From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Essay on editing Wikipedia
| This page in a nutshell:
Before writing a new essay, check to make sure that the topic hasn't already been covered.
|
Although there is no guideline or policy that explicitly prohibits it, writing redundant
essays
and
information pages
is discouraged. New pages should offer new perspectives or fresh insight on editing Wikipedia, and not reiterate arguments or information that has already been covered in previous policies, guidelines, or other essays and informative pages. Editors should browse the
directory or use the search tool
that are available to avoid unintended repetition. Elaborating on a subtopic briefly covered in an existing essay, or offering a new perspective on an argument made by another essay, are acceptable.
Essays and information pages covering the same topic should be merged. If an essay is short and new enough that there is nothing to merge, then consider redirecting the page to a larger or more popular essay, userfying the essay if the author has a desire to keep it, or utilizing the
deletion process
.
- Essay quality
. It reduces overall essay quality. Multiple essays on the same topic spreads the work that could have been done on one page across several pages, leading to repetition and lack of depth. It's better to have one longer, high quality essay than many short essays.
- Detracts from expansion
. Writing redundant essays diverts time and resources away from improving on existing essays. Instead of writing a new essay, consider expanding an essay that covers a related topic.
- New users
. It confuses new editors. There are already enough policies and guidelines contributing to Wikipedia's steep learning curve. Hundreds of user-written essays, that may or may not represent community consensus, doesn't help matters.
- Vandalism
. Although vandalism in the project space is rarer than in the article space, it does occur. Having multiple essays on the same topic makes vandalism harder to detect, because there are more pages to watch.
- Propose a
merger
with a larger or more popular essay.
- Or
redirect
the page if there's no content to merge.
- Remember to
politely
discuss
the issue before making any substantial changes, either on the talk page of the essay or the talk page of the author.
- Userfy
the essay if the author, or another editor, desires the essay.
|
---|
|
|
|
|
---|
- Adminitis
- Akin's Laws of Article Writing
- Alternatives to edit warring
- ANI flu
- Anti-Wikipedian
- Anti-Wikipedianism
- Articlecountitis
- Asshole John rule
- Assume bad faith
- Assume faith
- Assume good wraith
- Assume stupidity
- Assume that everyone's assuming good faith, assuming that you are assuming good faith
- Avoid using preview button
- Avoid using wikilinks
- Bad Jokes and Other Deleted Nonsense
- Barnstaritis
- Before they were notable
- BOLD, revert, revert, revert
- Boston Tea Party
- Butterfly effect
- CaPiTaLiZaTiOn MuCh?
- Complete bollocks
- Counting forks
- Counting juntas
- Crap
- Don't stuff beans up your nose
- Don't-give-a-fuckism
- Don't abbreviate "Wikipedia" as "Wiki"!
- Don't delete the main page
- Editcountitis
- Edits Per Day
- Editsummarisis
- Editing Under the Influence
- Embrace Stop Signs
- Emerson
- Fart
- Five Fs of Wikipedia
- Seven Ages of Editor, by Will E. Spear-Shake
- Go ahead, vandalize
- How many Wikipedians does it take to change a lightbulb?
- How to get away with UPE
- How to put up a straight pole by pushing it at an angle
- How to vandalize correctly
- How to win a citation war
- Ignore all essays
- Ignore every single rule
- Is that even an essay?
- Mess with the templates
- My local pond
- Newcomers are delicious, so go ahead and bite them
- Legal vandalism
- List of jokes about Wikipedia
- LTTAUTMAOK
- No climbing the Reichstag dressed as Spider-Man
- No one cares about your garage band
- No one really cares
- No, really
- No sorcery threats
- Notability is not eternal
- Oops Defense
- Play the game
- Please be a giant dick, so we can ban you
- Please bite the newbies
- Please do not murder the newcomers
- Pledge of Tranquility
- R-e-s-p-e-c-t
- Requests for medication
- Requirements for adminship
- Rouge admin
- Rouge editor
- Sarcasm is really helpful
- Sausages for tasting
- The Night Before Wikimas
- The first rule of Wikipedia
- The Five Pillars of Untruth
- Things that should not be surprising
- The WikiBible
- Watchlistitis
- Wikipedia is an MMORPG
- WTF? OMG! TMD TLA. ARG!
- What Wikipedia is not/Outtakes
- Why not create an account?
- Yes legal threats
- You don't have to be mad to work here, but
- You should not write meaningless lists
|
|
|
|
---|
About essays
| |
---|
Policies and guidelines
| |
---|
|
|