Introduction to English-language Wikipedia
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 afree online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, andmillions already have.
Wikipedia's purpose is to benefit readers by presenting information on all branches ofknowledge. Hosted by theWikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia consists offreely editable content, with articles that usually contain numerous links guiding readers to more information.
Written collaboratively by volunteers known asWikipedians, Wikipedia articles can be edited by anyone withInternet access, except inlimited cases in whichediting is restricted to preventdisruption orvandalism. Since its creation onJanuary 15, 2001, it has grown into the world'slargest referencewebsite, attractingover a billion visitors each month. Wikipedia currently has more thansixty-five million articles inmore than 300 languages, including 7,080,087 articles inEnglish, with 114,046 active contributors in the past month.
Wikipedia's fundamental principles are summarized in itsfive pillars. While theWikipedia community has developed manypolicies and guidelines, new editors do not need to be familiar with them before they start contributing.
Anyone canedit Wikipedia's text, data, references, and images. The quality of content is more important than the expertise of who contributes it. Wikipedia's content must conform with itspolicies, including beingverifiable by publishedreliable sources. Contributions based onpersonal opinions, beliefs, or personal experiences,unreviewed research, libellous material, andcopyright violations are not allowed, and will not remain. Wikipedia's software makes it easy to reverse errors, and experiencededitorswatch andpatrol bad edits.
Wikipedia differs from printed references in important ways. Anyone can instantly improve it, add quality information, remove misinformation, and fix errors andvandalism. Since Wikipedia is continually updated, encyclopedic articles on major news events appear within minutes.
For over 24 years, editors have volunteered their time and talents to create history's most comprehensive encyclopedia while providing references and other resources to researchers worldwide (seeResearching with Wikipedia). In summary, Wikipedia has tested thewisdom of the crowd since 2001 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.
