Wikipedia:Articles are more important than policy
 | 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. |
Many new Wikipedia users want to jump right in and get involved with as many aspects of Wikipedia as possible. That's great, and shows a strong sign of caring about the site. However, it may not be the most constructive use of most editors' time.
Wikipedia has many rules, guidelines, and noticeboards. However, the overwhelming majority of people who visit Wikipedia have no knowledge of most of these, and only read articles. While familiarizing yourself with how things work on Wikipedia is good, what's even more important is writing good articles, keeping them up to date, keeping them accurate, and fighting vandalism. Doing this will help more people and have a far more reaching effect than becoming involved with WikiDrama. The most important rule on Wikipedia is to ignore all rules, which means that even editors with little or no knowledge of "rules" can be great contributors to Wikipedia.