It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not beenthoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.
The easiest way to avoid making common mistakes is to know what they are. Some of the most common recurring errors in Wikipedia articles have been documented below for your convenience.
However, not all errors are covered here. Keep in mind that newcomers to Wikipedia may find that it is easy to commit afaux pas. Don't worry about that. Remember, Wikipedia is unbreakable (every edit is recorded and retrievable). Also, even though there are many protocols,perfection is not required, asWikipedia is a work in progress. You are encouraged tobe bold and start editing.
Articles from personal knowledge. You may know about a topic from personal experience, but Wikipedia is only for information supported byreliable,independent sources that readers canverify. It works well tofirst compile a set of reliable, independent sources, preferablysecondary sources that cover the topic in detail. Then organize and write the informationin your own words using only what those the sources canverify, andcite those verifying sources as you write. Having those sources will also demonstrate the topic'snotability.
Autobiographical articles. One of the most common mistakes for newcomers is creating an encyclopedia article about themselves (or a friend or relative). Because Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, it is not expected to have a biographical article about every person who contributes, or indeed, most people. The simple fact is that the vast majority of people are notnotable, as we define that word here, and even if a subject is notable,you should not be writing articles aboutyourself or people with whom you have a close connection. Youruser page, however, is a perfect place to write a bit about yourself, especially as it relates to Wikipedia editing – your work and aspirations as a Wikipedian, to-do lists, useful policy/guideline links and the like. While you may write some unrelated content, you should avoid substantial content on your user page that is unrelated to Wikipedia. To access your user page, just click on your user name at the top of the screen after you havelogged in.
Company articles. It is often better not to write an article about the company you own or work for. First, you may have problems maintaining aneutral point of view, and second, your article may be quickly deleted. If your company isnotable enough, someone else will write an article about it. (SeeWikipedia:Business FAQ andWikipedia:Conflict of interest.)
Dictionary-type entries.Wikipedia is not a dictionary; each article should aim to cover its topic beyond a simple definition and teach something about greater context. Pure dictionary definitions belong in our sister project,Wiktionary.
Redundant articles. Before creating a new article, run asearch for the topic; you may find a related one that already exists. Consider adding to existing articles before creating an entirely new one. In searching keywords, remember that article titles are usually singular, e.g. "Tree", not "Trees". You cansearch Wikipedia using Google or another externalsearch engine for the name of your topic and related terms; articles may be missed by a Wikipedia search but caught by an external search engine, especially if the terms you choose are not present in the article title. The spelling suggestion feature offered by many search engines also helps significantly. Redundant articles often result from when a user discovers a red link; seeWikipedia:WikiProject Red Link Recovery for more details. An article for a red link may have been deleted; useSpecial:Log/delete and search for deletions to find out if an article was deleted, and if so – when and why. On the other hand, Categories, lists, and navboxes that contain the same elements aretypically allowed.
Articles that are too short to have encyclopedic value. Articles must establish the context andnotability of the subject. If an article does not contain enough content to clearly explain what the article is about, then it may qualify forspeedy deletion. Instead of creating a very short article, consider adding more content to your initial creation before saving it, using the{{inuse}} tag to indicate that the article is in the process of expansion, or add content to a parent article instead.
Deleting useful content. Some content may belong somewhere in Wikipedia despite being poorly written or in the wrong place. Consider what a sentence or paragraph tries to say. If you can, clarify it instead of throwing it away. If the wayward material seems mis-categorized or out of place but still useful in some other context, consider either moving it to another page where itdoes belong, creating a new page where it would be warranted, ormoving it to the article'stalk page (which can be accessed by clicking theTalk tab) for discussion. Consider trying to find a reliable source for unreferenced content.
Deleting useless content can be just as helpful as adding useful information. Cutting superfluous content is at the heart of good, focused writing. You may find material on Wikipedia that does not belong here for various reasons. For example: Puretrivia is not encyclopedic content; material may beunduly weighted, not germane, orexcessively detailed for the article's topic; statements might not be supportable by areliable source; content might be just plain wrong, nonsensical, or the product ofvandalism. If you find unhelpful content,be bold in removing it, butpolitely explain your reasons in theedit summary.
Deleting without explanation. Deleting anything that isn't trivial requires some justification, or else other users who care about the article's development will be caught unaware and may think you're being intentionally sneaky. It is best to put a few words in theedit summary, or else you can simply write "See talk:" in the edit summary boxand explain the problem on thetalk page. Becivil, knowing that the authors may have worked hard and ingood faith to create it.
Deleting biased content. Biased content can be useful content (see above).Remove the bias and keep the content.
Deleting or removing text from any Talk page without archiving it, except in your userspace. Talk pages or any discussion pages are part of the historical record in Wikipedia. Every time the pages are cleaned up, don't forget to store the removed text in its corresponding archive ([[/Archive]]) page. (SeeHow to archive a talk page.)
Deleting named references. If text containing anamed reference is deleted along with its definition, care should be taken to ensure no "widows" are created, i.e., other occurrences of the deleted reference elsewhere in the article that now have no definition; this results in acite error. Either all appearances of the reference should be removed, or the definition should be moved to one of the remaining instances. The article should be checked after editing to ensure that no cite error has been created.
Deleting list-defined references. Similarly, if text containing alist-defined reference is removed, which only has one occurrence in the main article content, the definition should also be removed otherwise a cite error will be created; again, the article should be checked for cite errors after editing.
Poorly structured lead sections. The lead should establish context, summarize the most important points, explain why the subject is interesting or notable, and briefly describe its notable controversies, if there are any. It should not "tease" the reader by hinting at but not explaining important facts that will appear later in the article. (SeeWikipedia:Lead section.)
Self-references. Referring to the Wikipedia project is entirely acceptable on talk pages or in theWikipedia namespace but is inappropriate in articles. The reason for this rule is that according to Wikipedia's licensing guidelines, other projects and users are allowed to reuse Wikipedia content (subject to various conditions) on other projects; accordingly, if articles in Wikipedia make statements such as "This article is part of a series of Wikipedia articles on topic X...", this statement will seem strange to a person who is reading the article when it is housed in another project. (SeeWikipedia:Self-references to avoid.)
Other Wikipedia articles used as a reference. Wikipedia articles need references toreliable sources, andarticles themselves are not reliable sources. One Wikipedia article cannot be used as a source for another Wikipedia article, in most cases (there are a very small number of exceptions, such as cases where an article on Wikipedia isabout Wikipedia or Wikipedia policies). Instead, Wikipedia articles should use published sources as references, such as books, newspapers and magazines.
External links in the text. Relevant external links should be added to a links section at the foot of the article. If the link is a reference to areliable source, then you shoulduse reference tags to create an inline citation. (SeeWikipedia:External links.)
Signatures in articles. The need to associate edits with users is taken care of by an article'sedit history. Therefore, you should use your signature only when contributing totalk pages, theVillage Pump, or other such discussion pages. (SeeWikipedia:Signatures.)
Criticizing instead of editing. Articles have nosingle author and no single overarching plan. Offering a suggestion or criticism on theTalk page can be helpful, but if a page is notprotected, it is often faster to just give the article what you think it needs.
Failing tobe bold. Yes, you might mess things up a little. But someone else will probably clean up after you. Really, go ahead and change it.
Over-capitalizing titles. For instance, the second word in the title "French grammar" is in lowercase. That is Wikipediahouse style.
Getting annoyed because you find some bad articles. Wikipedia is, and always will be, a work in progress; please tolerate our imperfection, and help us improve. You can change an article for the better! There are a lot of smart people here, and everyone finds they have something to contribute. If you're still skeptical, see thereplies to common objections.
Getting annoyed when others edit or delete your work. It is easy to be disheartened when a page you have significantly contributed to has been edited or some of it deleted. Don't be: Wikipedia is largely about sharing knowledge, not assuming superiority over other editors. If others edit or comment on your work, don't be upset—take their advice and hone it, or add the points you think are relevant. If we work together, we can all make Wikipedia a better place.
