This list of key Wikipedia guidelines is a summary of the most important guidelines that are in use and have the current consensus of Wikipedia editors. For a more comprehensive but less detailed listing, see List of policies and guidelines. For a full set of guidelines, see Category:Wikipedia guidelines and its subcategories. See Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines for a general overview of what policies and guidelines are about, how they are made, and why we have them. [edit] Categories of guidelines Because there are a large number of guideline pages (over 200), they are subcategorized, using the {{subcat guideline}} template, according to their purpose. - Behavioral guidelines outline ways for editors to behave and interact with each other on talk pages and elsewhere at Wikipedia.
- Content guidelines apply only to the article namespace (unless otherwise specified in the guideline), and offer advice on identifying and including encyclopedic information in articles.
- Deletion guidelines explain criteria and procedures for deleting unwanted pages.
- Editing guidelines usually provide non-content advice about categorization, navigation or other how-to-edit advice.
- Naming conventions detail the correct ways to name articles on particular topics.
- Notability guidelines outline the criteria that a subject must meet to merit a Wikipedia article.
- Style guidelines contain extensive advice on writing style, formatting, grammar, and more.
[edit] Guidelines [edit] Behavioral - Assume good faith
- Unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, assume that people who work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it.
- Conflicts of interest
- Do not use Wikipedia to promote yourself, your website, or your organization.
- Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point
- State your point. However, do not spam Wikipedia, disingenuously nominate articles for deletion, push rules to their limits or otherwise create work for other people just to prove your point.
- Etiquette
- Contributors have different views, perspectives, and backgrounds, sometimes varying widely. Treating others with respect is key to collaborating effectively in building an encyclopedia.
- Please do not bite the newcomers
- Many new contributors lack knowledge about Wikipedia policies. Nevertheless, always understand that new contributors are prospective "members" and are therefore our most valuable resource.
- Profanity
- Words and images that might be considered offensive, profane, or obscene by other Wikipedia readers should be used if and only if their omission would cause the article to be less informative, relevant, or accurate, and no equally suitable alternatives are available.
- Sign your posts on talk pages
- Sign all of your posts on Wikipedia talk pages by typing ~~~~ to be accountable and to help others understand the conversation, but do not sign in articles.
- Talk page guidelines
- User page
- You can use your user page to add a little information about yourself or to help you to use Wikipedia more effectively. However, remember that Wikipedia is not a blog, webspace provider, or social networking site.
See also: [edit] Content - Autobiography
- Avoid writing or editing an article about yourself, other than to correct unambiguous errors of fact.
- Content forking
- Articles should not be split into multiple articles just so each can advocate a different stance on the subject.
- Do not create hoaxes
- Do not deliberately add hoaxes, incorrect information, or unverifiable content to articles.
- External links
- Wikipedia is not an advertising opportunity.
- Images
- Images must be relevant to the article that they appear in and be significantly related to the article's topic.
- No disclaimers in articles
- Wikipedia contains spoilers, potentially objectionable material, and more. There is generally no need to warn readers of this.
- Notability
- Subjects should have received significant outside attention to warrant being included on Wikipedia.
- Reliable sources
- Information about identifying and using appropriate sources to comply with Wikipedia's Verifiability policy.
- Wikipedia is not for things made up one day
- Resist the temptation to write about the new, great thing you or your friends just thought up.
See also: [edit] Deletion - Deletion process
- An overview of the processes by which articles get deleted
- Patent nonsense
- Text or random characters that have no assignable meaning or are irredeemably confused are usually deleted.
See also: [edit] Editing - Be bold in updating pages
- Wikis develop faster when people fix problems, correct grammar, add facts, make sure the language is precise, and so on. We expect everyone to be bold. It is okay.
- Linking
- Link articles sideways to neighbours, and add contexts to create a useful web of information.
- Categorization
- Link articles upwards to create categories.
- Overcategorization
- Overcategorization makes categories more crowded but less useful.
- Subpages
- Creation of subpages in main namespace is not allowed. Subpages may be created in other namespaces using the slash (/) character.
- Categories, lists, and navigation templates
- This guideline helps editors choose appropriate grouping technique(s).
See also: [edit] Naming conventions - Naming conventions
- This policy and its many subordinate guidelines explain naming conventions on Wikipedia.
- Wikipedia:Image file names
- Image file names should have readable file names.
See also: [edit] Notability - Notability
- This guideline explains the minimum requirements for a subject to merit an article at Wikipedia. Specific guidelines have been written for a variety of specific topics, such as organizations and music.
See also: [edit] Style guidelines - Manual of style
- This is the most important style guideline, and the "parent" of all the other style guidelines.
- Writing better articles
- A guide to writing better articles.
- Citing sources
- For writing and formatting references using different citation styles.
- Layout
- For formatting the overall article.
- Accessibility
- For making articles accessible to disabled or otherwise disadvantaged users.
- External links
- External links to an article can be helpful to the reader, but they should be kept minimal, meritable, and directly relevant to the article.
See also: [edit] See also | Key Wikipedia policies and guidelines | | | Overview | | | | Project-wide principles | | | | Article standards policies | | | | Behavioral policies | | | | Behavioral guidelines | | | | Classification guidelines | | | | Content guidelines | | | | Editing guidelines | | | | Style conventions | | | |
