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You do not have to log in to read Wikipedia, nor is a registered account required to edit Wikipedia articles—almost anyone can edit almost any article at any given time, even without logging in. When not logged in to an account, by default a person edits instead by their IP address, assigned by their internet service provider (ISP). Nevertheless, creating an account is quick, free, and non-intrusive, and it is generally considered a good idea to do so for a variety of reasons.

Summary of benefits

Shortcut: WP:BENEFITS

Registered users can:

Start new pages, including their own user page.
Edit semi-protected pages once several edits have been made.
Rename pages.
Upload images.
Send, and optionally receive, e-mails to and from other users.
Set personal preferences on their account.
Keep a watchlist to track changes made on articles of interest.
Choose an appropriate username.
Easily review their own contributions.
Customize the appearance and behavior of the website to their own preference.
Use more advanced editing tools.
Vote in Arbitration Committee elections and Wikimedia Board elections.
Edit without their IP address being visible, except to a few, highly trusted, users who have the Checkuser permission.

Benefits explained

Username

If you create an account, you can pick a username provided it is available and unique. Edits you make while logged in will be assigned to that name. That means you will get full credit for your contributions in the page history (when not logged in, the edits are just assigned to your IP address). You can also view all your contributions by clicking the "My contributions" link, which is visible only when you are logged in.

You will have your own permanent user page where you can write a bit about yourself. While Wikipedia is not a homepage provider, you can use this to display a few free pictures, write about your hobbies, etc. Many users use their user page to maintain a list of the articles they are most proud of, or to collect other valuable information from Wikipedia.

You will have a permanent user talk page you can use to communicate with other users. You will be notified whenever someone writes a message on your talk page. If you choose to give an e-mail address, other users will be able to contact you by e-mail. This feature is anonymous; the user who emails you will not know your e-mail address.

Reputation and privacy

You do not need to reveal your offline identity, but having an account gives you a fixed Wikipedia identity that other users will recognize. While we welcome anonymous contributions, logging in under a pseudonym lets you build trust and respect through a history of good edits. It is also easier to communicate and collaborate with an editor if we know who you are (at least, who you are on Wikipedia). It is also easier for veteran users to assume good faith from new users who take the effort to create an account (and you may well become a veteran user yourself some day!). You may well be afforded a great deal less leeway if you do not go to the trouble of making up a username.

As your reputation builds, it is possible to earn privileges such as rollback, sysop, and others. It is not possible for an anonymous editor to be granted these privileges.

If you are not logged in, all your edits are publicly associated with your IP address at the time of that edit. If you log in, all your edits are publicly associated with your account name, and are internally associated with your IP address. See Wikipedia's privacy policy for more information on this practice.

You are actually more anonymous (though more pseudonymous) logged in than you are as an "anonymous" editor, owing to the hiding of your IP address. You might want to consider various factors, including privacy and the possibility of offline harassment, when selecting a username.

The privacy implications of this vary, depending on the nature of your Internet Service Provider, local laws and regulations, and the nature and quantity of your edits to Wikipedia. Be aware that Wikipedia technologies and policies may change.

More editing features

Wikipedia provides several features to which only registered users have access:

Registered users can customize their Wikipedia experience through their preferences page, which offers several options (see below). Even more customization and control is possible for advanced users through user scripts. Both of these features are available only to registered users.
Only registered users can create new pages.
Only registered autoconfirmed users may upload images or rename pages.
An important feature that active contributors often make use of is called the watchlist. Upon logging in, you'll get a new link (or tab) on each page you view, called "watch". It lets you keep an eye on pages that interest you by saving them in your "watchlist" — your personal list stored on Wikipedia's servers. When you view your watchlist, you'll be able to see which of your "watched" pages have changed recently, along with their edit summaries, and quick links to view the specific changes that have occurred ("diff" links).
Registered users may also mark their edits as "minor" (see link for more details).
Now registered users can create print versions of pages through PediaPress using Special:Book; see Help:Books for details.

User preferences

As a registered user, you can customize the way MediaWiki behaves in great detail by altering your Preferences at special:preferences. There you can change the following display settings:

Under skin: choose between various options as to the appearance of the website.
Under math: how mathematical formulas are displayed.
Under files: how large image thumbnails are displayed

And various editing preferences:

How to sign your name
How large the editing box should be
How pages should be displayed in recent changes
and many others.

Blocked?

Shared IP addresses such as school and company networks or proxy servers are frequently blocked for vandalism which, unfortunately, may also affect innocent editors on the same network. However, registered users in good standing can request existing blocks on their IP address be modified to affect only anonymous editors so that they can continue contributing to Wikipedia. If you are currently blocked from creating an account, we suggest you do one of the following:

Try again after the block on your IP address expires. Go to my contributions and follow the Block log link at the top of that page to find the length of the block.
Create an account while at an unblocked location, such as your workplace, home, local library, or favorite internet cafe and then log in through the blocked server or network.
Ask a trusted friend on a different network to create an account for you.
Request an account by filling in this form to ask an administrator to create an account for you. Be sure to read the instructions at Wikipedia:Request an account first and to change your password once you are logged in.
Use Wikimedia's secure server at https://secure.wikimedia.org/. You may be able to bypass your network's proxy server this way.