How to Make a Wikipedia Page
By Corbin HartwickUpdated on August 19, 2024
Are you ready to start sharing your knowledge with Wikipedia and the world? Great! This tutorial will go over how to create your very own article on Wikipedia. Remember, you need an account on Wikipedia to create an article, so create one of those first.
Creating a Wikipedia Page
1. Go to www.wikipedia.org in your web browser and click on the language version that you want to use.
2. In the upper-right corner, click Log In.
3. Click in the box labelled “Enter your user name” and type in your user name. Then click on the box labelled “Enter your password” and type in your password (it will appear as bullet points to protect it from prying eyes). Finally, click the Log In button.
4. You will notice that the menu in the top-right corner has changed. Click on Sandbox.
5. Your “Sandbox” is your personal editing space, where you can practice how to create and edit pages, and even submit new pages to Wikipedia once they’re done. The top toolbar gives you some quick formatting options, such as bolding or italicizing your font, inserting a hyperlink or image, or using other common formatting conventions (such as lists or tables). The bottom toolbar lets you add special characters, including codes that have various effects on Wikipedia. The middle of the page is your main window, where you’ll start typing to bring your article to life!
6. If you’re still totally lost, type https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Simple_guide_to_creating_your_first_article into your web browser to get an easy example of how to create a Wikipedia article.
7. When you’re done, you can click Show Preview to see what your article will actually look like once it’s up on Wikipedia. If you like what you see, you can click Save Page.
8. If you’re satisfied and want to try to make your page available for everyone who visits Wikipedia to see, click Submit Your Draft for Review. Then click Save Page again when you get to the next screen.
You’ll probably get plenty of feedback from the community on things that are good or can be improved. Don’t be discouraged if your article doesn’t pass the first time; just take the feedback you get into consideration and try again, or ask for help on a “talk” page. Either way, you’ve taken your first step towards contributing to a global archive of shared knowledge!