How to Stop Vandalizing Wikipedia
Understand what Wikipedia is not., Distract yourself with another activity if you feel like vandalizing., Do not edit-war with other users., Trust Wikipedia., Edit constructively.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Understand what Wikipedia is not.
Wikipedia is not for advertising, useless articles, or vandalizing.
It is an encyclopedia with over five million articles of useful content.
Read the Wikipedia guides. -
Step 2: Distract yourself with another activity if you feel like vandalizing.
Think about the consequences if you vandalize: your edit will be disallowed/reverted or you will be warned, or even be blocked (the length of your block depends on how destructive the activity is and how many times you have been blocked in the past).
Play a game, draw, exercise, play with your pets—do something else that you enjoy. , Even good-faith edits can be reverted.
Post a question on the person's talk page about the revert, and ask if it was a good edit. , If you edit Wikipedia, do not publish any type of vandalism.
Do not blank pages, replace content, or publish random or irrelevant content.
This can confuse readers. , Fix spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, or add new facts and cite them with a reference. -
Step 3: Do not edit-war with other users.
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Step 4: Trust Wikipedia.
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Step 5: Edit constructively.
Detailed Guide
Wikipedia is not for advertising, useless articles, or vandalizing.
It is an encyclopedia with over five million articles of useful content.
Read the Wikipedia guides.
Think about the consequences if you vandalize: your edit will be disallowed/reverted or you will be warned, or even be blocked (the length of your block depends on how destructive the activity is and how many times you have been blocked in the past).
Play a game, draw, exercise, play with your pets—do something else that you enjoy. , Even good-faith edits can be reverted.
Post a question on the person's talk page about the revert, and ask if it was a good edit. , If you edit Wikipedia, do not publish any type of vandalism.
Do not blank pages, replace content, or publish random or irrelevant content.
This can confuse readers. , Fix spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, or add new facts and cite them with a reference.
About the Author
Beverly Baker
Experienced content creator specializing in DIY projects guides and tutorials.
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