How to Become a Wikipedia Editor

Create a Wikipedia account.

Creating a Wikipedia account gives you credibility. Only registered users can create new Wikipedia articles.

Familiarize yourself with the policies.

Read the five pillars of Wikipedia to know about Wikipedia's main principles. You'll want to do this before making any edits or creating new articles.

Read existing articles before making edits.

Get a feel for the place and ease yourself in. This will help you learn the proper tone and formatting.

Start small.

Make a few edits to existing pages first. It's good to get some practice before jumping straight into creating a new article.

Ask for help.

Don't hesitate to ask for help. If you need help, there are many ways to get help on Wikipedia, including : Help:Cheatsheet - a basic guide to wiki text. If there's some syntax you don't know, check here first. Community portal - a place where you get to know which articles need small editing. Contact the Help desk for on-wiki support.

Take the Wikipedia Adventure.

Learn the basics with an interactive game. Wikipedia Adventure has seven missions, each with its own skills and surprises. It will teach you about the basic principles and rules of Wikipedia and is designed to help you to become a great Wikipedian.

Follow Wikipedia's best practices.

This will help you be a good Wikihow citizen. Some best practices include: Use edit summaries. Avoid controversy and edit wars. Engage in a collaborative and constructive manner (building good and featured articles or expanding stubs). Do maintenance tasks like reverting vandalism, removing copyright material Enable your e-mail address for communication.

Stay active.

Keep contributing. As you continue to make valuable contributions, you will be recognized for your efforts.