The Dos and Don’ts of Editing Wikipedia

Screengrab from this brilliant Wikipedia recent changes map

In good news for open collaboration, Wikipedia entries just got a whole lot easier to edit and create. The nonprofit rolled out its new VisualEditor software yesterday, which displays simple buttons for linking, adding images and editing text, sparing contributors from having to learn the fairly complicated wikimarkup language used up to this point. 

Having watched its active community dwindle over the years, Wikipedia hopes to lure in new contributors that were dissuaded by the technical confusion. The bad news? Wikipedia’s contributor culture is still confusing as hell. Pressing “edit” and addicting some nuggets of information to an article is simple, but doing right in order to get your change approved is trickier. There are hundreds upon hundreds of pages of information on its policies, standards, tips, guidelines and best-practices to study up on.

So, in preparation for the torrent of rookie editors Wikipedia hopes to attract with the new software, a few words of wisdom.

DO: Read the VisualEditor user guide.

Just as you should never set out to cook a dish without reading the recipe all the way to the end, don’t try to waltz in and starting editing Wikipedia pages without at least skimming through the VisualEditor user guide. It a clear guide, and thorough. It can spare you from getting off on the wrong foot with an amateur mistake.

DO: Register with the site.

It’s possible to edit Wikipedia articles without logging in to the site, but there are many perks that come with registering. You can see a list of all your edits, talk with other editors, or set up a watchlist to stay up to date on pages that interest you. 

Ironically, registered users have also more privacy protection than “anonymous” (non-registered) users, because you can choose to block your IP address.

DON’T: Use your real name.

That said, don’t use your real name to sign up. There’s no email address or personal information required to register, so might as well opt for a pseudonym so your entire Wikipedia editing history won’t haunt your online identity forever.

DO: Know when to mark an edit as “minor” or “major.”

Full disclosure: I did this wrong the first time, learning the hard way the importance of this distinction. When you save changes on an edit, it will ask you for a brief summary of what you changed, and to check a box if it’s a minor edit. A minor edit means a tiny, inconsequential change like removing a comma or changing “teh” to “the.” If any content is deleted or new information is added, the change is considered major. 

This matters because minor edits may not even show up on the Recent Changes page, which is constantly reviewed by Wikipedia’s hyper-dedicated volunteer editors. It’s just bad form not to give another editor a chance to review your change.

DON’T: Violate copyright.

Since Wikipedia is an open and free information platform, the information on the platform must also be open and free—not copyright restricted. Keep this in mind (or read the policy) before updating text from a protected source or uploading an image that isn’t in the public domain. 

DO: Embrace the community.

Rookie editors can learn a thing or two from the Wikipedia junkies who devote their hours to keeping the site’s content accurate and clean. Through the site’s “talk” feature, you can ask specific questions to the community, and members are generally very responsive. If you’re really into it, there’s a Adopt-a-User mentorship program and the {{helpme}} template for one-on-one advice. 

DON’T: Sound self-promotional, editorialize, or debate controversial entries without facts.

It should go without saying that Wikipedia is interested in the facts alone, but it doesn’t. People use it as a soapbox, revenge weapon, or marketing tool all the time. 

Over self promotion is a huge faux pas, and something Wikipedia editors are constantly on the watch for. (See conflict of interest guidelines). Best to avoid editing your own page or your company’s page. Get an objective third party to do make any changes to your page, or suggest it to Wikipedia’s editors in the community forum.

Also, don’t assume just because you know something to be fact, others will take you on your word. Add a link to back it up.

DO: Get some gadgets.

Go to My Preferences and click on the Gadgets tab. Here you can customize your Wikipedia experience to an excruciatingly detailed degree, say by toggling the appearance to a black background with green text, or displaying a floating alert for when you receive a new message from another user.

If you plan on doing a fair amount of editing, you can opt for an assessment of an article’s quality to show in the page header, to learn to distinguish top-notch entries from sketchy ones.

DON’T: Stand out.

Check out the style guide to try and mimic the site’s tone and format, lest pretentious seasoned editors reject your feedback because you sound green. Then, learn the wiki-lingo so you can sound like a pretentious seasoned editor.

Now go forth and edit.