Wikipedia:Be bold
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This page documents an English Wikipedia editing guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should follow, though it 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. |
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This page in a nutshell: If you see something that can be improved, go for it! |
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Be bold |
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Be bold!
The Wikipedia community encourages users to be bold when updating pages. Wikis like ours 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 and help make Wikipedia a better encyclopedia. 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. Do not take it personally! They, like all of us, just want to make Wikipedia as good an encyclopedia as it can possibly be.
Also, when you see a conflict in a talk page, do not be just a "mute spectator". Be bold and drop your opinion there.
...but be careful
Though the boldness of contributors like you is one of Wikipedia's most precious assets, it is important that contributors take care of the common good, or at least that they not edit recklessly. However, any changes you make that turn out badly can be reverted, often quite painlessly. It is important not to be insulted if your changes are reverted or edited further. The unintended consequences of certain significant changes can be more lasting, for better or for worse. This includes changes that are difficult to undo for technical reasons, like renaming the articles, creating new categories (see below) or other non-article pages, etc. Such edits are often warranted but please be sure you know what you are doing and feel free to ask for advice.
Also, substantial changes or deletions to the articles on complex, controversial subjects with long histories, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or abortion, or to Featured Articles and Good Articles, should be done with extra care. 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. A careless edit to such an article might stir up a hornet's nest, and other users who are involved in the page may become defensive. If you would like to make a significant edit—not just a simple copyedit—to an article on a controversial subject, it is a useful idea to first read the article in its entirety and skim the comments on the talk page. On controversial articles, the safest course is to find consensus before making changes, but there are situations when bold edits can safely be made to contentious articles. Always use your very best editorial judgment in these cases and be sure to read the talk page.
A factual error in a Wikipedia article should be responded to by correcting it, not by leaving the factual error in the article and then adding a parenthetical note that contradicts the error or criticizes Wikipedia for making it.
Or, in the words of Edmund Spenser, "Be bold, be bold, and everywhere be bold," but "Be not too bold".
Non-article namespaces
Although it is generally fine to be bold in updating articles, it is easier to cause problems in other namespaces by editing without due care. The admonition "but do not be reckless" is especially important in other namespaces.
Being bold in updating or creating categories and templates can have far reaching consequences. This is because category changes – and even more so template changes – can affect a large number of pages with a single edit. Templates, moreover, may have complex source code that can easily be broken by untested changes (which can fortunately be corrected with a single revert).
Because of these concerns, many heavily used templates are indefinitely protected from editing. Before editing templates or categories, consider proposing any changes on the associated talk pages and announcing the proposed change on pages of appropriate WikiProjects.
Care must also be taken on Wikipedia-space pages which reflect a community consensus or view, such as WikiProject pages. In these cases it is often far better to discuss any changes on talk pages before any changes are made. Be bold does not apply to policy pages.
In the case of images, new images should be uploaded with new names rather than overwriting old ones. Adding information to the description of an existing image is definitely an area where be bold applies.
It is generally recommended that you do not edit another Wikipedian's user page, or comments left on talk pages (other than your own, and even then do not be reckless). Fixing vandalism is nearly always welcome, even on user pages; specific users will let you know if they find your changes inappropriate or you've given incorrect information.
See also
- How to edit a page
- Editing policy
- Ignore all rules
- BOLD, revert, discuss cycle
- {{sofixit}}
- Wikipedia:Article Rescue Squadron
- Bold
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