Wikipedia is large, and I think that’s quite obvious. I’ve been there a couple of times, but I’m just confused how the structure works.
I know that there’s this “Community Portal” thing, but there are no tools and just a list of articles… I’m quite confused. Do we just go to the article and copyedit them? Also, the RCP has really got me. I came to this list of an enormous amount of RCP apps where you download them… I also can’t revert things, which I found a bit odd. I might be doing it wrong though…
Another thing I found confusing is how pages are approved. I don’t think there are “boosters” in Wikipedia, so all that is confusing…
Any tips?
Aaand I’m not planning to contribute to Wikipedia as much as wikiHow (maybe make one edit a week or something), but I just really want to know how things work on that wiki.
I have been wondering all this as well. Wikipedia is
confusing.
Yes yes, very confusing. Any help, @Awesome-Aasim
, @Rock20000
?
On Wikipedia, RC patrol is far more daunting. Wikipedia does have tools, they are just all written by the community, for the community.
You can add some tools in the Gadgets section
of Preferences. One popular tool that every RC patroller should have on Wikipedia is Twinkle. Other tools can be installed via user scripts
, such as those here
. To make installing scripts easier, you can add the “Scripts installer” in the gadgets section of preferences. You just enable that, and every script that you would like to install, you just click “Install” on the JavaScript page to install the script (for many scripts). Others have more complicated install instructions, so you visit the script’s documentation page for instructions.
You can also write your own scripts. See this wikiHow
for more instructions. And if anything goes awry after installing a new script, you can remove the script by going to this page
and removing the script.
Everything in the “Beta” section of Preferences are features that are a work in progress by the Wikimedia Foundation. For example, you can enable the Visual WikiText editor on Wikipedia or an enhanced edit conflict view.
I have worked on a few (still unpopular) scripts on Wikipedia. For example, *( User:Awesome Aasim - Wikipedia
) created a script that adds Recent Changes
to a widget, with a direct link to each edit so you can review them. With Twinkle, you can more quickly revert edits (with an optional summary). After using Twinkle for a bit, you may want to request access to “rollback” (like rollback on wikiHow), where you can revert harmful edits faster. This will also get you access to a program called “ Huggle
”. You can go even further and ask for access to AutoWikiBrowser (the program, to maybe help with fixing typos and formatting errors) and Pending Changes Reviewer
(a user right that allows you to accept edits that have been held for review and are not live). All requests for additional rights can be made at this page
.
I think Wikipedia can benefit an essay about Wikipedia for wikiHowians. Just like we have an essay about wikiHow for Wikipedians.
@Awesome-Aasim
Thanks! And wow, Wikipedia is confusing…
I think I tried creating an account… once. I was on for like, less than a minute. Too complex for me!
wikiHow is pretty simple to navigate, and unlike wikipedia, the community welcomes you. Wikipedia is also, as @WikiaWang
, it is HUGE.
The community does welcome you, see all the welcome
templates there are!
No kidding, @Awesome_Aasim
! Which reminds me…
@Awesome_Aasim
, that article was super helpful! I may attempt wikipedia again, sometime, and that would be a good resource for sure!
@Awesome-Aasim
Thanks! I’ll take a look.
Wow, that’s complicated! However, it says that my IP has been blocked from editing… I can’t edit any page.
All open proxies are blocked from editing Wikimedia projects. See this page
for more information. While it may affect legitimate users, they are intended to stop spambots and blocked/banned users that cycle through IP addresses from causing damage to the encyclopedia.
You can request an account on Wikipedia here
. Simply follow the instructions and you will eventually get an account in no time.
@Awesome-Aasim
I enabled Twinkle now, but where do I access it? Do I need to download it or something?
Twinkle can be accessed from the “Twinkle” or “TW” menu. If you are not autoconfirmed, then Twinkle will not work. But it is a great anti-vandalism tool to start with. Of course, like any new website, it always takes time to get the hang of policies. The most important policies are Neutral Point of View, Verifiability, and No Original Research.
