14.ddg8 Wikipedia:About From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation <#mw-navigation>, search <#p-search> Page semi-protected </wiki/Wikipedia:Protection_policy#semi> * *About* * Welcome </wiki/Wikipedia:Welcoming_committee/Welcome_to_Wikipedia> * Help menu </wiki/Help:Contents/Browse> * Tutorial </wiki/Wikipedia:Tutorial> * FAQ </wiki/Wikipedia:FAQ> * Where to ask questions </wiki/Wikipedia:Questions> * Ref desk </wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk> * Help desk </wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk> * Wikicode </wiki/Help:Cheatsheet> * Glossary </wiki/Wikipedia:Glossary> This is a general introduction for visitors to Wikipedia. The project also has an encyclopedia article about itself, Wikipedia </wiki/Wikipedia>, and some introductions for aspiring contributors </wiki/Help:Getting_started>. For information on how to donate to the organization that runs Wikipedia, see Ways to Give <//wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Ways_to_Give> See also: Wikipedia:FAQ </wiki/Wikipedia:FAQ> and Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia </wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_Wikipedia> English Wikipedia right now * Wikipedia is running MediaWiki </wiki/MediaWiki> version 1.23wmf4 (49ec115). * It has 4,389,999 content articles, and 31,660,620 pages in total. * There have been 668,709,693 edits. * There are 819,896 uploaded files. * There are 20,216,758 registered users, o including 1,426 administrators </wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators>. * This information as of 09:25, 1 December 2013 (UTC) * Update <//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:About&action=purge#> * v </wiki/Template:About_Wikipedia> * t </wiki/Template_talk:About_Wikipedia> * e <//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:About_Wikipedia&action=edit> *Wikipedia </wiki/Wikipedia>* (Listen <//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/En-uk-Wikipedia.ogg>^i </wiki/File:En-uk-Wikipedia.ogg> / </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English> </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>w </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>ɪ </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>k </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>ɨ </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>ˈ </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>p </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>iː </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>d </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>i </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>. </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>ə </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>/ </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English> or Listen <//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/En-us-Wikipedia.ogg>^i </wiki/File:En-us-Wikipedia.ogg> / </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English> </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>w </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>ɪ </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>k </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>i </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>ˈ </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>p </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>iː </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>d </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>i </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>. </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>ə </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key>/ </wiki/Help:IPA_for_English> /*WIK*-i-*PEE*-dee-ə/ </wiki/Wikipedia:Pronunciation_respelling_key>) is a multilingual </wiki/Multilingualism>, web-based </wiki/Web_application>, free-content </wiki/Free_content> encyclopedia </wiki/Encyclopedia> project supported by the Wikimedia Foundation </wiki/Wikipedia:Wikimedia_Foundation> and based on an openly editable </wiki/Wikipedia:How_to_edit_a_page> model. The name "Wikipedia" is a portmanteau </wiki/Portmanteau> of the words /wiki </wiki/Wiki>/ (a technology for creating collaborative websites </wiki/Website>, from the Hawaiian </wiki/Hawaiian_language> word /wiki <//en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wiki#Hawaiian>/, meaning "quick") and /encyclopedia </wiki/Encyclopedia>/. Wikipedia's articles provide links designed to guide the user to related pages with additional information. Wikipedia is written collaboratively </wiki/Collaborative_writing> by largely anonymous Internet </wiki/Internet> volunteers </wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedians> who write without pay. Anyone with Internet </wiki/Internet> access can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles, except in limited cases </wiki/Wikipedia:Protection_policy> where editing is restricted to prevent disruption or vandalism. Users can contribute anonymously </wiki/Wikipedia:IPs_are_human_too>, under a pseudonym, or, if they choose to, with their real identity. The fundamental principles by which Wikipedia operates are the five pillars </wiki/Wikipedia:Five_pillars>. The Wikipedia community has developed many policies and guidelines </wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines> to improve the encyclopedia; however, it is not a formal requirement to be familiar with them before contributing. Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia </wiki/Wikipedia> has grown rapidly into one of the largest </wiki/Wikipedia:Size_of_Wikipedia> reference websites </wiki/Website>, attracting 470 million unique visitors monthly as of February 2012.^[1] <#cite_note-1> There are more than 77,000 active contributors <http://en.wikipedia.org/wikistats/EN/TablesWikipediansEditsGt5.htm> working on more than 22,000,000 articles <//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias#Grand_Total> in 285 languages </wiki/Special:SiteMatrix>. As of today, there are 4,389,999 articles in English </wiki/English_language>. Every day, hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world collectively make tens of thousands of edits and create thousands of new articles to augment the knowledge held by the Wikipedia </wiki/Wikipedia> encyclopedia. (See the statistics page </wiki/Wikipedia:Statistics> for more information.) People </wiki/Wikipedia:Who_writes_Wikipedia> of all ages, cultures and backgrounds can add or edit </wiki/Help:Editing> article prose, references, images and other media here. What is contributed is more important than the expertise or qualifications of the contributor. What will remain depends upon whether the content is free of copyright restrictions </wiki/Wikipedia:Copyright_violations> and contentious material about living people </wiki/Wikipedia:BLP>, and whether it fits within Wikipedia's policies </wiki/Wikipedia:Editing_policy>, including being verifiable </wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiable> against a published reliable source </wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_source>, thereby excluding editors' opinions </wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view> and beliefs and unreviewed research </wiki/Wikipedia:Original_research>. Contributions cannot damage Wikipedia because the software allows easy reversal of mistakes and many experienced editors are watching to help ensure that edits are cumulative improvements. Begin by simply clicking the /Edit/ link </wiki/Hyperlink> at the top of any editable page! Wikipedia is a live collaboration differing from paper-based reference sources in important ways. Unlike printed encyclopedias, Wikipedia is continually created and updated, with articles on historic events appearing within minutes, rather than months or years. Older articles tend to be more comprehensive and balanced; newer articles may contain misinformation, unencyclopedic content, or vandalism </wiki/Wikipedia:Vandalism>. Awareness of this helps the reader to obtain valid information and avoid recently added misinformation (see /Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia </wiki/Wikipedia:Researching_with_Wikipedia>/). *What Wikipedia is not </wiki/Wikipedia:What_Wikipedia_is_not>* explains Wikipedia's scope. More information on key topics appears hereafter. Further advice is at *Wikipedia:FAQ </wiki/Wikipedia:FAQ>*, *Wikipedia:Advice for parents </wiki/Wikipedia:Advice_for_parents>*, and *Wikipedia:Questions </wiki/Wikipedia:Questions>*. For help getting started with editing or other issues, see *Help:Contents </wiki/Help:Contents>*. Contents [hide <#>] * 1 About Wikipedia <#About_Wikipedia> o 1.1 Wikipedia history <#Wikipedia_history> o 1.2 Trademarks and copyrights <#Trademarks_and_copyrights> o 1.3 Wikipedia contributors <#Wikipedia_contributors> o 1.4 Credits <#Credits> * 2 Making the best use of Wikipedia <#Making_the_best_use_of_Wikipedia> o 2.1 Exploring Wikipedia <#Exploring_Wikipedia> o 2.2 Basic navigation in Wikipedia <#Basic_navigation_in_Wikipedia> o 2.3 Using Wikipedia as a research tool <#Using_Wikipedia_as_a_research_tool> o 2.4 Wikipedia vs paper encyclopedias <#Wikipedia_vs_paper_encyclopedias> o 2.5 Strengths, weaknesses, and article quality in Wikipedia <#Strengths.2C_weaknesses.2C_and_article_quality_in_Wikipedia> o 2.6 Disclaimers <#Disclaimers> * 3 Contributing to Wikipedia <#Contributing_to_Wikipedia> o 3.1 Editing Wikipedia pages <#Editing_Wikipedia_pages> o 3.2 Wikipedia content criteria <#Wikipedia_content_criteria> o 3.3 Editorial administration, oversight, and management <#Editorial_administration.2C_oversight.2C_and_management> o 3.4 Handling disputes and abuse <#Handling_disputes_and_abuse> o 3.5 Editorial quality review <#Editorial_quality_review> * 4 Technical attributes <#Technical_attributes> * 5 Feedback and questions <#Feedback_and_questions> o 5.1 Frequently asked questions (FAQ) <#Frequently_asked_questions_.28FAQ.29> o 5.2 Static help <#Static_help> o 5.3 Giving feedback <#Giving_feedback> o 5.4 Research help and similar questions <#Research_help_and_similar_questions> o 5.5 Community discussion <#Community_discussion> o 5.6 Contacting individual Wikipedia editors <#Contacting_individual_Wikipedia_editors> * 6 Other languages <#Other_languages> * 7 Sister projects <#Sister_projects> * 8 See also <#See_also> * 9 References <#References> * 10 Further reading <#Further_reading> * 11 External links <#External_links> About Wikipedia Wikipedia history For more details on this topic, see History of Wikipedia </wiki/History_of_Wikipedia>. </wiki/File:Www.wikipedia.org_screenshot_2013.png>