Editing Encyclopedia:About

{{Short description|Introduction to English language Wikipedia}}
{{Shortcut|WP:ABT|WP:ABOUT|WP:WIKIPEDIA}}
{{Hatnote|This is a [[WP:INFOPAGES|general introduction]] for visitors to Wikipedia. For aspiring contributors, also see this [[Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia|guide]] and [[Help:Introduction|tutorial]]. For other uses, see [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia (disambiguation)]].}}
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"Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge.<wbr> That's what we're doing." {{nobreak|—[[Jimmy Wales]]}}}}}}

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'''[[Wikipedia]]''' is a [[Wikipedia:Free encyclopedia|free online encyclopedia]] that anyone can edit, and [[Wikipedia:Wikipedians#Number_of_editors|millions already have]].

[[Wikipedia:Purpose|Wikipedia's purpose]] is to benefit readers by presenting information on all branches of [[knowledge]]. Hosted by the [[WP:Wikimedia Foundation|Wikimedia Foundation]], Wikipedia consists of [[Help:Editing|freely editable]] content, with articles that usually contain numerous links guiding readers to more information.

[[Collaborative writing|Written collaboratively]] by volunteers known as [[Wikipedia community|Wikipedians]], Wikipedia articles can be edited by anyone with [[Internet access]], except in [[Wikipedia:Protection policy|limited cases]] in which [[editing]] is restricted to prevent [[Wikipedia:Disruption|disruption]] or [[WP:VAND|vandalism]]. Since its creation on [[Wikipedia Day|January 15, 2001]], it has grown into the world's [[Wikipedia:Size of Wikipedia|largest]] reference [[website]], attracting [[stats:#/all-wikipedia-projects/reading/unique-devices|over a billion visitors each month]]. Wikipedia currently has more than [[m:List of Wikipedias#All Wikipedias ordered by number of articles|{{Number to word|{{rounddown|{{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|totalactive}}|-6}}}} articles]] in [[Special:SiteMatrix|more than 300 languages]], including {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} articles in [[English language|English]], with {{NUMBEROFACTIVEUSERS}} active contributors in the past month.

Wikipedia's fundamental principles are summarized in its [[Wikipedia:Five pillars|five pillars]]. While the [[Wikipedia community]] has developed many [[Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines|policies and guidelines]], new editors do not need to be familiar with them before they start contributing.

[[Wikipedia:Who writes Wikipedia?|Anyone]] can [[Help:Editing|edit]] Wikipedia's text, data, references, and images. The quality of content is more important than the expertise of who contributes it. Wikipedia's content must conform with its [[Wikipedia:Editing policy|policies]], including being [[Wikipedia:Verifiable|verifiable]] by published [[Wikipedia:Reliable sources|reliable sources]]. Contributions based on [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|personal opinions]], beliefs, or personal experiences, [[Wikipedia:Original research|unreviewed research]], libellous material, and [[Wikipedia:Copyright violations|copyright violations]] are not allowed, and will not remain. Wikipedia's software makes it easy to reverse errors, and experienced [[Wikipedia editor|editors]] [[WP:Watchlist|watch]] and [[Wikipedia:Recent changes patrol|patrol]] bad edits.

[[WP:NOTPAPER|Wikipedia differs from printed references in important ways]]. Anyone can instantly improve it, add quality information, remove misinformation, and fix errors and [[Wikipedia:Vandalism|vandalism]]. Since Wikipedia is continually updated, encyclopedic articles on major news events appear within minutes.

For over 24 years, editors have volunteered their time and talents to create history's most comprehensive encyclopedia while providing references and other resources to researchers worldwide (see [[Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia|Researching with Wikipedia]]). In summary, Wikipedia has tested the [[wisdom of the crowd]] since 2001 and has found that it succeeds.

{{blockquote|quote=To start editing simply click the {{button|Edit|bgcolor=var(--background-color-base, #fff)|bgcolor2=var(--background-color-base, #fff)}} or {{button|Edit&nbsp;source|bgcolor=var(--background-color-base, #fff)|bgcolor2=var(--background-color-base, #fff)}}{{nbsp}}button, or the pencil icon{{nbsp}}[[File:Pencil edit icon.svg|baseline|22px|class=skin-invert-image]], at the top of any [[Wikipedia:Protection policy|non-protected]] Wikipedia page or section.}}

{{Basic information|state=}}

[[Category:Wikipedia basic information|About]]