About Wikipedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Introduction to English-language Wikipedia Shortcuts WP:ABTWP:ABT WP:ABOUTWP:ABOUT WP:WIKIPEDIAWP:WIKIPEDIA This is a general introduction for visitors to Wikipedia. For aspiring contributors, also see this guide and tutorial. For other uses, see Wikipedia:Wikipedia (disambiguation). "Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing." — Jimmy Wales Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and millions already have. Wikipedia's purpose is to present information on all branches of knowledge. It consists of freely editable content, with articles that contain numerous links guiding readers to more information. Wikipedia is one of many Wikimedia projects hosted by the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation. Wikipedia is written by human volunteers known as Wikipedians who collaborate with almost no assistance from artificial intelligence. Wikipedia articles can be edited by anyone with Internet access, except in limited cases in which editing is restricted to prevent disruption or vandalism. Since its creation on January 15, 2001, it has grown into the world's largest reference website, attracting over a billion visitors each month. Wikipedia is a multilingual project, with more than sixty-eight million articles in more than 300 separate wikis for almost as many languages. This includes 7,239,024 articles in English, with 260,572 active contributors in the past month. A short video explaining how Wikipedia works Wikipedia's fundamental principles are summarized in its five pillars. While the Wikipedia community has developed many policies and guidelines, new editors do not need to be familiar with them before they start contributing. The quality of content is more important than the expertise of who contributes it. Wikipedia's content must conform with its policies, including being verifiable by published reliable sources. Contributions based on personal opinions, beliefs, or personal experiences, unreviewed research, libellous material, and copyright violations are not allowed and will not remain. Wikipedia's software makes it easy to reverse errors, and experienced editors watch and patrol bad edits. Wikipedia differs from printed references in important ways. Anyone can instantly improve it, add quality information, remove misinformation, and fix errors and vandalism. Since Wikipedia is continually updated, encyclopedic articles on major news events appear within minutes. For over 25 years, Wikipedians have volunteered their time and talents to create history's most comprehensive encyclopedia while providing references and other resources to researchers worldwide (see Researching with Wikipedia). In summary, since 2001 Wikipedia has tested the wisdom of the crowd and has found that it succeeds. To start editing, simply click the Edit or Edit source button, or the pencil icon, at the top of any non-protected Wikipedia page or section. v t e Basic information on Wikipedia - (Search) Help directory menu Teahouse (interactive help for new editors) About Wikipedia Administration FAQs Purpose Who writes Wikipedia? Organization Censorship In brief General disclaimer Readers' FAQ Student help Navigation Searching Viewing media Help Mobile access Parental advice Other languages Researching with Wikipedia Citing Wikipedia Copyright Introductionsto contributing Main introduction List of tutorials and introductions The answer Dos and don'ts Learning the ropes Common mistakes Newcomer primer Newcomer onboarding Simplified ruleset The "Missing Manual" Your first article Wizard Young Wikipedians The Wikipedia Adventure Accounts Why create an account? Logging in Email confirmation Editing Toolbar Conflict VisualEditor User guide Pillars, policies and guidelines Five pillars Manual of Style Simplified Etiquette Expectations Oversight Principles Ignore all rules The rules are principles Core content policies Policies and guidelines Vandalism Appealing blocks What Wikipedia is not Getting help Help menu Help desk Reference desk Category Requests for help Disputes resolution requests IRC live chat Tutorial Contact us Wikipedia community Departments Meetups WikiProjects Overview FAQ Village pump policy technical proposals idea lab wikimedia misc Newsletters: Signpost Library Newsletter GLAM Newsletter Informational: Community portal Dashboard Noticeboards Maintenance Task Center Essays Open letters Sourcing and referencing Research Wikipedia Library Request Resources Free resources Request access to major databases WikiProject Resource Exchange Shared resources Guidelines Finding sources Combining sources Referencing Citations Citation Style 1 Citation templates Footnotes Page numbers Cite errors How-to guides Category Tools Infoboxes Writing articles Development Better writing Files Images Media files Uploading Deletion User contribution pages Editing pages Diffs Namespaces Deletion Merging Renaming Requests Redirecting Reverting Vandalism cleanup Talk pages Archiving Wiki markup Wiki markup Cheatsheet Columns HTML Lists Magic words For beginners Sections Sounds Special Characters Tables Templates Documentation Index Substitution Transclusion Image and video markup Tutorial Linking Directories and glossaries Category Abbreviations AI Contents Edit summaries Essays Glossary Index Shortcuts Tips Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:About&oldid=1368707172" Category: Wikipedia basic information Hidden categories: Wikipedia semi-protected project pages Wikipedia move-protected project pages Articles containing video clips Search Search