Editing Encyclopedia:Wikipediholic (section)

==Stages of Wikipediholism==
[[File:Angry Wikipe-tan.svg|thumb|Wikipe-tan says: "Beware!".]]
===Risk factors===
Those who are the most at risk for catching the disease are those who have [[Wikipedia:Why create an account?|created an account]], have access to a computer constantly and consistently, and who like the idea of a wiki. Those with [[Wikipedia:Editcountitis|Editcountitis]] may have elevated risk factors, as do [[Hacker_(computer_security)|hackers]], [[Linux]] users, and [[Mozilla Firefox|Firefox]] enthusiasts (because of their exposure to [[open source]] technology).

When asked "do you want to be right or happy?", the Wikipediholic answers "be right!" without hesitation.

===Early stages===
The patient finds that they "like" Wikipedia. They use the Main Page as a bookmark and consult the articles for information. The patient contributes to articles that they find lacking. They learn basic wiki markup. The patient can, however, give up now and cure themselves.

===Middle stages===
The patient uses the Main Page or their watchlist as bookmarks and their homepage. They reduce other online activities. The patient may join a [[Wikipedia:WikiProject|WikiProject]] and contribute heavily to articles, as well as try editing outside the article and talk namespaces. They learn basic HTML and advanced wiki markup. The patient requests to become an [[Wikipedia:Administrator|Administrator]], and proudly shows off their [[Wikipedia:barnstar|barnstar]]s. Most refuse cures, which are still available during this stage.

When [[WP:BLOCK|blocked]], some Wikipediholics have been known to grieve over their loss of editing privileges.

===Late stages===
The patient uses their watchlist as their homepage. They may also explore the [[Special:Recentchanges|Recent changes]]. The patient reduces other "real world" activities such as washing clothes, cleaning their house and talking to friends. Editing takes up more and more time. They may edit on a smartphone on the bus, at work, at home on a laptop and even in bed on a tablet. They may join multiple WikiProjects and contribute very heavily to many articles, as well as trying to edit heavily outside the article and talk namespaces. Certain individuals may even choose to edit [[Wikipedia:Wikipediholic]] and related articles. The patient learns advanced HTML and master wiki markup. They become an Administrator. The patient may use third party software to edit Wikipedia, and accumulate many barnstars. The thought comes to them, while reading this page, "this isn't funny; my contributions to Wikipedia are ''extremely'' important". Cures become scarce.

===Terminal stages===
The patient uses the Recent changes as their homepage and identifies as a [[Wikipedia:Recent changes patrol|Recent changes patroller]]. They reduce all other activities besides those relating to "real world" health and Wikipedia (and sometimes endanger the former). The patient joins multiple WikiProjects and contributes very heavily to many articles, as well as to the core of running of Wikipedia. They master HTML and rewrite the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style|Manual of Style]]. The patient requests to be a [[Wikipedia:Bureaucrats|Bureaucrat]] or Wikimedia Foundation employee. They shun third-party software, preferring the "raw" Wikipedia experience. The patient has so many barnstars that they take them off their userpage because they take up too much room and place them in a subpage of their userpage. Extreme denial may result, and cure is almost impossible. Terminal stages are when the wikipediholic spends an inordinate amount of time on [[Wikipedia]], and may spend very little time eating, sleeping or washing due to the amount of time being spent on Wikipedia. 

In extreme (yet rare, we hope!) cases, the patient may begin publishing [[m:Paper Wikipedia|paper versions of Wikipedia]] and trying to make profit off of them.