Wikipedia:Don't get overwhelmed
 | This is an essay on civility. 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. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Remember to stay calm while looking through policies and guidelines on Wikipedia. |
It's easy to be overwhelmed by the number of policies and guidelines on Wikipedia. We are reminded to be civil, write notable articles, and use inline citations, among many other things. However, remember to keep your cool. It's not worth it to panic over these policies, since the only reason they are there is to make Wikipedia a lot easier to use.
Don't worry about civility guidelines
editAs long as you use common sense, you probably won't have to worry about policies and guidelines about civility. After all, these are just about being nice to people, and knowing your limits in a dispute. Don't worry about trying to follow every single policy or guideline. They aren't there to stress you out, they're just supposed to be helpful.
So many aspects to Wikipedia
editThe reason Wikipedia has so many policies is that there is so much to do on Wikipedia. You can create articles and essays, edit existing articles and essays, ask questions, and upload images and other media. Therefore, there must be guidelines and instructions on how to use all these tools. For example, to upload images, you first have to make sure the image is Fair Use. The File Upload Wizard makes it much easier to upload media to Wikipedia.