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Smart Region^.RU
Using possibilities of Wikimedia projects for supporting regional development of the Russian Federation

Wiki-one-two-three is a step-by-step guide for those intending to make their first dive, orientation and gain experience of useful participation in Wikimedia projects.

Is it for me?

This is for those interested to understand what is this Wiki-thing, but too busy to:

find and read reference materials
watch or listen to YouTube or other instructional videos
try to figure it out by themselves, doing the quest or asking at the Wiki-Club.

How do I use this?

The tasks in the following section are for:

Wikipedia edition in the language you are using this — our Wiki-encyclopedia is the best known sister among Wikimedia projects
Desktop view (large screen, keyboard, mouse) — easier to navigate and edit

Ready? Set? Go open Wikipedia in another tab and follow the steps below!

Step-by-step instructions

Interface

Familiarize yourself with the vertical menu on the left (under the project logo), see where each of its links takes you
Check out the User menu (top right) — particularly valuable once you register a username and log into it
Take a look at the Page-specific horizontal menu (on Top, to the left of the Search window) — elements might slightly differ in various language editions, whether you are logged in and the status of your username (functional rights that come with responsibilities, awarded by community decision)
Scroll down to the bottom of a page — you will find another standard menu there.
Once you click "Edit" (Visual Editor) or "Edit Source" (Wiki-code) in the Page-specific horizontal menu on Top or in any of its sections/subsections, this will open editing window with additional standard Toolbars and links ABOVE and, in case of Wiki-code, BELOW the window. Check their elements out as well.

Key quality levels

Wikipedians constantly scrutinize and assess both existing and newly-appearing content on the project. Quality labels put on the page might make its authors proud, push them work harder or be more attentive to the way they prepare the material next time:

How do I find things here

External Search engines and AI applications — these are usually quite familiar with Wikipedia and show you links to its content
Search window in Wikipedia itself
Categories —- check out the existing Category Tree and its branches' interwiki connection to similar pages in other Wikimedia projects and language sections of Wikipedia (see links at "In other projects" and "In other languages" sections of the Vertical Bar on the left)
Wikipedia's internal links:
1. inside the text of an Article, a Disambiguation page, Topical List or a Theme-specific Portal — missing pages requested for creation are marked red
2. inside Infoboxes and Navigational boxes
Once you find an encyclopedic text on the topic of interest, you can find more content on the topic by checking links at "In other projects" and "In other languages" sections of the Vertical Bar on the left

I want to correct errors and add information

Start by experimenting in a Sandbox - in Visual Editor and/or in Wiki-code.
If you intend to make significant edits or edit a lot, Creating an Account is best
- You will be welcomed
- Your edits will be seen as more serious
- Other participants will be able to give you hints on your talk page
- Should your acts or logic seem disputable to someone, they will have a chance to discuss these with you instead of rolling them back right away
- You will be able to continue editing even if your condominium neighbor is anonymously vandalizing on Wikipedia and its admins have temporarily blocked anonymous editing from your Internet Provider IP-addresses
Once you start, start small (missing commas, correcting mistypes, adding clarifications or appropriate supporting Footnotes and other Links to sources that would confirm Notability of the given phenomenon or fact).

You don't cover all the important things! I intend to roll my sleeves & start creating articles.

Here you find links to some lists and lists of the lists of clearly appropriate articles (those missing are in red) and other things a newbee will find useful

10 000 articles every language edition should have
Requested articles — thematic lists, assembled by local community (these can be discussed and grown locally).
Article wizard — Step-by-step Article Creation Wizard
Tutorial / Help Menu Site map
Article drafts project — that's a space for article development for newbies (nobody erases a draft even if its notability is not yet confirmed by footnotes to the topic description in Reliable sources)

And where do I find the rules?

That's inappropriate! How do I get it corrected?

Request directory

References