How to Contribute to Wikipedia

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By taskeinc
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Contribute to Wikipedia

Wikipedia is an online free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. It features over 11 million articles contributed collaboratively using Wiki software, in many different languages. Here's how you can be a part of Wikipedia.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Computer
Access to Internet
Knowledge/Research

Step 1

Create a free account on Wikipedia by going to the website, click on your language of choice, and then click on "Create an account" in the upper left corner of the page.
Step 2

Once you create your account, a confirmation code will be sent to your e-mail address. The code is not required to log in, but you will need to provide it before enabling any e-mail features, once you are logged into wikipedia.
Step 3

Click on the confirmation link in your email and a new window will open stating that your email address has been confirmed. You will see, "Welcome to Wikipedia, 'User Name'! Your user account has been created." You are now ready to contribute articles and information to Wikipedia.
Step 4

Take a look at the "Introduction to Wikipedia" section where you will find information such as: Basic navigation, How to log in, a cheat sheet, and Sandbox (the Sandbox is where you can experiment and edit; it's automatically cleared every 12 hours). When you're ready, go to the "Toolbox" on the left, click on Upload File, click "Articles for Creation."
Step 5

Try editing existing articles to get a feel for writing and for using the mark-up language in use at Wikipedia. Search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on your subject. If the article already exists, you can make constructive edits if you feel it is necessary. Gather references as you will need reliable sources; not from websites, myspace, or facebook. You can create your article first in your user space. As a registered user, you have your own user space. Use this space to practice and perfect your article before submission.