Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia
Wikipedia's goal is to compile the sum of all human knowledge into a Web-based, free content encyclopedia. You can help complete this goal by contributing to Wikipedia in the ways that follow. If you would prefer to do more general maintenance tasks across many articles, please see Wikipedia:Maintenance. Articles of the most pressing importance can be found at Wikipedia:Backlog.
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Create an account
You do not have to log in to read Wikipedia. You do not have to log in even to edit articles on Wikipedia. Just about anyone can edit almost any article at any given time, even without logging in. However, creating an account is free and has several benefits.
What you can do
Articles
Consider using a Wizard to help you create articles. See the Article Wizard.
Articles make up the bulk of Wikipedia. Each article is on one topic (rather than a word and its definition, which belong in the Wiktionary).
The goal of an article is to create comprehensive and verifiable encyclopedia articles about topics. On Wikipedia, reviewed high quality articles become featured articles. Wikipedia's most important articles are listed at Wikipedia:Vital articles. On that page are several categories. You can look at the table of contents to choose a category you know about or are interested in. Choose an article, try to improve it so it matches featured article criteria, which provide a model for our ideal content.
Another important way you can help with articles is by creating requested articles.
Lists
Lists are essential to the organization of content on Wikipedia. To help improve Wikipedia's lists, first find a list that interests you at Portal:Contents/Lists of topics and then help it match the featured list criteria. You can also create needed lists by going to Wikipedia:Requested lists.
Pictures
Pictures are another important part of Wikipedia. To help with pictures, go to Wikipedia:Requested pictures and see if you can fulfill any of the requests. Please try to meet the featured picture criteria.
Sounds
Sounds are a vital yet often forgotten ingredient in Wikipedia. To help with sounds, go to Wikipedia:Requested recordings and see if you can fulfill any of the requests.
Portals
A Wikipedia portal helps users find a gathering point for a certain topic so they can more easily find information. To help improve portals, first go to Portal:Contents/Portals and find a portal of interest. Then see if you can improve it to meet the featured portal criteria.
Topics
A topic is a set of interrelated articles. With some hard work and dedication, you can help earn Wikipedia another featured topic. To see the criteria that need to be met for a featured topic, go to Wikipedia:Featured topic criteria.
