Wikipedia:Always use source mode
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 | This page in a nutshell: Use source mode when editing Wikipedia in order to NOT mess up the article you're editing. |
When you first edit Wikipedia, you are presented with a popup (shown on the right) showing two options: one to switch to the "Visual Editor", and one to stay on "Source Mode". When it comes down to what you should be using, it should be a no brainer to use Source mode.
Why you should use source mode
[edit]Source mode is an extremely helpful tool when it comes to Wikipedia editing, and it is taken for granted by many editors. However, it can come in handy whenever you need to edit something.
Say, for example, you needed to make an infobox for an article about a British man who lived from the 1870s to the 1930s. You can do exactly that in source mode; you can take an infobox from another article, take out the details that are for that other article only, and replace them with details that are for your article! It's brilliant, and it's quite a shame that Source mode is not given as much credit as it should.
Why you shouldn't use visual mode
[edit]Visual mode is a much more complex and complicated way of editing Wikipedia. It looks like Google Docs, for one, and it is incredibly easy to screw something up without noticing.
Learning how to cite may seem easier on Visual mode, but it is sadly not the case. Source mode allows you to view *how* to actually cite something, like a news story on the web, or a report written by a group of medical students. Instead, visual mode just lets you plug in the website and title, and let it do the rest of the work for it. You don't actually know, but you know you don't know, you know?
Moral of the story
[edit]This is Wikipedia, not Google Docs. Save the complexity for schoolwork, not Wikipedia editing.