User:Mackan79/Getting started on Wikipedia

If you have arrived at this page it means that you are probably about to make an edit. Great! Contributions from people like you are what create and maintain Wikipedia. You should be aware, however, that Wikipedia is a big website, that works in ways you may not have considered. You can learn about much of this as you go. However, the following information is provided as a basic notice by members of the community as to issues that you may especially want to understand as you start out.

Your edits are permanently logged

If you make an edit to Wikipedia, the edit will be publicly logged either under your IP address, or under the user name that you chose to adopt for editing. The edits will be logged in the article history, and also on a log that lists all edits made by your IP or user name. Revealing your IP address will generally indicate the city and potentially additional information about the location of your editing. This can happen even if you register an account, if for instance you accidentally post to a discussion while logged out. Your identity may also be discerned from the nature of your edits (if they reveal interests you have talked about online), from information you provide about yourself, or from your username, particularly if you have ever used it on other sites. Therefore, even if you do not use your real name to edit, editing on Wikipedia is not fully anonymous, and edits may become associated with you personally.

Even when logged into an account, editors should also know that their IP address is privately logged with each edit for at least a certain amount of time. This information can be recalled via the CheckUser if it is suspected that your account is in violation of policy on the use of multiple accounts, and may be revealed under certain circumstances.

New editors should therefore carefully consider the manner of their participation and any unwanted consequences it may have. Editing Wikipedia may bring you unexpected attention, and most usernames become the first result in web searches for that name. If you do not want others to trace you to your Wikipedia editing, be careful not to reveal information about yourself. But keep in mind that no method is foolproof, and therefore that you should avoid making any edits for which you believe there may be serious personal or professional consequences if the fact that you made these edits became publicly known. Consider also that your ability to change accounts may be limited if you come into conflict with other editors (for more on this see WP:Sock puppetry).

Wikipedia has policies

New editors are encouraged to start participating without getting bogged down in reading through all of Wikipedia's rules. However, new editors should know that there are policies and guidelines, devised and maintained by the editing community, which set forth the appropriate manner in which to edit. These include content policies, which address all aspects of article writing, and conduct policies, which address appropriate interaction with other editors. Wikipedia's five pillars provide the basic vision. Do not feel that you need to read them all, but be aware that many questions can be resolved by looking to the relevant policies, and that editors may raise these policies to address aspects of the edits that you make.

While you are not expected to be familiar with the details of policy, however, you should be aware that repeated disregard of a particular policy after having been alerted to it may lead to sanctions against an editor including blocks. These processes can occasionally exclude even good faith editors who are are not able to meet the basic expectations of the community. For more on this, see particularly the section on controversial topics.

Controversial topics

If you are becoming involved in a controversial topic, you should be aware that these are often the most difficult areas in which to edit, and that they can often contain some of Wikipedia's most problematic editing. Getting into conflict in these areas can therefore happen much more easily than in other less contested parts of the project, especially for new editors who are not familiar with policy. For this reason, editors becoming involved in controversial areas should be especially careful that they do not become entangled in heated disputes for which they may not be prepared. Especially in controversial areas, never believe that because other editors appear to be violating policy, you are free to do so as well. Always be cautious, and if you see what appears to be inappropriate behavior, do not respond in kind, but politely respond with the relevant issue, or ask other editors for guidance. A heated exchange will almost always reflect negatively on all involved. If editors see you show caution and discretion, they will be much likelier to help you out.

Self-promotion and COI

An important word of caution regards editors who approach Wikipedia with the aim of promoting themselves or their business, or to add criticism of individuals with whom they are personally involved, or in other ways that are considered a conflict of interest under Wikipedia's guidelines. This is primarily because, while editors generally respect and protect the ability of editors to use a pseudonym without revealing their personal identity, the existence of a conflict of interest may lead to what are considered legitimate questions about the conflict between your personal interests and your editing. Such questions may also lead to negative attention that becomes associated with you and your editing interests.

While Wikipedians generally extend the assumption of good faith to new editors, and all editors, it is important to understand that this comes with the assumption that editors are participating to improve the quality of the encyclopedia rather than for other reasons. If you are concerned about the treatment of an issue with which you are personally involved, you should carefully consider the policy on conflicts of interest, and consider the options that it presents.