Help:Contents
This page provides help with the most common questions about Wikipedia.
You can also search all Wikipedia's help pages using the search box below, or 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 Wikipedia: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, and for a friendly tutorial, see our introduction. For a listing of introductions and tutorials by topic, see getting started. The Simplified Manual of Style and 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.
The simple guide to vandalism cleanup can help you undo malicious edits.
If you're looking for places you can help out, the Task Center is the place to go, or check out what else is happening at the community portal. 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 Biographies of living persons/Help.
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.
Stuck?
Answers to common problems can be found at frequently asked questions.
Or check out where to ask questions or make comments.
New users having problems editing Wikipedia should ask at the Teahouse. More complex questions can be posed at the Help desk. Volunteers will respond as soon as they're able.
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 the Village pump.
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.
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.
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
What are portals? "Doorways to knowledge." Wikipedia's coverage of subjects can be extensive (mathematics, for example, is covered by tens of thousands of articles on Wikipedia). Portals each provide an alternative entry to a subject (besides its main article), and to that subject's coverage in the encyclopedia, in a way similar to how the Main Page provides sample fair from Wikipedia as a whole.
To do so, portals present various features, which may include Selected article sections, Selected image sections, news, points of interest (Did you know?, Anniversaries), and links to related Wikimedia. Portals are more diverse than the Main page, and may include features that it does not, such as panoramic banners, slide shows, category trees, topics lists, and whatever else portal designers can come up with.
A secondary purpose of portals is to provide bridges between reading and editing, and between the encyclopedia and the Wikipedia community. They may provide links to the related WikiProjects, Wikipedia's Reference desk, and so on.
Portals are a hybrid between encyclopedia pages and project pages, and occupy their own special namespace, the Portal namespace. Therefore, all portal titles are preceded by the prefix "Portal:"
The list of all completed portals is Portal:Contents/Portals. A list of all portals, including those under construction, can be found at Category:All portals.
The Portals WikiProject is dedicated to collaboratively building and maintaining portals, and further expanding on the Portal concept, such as with automated features, and is always looking for new participants.
| About Wikipedia | |
|---|---|
| Readers' FAQ | |
| Contributing to Wikipedia | |
| Protocols and conventions | |
| Getting assistance | |
| Wikipedia community | |
| Sourcing and referencing | |
| Information | |
| How-to | |
| Wiki markup | |
| Directories | |
| |
