How to create a new sandbox[edit]

Feel free to work in your sandbox or create another sandbox off of your user page. You can create as many sandbox pages as you want by editing the URL after your username with the name of the new page you want to create.

For example, to create a new page called “New sandbox”, first click on your username in the upper right when you're logged in. Now edit the end of the URL to look like this:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Username/New sandbox

Click Create source in the upper right to make the new page.

If you forget the URL of this new page, don't worry! You can always find it in your Contributions history, linked at the top right when you're logged in.

Editing an existing article?[edit]

If you're editing an existing article, a sandbox is a great place to prepare your first updates by copying a small portion of the article that you want to change or expand. Do not try to overhaul an entire article from the sandbox.

Identify what's missing from the current form of the article. Keep reading your sources as you prepare to write the body of the article.

When you're ready to make edits:

Open the article you want to change in Edit mode. (References and other templates will break if you copy from Read mode.)
Select the portion you want to work on — a few paragraphs at most — and copy it.
Open your sandbox in Edit mode and paste the copied article content.
Add an edit summary that says copied from [[article]] with the name of the original article, then save it by clicking Publish changes.
Re-enter Edit mode in your sandbox, make your changes, and save them.

Drafting a new article?[edit]

If you're creating a new article, it makes sense to get a first draft ready in a sandbox. That way, you can get a handle on some of the article structure, and develop a lead paragraph that contains everything you want to tackle.

Write an outline of your topic in the form of a standard Wikipedia article's “lead section.”

A “lead” section is not a traditional introduction. It should summarize, very briefly, what the rest of the article will say in detail. It should only include important, broad facts about the subject. After you've written your draft, revisit the lead to ensure all main points are represented in this important section. A good example is Ada Lovelace. See Editing Wikipedia page 9 for more tips.

Note that not all topics pass notability guidelines on Wikipedia, so review the notability slides from the Wikipedia policies training before doing too much work on your new article.

Editing Wikipedia brochure - https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Editing_Wikipedia_brochure_%28Wiki_Education_Foundation%29_%282017%29.pdf

https://dashboard.wikiedu.org/training/professional-development/evaluate-wikipedia-exercise

Where to start[edit]

Start by choosing an article on Wikipedia related to your course to read and evaluate.

To find one, you can:

look through the Academic disciplines category,
look through these C-class articles, or
search within a WikiProject that is of interest to you. (A WikiProject is a group of Wikipedians that forms around a particular topic).