Wikipedia:Dos and don'ts
This help page is a how-to guide. It explains concepts or processes used by the Wikipedia community. It is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, and may reflect varying levels of consensus. |
"Dos and don'ts" pages are information pages that summarize Wikipedia policies, guidelines, and style in bullet points. They present the most important points in a quick list, for the benefit of editors who are not inclined to read the full, authoritative guidance. They are especially useful for highlighting guidance that is unique to Wikipedia.
Keys to a good "dos and don'ts" page
edit- To apply a standard format, use the template {{dodont}}.
- Keep bullets short – for more information, users can always check the full guideline.
- Only include the most important and non-obvious points from the guideline.
- Try to keep the "dos" and "don'ts" lists the same length, with 5–8 bullets each.
- Bold and wikilink the key terms in each bullet.
- List the most important bullets at the top.
- Link to a relevant WikiProject, if one exists.
- Add the page to relevant Wikipedia namespace categories.
- Include the {{Help Project}} banner, and any other relevant WikiProject banners, on the talk page.
Dos and don'ts pages
editEncyclopedia content
editCollaboration
editPage | Shortcut |
---|---|
Consensus dos and don'ts | WP:CONDD |
Talk dos and don'ts | WP:TALKDD |
See also
editManual of Style-related
edit- Wikipedia:Simplified Manual of Style – an overview of commonly used style guidelines
- Wikipedia:Styletips – a list of advice for editors on writing style and formatting in a bullet-point format
- Help:Introduction to the Manual of Style – a quick introduction to the style guide for articles
- Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Reading schedule – a reading schedule designed to assist editors in becoming familiar with Manual of Style
General formatting
edit- Wikipedia:Tips – overview page were you can digest how to use Wikipedia in bite-sized morsels.
- Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia – a page that provides information on the basics needed to edit Wikipedia
- Wikipedia:Writing better articles – guidance on how to improve articles
- Help:Cheatsheet – a page that provides the most commonly used wiki markup