technical information: has tools for advanced users, and troubleshooting.
- Site map: is the above twelve pages on a single page.
Tip of the day
It is good Wikiquette to sign your messages on talk pages. This is done by typing ~~~~ (four tildes). Do not sign article pages.
Some users have fancy signatures with lots of colors and links. Here are 3 different ways to do that:
- Edit directly in the signature box
- Go to your Preferences and type some wiki-markup code (and/or HTML markup code) into the signature box to augment your stock signature
- Check the box that says "Treat the above as Wiki markup"
- Press the "Save" button. Or...
- Use an HTML editor
- Open an HTML editor (e.g. Adobe Dreamweaver or Microsoft Expression Web)
- Design how you want your signature to look, putting links in it by adding brackets [[ ]]
- Select it and click the HTML tab and copy the code of your text into the signature box mentioned above.
- Be sure not to copy the tags at the beginning and end of the code that say <p> </p>. Or...
- Adapt someone else's signature
- Find a signature you like
- Click edit this page
- Copy and paste the signature into your signature box (see #1 above), but change all the links to your links: you do not want your signature leading to someone else's user page!
Do not use images, templates, or external links in your signature. Please ensure your custom signature complies with the relevant guideline. Use special code for displayed pipe character.
