User:CS2012/Books/Collaborative E-book creation using Wikipedia/CondensedCreateAccount

* This chapter describes how to open an Wikipedia account and some backround to having an account. If you already have an account, please jump to the next chapter.

To create a Wikipedia account, go to the Wikipedia webpage, type create account i the search field and follow the link on why to open an account and follow the instructions. More information about having an Wikipedia account follows here:

A user account gives you access to better editing tools, and also makes it much easier to work with your Wikipedia community. You do not have to log in to learn. Almost anyone can edit almost any article at any given time too, but be aware that the sources of edits are always publicly displayed. For unregistered edits, this means listing the editing device's (e.g. the computer's) IP address. On the other hand, a Wikipedia account allows editors more privacy (and protection from IP tracing). Wherever you are, whatever your device, if you make edits using your Wikipedia account, your IP address will remain hidden – only the username you chose will be displayed to the public.

Creating an account is quick, completely free, and so non-intrusive – it is easy to join the community and share what you know. Each of us volunteers in different ways. Some wikipedians make it a hobby, and others just like to have their account ready – for those times when they notice a possible improvement. Wikipedians can focus on content (e.g. we have volunteer journalists, editors, commentators), systems maintenance (e.g. anti-vandals, software developers) and much more (artists providing images through our Wikicommons project, guides who support new editors or projects in their local community, etc). So check out the summary of the benefits below, and give it a go! Create an account and officially join Earth's Wikipedia project.

Summary of benefits

You can always contribute to Wikipedia, but once you are registered, you can:

• Choose an appropriate username, then (click here and) create your own user page. You can collaborate, share information about yourself, or just practice editing and publishing. On your user page, you can view a convenient list of all your contributions and you can use the watchlist to monitor changes made to pages that interest you.
• Optionally send and receive e-mails to and from other users.
• Upload images, rename pages, start new pages, and even edit semi-protected pages after a while (usually after just 10 edits and 4 days)
• Use your unified login to work on Wikimedia's other projects.
• Use custom preferences (including your discussion signature) to change the look and behaviour of Wikipedia.
• Edit without your IP address being visible, except to a few highly trusted users who have the Checkuser permission.
• Use more advanced editing tools.
• Vote in Arbitration Committee elections and Wikimedia Board elections.
• The ability to be nominated for adminship, bureacratship, and the ability to gain permissions.

For a little bit more detail, read on. Or, get started: Represent an ocean in a raindrop – contribute to the Wikipedia Project the way that you want to.

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 contributions from unregistered editors, 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 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 unregistered 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, and are subjected to analysis by WikiScanner. 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 unregistered 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.

User preferences

As a registered user, you can customize the way MediaWiki behaves in great detail by altering your Preferences at Special:Preferences. There, in the Appearance tab, 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 unregistered 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.
• Request an account by filling in this form to ask a volunteer 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/. Depending on the local settings, you may be able to bypass your network's proxy server this way.
• You may wish to create an account on Meta-Wiki.

See the Blocking policy for details.