Wikipedia:Your aboriginal article
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This is a page about autograph your aboriginal article, not the abode to in actuality address it! If you would like to experiment, amuse use the sandbox or your user page. To in actuality actualize an article, try the Article Wizard. |
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This is a basal arbitrary of the added abundant and avant-garde instructions at Wikipedia:Starting an article |
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Welcome to Wikipedia! This is a adviser to some things you should apperceive afore creating your aboriginal album article. We will explain some of the DOs and DON'Ts of autograph an article, again we'll acquaint you how to actualize an article. If you're accessible to alpha writing, accede application the Article Wizard to admonition you actualize online autograph – it will airing you through these steps. Here are some tips that may admonition you forth the way:
- You accept to be a registered user to actualize a new article. Registered and unregistered users alike, may abide their commodity for analysis and publishing at the Online autograph for Creation project.
- Try alteration absolute articles to get a feel for autograph and for application the mark-up accent in use at Wikipedia.
- Search Wikipedia first to accomplish abiding that an commodity does not already exist on the subject, conceivably beneath a altered title. If the commodity already exists, feel chargeless to accomplish any effective edits you feel are necessary.
- Gather references both to use as source(s) of the admonition you will cover and aswell to authenticate notability of your article's accountable matter. References to blogs, claimed websites, MySpace and YouTube don't count—we charge reliable sources. The best admonition for a accordant antecedent of admonition is to acquisition admonition that was from a website that includes something with a .gov, .org, or .edu catastrophe to it or a reliable annual article. In added words, it is best to accept it from the "horse's mouth". Extra affliction should be taken to accomplish abiding that online autograph on living persons accept sources -- online autograph about active humans afterwards sources may be deleted.
- Consider requesting feedback. You can appeal acknowledgment on online autograph you would like to actualize in a amount of places, including the talk page of a accompanying WikiProject or the Drawing Board.
- Consider creating the commodity aboriginal in your user space. As a registered user, you accept your own user space. You can alpha the new commodity there, on a subpage; you can get it in shape, yield your time, ask added editors to admonition plan on it, and alone move it into the "live" Wikipedia already it is accessible to go. To actualize your own subpage, see here. If the new commodity is accessible for "prime time", you can move it into the capital area. (Note: the Article Wizard has an advantage to actualize these kinds of abstract pages.)
- Remember the commodity you actualize will be deleted quickly if it is not acceptable. Wikipedia has a new pages patrol analysis area humans analysis your new online autograph anon afterwards you actualize them.
- Articles that do not accommodated notability guidelines and do not adduce reliable arise sources are acceptable to be deleted.
- Do not create pages about yourself, your company, your band or your friends, nor pages that advertise, nor personal essays or added online autograph you would not acquisition in an encyclopedia.
- Be careful about the following: copying things, controversial material, acutely short articles, and local-interest articles.
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Search for an absolute article
Wikipedia already has 3,404,938 articles. Afore creating an article, try to accomplish abiding there is not already an article, conceivably beneath a hardly altered name. Search for the article, and analysis the Wikipedia allotment conventions afore creating your aboriginal article. If an commodity on your affair is there, but you anticipate humans are acceptable to attending for it beneath some altered name or spelling, apprentice how to add a alter with that name; abacus bare redirects is a acceptable way to admonition Wikipedia. Also, bethink to analysis the article's abatement log in adjustment to abstain creating an commodity that has already been deleted.
If a seek does not acquisition your article, accede adorning your seek to acquisition absolute online autograph that ability cover the accountable of your article. For example, if you ambition to address an commodity about a bandage member, you ability seek for the bandage and again add admonition about your accountable to that broader article.
Gathering references
Gather sources to the admonition for your article. To be annual including in the encyclopedia, a accountable accept to be abundantly notable, and that credibility accept to be verifiable through references to reliable sources.
These sources accept to be reliable; that is, they accept to be sources that exercise some anatomy of beat control. Print sources (and web-based versions of those sources) tend to be the a lot of reliable, admitting abounding web-only sources are aswell reliable. Some examples cover (but are not bound to) books arise by aloft publishing houses, newspapers, magazines, peer-reviewed bookish journals, websites of any of the above, able bloggers, and added websites that accommodated the aforementioned requirements as a acclaimed print-based source.
In general, sources with no beat ascendancy are not reliable. These cover (but are aswell not bound to) books arise by vanity presses, self-published zines, blogs, web forums, usenet discussions, BBSes, fan sites, vanity websites that admittance the conception of self-promotional articles, and added agnate venues. If anyone at all can column admonition afterwards anyone abroad blockage that information, it is apparently not reliable.
To put it simply, if there are reliable sources (such as newspapers, journals, or books) with all-encompassing admonition arise over an continued aeon about a subject, again that accountable is notable and you accept to adduce such sources as allotment of the action of creating (or expanding) the Wikipedia article. If you cannot acquisition reliable sources (such as newspapers, journals, or books) that accommodate all-encompassing and absolute admonition about your proposed subject, again the accountable is not notable or absolute and about absolutely will be deleted. So your aboriginal job is to go acquisition references.
Once you accept references for your article, you can apprentice to abode the references into the commodity by annual Wikipedia:Citing sources. But do not anguish too abundant about formatting them properly. It would be abundant if you do that, but the capital affair is to get references into the article even if they are not able-bodied formatted.
Things to avoid
- Articles about yourself, your friends, your website, a bandage you're in, your teacher, a babble you fabricated up, or a adventure you wrote
- If you are aces of admittance in the encyclopedia, let anyone abroad add an commodity for you. Putting your accompany in an album may assume like a nice abruptness or an agreeable joke, but online autograph like this are acceptable to be removed. In this process, animosity may be aching and you may be blocked from alteration if you again accomplish attempts to re-create the article. These things can be abhorred by a little anticipation on your part. The commodity ability abide if you accept abundant abasement to accomplish it aloof and you absolutely are notable, but even again it's best to abide a abstract for approval and consensus of the association instead of just announcement it up, as benumbed biases may still abide of which you may not be aware.
- Non-notable topics
- People frequently add pages to Wikipedia afterwards because whether the affair is absolutely notable enough to go into an encyclopedia. Because Wikipedia does not accept the amplitude limitations of paper-based encyclopedias, our notability behavior and guidelines acquiesce a advanced ambit of online autograph – however, they do not acquiesce every affair to be included. A decidedly accustomed adapted case of this is pages about people, companies, or groups of people, that do not actualize the credibility or accent of their accountable with reliable sources, so we accept absitively that such pages may be agilely deleted beneath our WP:SPEEDY policy. This can affront – so please accede whether your alleged affair is notable abundant for Wikipedia, and again actualize the credibility or accent of your accountable by citation those reliable sources in the action of creating your article. Wikipedia is not a agenda of aggregate in existence.
- Advertising
- Please do not try to advance your artefact or business. Amuse do not admit alien links to your bartering website unless a aloof affair would adjudicator that the hotlink absolutely belongs in the article; we do accept online autograph about online autograph like Kleenex or Sharpies, or notable businesses such as McDonald's, but if you are autograph about a artefact or business be abiding you address from a neutral point of view, that you accept no conflict of interest, and that you are able to acquisition references in reliable sources that are absolute from the accountable you are autograph about.
- Personal essays or aboriginal research
- Wikipedia surveys existing beastly knowledge; it is not a abode to broadcast new work. Do not address online autograph that present your own original theories, opinions, or insights, even if you can abutment them by advertence to accustomed work. A accustomed aberration is to present a atypical amalgam of annual in an article. Remember, just because both Actuality A and Actuality B are accurate does NOT beggarly that A acquired B, or vice-versa (fallacies). If that is true, again reliable sources will apparently address that connection, and you should adduce those sources.
- A individual book or alone a website link
- Articles charge to accept absolute agreeable of their own.
- See also:
And be accurate about...
As a accustomed rule, do not copy-paste altercation from added websites. (There are a few bound exceptions, and a few words as allotment of a appropriately cited and acutely attributed citation is OK.)
- Copying things. Do not breach copyrights
- To be safe, do not adduce added than a brace of sentences of altercation from anywhere, and document any references you do use. You can archetype absolute that you are sure is in the public domain, but even for accessible area absolute you should still certificate your source. Aswell agenda that a lot of Web pages are not in the accessible area and a lot of song lyrics are not either. In fact, a lot of things accounting back January 1, 1978 are automatically beneath copyright even if they accept no absorb apprehension or © symbol. If you anticipate what you are accidental is in the accessible domain, say area you got it, either in the commodity or on the altercation page, and on the altercation page accord the acumen why you anticipate it is in the accessible area (e.g. "It was arise in 1895...") If you anticipate you are authoritative "fair use" of copyrighted material, amuse put a agenda on the altercation page adage why you anticipate so. For added information: Copyrights (which includes instructions for acceptance permission to archetype advanced arise text) and our non-free agreeable guidelines for text.
1. accept a acceptability for reliability: they are reliable sources
2. are absolute of the subject
3. are verifiable by added editors
- Good analysis and citation your sources
- Articles accounting out of attenuate air may be bigger than nothing, but they are harder to verify, which is an important allotment of architecture a trusted advertence work. Amuse analysis with the best sources available and cite them properly. Doing this, forth with not artful ample amounts of the text, will admonition abstain any achievability of plagiarism. We acceptable good abbreviate articles, alleged "stubs", that can serve as ablution pads from which others can yield off. If you do not accept abundant absolute to address a acceptable stub, you apparently should not actualize the article. At the end of a stub, you should cover a "stub template" like this: {{stub}}. (Other Wikipedians will acknowledge it if you use a added specific butt template, like {{art-stub}}. See the list of butt types for a annual of all specific butt templates.) Stubs admonition clue online autograph that charge expansion.
- Articles about living persons
- Articles accounting about active bodies accept to be referenced so that they can be verified. Biographies about active capacity that abridgement sources may be deleted.
- Advocacy and arguable material
- Please do not address online autograph that apostle one accurate angle on politics, religion, or annihilation else. Understand what we beggarly by a neutral point of view afore arrest this array of topic.
- Articles that accommodate altered definitions of the topic
- Articles are primarily about what something is, not any term(s). If the commodity is just about a babble or phrase and abnormally if there are absolute altered means that a appellation is acclimated again it usually belongs in Wiktionary. Instead, try to address a acceptable abbreviate aboriginal branch that defines one subject as able-bodied as some added absolute to go with it.
- Organization
- Make abiding there are admission links to the new commodity from added Wikipedia online autograph (click "What links here" in the toolbox) and that the new commodity is included in at atomic one adapted chic (see help:category). Otherwise it will be difficult for readers to acquisition the article.
- Local-interest articles
- These are online autograph about places like schools, or streets that are of absorption to a almost baby amount of humans such as alumni or humans who reside nearby. There is no consensus about such articles, but some will claiming them if they cover annihilation that shows how the abode is adapted and altered from tens of bags of agnate places. Photographs add interest. Try to accord local-interest articles bounded colour. Third-party references are absolute advantageous to prove that the accountable you are autograph about is notable.
- Breaking annual events
- While Wikipedia accepts online autograph about notable contempo events, online autograph about breaking annual contest with no constant credibility are not adapted for our project. Accede autograph such online autograph on our sister activity Wikinews. See Wikipedia:Notability (events) for added information.
- Editing on the amiss page
- If you're aggravating to actualize a new page, again you'll alpha with a absolutely abandoned adapt box. If you see altercation in the alteration box that is abounding with words you didn't address (for example, the capacity of this page), again you're accidentally alteration a above-mentioned page. Don't save your changes. See #How to actualize a new page below, and alpha over.
How to actualize a page
Only logged in users can actualize an article. If you accept accounting an commodity but accept no annual you can abide your commodity for analysis and publishing at Articles for Creation.
Title for your new article
In the seek box below, blazon the appellation of your article, again bang Go. If the Seek page letters "You may actualize the page" followed by the commodity name in red, again you can bang the red commodity name to alpha alteration your article.
| Is it new? Type, again bang "Go (try title)" |
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There may or may not be an commodity with the aforementioned appellation as the one you ambition to create.
If there is no commodity with the exact title, this does not necessarily beggarly such an commodity does not exist. As mentioned above, a seek can admonition acknowledge this.
Resolving clashes
Sometimes there is already an commodity beneath your alleged title, but on a altered topic. In this case, the titles accept to be acclaimed from one another. The action of appropriate identical or agnate titles with audible meanings is alleged "disambiguation." This can be ambagious for newcomers: if necessary, actualize your page as a userspace draft, again ask at the new contributors' admonition page for admonition on allocation out the disambiguation.
There are three capital means disambiguation is done, depending on how abounding capacity there are and whether there's one which is abundant added important than the rest:
- Disambiguation page. For example, if you access the babble "Salsa," you will be brought to a page accepted as a disambiguation page that will annual all the capacity alleged "Salsa," including Salsa (sauce), Salsa music, and several added meanings of the babble Salsa.
- Primary usage. In some cases, the appellation by itself will be acclimated for the a lot of accustomed acceptation of the appellation (the "primary usage"), and all added uses will be begin on a disambiguation page. For example, if you access Mouse, you will be brought to the commodity about the animal. All added uses, such as Mouse (computing), are listed on the disambiguation page.
- Just two topics. Or in some cases, if there are alone two meanings of a title, the apparent appellation will be acclimated for one acceptation (the added accustomed one), and a bulletin on the top of that page, accepted as a hatnote, will be acclimated to absolute readers to the other. For example, if you access Avocado, you will be brought to the commodity about the plant. A hatnote will absolute you to a boondocks alleged Avocado, California.
Entering references
The absolute aboriginal affair you should address in your commodity is a annual of the source(s) for your information. For now, just access them like this (and they will automatically about-face into links):
- (1) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/books/12vonnegut.html
- (2) http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/space/space_shuttle.html
Later, you'll apprentice how to architecture them to arise as footnotes.
If you apperceive that it will yield you a few edits to appropriately annual references, put the arrangement {{newpage}} on top of the page to announce to added editors that you are alive on it. Even bigger is to actualize your commodity in a subpage of your user page, yield as continued as you charge to accomplish it a acceptable article, again move it to the capital commodity space. You can actualize your claimed head for commodity development by beat this link.
Categorizing
Every commodity should be in one or added Wikipedia categories. To acquisition categories for your article, go to Category:Articles and bang on any accordant subcategories, again accumulate afterward accordant subcategory links as far as you can. Follow all accordant subcategory chains, and add a chic declaration, accounting [[Category:your category], at the basal of your commodity for anniversary accordant chic that has no accordant subcategories of its own.
Final step
After you accept entered your article, bang Show examination to analysis for errors, again bang Save page.
And again what?
Now that you accept created the page, there are still several things you can do.
Keep authoritative improvements
Wikipedia is not finished. Generally, an commodity is boilerplate abreast getting completed the moment it is created. There is a continued way to go. In fact, it may yield you several edits just to get it started.
If you accept so abundant absorption in the commodity you just created, you may apprentice abundant added about it in the future, and therefore, accept added to add. This may be afterwards today, tomorrow, or several months from now. Anytime, go ahead.
Improve formatting
To architecture your commodity accurately (and aggrandize it, and possibly even accomplish it featured!), see
- Wikipedia:Tutorial to apprentice how to architecture your article
- Wikipedia:Writing bigger articles
- Wikipedia:The absolute article
- Wikipedia:Lead section
Others can advisedly accord to the commodity if it has been saved. The architect does not accept adapted rights to ascendancy the afterwards content. See Wikipedia:Ownership of articles.
Also, afore you get balked or affronted about the way others adapt or abolish your contributions, see Wikipedia:Don't be ashamed.
Avoid orphans
An orphaned article is an commodity that has few or no added online autograph bond to it. The capital botheration with an drop is that it'll be alien to others, and may get beneath readers if it is not de-orphaned.
Most new online autograph are orphans from the moment they are created, but you can plan to change that. This will absorb alteration one or added other articles. Try analytic Wikipedia for added pages apropos to the accountable of your article, again about-face those references into links by abacus bifold brackets to either side: "[[" and "]]". If addition commodity has a babble or byword that has the aforementioned acceptation as your new article, but not bidding in the aforementioned words as the title, you can hotlink that babble or byword as follows: "[[title of your new article|word or byword begin in added article]]." Or in assertive cases, you could actualize that babble or byword as a alter to your new article.
One of the aboriginal things you ambition to do afterwards creating a new commodity is to accommodate links to it so it will not be an orphan. You can do that appropriate away, or if you acquisition that exhausting, you can delay a while, provided that you accept in apperception to get it done.
See Wikipedia:Drawing absorption to new pages to apprentice how to get others to see your new articles.
Add to a disambiguation page
If the appellation is cryptic (meaning there are assorted pages application that or a agnate title), see if there is a disambiguation page for online autograph address that title. If so, add it to that page.
Still charge help?
The best abode to acquisition admonition as a new contributor is at Wikipedia:New contributors' admonition page. Alternately you can ask a catechism through the Wikipedia help channel on IRC chat.
Read an absolute encyclopedia
Try to apprehend absolute album online autograph to get the layout, style, tone, and added elements of all-embracing content. It is appropriate if you plan to address online autograph for an encyclopedia, you should accept some accomplishments ability on academic writing, as able-bodied as about the affair at hand. A agreement chic in your top academy or academy is recommended afore you alpha autograph album articles.
The World Book is a acceptable abode to start. The ambition of Wikipedia is to actualize an up to the moment album on every accountable imaginable. Pretend this will be arise into a cardboard encyclopedia.