Getting started
Printable guides
These printable PDF documents have instructions related to the basics of Wikipedia.
- Wiki markup quick reference – This one-page quick reference (included in the Welcome to Wikipedia brochure) helps you to remember the most frequently used wiki markup codes.
- References – This handout explains why references are important, what the expectations for sourcing on Wikipedia are, where to place references, and the basics of adding "ref" tags.
- Reference formatting – This handout explains in more detail how to create footnotes for citing sources, and how to cite the same source multiple times.
- How to get help – explains the recommended way to get help and feedback. It also includes a glossary of additional help resources you can avail yourself of.
- Plagiarism – explains what plagiarism is on Wikipedia—including "close paraphrasing"—in addition to why and how to avoid it.
On-wiki tutorials
Tutorial videos
| Starting a sandbox article |
Basic editing: bold and links |
How to use a watchlist |
How to use talk pages
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File:Wikipedia basics - watchlists.ogv |
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| How to start an a sandbox page to play around with wiki markup or start an article draft (2m 11s) |
How to use the most basic features of wiki markup to create bold text and links to other pages (3m 37s) |
How to use a watchlist to keep track of pages you are interested in or have edited (2m 10s) |
How to interact with other editors using talk pages, including article talk pages and user talk pages (2m 30s)
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Writing articles
Printable guides
Tutorial videos
| Article creation |
Article improvement |
Article assessments |
Article evolution
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File:Articleimprovement.ogv |
File:Articleassessments.ogv |
File:Articleevolution.ogv
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| A demonstration, recorded live, of how to create a Wikipedia article (7 min 50 sec) |
A look at how to assess the shortcomings of an article and improve it (4m 22s) |
An exploration of the standard article assessment system, with examples of each quality level (11m 30s) |
A trip through the history of an article, from humble beginnings to Good Article status (6m 25s)
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Analyzing your contributions
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