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{{redirect-distinguish|WP:MISTAKE|Misplaced Pages:Mistakes are allowed}}
{{shortcut|WP:ACM|WP:MISTAKES}} {{essay|WP:ACM|WP:MISTAKES|WP:MISTAKE|WP:ACCIDENT}}
Newcomers to Misplaced Pages may find that it's easy to commit a '']''. That's OK — everybody does it! Here are a few common ones you might try to avoid.
{{See also|Misplaced Pages:Lists of common misspellings/Grammar and miscellaneous}}
{{Contributing to Misplaced Pages}}


The easiest way to avoid making common mistakes is to know what they are. Some of the most common recurring errors in Misplaced Pages articles have been documented below for your convenience.
===Creating...===

*'''Autobiographical articles'''. One of the most common mistakes for newcomers is creating an encyclopedia article about themselves. Because Misplaced Pages is an encyclopedia, it is not expected to have a biographical article about every person who contributes. Your ], however, is a perfect place to write about yourself; just click your user name at the top of the screen when you have ] and edit to your heart's content.
However, not all errors are covered here. Keep in mind that newcomers to Misplaced Pages may find that it is easy to commit a '']''. Don't worry about that. Remember, Misplaced Pages is unbreakable (every edit is recorded and retrievable). Also, even though there are many protocols, ], as ]. You are encouraged to ] and start editing.
*'''Company articles'''. It is often better not to write an article about the company you work for or own. Firstly, you may have problems maintaining a ], and secondly, it may be that your article will be quickly deleted. If your company is ] enough, someone else will write an article about it. (See ].)

* '''Dictionary-type entries.''' We take the stance that '']''. Each article should aim to cover its topic beyond a simple definition and teach something about greater context. Pure dictionary definitions belong in our sister project, .
== Creating... ==
* '''Articles from personal knowledge'''. You may know about a topic from personal experience, but Misplaced Pages is only for information supported by ], ] sources that readers can ]. It works well to ''first'' compile a set of reliable, independent sources, preferably ] sources that cover the topic in detail. Then organize and write the information '']'' using only what those the sources can ], and ] those verifying sources as you write. Having those sources will also demonstrate the topic's ].
* '''Autobiographical articles'''. One of the most common mistakes for newcomers is creating an encyclopedia article about themselves (or a friend or relative). Because Misplaced Pages is an encyclopedia, it is not expected to have a biographical article about every person who contributes, or indeed, most people. The simple fact is that the vast majority of people are not ], as we define that word here, and even if a subject is notable, ''you'' should not be writing articles about ]. Your ], however, is a perfect place to write a bit about yourself, especially as it relates to Misplaced Pages editing – your work and aspirations as a Wikipedian, to-do lists, useful policy/guideline links and the like. While you may write some unrelated content, you should avoid substantial content on your user page that is unrelated to Misplaced Pages. To access your user page, just click on your user name at the top of the screen after you have ].
* '''Company articles'''. It is often better not to write an article about the company you own or work for. First, you may have problems maintaining a ], and second, your article may be quickly deleted. If your company is ] enough, someone else will write an article about it. (See ] and ].)
* '''Dictionary-type entries'''. ]; each article should aim to cover its topic beyond a simple definition and teach something about greater context. Pure dictionary definitions belong in our sister project, .
{{shortcut|WP:REDUNDANT}} {{shortcut|WP:REDUNDANT}}
* '''Redundant articles.'''<span id="Redundant"/> Before creating a new article, run a search for the topic &mdash; you may find a related one that already exists. Consider adding to existing articles before creating an entirely new one. In searching keywords, remember that article titles are usually singular, e.g. "Tree", not "Trees". Also attempt a search on of the form "site:en.wikipedia.org <topic>"; articles may be missed by a Misplaced Pages search but caught by Google, especially if the terms you choose are not present in the article title. Google's spelling suggestion feature also helps a great deal. Redundant articles often result when a user comes across a red link, so see ] for more details. A good principle to remember is that Misplaced Pages is very inclusive and has an entry for almost everything, so chances are almost any subject already has an article. Also, an article for a red link may have been deleted, so see ] and search for deletions to find out when and why an article was deleted. * ''']'''.{{anchor|Redundant}} Before creating a new article, run a ] for the topic; you may find a related one that already exists. Consider adding to existing articles before creating an entirely new one. In searching keywords, remember that article titles are usually singular, e.g. "]", not "]". You can {{Google Misplaced Pages||search Misplaced Pages using Google}} or another external ] for the name of your topic and related terms; articles may be missed by a Misplaced Pages search but caught by an external search engine, especially if the terms you choose are not present in the article title. The spelling suggestion feature offered by many search engines also helps significantly. Redundant articles often result from when a user discovers a red link; see ] for more details. An article for a red link may have been deleted; use ] and search for deletions to find out if an article was deleted, and if so – when and why. On the other hand, Categories, lists, and navboxes that contain the same elements are ].
* '''Articles which are too short to have encyclopedic value.''' Articles must establish the context and ] of the subject. If an article does not contain enough content to classify it as a ], then it may qualify for ]. Instead of creating a very short article, consider adding more content to the page before saving it, or using the {{tl|inuse}} tag to indicate that the article is in the process of expansion. * '''Articles that are too short to have encyclopedic value'''. Articles must establish the context and ] of the subject. If an article does not contain enough content to clearly explain what the article is about, then it may qualify for ]. Instead of creating a very short article, consider adding more content to your initial creation before saving it, using the {{tl|inuse}} tag to indicate that the article is in the process of expansion, or add content to a parent article instead.


===Deleting...=== == Deleting... ==
* '''Deleting useful content.''' A piece of content may be written poorly, yet still have a purpose. Consider what a sentence or paragraph tries to say. Clarify it instead of throwing it away. If the material seems mis-categorized or out of place, consider moving the wayward material to another page, or creating a new page for it. If all else fails, and you can't resist removing a good chunk of content, it's usually best to ] it to the article's "Talk page", which can be accessed using the "discussion" button at the top of each page. The author of the text once thought it valuable, so it is polite to preserve it for later discussion.
* '''Deleting biased content.''' Biased content can be useful content (see above). ] and keep the content.
* '''Deleting without explanation.''' Deleting anything that isn't trivial requires some justification, or else other users who care about the article's development will be caught unaware, and may think you're being intentionally sneaky. It is best to put a few words in the ], or else you can simply write "See talk:" in the edit summary box and explain on the ].
* '''Deleting or removing text from any Talk page without archiving it,''' except in your user space. Talk pages or any discussion pages are part of the historical record in Misplaced Pages. Every time the pages are cleaned up, don't forget to store the removed text in its corresponding archive (<nowiki>]</nowiki>) page. (See ].)


* '''Deleting useful content'''. Some content may belong somewhere in Misplaced Pages despite being poorly written or in the wrong place. Consider what a sentence or paragraph tries to say. If you can, clarify it instead of throwing it away. If the wayward material seems mis-categorized or out of place but still useful in some other context, consider either moving it to another page where it ''does belong'', creating a new page where it would be warranted, or ] it to the article's ] (which can be accessed by clicking the <code>Talk</code> tab) for discussion. Consider trying to find a reliable source for unreferenced content.
===Contributing...===
* '''Deleting useless content''' can be just as helpful as adding useful information. Cutting superfluous content is at the heart of good, focused writing. You may find material on Misplaced Pages that does not belong here for various reasons. For example: Pure ] is not encyclopedic content; material may be ], not germane, or ] for the article's topic; statements might not be supportable by a ]; content might be just plain wrong, nonsensical, or the product of ]. If you find unhelpful content, ] in removing it, but ] explain your reasons in the ].
* '''Poorly structured lead sections.''' The lead should establish context, summarize the most important points, explain why the subject is interesting or notable, and briefly describe its notable controversies, if there are any. It should not "tease" the reader by hinting at but not explaining important facts that will appear later in the article. (See ].)
* '''Deleting without explanation'''. Deleting anything that isn't trivial requires some justification, or else other users who care about the article's development will be caught unaware and may think you're being intentionally sneaky. It is best to put a few words in the ], or else you can simply write "See talk:" in the edit summary box ''and'' explain the problem on the ]. Be ], knowing that the authors may have worked hard and in ] to create it.
* '''Inconsistently styled text.''' The ] is a guide for maintaining a consistent style across Misplaced Pages articles. There are also several subsidiary style guides, such as those for ] and ]. (See ].)
* '''Deleting biased content'''. Biased content can be useful content (see above). ] and keep the content.
* '''Self-references.''' Referring to the Misplaced Pages project is entirely acceptable on talk pages or in the ], but is inappropriate in articles. (See ].)
* '''Deleting or removing text from any Talk page without archiving it,''' except in your userspace. Talk pages or any discussion pages are part of the historical record in Misplaced Pages. Every time the pages are cleaned up, don't forget to store the removed text in its corresponding archive (<nowiki>]</nowiki>) page. (See ].)
* '''External links in text.''' Relevant external links should be added to a links section at the foot of the article. If the link is a reference to a ], then you should ] to create an inline citation. (See ].)
* '''Deleting named references'''. If text containing a ] is deleted along with its definition, care should be taken to ensure no "widows" are created, i.e., other occurrences of the deleted reference elsewhere in the article that now have no definition; this results in a ]. Either all appearances of the reference should be removed, or the definition should be moved to one of the remaining instances. The article should be checked after editing to ensure that no cite error has been created.
* '''Signatures in articles.''' The need to associate edits with users is taken care of by an article's ]. Therefore, you should use your signature only when contributing to ], the ], or other such discussion pages. (See ].)
* '''Deleting list-defined references'''. Similarly, if text containing a ] is removed, which only has one occurrence in the main article content, the definition should also be removed otherwise a cite error will be created; again, the article should be checked for cite errors after editing.


== Contributing... ==
===Over-doing it===
* '''Poorly structured lead sections'''. The lead should establish context, summarize the most important points, explain why the subject is interesting or notable, and briefly describe its notable controversies, if there are any. It should not "tease" the reader by hinting at but not explaining important facts that will appear later in the article. (See ].)
* '''Over-respecting "the author".'''
* '''Inconsistently styled text'''. The ] is a guide for maintaining a consistent style across Misplaced Pages articles. There are also several subsidiary style guides, such as those for ] and ]. (See ].)
**''Criticizing instead of editing.'' Articles have no ] with one overarching plan. Offering a suggestion or criticism on the ] can be helpful, but if a page is not ], it is often faster to just give the article what you think it needs.
* '''Self-references'''. Referring to the Misplaced Pages project is entirely acceptable on talk pages or in the ] but is inappropriate in articles. The reason for this rule is that according to Misplaced Pages's licensing guidelines, other projects and users are allowed to reuse Misplaced Pages content (subject to various conditions) on other projects; accordingly, if articles in Misplaced Pages make statements such as "This article is part of a series of Misplaced Pages articles on topic X...", this statement will seem strange to a person who is reading the article when it is housed in another project. (See ].)
** ''Failing to ].'' Yes, you might mess things up a little. But someone else will probably clean up after you. Really, go ahead and change it. We mean it.
* ''' Other Misplaced Pages articles used as a reference'''. Misplaced Pages articles need references to ], and ]. One Misplaced Pages article cannot be used as a source for another Misplaced Pages article, in most cases (there are a very small number of exceptions, such as cases where an article on Misplaced Pages is ''about'' Misplaced Pages or Misplaced Pages policies). Instead, Misplaced Pages articles should use published sources as references, such as books and magazines.
* '''Over-capitalizing titles.''' For instance, the second word in the title "]" is in lowercase. That's the Misplaced Pages ].
* '''External links in the text'''. Relevant external links should be added to a links section at the foot of the article. If the link is a reference to a ], then you should ] to create an inline citation. (See ].)
* '''Over-Wikifying.''' ] ] ] ], ] ] ] ] ] &mdash; see the style guideline, ].
* '''Signatures in articles'''. The need to associate edits with users is taken care of by an article's ]. Therefore, you should use your signature only when contributing to ], the ], or other such discussion pages. (See ].)


== Over-doing it ==
===Taking it too seriously===
* '''Criticizing instead of editing'''. Articles have no ] and no single overarching plan. Offering a suggestion or criticism on the ] can be helpful, but if a page is not ], it is often faster to just give the article what you think it needs.
* '''Arming for war.''' Misplaced Pages is a unique community of reasonable and consensus-oriented people. In other words, this isn't ], and ] is severely looked down upon. For more about Misplaced Pages manners, see ] and ].
* '''Failing to ]'''. Yes, you might mess things up a little. But someone else will probably clean up after you. Really, go ahead and change it.
* '''Using Misplaced Pages pages as a chat room.''' See ].
* '''Over-capitalizing titles'''. For instance, the second word in the title "]" is in lowercase. That is Misplaced Pages ].
* '''Getting annoyed because you find some bad articles.''' Misplaced Pages is, and always will be, a work in progress; please tolerate our imperfection, and help us improve. There are a lot of smart people here, and everyone finds they have something to contribute. If you're still skeptical, see the ].
* '''Over-linking'''. ] ] ] ], ] ] ] ] ]. See the style guideline and ] (the preceding sentence is an example of excessive linking to other articles).

== Taking it too seriously ==
* '''Arming for war'''. Misplaced Pages is a unique community of reasonable and consensus-oriented people. In other words, this isn't a social media site such as ], ], ], ] or ], and ] is always severely looked down upon. For more about Misplaced Pages manners, see ], ] and ].
* '''Using Misplaced Pages pages as a chat room'''. See ].
* ''' Getting annoyed because you find some bad articles'''. Misplaced Pages is, and always will be, a work in progress; please tolerate our imperfection, and help us improve. You can change an article for the better! There are a lot of smart people here, and everyone finds they have something to contribute. If you're still skeptical, see the ].
* ''' Getting annoyed when others edit or delete your work'''. It is easy to be disheartened when a page you have significantly contributed to has been edited or some of it deleted. Don't be: Misplaced Pages is largely about sharing knowledge, not assuming superiority over other editors. If others edit or comment on your work, don't be upset—take their advice and hone it, or add the points you think are relevant. If we work together, we can all make Misplaced Pages a better place.


== See also == == See also ==
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]

] * ]
* ]

* ]
]
* ]
]
{{Basic information}}
]
{{Help navigation}}
]
] ]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
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]

Latest revision as of 13:12, 12 November 2024

"WP:MISTAKE" redirects here. Not to be confused with Misplaced Pages:Mistakes are allowed. Essay on editing Misplaced Pages
This is an essay.
It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Misplaced Pages contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Misplaced Pages's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.
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See also: Misplaced Pages:Lists of common misspellings/Grammar and miscellaneous
Contributing to Misplaced Pages
(Tutorial)
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How-to pages
Writing advice
Community
Directories and indexes
Interactive help

The easiest way to avoid making common mistakes is to know what they are. Some of the most common recurring errors in Misplaced Pages articles have been documented below for your convenience.

However, not all errors are covered here. Keep in mind that newcomers to Misplaced Pages may find that it is easy to commit a faux pas. Don't worry about that. Remember, Misplaced Pages is unbreakable (every edit is recorded and retrievable). Also, even though there are many protocols, perfection is not required, as Misplaced Pages is a work in progress. You are encouraged to be bold and start editing.

Creating...

  • Articles from personal knowledge. You may know about a topic from personal experience, but Misplaced Pages is only for information supported by reliable, independent sources that readers can verify. It works well to first compile a set of reliable, independent sources, preferably secondary sources that cover the topic in detail. Then organize and write the information in your own words using only what those the sources can verify, and cite those verifying sources as you write. Having those sources will also demonstrate the topic's notability.
  • Autobiographical articles. One of the most common mistakes for newcomers is creating an encyclopedia article about themselves (or a friend or relative). Because Misplaced Pages is an encyclopedia, it is not expected to have a biographical article about every person who contributes, or indeed, most people. The simple fact is that the vast majority of people are not notable, as we define that word here, and even if a subject is notable, you should not be writing articles about yourself or people with whom you have a close connection. Your user page, however, is a perfect place to write a bit about yourself, especially as it relates to Misplaced Pages editing – your work and aspirations as a Wikipedian, to-do lists, useful policy/guideline links and the like. While you may write some unrelated content, you should avoid substantial content on your user page that is unrelated to Misplaced Pages. To access your user page, just click on your user name at the top of the screen after you have logged in.
  • Company articles. It is often better not to write an article about the company you own or work for. First, you may have problems maintaining a neutral point of view, and second, your article may be quickly deleted. If your company is notable enough, someone else will write an article about it. (See Misplaced Pages:Business FAQ and Misplaced Pages:Conflict of interest.)
  • Dictionary-type entries. Misplaced Pages is not a dictionary; each article should aim to cover its topic beyond a simple definition and teach something about greater context. Pure dictionary definitions belong in our sister project, Wiktionary.
Shortcut
  • Redundant articles. Before creating a new article, run a search for the topic; you may find a related one that already exists. Consider adding to existing articles before creating an entirely new one. In searching keywords, remember that article titles are usually singular, e.g. "Tree", not "Trees". You can search Misplaced Pages using Google or another external search engine for the name of your topic and related terms; articles may be missed by a Misplaced Pages search but caught by an external search engine, especially if the terms you choose are not present in the article title. The spelling suggestion feature offered by many search engines also helps significantly. Redundant articles often result from when a user discovers a red link; see Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Red Link Recovery for more details. An article for a red link may have been deleted; use Special:Log/delete and search for deletions to find out if an article was deleted, and if so – when and why. On the other hand, Categories, lists, and navboxes that contain the same elements are typically allowed.
  • Articles that are too short to have encyclopedic value. Articles must establish the context and notability of the subject. If an article does not contain enough content to clearly explain what the article is about, then it may qualify for speedy deletion. Instead of creating a very short article, consider adding more content to your initial creation before saving it, using the {{inuse}} tag to indicate that the article is in the process of expansion, or add content to a parent article instead.

Deleting...

  • Deleting useful content. Some content may belong somewhere in Misplaced Pages despite being poorly written or in the wrong place. Consider what a sentence or paragraph tries to say. If you can, clarify it instead of throwing it away. If the wayward material seems mis-categorized or out of place but still useful in some other context, consider either moving it to another page where it does belong, creating a new page where it would be warranted, or moving it to the article's talk page (which can be accessed by clicking the Talk tab) for discussion. Consider trying to find a reliable source for unreferenced content.
  • Deleting useless content can be just as helpful as adding useful information. Cutting superfluous content is at the heart of good, focused writing. You may find material on Misplaced Pages that does not belong here for various reasons. For example: Pure trivia is not encyclopedic content; material may be unduly weighted, not germane, or excessively detailed for the article's topic; statements might not be supportable by a reliable source; content might be just plain wrong, nonsensical, or the product of vandalism. If you find unhelpful content, be bold in removing it, but politely explain your reasons in the edit summary.
  • Deleting without explanation. Deleting anything that isn't trivial requires some justification, or else other users who care about the article's development will be caught unaware and may think you're being intentionally sneaky. It is best to put a few words in the edit summary, or else you can simply write "See talk:" in the edit summary box and explain the problem on the talk page. Be civil, knowing that the authors may have worked hard and in good faith to create it.
  • Deleting biased content. Biased content can be useful content (see above). Remove the bias and keep the content.
  • Deleting or removing text from any Talk page without archiving it, except in your userspace. Talk pages or any discussion pages are part of the historical record in Misplaced Pages. Every time the pages are cleaned up, don't forget to store the removed text in its corresponding archive (]) page. (See How to archive a talk page.)
  • Deleting named references. If text containing a named reference is deleted along with its definition, care should be taken to ensure no "widows" are created, i.e., other occurrences of the deleted reference elsewhere in the article that now have no definition; this results in a cite error. Either all appearances of the reference should be removed, or the definition should be moved to one of the remaining instances. The article should be checked after editing to ensure that no cite error has been created.
  • Deleting list-defined references. Similarly, if text containing a list-defined reference is removed, which only has one occurrence in the main article content, the definition should also be removed otherwise a cite error will be created; again, the article should be checked for cite errors after editing.

Contributing...

  • Poorly structured lead sections. The lead should establish context, summarize the most important points, explain why the subject is interesting or notable, and briefly describe its notable controversies, if there are any. It should not "tease" the reader by hinting at but not explaining important facts that will appear later in the article. (See Misplaced Pages:Lead section.)
  • Inconsistently styled text. The Manual of Style is a guide for maintaining a consistent style across Misplaced Pages articles. There are also several subsidiary style guides, such as those for infoboxes and text formatting. (See Misplaced Pages:Guide to writing better articles.)
  • Self-references. Referring to the Misplaced Pages project is entirely acceptable on talk pages or in the Misplaced Pages namespace but is inappropriate in articles. The reason for this rule is that according to Misplaced Pages's licensing guidelines, other projects and users are allowed to reuse Misplaced Pages content (subject to various conditions) on other projects; accordingly, if articles in Misplaced Pages make statements such as "This article is part of a series of Misplaced Pages articles on topic X...", this statement will seem strange to a person who is reading the article when it is housed in another project. (See Misplaced Pages:Self-references to avoid.)
  • Other Misplaced Pages articles used as a reference. Misplaced Pages articles need references to reliable sources, and articles themselves are not reliable sources. One Misplaced Pages article cannot be used as a source for another Misplaced Pages article, in most cases (there are a very small number of exceptions, such as cases where an article on Misplaced Pages is about Misplaced Pages or Misplaced Pages policies). Instead, Misplaced Pages articles should use published sources as references, such as books and magazines.
  • External links in the text. Relevant external links should be added to a links section at the foot of the article. If the link is a reference to a reliable source, then you should use reference tags to create an inline citation. (See Misplaced Pages:External links.)
  • Signatures in articles. The need to associate edits with users is taken care of by an article's edit history. Therefore, you should use your signature only when contributing to talk pages, the Village Pump, or other such discussion pages. (See Misplaced Pages:Signatures.)

Over-doing it

Taking it too seriously

  • Arming for war. Misplaced Pages is a unique community of reasonable and consensus-oriented people. In other words, this isn't a social media site such as Reddit, Twitter, Discord, Fandom or 4chan, and flaming is always severely looked down upon. For more about Misplaced Pages manners, see Wikiquette, No angry mastodons and Don't throw your toys out of the pram.
  • Using Misplaced Pages pages as a chat room. See How to avoid Talk page abuse.
  • Getting annoyed because you find some bad articles. Misplaced Pages is, and always will be, a work in progress; please tolerate our imperfection, and help us improve. You can change an article for the better! There are a lot of smart people here, and everyone finds they have something to contribute. If you're still skeptical, see the replies to common objections.
  • Getting annoyed when others edit or delete your work. It is easy to be disheartened when a page you have significantly contributed to has been edited or some of it deleted. Don't be: Misplaced Pages is largely about sharing knowledge, not assuming superiority over other editors. If others edit or comment on your work, don't be upset—take their advice and hone it, or add the points you think are relevant. If we work together, we can all make Misplaced Pages a better place.

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