As a new editor, you may feel a little overwhelmed by the sheer size and scope of Wikipedia. Don't fret! Here are some resources that you can look into:
The contributing to Wikipedia page provides information, links, videos and other resources on the basics needed to edit Wikipedia.
The five pillars is a popular summary of the most pertinent Wikipedia principles.
The community portal is a central location to find collaborations, tasks, and news about Wikipedia.
There are volunteers available to answer your questions at the Teahouse.
Overview tutorials
Introductory editing tutorials
These tutorials explain how to edit with wiki markup (Wikipedia's source code) and with VisualEditor (a user-friendly interface).
Starting introduction
Policies and Guidelines
Editing
Referencing
Images
Tables
Editing
Referencing
Images
Tables
Talk pages
Navigating Wikipedia
Manual of Style
Conclusion
A video that articulates the diversity and enthusiasm of the Wikipedia Community. (4:10 min)
Note: You can use the sandbox to experiment with page editing.
Introduction: our main tutorial to the core principles of how to edit contained in thirteen short modules (as listed below).
The Wikipedia Adventure: a module-guided tour with fun, interactive learning, and practice.
Your first article: an article that discusses some of the dos and don'ts, then shows you how to create an article. Note: The ability to create articles directly in mainspace is restricted to autoconfirmed users, though non-confirmed users and non-registered users can submit a proposed article through the Articles for Creation process, where it will be reviewed and considered for publication.
Topic-specific introductions
Introduction to navigating Wikipedia: a seven-part guide to navigating Wikipedia: Introduction; Namespaces; Searching pages; Page histories; Redirects and shortcuts; Useful links; and Summary.
Protocols and conventions
Introduction to policies and guidelines: a four-part guide to the rules: Policies and guidelines; Content; Conduct; and Summary.
Introduction to the Manual of Style: a six-part introduction to the Manual of Style: The Manual of Style; Article sections; Images and refs; Linking; Consistency; and Summary.
Introduction to the deletion process: discusses the guidelines and policies relevant to deletion, as well as the overall process.
Editing with Source editor
Introduction to editing: a six-part guide to editing: Editing pages; Formatting; Links and wikilinks; Saving your changes; Creating new articles; and Summary.
Introduction to referencing: a five-part introduction to referencing: Verifiability; Inline citations; RefToolbar; Reliable sources; and Summary.
Introduction to uploading images: a four-part guide on uploading images: Introduction; Uploading images; Using an image; and Summary.
Introduction to tables: a four-part guide to putting tables in pages: Introduction to tables; Editing tables; Expanding tables; and Summary.
Introduction to talk pages: a six-part guide to using talk pages: Talk pages; User talk pages; Layout; Examples; Drawing attention; and Summary.
Editing with VisualEditor
Introduction to editing with VisualEditor: a six-part introduction to editing with VisualEditor: Opening the editor; Toolbar basics; Links and wikilinks; Publishing changes; Creating new articles; and Summary.
Introduction to referencing with VisualEditor: a six-part introduction to referencing: Verifiability; Adding references; Editing existing ones; Reusing references; Reliable sources; and Summary.
Introduction to uploading images with VisualEditor: a six-part guide on uploading images: Introduction; Uploading images; Inserting images; Editing the details; Galleries; and Summary.
Introduction to tables with VisualEditor: a five-part guide to putting tables in pages: Introduction to tables; Editing tables; Adding new tables; Expanding tables; and Summary.
Training for student assignments
These self-guided trainings help users involved with student assignments to learn the basics of Wikipedia.
Training for students: students start here! A four-part, 57-page training intended for students doing assignments on Wikipedia, with more detailed introductions to core Wikipedia policies, editing basics, and more specific editing advice for students. Chapters: Welcome (4 pages); The Core (14 pages); Editing (24 pages); and Advanced and background (15 pages).
Training for educators: educators start here! A five-part, 97-page training for professors and other educators who want to run Wikipedia assignments for class, with introductions to core Wikipedia policies, editing basics, and an overview of best practices for designing and implementing Wikipedia assignments.
Guides
VisualEditor user guide: a full manual for Wikipedia:VisualEditor.
Plain and simple: the basic mechanics of Wikipedia. There are similar guides for:
Plain and simple conflict of interest guide: for editors with a conflict of interests.
Plain and simple guide for medical editors: for editing medical subjects.
Plain and simple non-free content guide: discusses how Wikipedia's copyright guidelines are probably the most complicated part of the whole site, and breaks down what the rules are and what they mean.
Smartphone editing (Personal User essay): a Wikipedia administrator's personal experiences and advice about phone editing.
Quick guides
Edit toolbar: how to use the edit toolbar while editing.
Media help: how to get media to work on your computer.
Citations quick reference: a quick guide to using citations.
Wikitext cheatsheet: a quick guide to wikitext.
Overview articles
8 simple rules for editing our encyclopedia: describes some basics about contributing and interactions with others.
10 Simple Rules for Editing Wikipedia: discusses some basic aspects of Wikipedia norms and practices.
A primer for newcomers: an overview intended for new contributors.
Avoiding common mistakes: discusses a few common mistakes everyone should try to avoid.
Expectations and norms of the community: discusses the general social norms that Wikipedia editors are expected to follow.
Everything you need to know: a quick overview of some of Wikipedia's most important policies.
Learning the ropes: discusses how to learn about Wikipedia.
Books and videos
The Missing Manual: a comprehensive how-to book that explains everything about contributing for novice to expert editors.
Wikipedia instructional material : a listing of screencasts, videos, and books.
The Bookshelf: (external link) a vast collection of high-quality, freely licensed, user-generated informational material about Wikipedia.
Specialised tutorials
Pictures tutorial: how to insert pictures in pages. A long tutorial, but the basics are simple.
Wikipedia:Graphics tutorials: lots of links to graphics software tutorials.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Instructional videos on using Wikipedia.
There is the Help Menu and Help Directory for a listing of help related pages.
Wikipedia:Directory: a descriptive list of Wikipedia's directories and indexes.
Wikipedia:FAQ: a list of Frequently Asked Questions.
Wikipedia:Questions: discusses how to ask questions on Wikipedia.
Wikipedia:Tips: how to use Wikipedia in bite-sized morsels.
Wikipedia:Dos and don'ts: summarizes some of Wikipedia's protocols in a bullet-point format.
v
t
e
Wikipedia editor navigation
v
t
e
Wikipedia key policies and guidelines (?)
Five pillars
Ignore all rules
Content (?)
P
Verifiability
No original research
Neutral point of view
What Wikipedia is not
Biographies of living persons
Copyright (Copyright violations)
Image use
Article titles
G
Notability
Autobiography
Citing sources
Reliable sources
Medicine
Do not include copies of lengthy primary sources
Plagiarism
Don't create hoaxes
Fringe theories
Patent nonsense
External links
Conduct (?)
P
Civility
Consensus
Harassment
Vandalism
Ignore all rules
No personal attacks
Ownership of content
Edit warring
Dispute resolution
Sockpuppetry
No legal threats
Child protection
Paid-contribution disclosure
G
Assume good faith
Conflict of interest
Disruptive editing
Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point
Etiquette
Gaming the system
Please do not bite the newcomers
Courtesy vanishing
Responding to threats of harm
Talk page guidelines
Signatures
Deletion (?)
P
Deletion policy
Proposed deletion
Biographies
Criteria for speedy deletion
Attack page
Oversight
Revision deletion
Enforcement (?)
P
Administrators
Banning
Blocking
Page protection
Editing (?)
P
Editing policy
G
Article size
Summary style
Be bold
Disambiguation
Hatnotes
Broad-concept article
Understandability
Style
Manual of Style
Contents
Accessibility
Dates and numbers
Images
Layout
Lead section
Linking
Lists
Classification
Categories, lists, and navigation templates
Categorization
Template namespace
Project content (?)
G
Project namespace
WikiProjects
User pages
User boxes
Shortcuts
Subpages
WMF (?)
P
Terms of Use
List of policies
Friendly space policy
Licensing and copyright
Privacy policy
List of all policies and guidelines
P: List of policies
G: List of guidelines
Summaries of values and principles
v
t
e
Manual of Style
Overview
Directory
Tips
Content
Accessibility
Biography
Disambiguation pages
Organizing by subject area
Gender identity
Hidden text
Infoboxes
Linking
Self-references
Words to watch
Formatting
Abbreviations
Capitalization
Dates and numbers
Pronunciation
Spelling
Text formatting
Titles of works
Images
Captions
Image placement
Icons
Images
Layout
Layout
Lead section
Tables
Trivia sections
Lists
Lists
Lists of works
Road junctions
Stand-alone lists
Legal
Legal
Trademarks
Arts
Anime and manga
Comics
Blazons
Film
Lyrics and poetry
Novels
Philosophy
Television
Video games
Visual arts
Writing about fiction
Music
Music
Music samples
Record charts
Stringed instruments
Regional
Specific naming conventions
Canada
China (and Chinese)
France (and French)
Egypt
Hawaii
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Japan
Korea
Malaysia
Macedonia
Pakistan
Philippines
Poland
Singapore
Trinidad and Tobago
Religion
Islam
Latter Day Saints
Science
Mathematics
Medicine
Chemistry
Compound classes
Chemicals
References and external links
Safety
Structure drawing
Taxonomy
Sports
Cue sports
Snooker
Related
Article size
Article titles
Categories, lists, and navigation templates
Categorization
Citing sources
Contents
Hatnotes
Military history
Notability
Signatures
Overview
Subpages
Talk page guidelines
Template namespace
Tips
Understandability
User pages
Wikimedia sister projects
WikiProjects
Search
Category
v
t
e
Wikipedia accounts and governance
Unregistered (IP) users
Why create an account?
Create an account
Request an account
IPs are human too
IP addresses are not people
IP hopper
Registered users
New account
Logging in
Reset passwords
Username policy
Changing username
Usernames for administrator attention
Unified login or SUL
Alternate account
Account security
Password strength requirements
User account security
Personal security practices
Two-factor authentication
2FA for AWB
Committed identity
On privacy, confidentiality and discretion
Compromised accounts
How to not get outed
Blocks, bans, sanctions, global actions
Blocking policy
FAQ
Admin's guide
Tools
Autoblock
Appealing a block
Guide to appealing blocks
UTRS Unblock Ticket Request System
Blocking IP addresses
Range blocks
IPv6
Open proxies
Banning policy
ArbCom appeals
Sanctions
Personal sanctions
General sanctions
Contentious topics and Log
Essay
Indef ≠ infinite
Long-term abuse
Standard offer
Global actions
Related to accounts
Sockpuppetry
Single-purpose account
Sleeper account
Vandalism-only account
Wikibreak
Enforcer
Retiring
Courtesy vanishing
Clean start
Quiet return
User groups and global user groups
Requests for permissions
Admin instructions
Admin guide
Account creator
PERM
(Auto) confirmed
PERM
Autopatrolled
PERM
AutoWikiBrowser
PERM
Bot
Request
Edit filter helper
Request
Event coordinator
PERM
Extended confirmed
PERM
File mover
PERM
IP block exempt
Request
Mass message sender
PERM
New page reviewer
PERM
Page mover
PERM
Pending changes reviewer
PERM
Rollback
PERM
Template editor
PERM
Global rights policy
Volunteer Response Team
Advanced user groups
Administrator
RfA
Bureaucrat
RfB
CheckUser and Oversight
Request
Edit filter manager
Request
Interface administrator
Request
Founder
Importer
Researcher
Committees and related
Arbitration Committee
Bot approvals group
Functionaries
Clerks
SPI clerks
ArbCom clerks
Governance
Administration
FAQ
Formal organization
Editorial oversight and control
Quality control
Wikimedia Foundation
Board
Founder's seat
Meta-Wiki
Proposals
WikiProjects
Elections
Policies and guidelines
Petitions
Noticeboards
Consensus
Dispute resolution
Reforms
v
t
e
Wikipedia community
For a listing of current collaborations, tasks, and news, see the Community portal. For a listing of ongoing discussions and current requests, see the Dashboard.
Help desk
