User:Pi72/Essays/Introduction to Wikipedia for the new editor

Workpage

This is a workpage, a collection of material and work in progress that may or may not be incorporated into an article. It should not necessarily be considered factual, authoritative, or appropriate for public consumption.

This page in a nutshell:

Condensed and comprehensive explanation of the whole concept of Wikipedia
Aimed at new editors who might be unsure what's all this about
Compendium of further reading for a deeper understanding of Wikipedia

This is a Wikipedia user page.
This is not an encyclopedia article or the talk page for an encyclopedia article. If you find this page on any site other than Wikipedia, you are viewing a mirror site. Be aware that the page may be outdated and that the user in whose space this page is located may have no personal affiliation with any site other than Wikipedia. The original page is located at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Pi72/Essays/Introduction_to_Wikipedia_for_the_new_editor.

This is an essay.

It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

Outline and aims of this draft

This essay pretends to be a more in-depth introduction to some absolutely basic concepts of Wikipedia, such as what Wikipedia is and what's not, the five pillars, principal policies and guidelines, etc. It's mainly aimed at new editors who might have a wrong idea of Wikipedia or about its aims, but who might at the same time be lacking the knowledge of where to look exactly to learn more about Wikipedia. The essay will be a condensed, but comprehensive compendium of several important articles and facts about Wikipedia, to avoid these wrong ideas. Since this might be just a personal interpretation, a full grid of further reading links is offered both to new editors and to more experienced ones.

The essay is divided into several sections:

Why new editors should read and learn about Wikipedia.
Basics of what Wikipedia is, and the five pillars.
Common misconceptions about Wikipedia.
Important policies and guidelines.
Further reading.