Nubio (All questions and answers)
How do I create a new article?
See Help:Starting a new page. You might also want to take a look at Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article.
You need to have a Wikipedia account to create a new article.
Who wrote article X on Wikipedia?
Any article on Wikipedia is written by multiple editors, not just one. If you click on the "history" tab on the top of the article, there is a list of all contributors to the particular article. If you want to cite a Wikipedia article, see Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia.
An article doesn't show up in the search
The search index is updated about every thirty hours (mailing list). Recent changes are not reflected until the next time the search index is updated.
As an alternative to Wikipedia's search function, you can use a the Google search engine. Simply append site:en.wikipedia.org to your query to search the English Wikipedia. As for the Go feature, article names are case sensitive. The "go" button usually masks this, but if an article name includes a mixture of capitalized and uncapitalized words a redirect is necessary.
I forgot my password
The only way you can retrieve a forgotten password is by using the "E-mail new password" button on the login dialog. Unfortunately, if you didn't set an e-mail, there is no way to recover your password.
How do I add an article to a category?
To add an article to a category, you place a category tag at the bottom of the article. Note: you never edit the category page to add an entry, you edit the article instead.
For example, to add the article Gary Swann to the category Category:Preston North End F.C. players, you edit Gary Swann and place "[[Category:Preston North End F.C. players]]" at the bottom of the article.
See Wikipedia:Category and Wikipedia:Categorization FAQ for more information.
Are page hit counters available?
No. The feature to count how many times a page has been visited has been turned off for performance reasons. For more details please see Wikipedia:Technical FAQ#Can_I_add_a_page_hit_counter_to_a_Wikipedia_page?. You can, however, see how many people edit a page by clicking on the "history" page.
An alternative to see viewing statistics is WikiCharts, see Special:Statistics#Other_statistics. You can also see articles with the most edits at Special:Mostrevisions.
Why have I been blocked?
There may be several reasons for this - if you feel you've been blocked wrongly, then put the {{unblock}} tag on your page and an admininstrator will take a look. It may be due to an automatic block by the software. Please be sure to include your IP address.
How can I put pictures on my pages?
First, you need the right to publish the picture under a free licence that's accepted by Wikipedia (see commons:Commons:Licensing#Acceptable licenses); for instance, the GNU Free Documentation License (as is used for Wikipedia's text), or a Creative Commons licence that doesn't restrict commercial use or creation of derivatives (such as CC-by-sa), or the public domain. This means that either you created the picture and therefore own the copyright, the person who created it explicitly stated that it was under an acceptable licence, or it is in the public domain. (Note this does not apply to images used under the limited Wikipedia:Fair use doctrine). To upload an image to Wikipedia, you can use Wikipedia:Upload (the 'Upload file' link, which is at the left of the screen if you haven't customised your skin) as a logged-in user and once it is uploaded, you can refer to it in your wiki pages by including its file name: [[Image:NameOfImage.png|Alternate Text]]. See also Wikipedia:Image use policy, Wikipedia:Picture tutorial, and Wikipedia:Extended image syntax.
All links suddenly became underlined
If all the links in the articles suddenly become underlined (or the opposite), it's probably because your browser failed to load one of the stylesheets. Do a forced reload or bypass your cache.
I changed the skin and can't get it back to normal
If you changed to another skin and cannot change back, use this link and try to change the skin. If this does not fix the problem, clear all cookies in your browser and refresh.
How do I cite Wikipedia?
See Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia.
How do I change my username?
See Wikipedia:Changing username.
When I try to edit, it opens index.php
Go to Special:Preferences. In the Editing section untick "Use external editor by default".
Why has my article been deleted?
The best way to find out is to look on the corresponding Articles for Deletion page. If it isn't there, look at the deletion log for reasons (type the name of the article in the Title box).
Also see Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted? for more ideas.
How do I change the name of an article?
You move the article using the "move" button (to the right of the "edit this page" button). Your account must be 4 days old to move pages. If the move is controversial or impossible, visit Wikipedia:Requested moves; in the case of a move that's impossible only because there's a redirect with history at the name you want to rename the article to, you can also request the move by placing {{db-move|name of page to move from}} on the page to move to.
How do I declare a default value for a template parameter?
To give parameter 1 the default value of A, use {{{1|A}}}, instead of {{{1}}}. See m:Help:Template#Declaring_a_default_value for more detailed information.
My confirmation code doesn't work
One thing to keep in mind is that only the most recent confirmation email you send will work. When you send a new confirmation email it makes all the previous ones expire immediately.
How do I set Wikipedia as my home page?
It depends on your web browser. If you're using Internet Explorer, go to the page that you want to set as your home page, and click Tools, then Internet Options in the menu. Then, click the "Use Current" button. If you're using Mozilla Firefox, go to the page that you want to set as your home page, and click Tools, then Options in the menu. Then, click the "Use Current Pages" button.
How do I remind people to sign their posts?
On someone's talk page you can place the {{sign}} template (or {{tilde}}) - that will explain to them how to sign.
To sign an unsigned comment on a talk page you can use {{unsigned}} or {{unsigned2}}. For example {{unsigned|Joe Bloggs}} will look like: —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Joe Bloggs (talk • contribs).
Can only administrators block users/delete/protect pages?
Yes, only administrators can block users, or protect and delete pages.
How do I become an administrator?
First, you need a user account. Then, make useful edits over a period of time. In this way, you prove to the community that you are here in good faith. After some months, you can add your name to Wikipedia:Requests for adminship. Be sure to read Administrators' reading list, Wikipedia:Administrators, deletion policy, protection policy, and blocking policy, and use your new "powers" with caution. Wikipedia:Guide to requests for adminship is an explanation of the process by which users become administrators and things to bear in mind before applying.
How do I search Wikipedia using Google?
See: http://www.google.com/custom?sa=Google+Search&domains=wikipedia.org&sitesearch=wikipedia.org
What are templates used for?
Templates are pages that you can include on another page. They are usually used to insert boilerplate messages that need to be displayed on more than one page. But templates are quite versatile and can be used to accomplish many things. Some specialized uses for templates are:
· Displaying a different page each day (like the Tip of the day, Pic of the day, etc.)
· Infoboxes (e.g., Template:Infobox_Philosopher). To see Socrates in this infobox, click here.
· Displaying a random page (see this implemented at Wikipedia:Featured content).
· Navigation bars (e.g., Template:browsebar).
· Navigation boxes (e.g., Template:Greek myth).
· WikiProject task boxes (e.g., Template:PhilosophyTasksBox).
· Page headers, like the header at the top of the Help Desk
To include a template on a page, enclose it in double curly brackets, leaving out the prefix "Template:", like this:
:{{In the news}}
What is Wikipedia licensed under?
Wikipedia articles can be copied and modified by anyone, but there's a catch: All modifications have to be made available under the same conditions, and credit has to be given to the original authors. These are the key terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, under which our article text is licensed. There are various mirrors and forks which use our content, and you can download our entire database to become one of them. But please only add content which you have created, or which you have been permitted to use under our terms. Everything is copyrighted by default, even if it does not have a notice to that effect!
How do I count my edits?
There are several tools available at Wikipedia:WikiProject edit counters, such as http://tools.wikimedia.de/~interiot/cgi-bin/count_edits.
When is a Wikipedia project a WikiProject
The term "WikiProject" is reserved for projects created for the purpose of managing a specific family of information within Wikipedia. It is not a place to write encyclopedia articles (that's done on the article pages themselves), but a resource to help coordinate and organize article writing. The attached talk pages are a convenient forum for those interested in a particular project. WikiProjects can also have associated Portals. The Tip of the day project is not a WikiProject, because it coordinates the development of self-referential content (Wikipedia instructions) rather than content of the encyclopedia itself (such as Roman Empire). Note that some self-referential projects have broken this guideline.
How popular is Wikipedia?
To give you an idea of how Wikipedia compares in popularity to the other websites on the Internet, check out statistics from Alexa traffic measurements, Usenet posts, and Google's news services.
How do I use popups?
You can turn navigation popups on for your user account by changing your preferences; they are under the 'Gadgets' tab or section of Special:Preferences. See WP:POPUPS for more information about popups.
Where can I report persistent vandals?
To report a persistent vandal (after warning them with the relevant block templates), go to WP:AIV and add an entry there, and an administrator should come and block the user.
How do I revert to a previous version?
See Help:Reverting.
What are the differences between Go and Search?
"Go" simply does that - it goes to the page with that exact name, with exactly the same capitalizations. The "Search" button searches Wikipedia for a page with similar title and text. But note that the Wikipedia search engine is only updated sporadically, and will not display new pages. Google will not have the latest pages either, but it will often be more up-to-date than Wikipedia's search engine. To use Google to search Wikipedia, add "site:en.wikipedia.org" to your search query.
How do I sign my posts?
To sign a post, simply append "~~~~" to the end of your post.
What is Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is an online free-content encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has described Wikipedia as "an effort to create and distribute a multilingual free encyclopedia of the highest possible quality to every single person on the planet in their own language." Wikipedia exists to bring knowledge to everyone.
Who is responsible for the articles on Wikipedia?
See Wikipedia:Overview_FAQ#Who_is_responsible_for_the_articles_on_Wikipedia.3F
How can I contact the project?
See Wikipedia:Overview FAQ#How can I contact the project?.
Site X seems to be violating Wikipedia's copyright
All text on Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL). Over 100 sites using Wikipedia for content have been identified, and categorized by their degree of compliance, at Wikipedia:GFDL Compliance. Wikipedia:Mirrors and forks has more information, including what to do if someone is violating the GFDL license. If you see an article somewhere else which was copied from Wikipedia without attribution, visit the GFDL compliance page or meta:Non-compliant site coordination.
Which wiki software does Wikipedia run on
Wikipedia, and the other Wikimedia projects use the MediaWiki software to facilitate collaborative editing and storage of page histories. You can download MediaWiki and use it on your own servers at http://www.mediawiki.org/.
What if two people edit the same article at the same time
See Help:Edit conflict.
When the second person (and later persons) attempts to save the page mediawiki will attempt to merge their changes into the current version of the text. If the merge fails then the user will receive an \"edit conflict\" message, and the opportunity to merge their changes manually. The wiki will also check for a conflict if you are editing and do a preview of the edit. Multiple consecutive conflicts are noticed, and will generate a slightly different message. This is similar to Concurrent Versions System (CVS), a widely used software version management system.
What is the license agreement on the contents of Wikipedia
Wikipedia articles are all open content and are covered by the GNU Free Documentation License. See Wikipedia:Copyrights.
May I mirror entire sections of the Wikipedia to my site? How much may I quote?
You may mirror or quote as much as you wish, as long as you maintain the text under the GNU Free Documentation License. See Wikipedia:Copyrights.
How do I cite a Wikipedia article in a paper
Cite it as you would any other web page in accordance with the normal citation practice the publication you are submitting the paper to follows. Citing the individual authors is not necessary, but you should at least include the date on which you retrieved the article (and ideally the full timestamp from the history).
Automatically generated citations in several standard styles are available through the "Cite this article" link in the toolbox, or visit the Special:Cite page.
See Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia for more information.
Where can I get a list of template messages?
See Wikipedia:Template messages.
Do I need a separate account for every wiki?
Mediawiki wikis currently do not share login information - you have to create a separate account for each wiki you frequent. There are plans to change this, though, and they should be happening pretty soon. (See m:Single login specifications) In order to prepare for this, and to ensure a speedy transition, it is suggested that you (1) Create an account using the same username (if available) on all wikis you use. (2) Set the same e-mail address for all wikis you use, and follow the confirmation procedures. The password can be different; that won't matter. You can link your user pages by using the same interwiki syntax used on articles.
Who owns Wikipedia?
See "who owns Wikipedia" for more information.
Where can I get help?
Help regarding Wikipedia policies or editing can be found at the Help Desk and New contributors' help page. You can also visit the IRC Wikipedia Bootcamp or simply place a {{helpme}} on your talk page for some instant assistance.
Can I put fair use images on my user page?
No, fair use image can only be added to articles that are closely related to the subject matter. Therefore, they cannot be added to user pages or put in userboxes.
Wikipedia is infringing my copyright. What should I do?
If you believe Wikipedia is infringing your copyright, you may request immediate removal of the copyright violation. Alternatively, you may contact Wikipedia's designated agent under the terms of the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act.
How do I prove that the copyrighted content I submitted belongs to me?
If you submitted work to Wikipedia which you had previously published (especially online), and your submission was marked as a potential infringement of copyright, stating that you are the copyright holder of the work on the article's talk page helps, but will not likely prevent deletion. It is sufficient to either (1) Make a note permitting reuse under the GFDL at the site of the original publication. (2) Send an email from an address associated with the original publication to permissions at wikimedia dot org or a postal message to the Wikimedia Foundation.
What's copyrighted?
Copyright exists automatically upon creation in a tangible form. An author does not need to apply for or even claim copyright for a copyright to exist. Only an explicit statement that the material is in the public domain, licensed with the GFDL, or is otherwise compatible with the GFDL, makes material reusable under current policy, unless it is inherently in the public domain due to age or source.
May I copy copyrighted text from other websites or publications?
Under the fair use guideline, brief selections of copyrighted text may be used, but only with full attribution and only when the purpose is to comment on or criticize the text quoted.
How do I request feedback on my articles?
You can request feedback on your new articles and edits by using Wikipedia:Requests for feedback. If your article is nearing Featured Article status, you might also like to consider Wikipedia:Peer Review, although this is a much more thorough and stressful process.
How do I edit a page?
It's quite easy. Simply click the "Edit this page" tab located at the top of the page or the other edit link across from headings on the right hand side of the page, and type away. See How to edit a page to learn about making links, using bold and italics, linking to images, and many other things...
I have problems editing with my browser!
How do I delete a page?
First off, please don't blank articles. Such changes will most likely get reverted soon afterwards, so they are pointless, too. The procedure for deletions is explained at Wikipedia:Deletion policy. Articles that should be deleted are most commonly nominated at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion.
How do I edit a redirect page?
The easiest way to edit the redirected page is to click on the link you see at the top of the page after being redirected: "redirected from ...". For example, if you try to go to the William Jefferson Clinton page, you are redirected to the Bill Clinton page. At the very top of that page, you will see a message: "(redirected from William Jefferson Clinton)", Click on the William Jefferson Clinton link, and you will edit the redirect page. See Wikipedia:Redirect.
How long should the ideal article be?
See Wikipedia:Editing_FAQ#How_long_should_the_ideal_article_be.3F.
How do I describe images?
Click on the image to get the description page. Also, when you upload the file everything you put in the upload summary is placed into the image description page. See Image:Great Horned Owl.USFWS-thumb.jpg for an example of what goes onto one of these pages.
How can I delete uploaded items?
Only Wikipedia:Administrators can delete uploads, but anyone can upload a new item with the same name, thereby replacing the old one. If you want to nominate an uploaded image for deletion, see Wikipedia:Images for deletion.
Where can I find a list of userboxes?
See WP:UBX for a full list. However, note that userboxes that show personal beliefs may be controversial and may be subject to deletion.
How do policies get decided?
Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines describes how Wikipedia arrives at its policies and guidelines through a process of discussion and consensus. Discussion takes place in the Wikipedia:Mailing lists and in the various policy pages which form part of the "Wikipedia:" namespace.
What is an administrator? What is a sysop?
Two words for the same thing. An administrator is simply a Wikipedian who can access the few restricted Wikipedia software functions: deleting articles and uploaded files, protecting and unprotecting pages and blocking and unblocking IP addresses. The software internally uses the string "sysop" to flag their accounts, perhaps one reason that term is used. They tend to be friendly folks that are willing to help you, if you post on their "talk page". See the Wikipedia:Administrators and Current list of administrators.
Who monitors the conduct of an administrator?
Administrators monitor each other; nearly all admin powers are completely reversible by any other admin (including page deletions, lockings, and IP bannings). The Arbitration Committee also has the power to discipline administrators, and has done so in several cases. In a truly rare case the Wikimedia Board of Trustees, or even Jimbo Wales, could step in.
How can I unblock an IP?
Administrators can go to Special:Ipblocklist and click on "unblock" as required. Developers can unblock multiple IPs at once.
What is the template to use when protecting a user talk page?
The template to use for full protection is {{pp-usertalk}}.
Where can I get an alphabetical list of users?
Use Special:Listusers.
I mistakenly created an article. How do I get it deleted?
You can place {{db-author}} at the top of the page; that nominates the article for speedy deletion, on the grounds that its sole contributor feels it should be deleted (usually used for accidental creations, pretty much).
Why are featured articles on the Main Page not protected?
See User:Raul654/protection for some reasons why.
How do I use vim as an external editor?
See Wikipedia:Text editor support#Vim and m:Help:External editors.
How do I make a custom userbox?
See WP:UBX#Designing_a_userbox for details.
My user page is being vandalized
First warn the vandal by placing the appropriate warning templates on their user talk page. If the vandal continues, list them at Administrator intervention against vandalism. If your user page is often severely vandalized by different people, contact an administrator to request protection of your user page.
How do I add a page about myself, or my site, company or organization?
First, please note our Wikipedia:Verifiability, Wikipedia:No original research, and Wikipedia:Notability policies, which all articles must abide by. (If they do not, they will get deleted). It is generally recommended that you not write about yourself, or companies and organizations you are associated with. The common adage goes, "if it's notable enough, someone else will add it". Also, see Wikipedia:Spam. That said, to create a new page, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also want to take a look at Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article.
What does /* */ in the edit summary mean?
In the edit summary box, the text in between '/*' and '*/' is the section title where the edit was made. The software automatically adds this in when you edit a section (using [edit] rather than "edit this page"), you don't need to do it yourself. In the page history it will show up as grey and italic text, for example if you edit the "Background" section of an article, the resulting edit summary will look like: (→Background).
Why was my image deleted?
You need to include the following when you upload an image, else it gets deleted: (1) Source of the image (mention if you made it yourself) (2) Copyright holder and license of the file. For more information, see Wikipedia:Image use policy. You can also check the deletion reason in the log.
What are WikiProjects? How do they work?
WikiProjects most often contain advice on how to edit their particular family of pages and other useful information, lists of participants, and to-do lists. Some have more than others, generally depending on their scope - to pick one at random, Wikiproject Novels is of suitably broad scope that they have their own 'current tasks' pane like the one at the community portal. There are also WikiProjects dedicated to general clerical tasks, such as managing categories, cleanup, and even standardising succession boxes (that seems to be the newest one in that category). Basically, if you're interested in a specific subject, or you know of an article that could use some specialist attention, the WikiProjects are a good place to go. Looking over Wikipedia:List of WikiProjects will give you a good overview of what there is available. For more information, see Wikipedia:WikiProject.
Are there any guidelines for user pages?
See Wikipedia:User page for guidelines about userpages. Also see what Wikipedia is WP:NOT.
How do I force a new line?
To force a new line without creating a blank line, type <br /> where you want the line break. Use this only when necessary - normal paragraphs should be created by pressing enter twice.
How do I archive a talk page?
See Wikipedia:How to archive a talk page.
Can I find the talk page under the "discussion" tab?
Yes, you can. See Help:Talk pages for more information on talk pages.
How do I deal with disambiguation?
The basic concept is at Wikipedia:Disambiguation.
The guide for creating disambiguation pages is at Wikipedia:Manual of Style (disambiguation pages).
You can request help with disambiguation at the Help desk or Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Disambiguation
What are red links?
Red links are wiki-links to articles or other pages that do not currently exist. See Wikipedia:Red link for more information.
How do I create tables in wiki code? Can I convert tables from Excel?
See Help:Table. It mentions some ways in which you can convert external table data to wikitables. Remember you can also use the standard HTML table syntax.
How do I use references to cite sources?
See Wikipedia:Citing sources to learn about what sort of references to use.
See Wikipedia:Footnotes to learn how to use the footnote system.
When should I link dates, and how should I format them?
See Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dates and numbers) for more on the official Wikipedia style.
How can I change an edit summary once the edit is posted?
You cannot. An edit summary cannot be modified once it is saved.
However, for particularly damaging edit summaries an administrator can completely remove the edit (and summary). This is rare and undesirable.
If adding an edit summary is vital, you can do a dummy edit with a summary like "the previous edit was blah blah blah".
How do I show links when printing?
The default print stylesheet does not show wikilinks when printing.
To change this, add the following to your monobook.css (if that is the skin that you use):
@media print {
a, a.external, a.new, a.stub {
color: blue ! important;
text-decoration: underline ! important;
}
}
My article gets cut off; part of the text disappears.
This could be incorrect use of the cite.php footnote system (that uses <ref> and <references/>) which is fully explained at Wikipedia:Footnotes.
A common problem with using the footnote system is that part of the article gets cut off when you save or show preview. This is usually caused by forgetting to close a <ref> with a </ref>, or using <ref name="fooboo"> instead of <ref name="fooboo"/> for a second reference.
Another unrelated problem that results in cutting off the article is incorrect use of html comments. The correct way is <!--This is a comment-->.
Why are some links blue, while others are red?
Red links indicate that a page is not yet created whereas blue links indicate that a page exists.
This also applies to user pages. So if someone's signature link is red it probably indicates that they don't have a user page yet.
An article title is already taken, but I want to start a new article on a different subject.
For example the problem could be that you want to write a biography on John Howard the scuba diver, but John Howard already exists.
In this case you would create your article at John Howard (scuba diver).
Wikipedia:Naming conventions describes which article name to choose.
Wikipedia:Disambiguation describes how to work with disambiguation pages or hatnotes to navigate people to your new article.
How do I nominate a template for deletion?
The process to delete a template is Wikipedia:Templates for deletion. However, many templates are associated with WikiProjects; you may like to consult with the appropriate project before nominating such templates.
How do I reply to a message on my talk page?
You can just reply underneath the message on your talk page (click the [edit this page] tab a the top of the page or the [edit] link just above the section you are replying to), you can visit the user's talk page and start a new section and reply there, or you can do both - leave a message on their talk page and make a note on your talk page.
The choice is up to you, but some users will say which option they prefer on their talk page.
When does the table of contents appear?
The table of contents appears automatically whenever a page has more than three headings. You can force a table of contents to appear by inserting __FORCETOC__ somewhere in the article. Similarly, __NOTOC__ disables the TOC. It can also be disabled on a per-user basis through the preferences.
How do I check which articles I have created?
A list of the articles that you have created is not really stored. You can browse all of your contributions by clicking on the "my contributions" link. Or you can view the articles you have created recently (in about the past month) at Special:Newpages, just fill in the username field.
How do I clear my browser's cache?
See Wikipedia:Bypass your cache.
In summary: Mozilla/Safari: hold down Shift while clicking Reload (or press Ctrl-Shift-R), IE: press Ctrl-F5, Opera/Konqueror: press F5.
Can I get Wikipedia on CD or DVD?
SOS Children compiled a selection of English Wikipedia articles and put them on CD, see Wikipedia:Wikipedia-CD/Download.
German Wikipedia has released CD and DVD versions, see the Wikipedia article for more information.
The Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team are working towards stable versions suitable for CD/DVD.
Why isn't a redirect working?
When creating a redirect (see how to), keep in mind that the "Show preview" will not look correct - it will look like a numbered list rather than a redirect. When you save the page it will be fine.
Another problem when making redirects is that it might not seem to work immediately. Symptoms include: the page still looks the same, and it does not function like a redirect. This is because the old version of the page is cached. A solution might be to purge the server's cache (explained at Wikipedia:Purge). For example visiting http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Main_Page&action=purge purges the Main Page. Or make sure that "Disable page caching" is ticked in the Misc section of your preferences.
How do I make the first letter of an article title lowercase?
On the English Wikipedia, article titles must begin with a capital letter. If you have an article title that should begin with a lowercase letter, save the article at the location with the first letter capitalised, and put {{lowercase|<correct name>}} at the top. The {{lowercase}} template will instruct the servers to write the first letter of the page's name as lowercase when the page is being viewed. For an example, see IPod.
Can I remove my IP address from edits I made before I registered an account?
Unfortunately, it isn't possible to modify authorship information after edits have been made (with the exception of renaming a registered account). Don't worry - your IP address can hardly tell anything about you, just your country and maybe your state - it isn't traceable in general contexts. If you have an account, and accidentally make an edit when logged out, you can reclaim the edit for the account by immediately reverting the edit while logged out, remaking the edit when logged in, and then asking an administrator for help (who will delete the two IP edits); note, however, that this has to be done before anyone else edits the page.
How do I change my signature?
You can change your signature by going into your preferences. Type in any valid wiki-syntax (except templates, external links and images) into the "Signature" field, and check "Raw signature". For example, to add a link to your talk page in your signature, use [[User:Example|Example]] ([[User talk:Example|talk]]). To add colours to your signature, use the standard HTML syntax (CSS or <font>). For example, you can type <font color="green">[[User talk:Example|talk]]</font> to give your signature a green talk page link.
How do I link to a particular section in an article?
You can link to sections in articles by putting "#", followed by the section title in the wikilink. For example, to link to the "Geographical sequences" section in the article "Mop and broom", you would use [[Mop and broom#Geographical sequences]]. Don't link to sections too often in articles, because such links go dead when the section gets renamed, or when the text that is linked to is moved to another section.
How do I delete unused pages in my user space?
You can easily get any of your user subpages deleted by adding {{db-owner}} to the page. Alternatively, you might consider simply making the page redirect to your user page. This is normally sufficient for most people's needs. There may however be a reason for the page to be kept. Only tag for deletion your own personal pages, and only if you have a genuine reason for requesting a personal subpage of yours be deleted.
Pages which have formerly been in a different namespace and moved to a subpage of the user namespace may not be deleted in this way. These must be listed either at Articles for deletion, or if they were not found originally in the article namespace, at Miscellany for deletion. On the other hand, if you'd just like them to be moved back, then by all means ask at Wikipedia:Requested moves.
How do I link an ISBN for books?
See Wikipedia:ISBN.
Where are some statistics about Wikipedia?
Some places to get Wikipedia statistics are: Special:Statistics, Wikipedia:Statistics, Category:Wikipedia statistics, and Wikipedia:Awareness statistics.
How do I make an invisible comment?
You can make a comment in an article that will be visible in the edit window, but will not show up when you save - it will be hidden. The syntax is: <!-- place your comment here -->
What does "(top)" mean?
"(top)" means that the edit is the most recent; no one has edited the article since that edit. Places it is found include "my contributions" and "my watchlist".
How do I change my password?
You can change your password by going to Special:Preferences while you are logged in.
Why isn't this image showing up?
An image may not display for various reasons.
Some adblockers, proxies, or firewalls block URLs containing /ad/ or ending in common executable suffixes. This can cause some images or articles to not appear. Also, it's surprisingly common for people to accidentally block the image server (upload.wikimedia.org) on Firefox. A solution can be to whitelist http://upload.wikimedia.org in the adblocker.
If an image thumbnail is not showing, try purging its image description page (if the image is from Wikimedia Commons, you might have to purge there too). If it doesn't work, try again.
How do I change attribution for an edit?
Unfortunately, you can't. There used to be a page at Wikipedia:Changing attribution for an edit where you could request such a change, but requests have gone answered for several years, and it is unlikely that it will be re-implemented in the near future.
Why am I not able to edit the Main Page?
The Main Page and its templates are permanently protected and may only be edited by administrators. Images are protected for the period of time that they are on the Main Page. If you see a problem, please mention it at Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors so an administrator can fix it.
How do I get something fixed on the Main Page?
Post a notice to Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors and an administrator will fix it.
When is the Main Page updated? Why do you have the wrong date in Selected anniversaries? Why is the Main Page not updating?
As an international community, Wikipedia is organized along Coordinated Universal Time, which roughly corresponds to Western European Time.
If the Main Page is out of date for you, most probably your web browser has cached an older version of the page and is not checking to see if there is an update. Try purging the cache to force your browser to get an update. If that doesn't seem to work, find out more about browser caching.
I think that today's featured article is awful. What can be done about it?
Various featured articles that have appeared on the Main Page have been criticized for being too trivial, too geeky, too obscure, too commercial or too political. Wikipedia:What is a featured article states the criteria to achieve featured article status as "well written, comprehensive, factually accurate, neutral, and stable". It is possible for an article to meet these standards without appealing to many, or even most, readers. The most effective way to get more featured articles that you find interesting is to help write them. Constructive comments and editing assistance at Wikipedia:Peer review and Wikipedia:Featured article candidates are always appreciated.
Why does not the cursor appear in the search box?
Unlike popular search engines, in Wikipedia the cursor does not appear in the search box when a page loads. The feature allowing users to start typing a search without clicking on the search box was previously requested at BugZilla and the decision was against implementation. See Bug 1864: Cursor should be placed in the search box for the report and discussion. The issue basically is that readers expect to be able to scroll through the Main Page using arrow keys. However, if the cursor is in the search box, using the arrow keys will instead pop-up autotext. This is not an issue with the famous Google search screen because there is no need to scroll. Some suggested workarounds include using a keyboard shortcut (some systems allow Alt-F to place the cursor in the search box), or using a different page to carry out dedicated searches. Examples of the latter include a Google search tailored for Wikipedia, such as this one, or using www.wikipedia.org, which defaults to the English search mode and has the cursor in the search box.
Is there an RSS feed?
There are externally hosted feeds of today's featured article and featured picture, along with some other Wikipedia pages. See Wikipedia:Syndication. It is also possible to get RSS feeds for various other Wikipedia features, such as the history of a certain page, for Recent Changes, for Related Changes, or (while logged in) for your watchlist; the first three are linked as an 'RSS' link in the sidebar, and the last is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=feedwatchlist.
What is a stub notice?
See Wikipedia:Stub for more information, including how to find specific stub notices to add to articles.
How do I download Wikipedia content?
Regular dumps of the database can be found at this address: http://download.wikimedia.org/
See also : Wikipedia:Database download and Wikipedia:Wikipedia-CD/Download
What does the acronym **** stand for?
Many common Wikipedia terms can be found at Wikipedia:Glossary.
What is the longest article in Wikipedia?
The longest article changes often, but in general 'list of' type of articles have a high presence. For editorial clarity, very long textual articles are frequently split into sub-articles by sub-topic (e.g. The main article India has many sub-articles). A dynamically updated and current list can be found at Special:Longpages, for a database snapshot at any given time.
I found a website that is copying from Wikipedia, what should I do?
: Chances are, they are allowed to do it, just as long as they comply with the GFDL, which all Wikipedia material is licensed under, which allows anyone to copy our material just as long as they provide a link back to Wikipedia.
: However, if you find a site that absolutely does not have the requisite link back, please by all means let us know on Wikipedia:Mirrors and forks based on the degree of compliance (see that page).
When does an article warrant having its stub template removed?
The short answer is whenever you feel the article is no longer a Stub. See Find or fix a stub for more info.
What was the very first article?
While the first edit ever made is believed to be a test edit by Jimbo, Wikipedia's founder, the oldest article still preserved is, as documented at Wikipedia:Wikipedia's oldest articles, the article UuU. It was created by the user User:Eiffel.demon.co.uk on 16 January 2001, at 21:08 UTC. This was on the second day after the start of Wikipedia.
How do I report a bug?
The developers use Bugzilla to keep track of bugs. For more information, see Bug reports.
How do I suggest a new feature?
To make an official feature request, use Bugzilla. (Yes, you use Bugzilla to make feature requests.)
For information on using MediaZilla, please see Bug reports.
MediaWiki feature request and bug report discussion has further info. Remember, if you do not report your feature request at MediaZilla, it will probably never be implemented!
Why was I automatically logged out?
This could be a result of your cookie, browser cache, or firewall/Internet security settings. Some ISPs use transparent proxies which cause problems logging in. If you find that you are automatically logged out just after you have logged in, and removing all your Wikipedia cookies does not fix the issue, try using the secure server (much slower) to bypass the proxy. This happens most often with some satellite ISPs (particularly HughesNet/DirecWay/DirecPC).
----Further reading----
Or, to quote Tim Starling (referring to a question about "remembering password across sessions"):
· "The kind of session isn't a network session strictly speaking, it's an HTTP session, managed by PHP's session handling functions. This kind of session works by setting a cookie, just like the "remember password" feature. The difference is that the session cookie has the "discard" attribute set, which means that it is discarded when you close your browser. This is done to prevent others from using your account after you have left the computer.
· The other difference is that PHP sessions store the user ID and other such information on the server side. Only a "session key" is sent to the user. The remember password feature stores all required authentication information in the cookie itself. On our servers, the session information is stored in the notoriously unreliable memcached system. Session information may occasionally be lost or go missing temporarily, causing users to be logged out. The simplest workaround for this is to use the remember password feature, as long as you are not worried about other people using the same computer." from the Wikipedia:Village pump (technical) on May 4, 2005. (italics added).
In other words: click the "remember me" box when logging in.
How do I flag a page that needs cleanup?
Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup has a list of cleanup tags.
For example if an article reads like an advertisement, you could edit the article and place {{advert}} at the top.
How can I trust that the information in Wikipedia is correct?
As anyone can edit any article, it is of course possible for biased, out of date, or incorrect information to be posted. However, because there are so many other people reading the articles and monitoring contributions using the Recent Changes page, incorrect information is usually corrected quickly. Thus, the overall accuracy of the encyclopedia is improving all the time as it attracts more and more contributors. You are encouraged to help by correcting articles, validating content, and providing useful references.
See Wikipedia:Replies to common objections for a longer discussion of this point.
Can I be notified when an article is changed?
If you have an account, you can add pages to your Watchlist which will notify you when changes are made.
Email notification of changes is currently disabled, see Help:Watching_pages#E-mail_notification for more information.
Can I use Wikipedia on my mobile device?
See Browser_notes#PDA & cell phone browsers, Wikipedia on PDAs and WAP access.
What do the colored numbers mean on the Watchlist or Recent Changes?
For each edit, the bracketed numbers represent the number of bytes that have been added or removed. On the English Wikipedia, this is normally the same as how many characters have been added or removed from a page. Bolding of the colored numbers indicates a large change. For more details, including how to customize it, please see Wikipedia:Added or removed characters.
They look like (+226) or (-10), which indicate 226 bytes added, and 10 bytes removed respectively.
How can I link two articles that are in different languages?
You can use Interlanguage links, which add links to other language versions of an article in the "in other languages" box that appears below the search bar.
For example in the English article Bread, adding the text "[[de:Brot]]" creates a link to the German article Brot in the "in other languages" box.
How do I create an image gallery?
See Help:Images and other uploaded files#Gallery tag, category, table of images and Wikipedia:Picture tutorial#Photo_gallery.
When I sign my name it always shows up as a red link. Why is that and how can i fix it?
In Wikipedia, when a link is red it indicates that the page doesn't exist yet (see Wikipedia:Red link). In this case your userpage does not exist yet, but you can make the link blue by editing your userpage.
Can I get a link to open in a new window?
No, you cannot force Wikipedia to open a link (internal or external) in a new window. However, you can personally open a link in a new window by using your browser to right click on the link and select the 'open in new window' option.
What do I do if there are two articles about the exact same subject?
The articles need to be merged. Wikipedia:Merging and moving pages has details on this.
How can I use an image from Commons in Wikipedia?
An image uploaded to Commons will automatically work in Wikipedia, and you use the same file name as seen in Commons. For example, if the image "Foo Bar Test 101.jpg" exists in Commons, to add it to a Wikipedia article you can simply use the syntax "[[Image:Foo Bar Test 101.jpg|thumb]]".
How do I create an account?
To create a Wikipedia account, you can simply click on "Sign in / create account" at the top right of every Wikipedia page, which directs you to this URL.
Can I create anchors in an article without creating new sections?
In Wikipedia each section in an article has an associated anchor. For example in the article Tokyo there is a History section. You can use anchor notation to link directly to a section, eg Tokyo#History. You can also create an anchor without a section with syntax like <span id="anchor"></span>, but this is not ideal for articles and should be avoided - just create more sections in the article.
Note that the syntax to create anchors <a name = "Historical_usage" /> does not work in Wikipedia.
How can a add a sound recording to an article?
Sound files must be in the .ogg format. You can upload them just like images, using the Special:Upload form. If the sound file is freely licensed it is ideal to upload it to Commons so other language Wikipedias can use it too. You can add a link to a sound file in an article using the {{listen}} template, example syntax is {{listen|filename=Pelecanus onocratalus1.ogg|title=Test|description=A test|format=[[Ogg]]}}.
Wikipedia:Media#Audio has further information. If you are interesting in spoken article recordings see Wikipedia:Spoken_articles.
Why does Wikipedia remember my login and password?
If you check the "Remember me" box at the login page, a cookie is set that logs you in transparently every time you visit the site -- so you won't even get the login screen next time you visit Wikipedia.
If you don't want your browser to remember you at all: don't check the "Remember me" box, make sure your browser's internal login form manager is deactivated, and clear all cookies when you leave the site.
How can I search for images?
At the Wikipedia search page you can search in just the image namespace (example). You can also use an external search engine to just search the image namespace (Google example). There is also the Mayflower search on the Toolserver - it checks the Commons only.
American English vs British English
Both American English and British English are used in Wikipedia. See Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style#National_varieties_of_English. Basically, if an article is already in one style be consistent and maintain that style.
How do I deal with spam?
Wikipedia:Spam basically covers the topic.
How do I add/change a licensing tag for an existing image?
When you initially upload an image you get a drop down box that allows you to select an image copyright tag. However, you can add/change a licensing tag for an existing image simply by editing the image description page. For example you can change {{No source}} to {{cc-by-2.0}}.
Wikipedia:Image copyright tags has a list of all tags.
Keep in mind that free images should be uploaded to Commons, the free image repository.
How do I to start a new language of Wikipedia?
The meta page Requests for new languages deals with starting a new language Wikipedia. You can check for existing Wikipedias at the List_of_Wikipedias.
How can I find and edit a system message?
System messages are in the MediaWiki namespace that can only be edited by admins. An example of a system message is MediaWiki:Noarticletext - which displays when a non-existent page is visited. You can find a list of system messages at Special:Allmessages, or if the message has been recently changed you can try looking at recent changes in the MediaWiki namespace.
What is CheckUser?
An editor with CheckUser status on a wiki can check if a user is a sockpuppet of another user on that wiki. See the CheckUser policy. You can request a CheckUser investigation at Wikipedia:Requests for CheckUser
I am having problems logging in.
See Help:Logging in.
Can I delete particular edits from the page history?
An admin can selectively hide edits for a page (so only other admins can see them). Alternatively Oversight can be used to permanently remove edits.
Generally only edits that reveal nonpublic personal information are removed. If you accidentally make many edits to a page, or wish to have an incorrect vandalism warning removed from a page history, your request for removal may be denied - as removal is not essential, just let it be.
How can I tell who has a page on their Watchlist?
Watchlists are private, so you cannot tell which pages a user is watching (or who is watching a particular page). However, admins can view Special:Unwatchedpages which lists articles that are not watched by anyone. The page is restricted to admins due to the vandalism risk unwatched pages pose.
Can I search particular namespaces, for example to view just policy and help pages?
Yes you can.
At the bottom of the Wikipedia search form there are boxes to tick for namespace selection. For example you can seach just the 'Wikipedia' and 'Help' namespaces where policy and help pages are located: example (scroll right down to see the ticked boxes).
You can use your favourite search engine to search a single Wikipedia namespace, for example at Google you can append site:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia to your search: example.
How does Wikipedia handle "nofollow"?
See the meta page Nofollow. Basically, all external links in Wikipedia use rel="nofollow", apart from links to websites listed in the Interwiki map.
How do I send a message to a user on Wikipedia?
The typical way to communicate with a particular user on Wikipedia is to edit their user talk page and leave a comment. The user will then recieve a "You have recieved new messages" alert. You can use the "+" button to the right of the "edit this page" tab to start a new section on their talk page.
Alternatively you can email a user (if they have their email set). At the user's userpage look for the "E-mail this user" link in the toolbox (on the right, under the search bar).
What is MediaWiki?
MediaWiki is the software that runs Wikipedia, and many other wiki websites on the internet. See http://www.mediawiki.org.
How can I edit image captions?
Image captions are located in the article text, you can access them by editing the page (ie using the "edit this page" button).
For example in the article text you will see [[Image:Frog.jpg|thumb|A green frog]]. The caption is "A green frog".
How do I get an article protected/locked?
Almost all Wikipedia articles remain open for anyone to edit - that is the nature of Wikipedia. Users do not own articles, so even if you are the chief author you will not be able to get the article protected.
In cases of edit wars or substantial continuing vandalism protection may be considered. See Wikipedia:Requests for page protection.
What is ? And what is it doing in between units and numbers?
is a special character in computing - non-breaking space (described at Nbsp). It is used in Wikipedia so that the unit attached to a value doesn't start on a new line. This is discussed at Manual of style: dates and numbers.
How can I make an ordered list in Wikipedia? Or a bulletted list?
See Wikipedia:Cheatsheet.
How can I make text bold or italics?
See Wikipedia:Cheetsheet.
Examples: ''italics'' and '''bold''', looks like italics and bold
Can I save a page without posting it to Wikipedia; a draft?
Unfortunately there is not currently a draft functionality in Wikipedia, so once you save an article it will be displayed immediately. As an alternative you can work on an article in your personal sandbox, eg at Special:Mypage/Sandbox, and then post your changes to the article when you are ready.
How can I check if a user is an admin or bureaucrat etc.
You can use Special:Listusers to check a user's rights.
Who is the publisher of Wikipedia?
If you are looking to cite Wikipedia in a report etc see Nubio 40. You could consider "Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia." to be the publisher.
How do I join a WikiProject?
There is no formal method to "joining" a WikiProject. Some have a list that you can sign your name on, while others have a userbox that you can add to your user page. Basically, all you need to do to join a Wikiproject is to help accomplish the project's tasks and goals.
How can I see which articles link to a particular website?
You can use Special:Linksearch to see which Wikipedia pages link to particular website. An example.
How can I get an Wikipedia article translated?
Wikipedia:Translation is a place to request an article in another language Wikipedia be translated and brought to the English Wikipedia.
If an article is already available in another language then a link to it may appear in the "In other languages" under the search bar on the left of the article.
What does 'wikify' mean?
To 'wikify' means to format a Wikipedia aritcle. This can be done by making links to other articles, formatting the lead (first sentence), and arranging section headers. Wikipedia:Guide to layout covers this in some detail.
How do I correct a mistake/vandalism/error in a Wikipedia article?
You can edit almost every Wikipedia article, so you can probably fix an error yourself. Apart from clicking the "edit this page" button and manually correcting the error, you can look at the page history for a dubious edit and revert it.
To look at a list of all edits go to the "history" button. To revert a vandalism edit click on the date and time of the last good edit. This will bring up the last good edit. Then edit the page, leave an edit summary and save. You can also revert a single edit by clicking on the 'undo' link next to it in the history.
If reverting is too complicated for you, please feel free to leave a note at the Wikipedia:Help desk.
Does Wikipedia have an Application Programming Interface (API)?
Yes the MediaWiki software that runs Wikipedia has an API. See http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API.
How do I add a "citation needed" tag to an article?
You can place a [citation needed] note after a specific fact in an article by placing {{fact}} after the fact that needs a citation.
You can place {{Unreferenced}} at the top of an article or section to indicate that an entire portion of the article requires citations.
Mathematical formulas don't display correctly for me.
Some math symbols in Wikipedia do not render correctly in Internet Explorer 6.0. You can try a different web browser, or try changing the 'Math' options in Special:Preferences.
Help:Displaying a formula has information on displaying formulas in Wikipedia.
The Watchlist explained!
Logged in users have a Watchlist, found at the "my watchlist" link at the very top of every page.
The Watchlist list allows you to monitor recent changes on selected pages. You can add a page to your Watchlist by visiting the page and clicking the "watch" tab. A page and its talk page automatically go on the list together, you can't watch just an article, or just a talk page.
The Watchlist displays the most recent edit to each page on the list you have created, within the time period you specify. Information for the Wathclist comes from the recent changes table, so only goes back approximately 3 months.
Options for the Watchlist are available at Special:Preferences, in the "Watchlist" section.
A typical Watchlist entry looks like:
(diff) (hist) . . m Wikipedia:Help desk; 03:54 . . (+509) . . Joe 321 (Talk | contribs) (New question: How do I delete an article?)
The (diff) is a link showing the change that the edit made to the change. The (hist) brings up the history of edits to the page. The m indicates a minor edit (b indicates a bot edit, N a new page). Wikipedia:Help desk in the page being watched. 03:54 is the time the edit took place. (+509) is the number of bytes that the edit added to the page. Joe 321 is the editor that made the edit. "New question: How do I delete an article?" is the edit summary.
See Help:Watching pages for more information.
How do I fix an image that is too large in the article?
It sounds like you haven't specified a size for the image, try adding the 'thumb' parameter. Eg [[Frog.jpg]] will be very big, but [[Frog.jpg|thumb]] will be a good size.
Wikipedia:Extended image syntax has more on image syntax.
How do I change the color of a link?
For an example try the code: [[test|<span style="color:red;">example</span>]]
How do I ask for page protection?
Visit Wikipedia:Requests for page protection. This is also the place to ask for page unprotection.
How long does it take for my edit to appear in Wikipedia?
Edits appear immediately in Wikipedia, there is no delay. This also applies to new pages - once created they are displayed straight away.
See Nubio 96 for reason my an edit might not show up.
How can view a list of a page's subpages?
Use Special:Prefixindex. For example Special:Prefixindex/User:Example to display the subpages from User:Example.
Keep in mind that for its articles Wikipedia doesn't use a subpage system. For example the naming convention is History of Poland rather than Poland/History.
See Wikipedia:Subpages for more information.
I want to get admission to your college, what is the procedure to get admission?
Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a university or college. There is a sister project called Wikiversity, but it does not offer enrollment.
Who is the author of this site?
Almost all articles on Wikipedia are written by multiple editors, not just one. If you click on the "history" tab on the top of the article, there is a list of all contributors to the particular article.
You can extract citation information for an article from Special:Cite. This tool suggests "Wikipedia contributors" as the author.
See Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia for more information.
Why don't Categories display when you 'Show preview' a page?
Categories actually do show up when you preview a page, but they are displayed right at the bottom of the page.
How do I edit a template?
To edit a template you need to go to the template's page. For example to edit the template {{show1}} you go to the page Template:show1.
To get a list of templates used on a page, edit the page and scroll right down to the bottom. The list of used templates is listed under the "Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page".
How do I quit Wikipedia? Can I delete my account?
If you wish to leave or quit Wikipedia, you can simply stop editing.
User accounts can't be deleted in Wikipedia (because it would cause the software to make errors when attributing your edits, and also for GFDL compliance reasons). If you wish, you can get your username changed to something else at Changing username.
You can ask for your userpage to be deleted by placing "{{db-userreq|I wish to have my userpage deleted}}" on your userpage.
If other users have commented on your user talk page then generally you can't have it deleted, however you can blank it or archive.
See m:Right to vanish for more info.
I think a licence tag on an image is wrong, where can I discuss it?
If you dispute the accuracy of a licence tag on an image, you can discuss the problem with the person who uploaded the image, or follow the procedure at Wikipedia:Possibly unfree images.
How do I make a box or table collapsible, with the show/hide buttons?
See Wikipedia:NavFrame.
How many articles are there in Wikipedia?
Special:Statistics has a count of the number of articles in Wikipedia. The number is constantly updated by the software.
How is Wikipedia funded?
Wikipedia is run by the Wikimedia Foundation. At the Foundation's FAQ page they explain where the money to run Wikipedia comes from.
Where can I find warning or block templates?
You can always craft your own message when warning a user about their actions, or pre-made messages can be found at Wikipedia:Template_messages/User_talk_namespace.
Where can I request a new article?
At Wikipedia:Requested articles you can request for an article that doesn't exist yet to be written.
How do I request for an image to be added to an article?
You can use the template system (explained at Category:Wikipedia requested images) and place an image request template on the talk page of the article. For example place "{{reqphoto}}" on the talk page of the article. Or you can use the Wikipedia:Requested pictures page.
Somebody renamed a page, and I disagree. Can I move it back?
As long as the resulting redirect hasn't been edited, and you can move pages, then yes, you can move it back. This might be a bad idea, though, because it might lead to a move war. If the situation is controversial, or the resulting redirect has been edited, you can ask at Wikipedia:Requested moves for the move to be reverted.
I added or changed a reference, and some text disappeared, although it is still in the edit box
This is nearly always because there's a typo in one of the reference tags. The only three correct formats for reference tags are: <ref>text</ref> <ref name="name">text</ref> <ref name="name" />. It's a common mistake to put one of the slashes in the wrong place, causing the reference to not end and the article text beyond it to end up inside the reference.
How can I get access to a specific reference?
If you want to access a specific reference cited in a Wikipedia article but it is not available online, you can make a request at Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange/Resource Request, where people with access to archives will try to find the resource for you.
For example if you are looking for a July 2004 edition of a particular music magazine, you would first check online, then at your local library, and then make a request at the Resource Exchange.
