This page documents an English Wikipedia editing guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense, and occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcuts: WP:BB WP:BOLD

This page in a nutshell: If you see something that can be improved, improve it!

Be bold!

"Be Bold" has become an informal slogan of Wikipedia

The Wikipedia community encourages users to be bold when updating pages. Wikis like ours develop faster when everybody helps to fix problems, correct grammar, add facts, make sure wording is accurate, etc. We would like everyone to be bold and help make Wikipedia a better encyclopedia. How many times have you read something and thought, "Why aren't these pages copy-edited?" Wikipedia not only allows you to add, revise, and edit articles: it wants you to do it. It does require some amount of politeness, but it works. You'll see. Of course, others here will edit what you write. Do not take it personally! They, like all of us, just wish to make Wikipedia as good an encyclopedia as it can possibly be.

Also, when you see a conflict in a talk page, do not be just a "mute spectator." Be bold and drop your opinion there.

...but please be careful

Though the boldness of contributors like you is one of Wikipedia's greatest assets, it is important that contributors take care of the common good and not edit recklessly. Of course, any changes you make that turn out badly can be reverted, usually painlessly. It is important not to be insulted if your changes are reverted or edited further. But there are some significant changes that can be long-lasting and that are harder to fix if the need arises. If you're unsure of anything, just ask for advice.

Often it is easier to see that something is not right rather than to know exactly what would be right. We do not require that everyone be bold. After all, commenting that something in an article is incorrect can be the first step to getting it fixed. It is true, though, that problems are more certain to be fixed, and will probably be fixed faster, if you are bold enough to do it yourself.

To use the words of Edmund Spenser, "Be bold, be bold, and everywhere be bold," but "Be not too bold."

Non-article namespaces

Although editors are encouraged to be bold in updating articles, more caution is sometimes required when editing pages in non-article namespaces. Such pages are identified by a namespace prefix. For example, this page, Wikipedia:Be bold, has the "Wikipedia:" prefix; if it were called simply Be bold (with no prefix) it would be an article.

Problems may arise for a variety of reasons in different contexts in non-article namespaces. These problems should be taken into account in deciding whether to be bold, and how bold to be.

Wikipedia: namespace

The admonition "but please be careful" is especially important in relation to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines, where key parts may be phrased in a particular way to reflect a very hard-won, knife-edge consensus - which may not be obvious to those unfamiliar with the background. In these cases, it is often better to discuss potential changes first. However, spelling and grammatical errors can and should be fixed as soon as they are noticed.

Discussing changes to other Wikipedia-space pages on the talk page is also a good idea. If nothing else, it will provide an explanation of the changes for later editors. Most such pages are collections of arguments placed in Wikipedia space for later reference, so the same arguments don't need to be made over and over again.

Template: namespace

Being bold in updating templates can have far reaching consequences. This is because template changes can affect a large number of pages with a single edit; moreover some templates also form part of wide-ranging, uniform systems of templates across Wikipedia, such as infobox and stub templates. Templates, moreover, may have complex source code that can easily be broken by untested changes (although they can fortunately be corrected with a single revert).

Because of these concerns, many heavily used templates are indefinitely protected from editing. Before editing templates, consider proposing any changes on the associated talk pages and announcing the proposed change on pages of appropriate WikiProjects.

Category: namespace

Creating new categories or reorganizing the category structure may come to affect many pages. Consider the guidelines on categorization and overcategorization, and if what you're doing might be considered controversial (especially if it concerns categories for living people), propose changes at Categories for discussion, also mentioning them on pages of appropriate WikiProjects.

File: namespace

New images should be uploaded with new names rather than overwriting old ones. Doing otherwise risks having the old image confused with the new one. Adding information to the description of an existing image is definitely an area where being bold applies.

User: namespace

It is generally recommended that you do not edit another Wikipedian's user page or comments left on talk pages (other than your own, and even then do not be reckless). Fixing vandalism is nearly always welcome, even on user pages. Specific users will let you know if they find your changes inappropriate or if you have given incorrect information.

See also

Listen to this page (info/dl)

This audio file was created from a revision dated 2007-02-01, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the page. (Audio help)

More spoken pages

• Article Rescue Squadron
• BOLD, revert, discuss cycle
• Boldness
• Defending article quality
• Don't revert due to "no consensus"
• Editing policy
• How to edit a page
• Ignore all rules
• Old dogs and new tricks
• {{Uw-sofixit}}