Guide to Writing and Editing Wikipedia Pages Template for Word

Natfrenchie
4 min readJan 5, 2021

Editing work in Wikipedia is relatively easy. You have the choice between the visual editor, a word document or the code, or alternate between the two modes using the button found at the top right of the editing screen. You must be logged in to use the functions of the visual editor. Some users need to activate the visual editor, which is done by clicking on Preferences / Edit / Edit mode.

To edit an already existing Wikipedia page, simply click on edit and make the changes.

Note: It is strongly recommended to view the changes before saving them.

Once you’ve done and revised your editing work, save it and then launch it online. But just before, don’t forget to indicate the type of editing you made in the appropriate field (adding content, images, spelling corrections, etc.) and the extent of your change. This helps other contributors and bots understand the reasons for your change.

If you want to create a new page wikipedia page (note: you can only do this if there is not already another page on the topic), the first step is to check if there is not already a draft page on the subject. You can do this by typing the subject in the search bar and then performing an advanced search in the draft pages.

Wikipedia maintains a page with instructions and helpful tips for creating your first article. Note that in order to create real articles (and not draft pages), your account must have existed for at least four days and you must have more than ten contributions to your credit. It is advisable to do several drafts of your article to have a good grasp of your subject and the editing tools available to you in the Sandbox (a space that allows you to familiarize yourself with the Wikipedia editing process). When you are ready to publish your article, you can also Hire Wikipedia Writing services to find How to Create an Article.

Avoid conflicts of interest in publishing

Contributors are responsible for ensuring that their texts do not constitute a conflict of interest.

As Wikipedia puts it: “In the context of Wikipedia, a conflict of interest means contributing to the encyclopedia in order to promote one’s own interests or those of other people, companies or organizations. “

If you would like a page to be created about a person or organization that puts you in a conflict of interest, you should request that this page be written by a neutral third party.

For more information on how to request the creation of a page, see the Wikipedia section: Articles to create. It is a collection of red hyperlinks concerning people or organizations that do not yet have their page. Once a page is created, the hyperlink turns blue. In addition to this list, you can take a look at projects like Women in Red and the Black Lunch Table for other red hyperlinks.

Follow Wikipedia’s content guidelines

Everything that appears on Wikipedia must contain links to multiple verifiable sources, that is, “reliable sources”. Wikipedia articles should be based on reliable published sources known for their fact-checking and the accuracy of their information.

Examples of such sources include academic publications, publications from respected publishing houses, magazines and newspapers.

Wikipedia does not publish original research and all articles should include links to external citations. In addition, Wikipedia must present a neutral point of view. Before writing an article about someone, especially someone who is still alive, it is important to familiarize yourself with Wikipedia’s guidelines for notoriety.

Wikipedia receives a lot of criticism relating to the principles and guidelines mentioned above. For example, the definition of what a verifiable source is may vary from person to person. Moreover, Wikipedia’s policy on verifiable sources further amplifies the genre bias that is already reaching this platform.

In conclusion…

I hope this information helps you tackle Wikipedia happily. I know that’s a lot of technical information to digest all at once. But I promise you, Wikipedia is fun! Plus, I’ve saved the best for last. You can’t break Wikipedia. If contributing and editing is a serious act — you can literally fill the gaps in history in this Wikipedia adventure! — no contributions are final. This means that if by accident you delete something, or add the wrong link, you or someone else can always come back and fix the error. So, we must not be afraid of making a mistake

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Natfrenchie

Natalie is a book editor who helps authors get their books out of their heads and into print. A former publishing house editor-in-chief