Q&A for How to Write a New Article on wikiHow

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  • Question
    Does it cost to join wikiHow? Do I need to pay for a subscription in order to join wikiHow?
    Community Answer
    No. wikiHow allows users to register and contribute for free. However, wikiHow now offers viewers some paid services.
  • Question
    How can I get ideas for creating a wikiHow article?
    Undertale4141
    Top Answerer
    Think of a topic you are knowledgeable about. Maybe you have an excellent recipe, maybe you love to draw anime, maybe you are good at algebra. Next, search this topic in the search bar. If nothing pops up that is identical to what you want to write, go ahead and write the article. Another idea is to look through the requests for articles to be written. After choosing one, check to make sure there are no duplicates. If there aren't, you can begin writing your article.
  • Question
    How can I save an unfinished article on wikiHow so I can come back to it later?
    Top Answerer
    If you have an unfinished article, add {{inuse}} to the top of the page so other people know not to edit it. Publish that change, and then you can come back later to make further edits. When you’re all done, remove the {{inuse}} tag again and publish that change.
  • Question
    How do I make the text at the start of a step in bold?
    Community Answer
    It is automatically done for you when you publish a step. The bold usually ends after some type of punctuation, such as a period or exclamation mark.
  • Question
    What if my article never comes out?
    Community Answer
    Immediately after you click the "Publish" button, the article is available for reading, but is not fully published just yet. It gets reviewed by volunteer editors who decide whether the article is ready for fully published status. This review usually happens within 48 hours. If your article gets approved, you'll get notified on your talk page. If it doesn't, it probably needs some additional work. As long as it doesn't violate the Deletion Policy , any article can be improved so that it can eventually be fully published.
  • Question
    How do I insert a picture in an article I am currently making?
    Community Answer
    Publish the page with just text first, then edit it to add images. You can add images by following the instructions in this article .
  • Question
    What do I click when I'm ready to upload my article?
    Community Answer
    Click on the Help Us box in the upper right corner of any page. A drop-down menu will appear. Choose Write an Article from the drop down menu and a new writing page will appear for you to write in. Or you can click here to reach our "Create an Article" page . Be sure to read the Writer's Guide before writing the article; being aware of the site's policies and expectations can help to get your article fully published.
  • Question
    When I pressed "Publish," the page said there was a publishing error. What can I do?
    Community Answer
    This sometimes happens with the Article Creation tool. Copy all of the content and save it locally on you desktop (for example, in a Word or text file). Then hit "Switch to advanced editor" at the top of the page (make sure your work is saved elsewhere, or you'll lose it!). Paste the content in there and publish it.
  • Question
    What is the "I want topic suggestions?" option on the "Write an Article" page?
    Community Answer
    You can type in any keyword(s) and get a list of how-to titles that haven't been written on wikiHow yet. Keep in mind that some of these might be duplicates, so you'll want to check if we have a very similar topic on wikiHow already.
  • Question
    How often should I write a wikiHow article?
    JumperStreetKid12
    Community Answer
    You can write an article whenever you choose! The more you write, the more contributions you will make to wikiHow, but if you don't have a lot of time, then just write whenever it fits into your schedule! There are also some people on wikiHow who mostly just answer people's questions and edit articles, if they don't have time to write articles or simply have no wish to.
  • Question
    Is there any word limit on Wikihow?
    Trottyelia
    Community Answer
    No. Your article can be as long as you like.
  • Question
    My article's steps just come out as 1, 1, 1, 1, 1. How do I fix this?
    Midnight
    Top Answerer
    You have left an unnecessary line break between each step. Just make sure there are no unnecessary breaks, and this should fix itself.
  • Question
    I was writing my article, but the page refreshed and deleted it. Can I get my article back?
    Community Answer
    Unfortunately, no. Unless you saved your article somewhere outside of wikiHow, you won't be able to recover it.
  • Question
    How do I put in pictures that aren't from the internet?
    Pingu
    Top Answerer
    First, you need to get the picture into digital form and onto the device on which you are writing or editing an article. An easy way to do so is to scan them . Then, use the upload page to upload your image onto this site. Include your picture in the article by writing Image:yourImageName.png, inside of 2 square brackets on each side, with yourImageName.png being the name of the image you uploaded. Alternatively, you can follow the instructions in this article .
  • Question
    I want to delete my article on wikiHow because I realized I didn't like it. Am I allowed to delete it, and if so, how?
    Community Answer
    Generally, no. If an article has already been published, it’ll only be removed if it violates our Deletion Policy . If one of those reasons applies, you can nominate the article for deletion using the steps in How to Nominate an Article for Deletion on wikiHow . If you think your situation is a special case that falls outside those policies but where removal might be merited, you can ask for help on the Help Team page .
  • Question
    What if it says there's a permission error?
    Community Answer
    A permissions error may mean that the page is protected from editing. If you’re not sure why, or see something that need fixing, you can reach out for help on our Help Team page .
  • Question
    When do I get to start writing?
    Pingu
    Top Answerer
    You are not required to do as much preparation as outlined in this article, you can just click on "Write an Article" and begin writing. However, you should try to write a good article so that it gets approved (which is hard now), and this needs all of the deeper preparation. At least, you should get a basic idea of the structure and know the correct wikiHow format before starting. If the topic allows for it, you should also try the instructions you want to write yourself to know that they really work. Don't forget to check whether an article with the same name exists, since duplicates are merged or deleted.
  • Question
    How do I add a "You will need" checklist to my article?
    Everly Clark
    Community Answer
    Open the editing tab to the article, scroll down to the "Options," and click on the "Things You'll Need" button. However, if the needed items are food, click "Food Ingredients."
  • Question
    How do I find my article to edit it after it is already published?
    Lara
    Community Answer
    Go to your user page and scroll a little way down until you see the section with your articles in it. Click "View More" if necessary. Once you find it, click on it and then go to the Edit tab to make a change.
  • Question
    Where is the website where I can write an article?
    Community Answer
    Go to Help Us > Write an Article.
  • Question
    I tried to write an article about middle school for girls, but it won't publish. What do I do?
    Pingu
    Top Answerer
    You should make sure that your article has enough content. While there isn't a fixed size, it's good to have at least 8 detailed steps. Check your format and spelling. Make sure that the instructions you give are actually useful and not generic things like "Be confident" or "Be yourself". Read the article on how to Get an Article Approved in wikiHow's Quality Review . If you still don't know why your article won't be published, ask another user. Note that reviewing an article can take some time, so wait a day before asking why it wasn't published: it's possible that it wasn't noticed yet.
  • Question
    I am a pre-teen, so can I write an article?
    Community Answer
    wikiHow now only allows users to publish articles after they've had some experience time from the [[Special:CommunityDashboard|Community Dashboard]], because preteens aren't even 13, these users can't even sign up to contribute using the Dashboard. So, no, they can't write any new articles.
  • Question
    How do you draft the article so you can complete it later?
    Freyr
    Top Answerer
    Click {{button|Save draft}} at the bottom of the editor. Your drafts will appear in the drop-down menu for {{button|MY PROFILE}} up the top right of the screen.
  • Question
    Can children make articles, too?
    Freyr
    Top Answerer
    You have to be above the age of 13 to edit (and create articles) on wikiHow, unless you get a special permission form signed by your parent/legal guardian.
  • Question
    What happens when an article is demoted?
    Alex
    Top Answerer
    It is moved out of the new article boosting tool and into quality review. Then, the editor has to contact a booster if they want the article promoted. However, the author will likely be asked to do considerable work on the article to bring it up to standard, otherwise it won't be promoted. Be aware that wikiHow's standards are high in order to ensure quality.
  • Question
    Is there any plagiarism on any article? If so, how can I know if there is one?
    Top Answerer
    Although sources may be used (and linked to) in articles, published articles shouldn't contain plagiarism. We have a boy that identifies plagiarism on the web, so you might see some articles tagged with {{copyviobot}}, if that's the case, an admin will contact the author aspnd ask them about it. If you suspect an article contains plagiarism, you can copy and paste a chunk of it and search for it on the web to see if you get any exact matches. If you do, you can add the template {{copyvio|*link to the page where content has been copied from*}}.
  • Question
    How do I know what has not been written on wikiHow?
    Alex
    Top Answerer
    You can do a quick search on it to look for a duplicate. Check out our article here on How to Search wikiHow .
  • Question
    Are you responsible for the drawings or do those come later?
    R2_d2000
    Top Answerer
    You can make your own, or you can request them from the Wikivisual team.
  • Question
    How do you add photos? Every time I write an article I can't find where to insert them.
    R2_d2000
    Top Answerer
    You can follow the steps on this page to add images to your article.
  • Question
    How do you edit an article?
    Redtback_spider
    Community Answer
    To edit an article, click the "Edit" button at the top of the article.
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