So how does Wikipedia ACTUALLY work?

We all use Wikipedia, the great and free encyclopedia that everyone on the internet can contribute to. But how does Wikipedia support this massive collaborative effort? What system does it utilize to prevent mass abuse which inevitably comes with the chaos and anonymity the internet offers. This article will answer this question.

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Components

Before I jump into the technical details, let’s explore the Wikipedia articles themselves and what they are comprised of.

1. Content — The actual content of the article. This is what you immediately see when opening a Wikipedia link.
2. Talk page — Each article has an associated talk page where changes can be discussed and proposals made.
3. History — Every edit and edit rollback made to an article is recorded on the article’s “history” page. With this, you can easily track how the article evolved, who made a particular change, and when.
4. Citations — Most information added is cited and this citation is added to the bottom of the article. It is marked as “citation needed” if this is not the case.

Every Wikipedia article will contain these components. However, there are still critical differences between articles depending on the type of article, which I will cover later. Before doing so, let’s look at the types of Wikipedia users and the permissions associated with the types.

Users

1. Unregistered users — This is what you are when you first visit Wikipedia but haven’t created an account. Unregistered users can edit “unprotected articles”, but not create new articles. Their IP is recorded along with their changes in the “history”.
2. Registered users — When users create an account they get the ability to create articles, rename pages, and upload files. Their edits are linked to their usernames, not IP addresses.
3. Autoconfirmed Users — Registered users automatically get this status after a certain number of days (usually 4) and a certain number of edits (usually 10). They can edit semi-protected pages.
4. Extendedconfirmed Users — A status that allows users to edit pages under “extended protection.” This usually requires an account to be at least 30 days old and have made 500 edits.
5. Admins — Can edit page type, delete pages, restore pages, and edit fully protected pages. Becoming an admin requires community consensus.
6. Bureaucrats — Admins that can grant and revoke admin status. These are the most important users. They lie at the pinnacle of Wikipedia.

That’s basically it! The concept of users is super important to how Wikipedia works, so feel free to reread the descriptions to fully understand the privileges you gain as you move up levels.

You must have also noticed by now that there are different types of articles as well, and probably have an idea of what they are. Let’s look at these in greater detail.

Articles

1. Unprotected — Anyone can edit these articles.
2. Semi-protected — Only autoconfirmed and extendedconfirmed users can edit these.
3. Pending changes protection — Edits by unregistered users have to be confirmed by autoconfirmed (or higher privilege) users.
4. Extended confirmed protection — Only extendedconfirmed users can edit these.
5. Fully protected — Only admins can edit these.
6. Create protection — Restrictions on who can create a page. Usually put on previously deleted pages to prevent their revival.

Usually, more popular and “disruptive” articles will have higher levels of protection. There is a lot of leeway left to admins on what protection levels to set, but of course Wikipedia has their own guidelines as well as to help, generally opting for less protection than not due to the “open” philosophy of Wikipedia. Often higher protection levels are temporary.

So how does Wikipedia decide which “version” of the page to show? Well, it follow the “Latest Revision Principle”.

When an edit is made and saved, that is the new version of the page that is shown to users.

This may seem unsafe, but keep in mind that Wikipedia has a lot of robust mechanisms for dealing with malicious users, and a very active community that enforces these mechanisms. Of course, there are also protection levels which greatly increase the “safety” of articles. “Pending changes protection” for instance is often employed on articles, and this prevents completely random people from writing nonsense. Admins are also very watchful of malicious changes and will IP ban instigators.

And that’s it! … Well not really. This more or less covers the collaborative system behind Wikipedia, but a lot of the more “functional” features aren’t discussed. Things like templates, how text is rendered, editing tools, etc… I did not cover here as I believe these to be unrelated to the “core” system behind Wikipedia.