Wikipedia:Be bold in updating pages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- You may be looking for Wikipedia:Manual of Style (text formatting) or Wikipedia:Bounty board.
 |
This page is considered a guideline on Wikipedia. It is generally accepted among editors and is considered a standard that all users should follow. However, it is not set in stone and should be treated with common sense and the occasional exception. When editing this page, please ensure that your revision reflects consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. |
 |
This page in a nutshell: If it's broke, fix it. |
| Wikipedia Guidelines |
|---|
| Content |
|
Autobiography |
| Classification |
| Editing |
|
Be Bold |
| Discussion |
|
Talk page guidelines |
| Behavior |
|
Etiquette |
| Style |
| Manual of style
See also policies |
Contents |
[edit] Be BOLD!!!!
The Wikipedia community encourages users to be bold in updating articles. Wikis like us develop faster when everybody helps to fix problems, correct grammar, add facts, make sure the wording is accurate, etc. We expect everyone to be bold. How many times have you read something and thought, "Why aren't these pages copy-edited?" Wikipedia not only allows you to add, revise, and edit the article — it wants you to do it. It does require some amount of politeness, but it works. You'll see. Also, of course, others here will edit what you write. Don't take it personally. They, like all of us, just want to make Wikipedia as good as it can possibly be. Bring out all information that you can.
[edit] … but don't be reckless.
Though the boldness of contributors like you is one of Wikipedia's most precious assets, it is important that contributors do not edit recklessly.
New users in particular are often entranced by the openness of Wikipedia and dive right in. That is definitely a good thing. But please note, "be bold in updating pages" does not mean that you should make large changes or deletions to long articles on complex, controversial subjects with long histories, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or abortion, without carefully looking at your edits. In addition, making dramatic changes to Featured articles, which are recognized as Wikipedia's best articles for their completeness, accuracy and neutrality, is often a bad idea.
In many cases, the text as you find it has come into being after long and arduous negotiations between Wikipedians of diverse backgrounds and points of view. An incautious edit to such an article can be likened to stirring up a hornet's nest, and other users who are involved in the page may become defensive.
If you would like to edit an article on a controversial subject (unless it's for a simple copyedit), it's a useful idea to first read the article in its entirety, skim the comments on the talk page, and perhaps view the page history to get a sense of how the article came into being and what its current status is. It's also worth reading around some related articles, as what you thought was a problem or omission may vanish after you have followed a link or two. Also, try to check outside sources for truth because verifiability and accuracy are appreciated.
If you anticipate a disagreement with your version of the article, or you want to change or delete a large amount of the text, it's a good idea to list your objections one by one in the talk page, reasonably quoting the disputed phrases, explaining your reasoning, and providing solid references (if applicable).
Then, wait for responses for at least a day: people edit Wikipedia in their spare time and may not respond immediately. If no one objects, proceed, but always move large deletions to the Talk page and list your objections to the text so that other people will understand your changes and will be able to follow the history of the page. Also be sure to leave a descriptive edit summary detailing your change and reasoning.
[edit] Categories and templates
Although it is generally fine to be bold in updating articles, being bold in updating or creating categories and templates, especially templates, can often be very bad. This is because category changes - and even more so template changes - can affect a large number of pages. In the case of templates, changing code on one template that is very widely used can cause problems for Wikipedia's servers. (This is why the most heavily used templates are protected from editing.) It is usually worth proposing any changes to categories and/or templates on talk or other relevant WikiProject pages prior to making any change.
[edit] See also
- How to edit a page
- Editing policy
- Sapere aude (dare to know)
- BOLD, revert, discuss cycle
- {{sofixit}}
