A Wikipedia article is the culmination of an editing process. It is not written with a single word, sentence or paragraph, but rather it’s like building something with Lego brick. This guide will help you understand how to create a Wikipedia page for yourself.
Wikipedia has five principal ideals that everything an editor does should follow: Neutrality, Verifiability, no original research, Be complete, and Civil. These principles are key in helping build content that is informative and easy to read. When writing about topics on Wikipedia, these same five principal ideals should be followed as closely as possible.
1) Use good grammar & spelling
A simple tip, but it makes all the difference! Typos and grammar mistakes can be very distracting and make an article difficult to read. Always take the time to proofread your work before submitting it.
2) Follow the style guide
Wikipedia has a specific style guide that all articles must follow. This includes things such as how to format titles, headings, and citations. It’s important to familiarize yourself with this guide before starting to write so that your article conforms to the standard.
3) Stay neutral
One of Wikipedia’s main principles is neutrality. This means that all information in an article should be presented in a balanced way, without any bias. In order for an article to remain neutral, editors must refrain from adding their own personal opinions or interpretations.
4) Update older articles
Older Wikipedia articles may not have the best structure, layout or information. Wikipedia encourages users to update old articles with newer and better information. This also helps make it more likely that your article will become one of the site’s main articles because it will be among the most recent.
5) Cite sources
If you are using information from other websites (or even parts of Wikipedia), it is important to provide references for this material. When adding any relevant sources into an article, always cite them correctly by following relevant guidelines. This ensures that editors can verify that your content is correct and up-to-date.
6) Add pictures, video & audio
If appropriate, start your article off with a picture, video or audio clip that helps illustrate your topic. These multimedia elements can help readers better understand what you’re talking about. Just be sure to only use copyrighted material if you have permission to do so.
7) Use headings & subheadings
Headings and subheadings help break up an article into easily manageable chunks. When creating these, be sure to follow the same style as the rest of the article. This makes it easier for readers to scan through and find the information they are looking for.
8) Create a table of contents
If your article is particularly long, consider adding a table of contents (TOC) near the beginning. This will help readers quickly navigate to the section they are interested in without having to scroll through the entire article.
9) Link to related articles
Wikipedia’s goal is to build a complete and expansive encyclopedia, so it encourages editors to link relevant information in different articles together. If your article is about one particular aspect of a topic, consider linking/referencing other parts of that topic in your article for easy access.
10) Edit multiple times
Many Wikipedia articles are worked on by many different people throughout the week. Each time an editor updates an article, they should read over their work carefully before submitting it to ensure that there were no errors or omissions. This process is meant strengthen the quality of each article over time.
Conclusion
Wikipedia is a free, open-source online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. One of the main principles on Wikipedia’s style guide is neutrality and this ensures that all information in an article should be presented in a balanced way without any bias. This means when writing about topics for articles on Wikipedia these same five principle ideals should be followed as closely as possible: old content that is informative and easy to read; follow the style guide; stay neutral; update older articles with newer and better information (if it needs updating); add pictures, video or audio if appropriate; create headings & subheadings; create a table of contents if your article is particularly long – consider adding links to related articles via referencing other aspects of that topic within your own work.
