Wikipedia:Editing policy: Difference between revisions
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{{redirects here|Wikipedia:Editing guidelines|editing guidelines that are not part of this policy|Wikipedia:List of guidelines#Editing}}
{{Short description|Wikipedia policy}}
{{redirects here|
{{redirects here|WP:EP|the education program|Wikipedia:Education program|extended confirmed protection|WP:ECP}}
{{pp-semi|small=yes}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{policy|WP:E|WP:EP|WP:EDIT|WP:EDITING}}
{{policy in a nutshell|Improve pages wherever you can, and do not worry about leaving them imperfect. Preserve the value that others add, even if they "did it wrong" (try to fix it rather than remove it).}}
{{Conduct policy list}}
[[Wikipedia:About|Wikipedia]] is the product of millions of '''[[WP:Wikipedians|editors' contributions]]''', each one bringing something different to the table, whether it be: researching skills, technical expertise, writing prowess or tidbits of information, but most importantly, a willingness to help. Even the [[Wikipedia:Featured articles|best
==Adding information to Wikipedia==
{{See also|Wikipedia:Plagiarism#Copying material from free sources}}
Wikipedia ''[[WP:
Wikipedia respects others' copyright. Although content must be backed by reliable sources, [[WP:
Another way you can improve an article is by finding a source for existing unsourced content. This is especially true if you come across statements that are potentially controversial. You do not need to be the person who added the content to add a source and citation for it.
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{{policy shortcut|WP:IMPERFECT|WP:PERFECTION|WP:NOTPERFECT}}
''Perfection is not required'': [[WP:
=== Neutrality in articles of living or recently deceased persons ===
{{further|Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons}}
Although ''perfection is not required'', extra care should be taken on articles that mention living persons. Contentious material about living
=={{Anchor|Try to fix problems: preserve information|Preserve content}} Try to fix problems==
<!-- This Anchor tag
{{Anchor|How to handle problematic material|Handling problematic material|Fix problems: preserve information|Remove libel, nonsense, and copyright violations|Handling material that violates policy}}
{{Policy shortcut|WP:PRESERVE|WP:HANDLE|WP:FIXTHEPROBLEM}}
{{redirect|WP:PRESERVE|the Manual of Style section on preserving formatting|
As explained [[#Wikipedia is a work in progress: perfection is not required|above]], Wikipedia is a work in progress and perfection is not required.
If you think an article needs to be rewritten or changed substantially, [[WP:
Instead of removing content from an article or reverting a new contribution, consider:
* [[Paraphrase|Rephrasing]] or [[copy editing|copy-edit]]ing to improve grammar or more accurately represent the sources
* [[WP:FIXFIRST|Formatting or sourcing on the spot]]
* [[Wikipedia:Template
* Correcting [[Wikipedia:Accuracy dispute|inaccuracies]], while keeping the rest of the content intact
* [[WP:
* [[
* Requesting a citation by adding the {{tl|citation needed}} tag, or adding any other [[Template:
* Doing a quick [[Template:Find sources|search for sources]] and adding a citation yourself
* [[WP:DEADREF|Repairing a dead link]] if a new [[URL]] for the page or an [[archive site|archive]] of the old one can be located
* Merging the entire article into another article with the original article turned into a [[WP:redirect|redirect]] as described at [[Wikipedia:MERGETEXT|performing a merge]]
* Fixing errors in [[Help:wikitext|wikitext]] or formatting
Otherwise, if you think the content could provide the seed of a new sub-article, or if you are just unsure about removing it from the English Wikipedia entirely, consider copying the information to the article's talk page for further discussion. If you think the content might find a better home elsewhere, consider moving the content to a talk page of any article you think might be more relevant, so that editors there can decide how it might be properly included in our encyclopedia.
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===Problems that may justify removal===
{{Policy shortcut|WP:CANTFIX|WP:WONTWORK|WP:DON'T PRESERVE}}
{{Anchor|REMOVE}}Several of our core policies discuss situations when it ''might'' be more appropriate to remove information from an article rather than preserve it.
*[[Wikipedia:Verifiability|Verifiability]] discusses handling unsourced and contentious material *[[Wikipedia:No original research|No original research]] discusses the need to remove original research *[[ *[[ Also, redundancy within an article should be kept to a minimum ( [[WP:Libel|Libel]], [[WP:Patent nonsense|nonsense]], and [[WP:vandalism|vandalism]] should be completely removed, as should material that [[Wikipedia:Copyright violations|violates copyright]] and material for which no reliable source that supports it has ever been [[Wikipedia:Published|published]].
Special care needs to be taken with [[Wikipedia:biographies of living people|biographies of living people]], especially when it comes to handling unsourced or poorly sourced claims about the subject.
==Talking and editing==
{{policy shortcut|WP:EPTALK}}
{{seealso|WP:PGCHANGE|label 1 = Policies and guidelines § Content changes}}
''[[Wikipedia:Be bold
If you think the edit might be controversial, then a better course of action may be to first [[Help:Introduction to talk pages/1|make a proposal on the talk page]]. Bold editing does not excuse edits against [[WP:
If someone indicates disagreement with your bold edit by reverting it or contesting it in a talk page discussion, [[
===Be helpful: explain===
{{policy shortcut|WP:UNRESPONSIVE}}
''Be helpful: explain your changes''. When you edit an article, the more radical or controversial the change, the greater the need to explain it. Be sure to leave a comment about ''why'' you made the change. Try to use an appropriate [[Help:Edit summary|edit summary]]. For larger or more significant changes, the edit summary may not give you enough space to fully explain the edit; in this case, you may leave a note on the [[
===Be cautious with major changes: discuss===
{{policy shortcut|WP:CAUTIOUS}}
''Be cautious about making a major change to an article.'' Prevent [[WP:
===But – Wikipedia is not a discussion forum===
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For guidance on how to edit talk pages see:
* [[Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines]]
* [[Help:Archiving a talk page]]▼
* [[Wikipedia:Refactoring talk pages]]
▲* [[Help:Archiving a talk page]]
==See also==
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* [[Help:Edit conflict|Edit conflicts]]: how to deal with an edit conflict
* [[Wikipedia:There is no deadline|There is no deadline]]: various points of view on what this lack of a deadline means
* [[Wikipedia:Template index/User talk namespace/Multi-level templates#Blanking/Removal of content]] (warning templates)
{{Wikipedia principles}}
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