How to register on Wikipedia
create a new entry on Wikipedia it is not necessary to register, however the creation of your account allows you to take advantage of some additional features and to show your name among the contributions visible in the change history of the page.
The main difference between a registered user and an unregistered user is the test page (also referred to as sandbox) which allows you to practice the functions of Wikipedia without risking damage to the encyclopedia.
- Registered user: a user who has created his own account on Wikipedia has a personal test page at his disposal in which he can work calmly by saving his changes.
- User not registered: Unregistered users can test in a generic, commonly accessed sandbox. The generic test page has the disadvantage of being regularly cleaned of its content, consequently it does not allow you to save your changes for a long time.
If you have decided to create your account, log on to the Wikipedia city site and click on the entry Subscribe present at the top right, then enter your data in the fields Username, Password e Email address (optional data), then type the security code shown on the video in the appropriate field and presses the button Create your user account but I will complete the registration.
How to create a test page
After creating your account, you can press on the item Checks present at the top right to create your own sandbox and start getting familiar with Wikipedia's functions.
In the text field at the bottom you can enter the text and change your page to source mode, then displaying the Wikipedia source code. If you prefer to make changes without displaying "strange" codes, press the icon of pencil placed at the top right of the text field, then on the option Visual change and click on the entry Change. By doing so, you can clearly see the changes made: if you insert an image, you will see the inserted photo and not its source code (this is the so-called mode WYSIWYG, that is What You See Is What You Get, which in your language we can translate as "what you see is what it is").
If, on the other hand, you have decided not to create your account and want to carry out tests, linked to the common tests page, click on the item Modify wikitesto and start making your changes, then press the button Post changes to save the changes, otherwise click on the button View preview to view the final result of the test page created or on the button Show changes to see the comparison between the start page and the page after your changes.
How to write an entry
Before creating a new Wikipedia entry, you need to know the guidelines to follow and how to use the commands for creating a new page.
Then access your test page and choose one of the writing modes between Source e Visual as indicated above. To simplify things and see the changes made in real time, I suggest you use the visual mode, which allows you to create an entry even without knowing the source code of Wikipedia.
In the new entry creation screen, you can use the toolbar to make text changes, insert links, images, tables and much more using one of the available commands.
- Arrows: useful for undoing or redoing the last change made.
- Paragraph: is the tool that allows you to create the page structure. If you are creating a singer's page, via the command Heading it is possible to create the chapters of the voice as “Biography”, “Discography”, “Notes” etc., while the instrument Subtitle (starting with Subtitle 1) is to be used to create sub-items within the chapter, such as "Nineties" within the "Biography" chapter or "Solo album" within "Discography". The Paragraph tool, therefore, should not be used to add size to the text but to create a hierarchical structure.
- A: the command to make changes to the text, such as Bold, italic, apex, Strikethrough etc.
- Chain: used to create a link to an existing Wikipedia entry. To insert a link, highlight the word of interest and click on the icon chain, then you can view and select one of the Related items to the selected word. Alternatively, you can insert an external link by pressing on the item external link and entering the URL address.
- Quote: the tool to insert citations that refer to in-depth studies external to Wikipedia.
- List: is the command identified by the icon of three horizontal lines, useful for creating a bulleted or numbered list.
- Inserisci: allows you to insert multimedia files (such as images), galleries, formulas, tables, graphics, comments and apply existing templates to the item.
- Ω: to insert special characters.
Also, you can press the button ≡ per accesre alle options entry and add information such as Category, Languages e Templates used and take advantage of some functions such as the Find and replace, which allows you to find a word within the entry and automatically replace it with a new term entered. Once you have finished editing, click on the button Publish your changes to make them effective.
I recommend, before writing any content on Wikipedia, make sure that this is in line with the general rules of the community. To find out what they are recommendations and guidelines for the publication of contents on Wikipedia, consult this page of the famous encyclopedia. If you go against Wikipedia's rules (or there is a suspicion of it), other users could open a discussion and consider deleting the entry from the encyclopedia. More info here.
Also, know that to write a good entry on Wikipedia you have to take into consideration some fundamental points such as an impersonal and impartial writing style, a correct use of verbs and nouns and applying to the created entry a structure similar to that used in existing entries. . To learn more about the topic and know the Wikipedia guidelines, I suggest you read the Style Manual.
How to create a new entry
After understanding how Wikipedia works, familiarizing yourself with creating a test page and learning how to write a page, you are ready to create a new entry on Wikipedia.
The easiest way to create a new page on Wikipedia is to use the search function, which allows you to check if the item you want to create already exists. Then type the name of the entry you want to create in the field Search Wikipedia present at the top right and click on the icon magnifying glass to start the search.
If the topic has not yet been covered, you will see the message in the search results Create the page “[page name]” on this project: press on it to start creating the page and start writing.
You must know that to create a new entry on Wikipedia you also have other solutions. If you are reading an existing entry and within it you see one word in red, it means that there is a link to a non-existent page. Then click on the link and automatically the page for creating a new item will open.
Alternatively, you can verify the existence of a Wikipedia entry by its URL address. Enter the address http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/nome_pagina in the address bar of your browser and press the button Submit present on the keyboard: if you see the message Wikipedia in the your language does not yet have an entry with this name, you can proceed with the creation of the page. Then locate the option To create the page yourself, click here! and press on it to access the page for creating a new entry.
How to edit an existing entry
On Wikipedia you can also make changes to already existing pages. If you have noticed an error, a lack or you simply want to enrich a Wikipedia entry, click on the option Modification o Modify wikitesto to edit the page in source and visual mode respectively.
Then make the changes following the instructions provided above and, as soon as you have finished editing, press the button Publish your changes, after which you can enter a description of the changes made in the field Describe what you have changed and presses the button again Publish your changes to make them effective.
To view the history of changes made to the page in question, you can press the button Chronology: If you are a registered user, you can see your username in the changes list, otherwise your IP address will be shown.
How to create a Wikipedia page
