User:Djembayz/Getting through the beginning stages of editing ...

This essay was written as a response to a new user who thought we need to offer graduate courses in how to edit!

Here are a few things I've come up with that may help you get through the beginning stages of editing.

Initial steps

I suggest beginning with this game: Wikipedia:The Wikipedia Adventure. Then, try out a bit of editing. Once you've made an edit or two, take a look at this tutorial: Wikipedia training for students or the Beginner's guide to Wikipedia. (No need to learn everything in the tutorials; you can pick out one or two things you understand and try them out.)

Start small - add facts with a citation

The way to have success when you're starting out is to start small, by adding facts to existing articles.

User:Bluerasberry told me, "Your goal is to add a fact and a citation. Or a fact and a link, if you can't figure out how to add the citation."

Start small - clean up messy articles

Alternatively, you can start by cleaning up messy articles.

When cleaning up something messy, it can help to use rather brief edit summaries that link to the instructions for Wikipedia editorial style. This is often covered by "copyedit for WP:NPOV", "removing uncited material, as per WP:VERIFY", "copyediting and/or reorganizing as per WP:MOS", "trimming promotional material as per WP:SPAM."

Corrections - more challenging

Making corrections to existing articles is more challenging. When someone disagrees with your correction, stop editing the article and make sure you post your version on the talk page, with a citation. Be brief and polite, and make sure to avoid edit wars so you don't get blocked!

Learning to write new articles

And finally, the best way to learn to write new articles is by creating the worthwhile requested articles that other editors are ignoring.

That would be pretty much anything about Africa, as you can see from the list below!

• Wikipedia:List of missing Africa topics
  
• List of wanted articles about Africa
  
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Africa/Articles to be written or improved
  
• List of missing African Poetry articles
• List of missing African Cinema articles
• (More lists are at Wikipedia:Requested articles.)

Unless you're already a working journalist or academic, it may take about six months or so before you really catch on as to what is considered notable, and what is a reliable source. You can speed this process by spending some time adding references to articles over at the Article Rescue Squadron, seeing what gets deleted despite your efforts, and reading the policies cited in the deletion discussion.

Once you get the idea of how to format existing secondary sources into an article, it gets easy. You'll find that most articles are an exercise in formatting, fact-checking, and citation, rather than article writing. (Notable exceptions: the broad overview articles and medical articles, which need to be written by editors with subject knowledge, who probably have the skill to write articles suitable for publication in paid or academic sources.)

How to go about learning

For me it was way easier to learn by looking things up in a book than in talk pages or tutorials. I used How Wikipedia Works.

Ask for help at the Wikipedia:Teahouse, where the friendly people are. Post a note at a WikiProject to find someone to collaborate. See how they do things; copy, paste, and modify their solutions. (Don't forget to use the "preview" button!)

Also, nothing beats making connections and getting help in person, at a Wikipedia meetup or through the Wikipedia Education Program!