Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines

This page documents an English Wikipedia policy.

It describes a widely accepted standard that all editors should normally follow. Changes made to it should reflect consensus.

Shortcut

[[:|WP:RULES
WP:POL]]

What to read if you don't want to read

There exist 3 summaries of the wikipedia guidelines, which can be useful in different circumstances. If you just want to do a quick readthrough and get on with editing, you can get away with reading one of these pages to start with. Later on you can always look further.

The five pillars of wikipedia; A quick rundown of the key rules you need to edit. Don't worry, it's easy.
Simplified ruleset; 15 rules of thumb that'll keep you out of trouble and will help you gain adminship.
The policy trifecta; The hardest set. The rules to follow even when there are no rules. Even trusted editors sometimes have trouble with these. If you stick to them, you'll go far.

Wikipedia is

Wikipedia is a collaborative project and its founders and contributors have a common goal:

Our goal with Wikipedia is to create a reliable and free encyclopedia: The largest encyclopedia in history, in both breadth and depth.

Wikipedia has some policies and guidelines that help us to work toward that common goal. Some of these policies are still evolving, while others are long settled and largely uncontroversial.

While our policies continue to evolve, many Wikipedians feel that written rules are inherently inadequate to cover every possible variation of disruptive or malevolent behavior. For example, a user who acts against the spirit of our written policies might be reprimanded even if the letter of the rules has not been violated. Those who edit in good faith, show civility, seek consensus, and work towards the goal of creating an impartial encyclopedia, should find a welcoming environment.

Key policies

You don't need to read every Wikipedia policy before you contribute! However, the following policies are key to a productive Wikipedia experience, and the sooner you get to grips with them, the better.

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. Its goals go no further. See What Wikipedia is not for more info.
Avoid bias. Articles should be written from a neutral point of view, representing differing views on a subject factually and objectively.
Don't infringe copyrights. Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia licensed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. Submitting work which infringes copyrights threatens our objective to build a truly free encyclopedia that anyone can redistribute, and could lead to legal problems. See Wikipedia copyrights for more information.
Respect other contributors. Wikipedia contributors come from many different countries and cultures, and have widely different views. Treating others with respect is key to collaborating effectively in building an encyclopedia. For some guidelines, see Wikipedia etiquette, Wikipedia:Writers' rules of engagement, Wikipedia:Civility, Dispute resolution.

Other policies and guidelines

Links to various policies can be found in the following categories:

Category:Wikipedia official policy - policies that are widely accepted and that everyone is expected to follow
Category:Wikipedia guidelines - less rigid rules of thumb that are generally accepted by consensus to apply in many cases

Procedural questions

How are policies decided?

Most Wikipedia policy was formulated in the early days of the project, generally prior to the end of 2002. Changes and additions are made by consensus, though in practice consensus on policy changes is extremely difficult to achieve. In many cases policy has developed informally; written policies usually codify longstanding tradition. A select few important policies are not decided by community consensus, but imposed by Jimbo, the Board, or the Developers - in particular, anything related to copyright, legal issues, or server load. Policies are only rarely established (or amended) through voting. Discussion is preferred.

Proposed and rejected policies are in these categories:

Category:Wikipedia proposals - ideas being proposed as possible new policies
Category:Wikipedia rejected policies - policy ideas that have been rejected or abandoned

How are policies enforced?

You are a Wikipedia editor. Wikipedia lacks an editor-in-chief or a central, top-down mechanism whereby the day-to-day progress on the encyclopedia is monitored and approved. Instead, active participants make copyedits and corrections to the content and format problems they see. So the participants are both writers and editors.

Most policies and guidelines are thus enforced by individual users editing pages, and discussing matters with each other. Some policies are also enforced by temporary blocks (notably as a mechanism for dealing with vandalism) by Administrators. In extreme cases the Arbitration Committee may make a ruling to deal with highly disruptive situations, as part of the general dispute resolution procedure.

Restricted features

Some features of the software which could potentially be misused, such as deleting pages and locking pages from editing, are restricted to Administrators, who are experienced and trusted members of the community. Policies particularly relevant to Administrators include:

Protection policy (When and why to protect a page)
Blocking policy (Blocking users to deal with vandalism or to enforce decisions of the arbitration committee)

Types of guidelines

In addition to the generally accepted policies listed above, the following guidelines have been suggested by various participants:

General guidelines

For other useful tips, see avoiding common mistakes.

Behavior guidelines

Sign your posts on talk pages
Avoid profanity
No personal attacks (and move personal debates to email)
No legal threats
Be accountable
No offensive usernames
Don't bite the newcomers
Don't create articles about yourself
Three revert rule (Revert wars are considered harmful)
Use your user pages appropriately
General Talk page guidelines
Use common sense

Content guidelines

Guide to writing better articles
Explain jargon
Deal appropriately with patent nonsense
State the obvious
Cite sources: point the reader to authoritative references (and list them properly)
Verifiability: ensure information cited is verifiable if needed (this does not mean it is "official", rather it refers to others' ability to confirm it exists and is as stated)
Avoid statements that will date quickly
Stay on topic
Warn readers about spoilers
Make articles useful for readers (and consider the audience in writing)
Check your facts
Guidelines for using Talk pages
Avoid peacock terms
Avoid weasel words (disputed)
Avoid self-references
Avoid inappropriate expressions
Algorithms on Wikipedia
Avoid lengthy, separate summaries of movies and books

Style guidelines

Guidelines regarding grouping techniques for articles

Choosing appropriate grouping technique(s): Wikipedia:Categories, lists, and series boxes
By grouping technique:
- Lists
- Categories, and other articles in Category:Wikipedia categorization
- Series boxes (or: navigational templates)

Other essays and discussions about Wikipedia

The Meta-Wikipedia site contains many articles about Wikipedia and related topics in a more editorial style.
Creating how-to articles in Wikipedia.
Wikipedia:Topical index lists many policy, editing, behavior, and other resources.
Wikipedia:Centralized discussion has a number of discussions to establish consensus on whether some groups of articles should or should not be included in Wikipedia.