Wikipedia:Principles

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The English Wikipedia does not have a single, definitive statement of the community's values and principles. Over the years, several editors have written summaries of these values and principles as well as essays expressing their ideas about what is important. Below is a list of some of these popular pages:

Shortcuts

Wikipedia:Five pillars: Perhaps the most popular, this was written as a simple summary for new editors.
User:Jimbo Wales/Statement of principles: One of the oldest, this statement of principles was written by Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales.
Wikipedia:Trifecta: This three-point simplified ruleset was the precursor to the Five Pillars page.
Wikipedia:Core content policies: Brief summary and a bit of background on our core content policies.
Wikipedia:Wikipedia is an encyclopedia: Blunt and to the point laying out of what Wikipedia is
Wikipedia:Wikipedia in brief: Focuses on the encyclopedic nature of the project.
Wikipedia:Simplified ruleset: A longer page with more detail.
Wikipedia:Ethics: A list of various ethical codes
Wikipedia:Ethical Code for Wikipedians
Wikipedia:Purpose: Wikipedia's purpose
User:Andrewa/creed: What Wikipedians believe
Wikipedia:Pledges: Specific principles individual Wikipedians pledge to uphold
Wikipedia:Product, process, policy: The three Ps
Wikipedia:Here to build an encyclopedia: Behaviors that build, or destroy, the project.
Wikipedia:Eight simple rules for editing our encyclopedia
Wikipedia:Ten simple rules for editing Wikipedia
Wikipedia:Historical archive/Rules to consider

All of these pages are intended to be informative and helpful to editors. None of these pages themselves are official policies or guidelines of the English Wikipedia community (see WP: local consensus for details).

Further reading `(external links)`

External video
video icon Jimmy Wales: The birth of Wikipedia, 2005 TED (conference), 20 mins.

Mission statement – The Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia values – The six values of the Wikimedia Foundation
In a nutshell, what is Wikipedia? And what is the Wikimedia Foundation? – The Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia founding principles – Principles generally supported by all of the Wikimedia communities
Wikimedia Ethics – Principles of ethics in-regards to online media

Wikipedia principles

Five pillars
Statement of our principles

Jimbo's statement
Historic principles

Simplified ruleset
Synopsis of our conventions

Wikimedia principles
Common to all projects
(in Meta-Wiki)

Principles
Other essays on Wikipedia's principles

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Wikipedia essays

Essays on building, editing, and deleting content

Philosophy	Articles must be written All Five Pillars are the same height Avoid vague introductions Be a reliable source Civil POV pushing Cohesion Competence is required Concede lost arguments Dissent is not disloyalty Don't lie Don't search for objections Editing Wikipedia is like visiting a foreign country Editors will sometimes be wrong Eight simple rules for editing our encyclopedia Explanationism External criticism of Wikipedia Here to build an encyclopedia Levels of competence Most ideas are bad Need Neutrality of sources Not editing because of Wikipedia restriction The one question Oversimplification Paradoxes Paraphrasing POV and OR from editors, sources, and fields Process is important Product, process, policy Purpose Reasonability rule Systemic bias There is no seniority Ten Simple Rules for Editing Wikipedia Tendentious editing The role of policies in collaborative anarchy The rules are principles Trifecta Wikipedia in brief Wikipedia is an encyclopedia Wikipedia is a community
Article construction	100K featured articles Acronym overkill Advanced source searching Adding images improves the encyclopedia Advanced article editing Advanced table formatting Advanced template coding Advanced text formatting Alternatives to the "Expand" template Amnesia test A navbox on every page An unfinished house is a real problem Articles have a half-life Autosizing images Avoid mission statements Bare URLs Be neutral in form Beef up that first revision Blind men and an elephant BOLD, revert, discuss cycle Build content to endure Cherrypicking Chesterton's fence Children's lit, adult new readers, & large-print books Citation overkill Citation underkill Common-style fallacy Concept cloud Creating controversial content Criticisms of society may be consistent with NPOV and reliability Deprecated sources Dictionaries as sources Don't demolish the house while it's still being built Don't get hung up on minor details Don't hope the house will build itself Don't panic Don't revert due solely to "no consensus" Don't teach the controversy Editing on mobile devices Editors are not mindreaders Encourage the newcomers Endorsements (commercial) Featured articles may have problems Fruit of the poisonous tree Give an article a chance Identifying and using independent sources History sources Law sources Primary sources Science sources Style guides Tertiary sources Ignore STRONGNAT for date formats Inaccuracies in Wikipedia namespace Inaccuracy Introduction to structurism Link rot Mine a source Merge Test Minors and persons judged incompetent "Murder of" articles Not every story/event/disaster needs a biography Not everything needs a navbox Not everything needs a WikiProject Nothing is in stone Organizing disambiguation pages by subject area Permastub Potential, not just current state Presentism Principle of Some Astonishment Printability Pruning article revisions Publicists Put a little effort into it Restoring part of a reverted edit Robotic editing Sham consensus Specialized-style fallacy Stub Makers Run an edit-a-thon Temporary versions of articles Tertiary-source fallacy There is a deadline There is no deadline The deadline is now Understanding Wikipedia's content standards Walled garden What an article should not include Wikipedia is a work in progress Wikipedia is not a reliable source Wikipedia is not being written in an organized fashion The world will not end tomorrow Write the article first Writing better articles
Writing article content	Avoid thread mode Gender-neutral language Proseline Use feminine pronouns Write the article first Writing about women Writing better articles
Removing or deleting content	Adjectives in your recommendations AfD is not a war zone Arguments to avoid in deletion discussions Arguments to avoid in deletion reviews Arguments to avoid in image deletion discussions Arguments to make in deletion discussions Avoid repeated arguments Before commenting in a deletion discussion But there must be sources! Confusing arguments mean nothing Content removal Counting and sorting are not original research Delete the junk Does deletion help? Don't attack the nominator Don't confuse stub status with non-notability Don't overuse shortcuts to policy and guidelines to win your argument Follow the leader How to save an article proposed for deletion I just don't like it Identifying blatant advertising Identifying test edits Immunity Keep it concise Liar liar pants on fire Nothing Nothing is clear Overzealous deletion Relisting can be abusive Relist bias The Heymann Standard Unopposed AFD discussion Wikipedia is not Whack-A-Mole Why was the page I created deleted? What to do if your article gets tagged for speedy deletion When in doubt, hide it in the woodwork No Encyclopedic Use

Essays on civility

The basics	Accepting other users Apology Contributing to complicated discussions Divisiveness Edit at your own pace Encouraging the newcomers Enjoy yourself Expect no thanks High-functioning autism and Asperger's editors How to be civil Maintaining a friendly space Negotiation Obsessive–compulsive disorder editors Relationships with academic editors Thank you Too long; didn't read Truce Unblock perspectives We are all Wikipedians here
Philosophy	A weak personal attack is still wrong Advice for hotheads An uncivil environment is a poor environment Be the glue Beware of the tigers! Civility warnings Deletion as revenge Failure Forgive and forget It's not the end of the world Nobody cares Most people who disagree with you on content are not vandals Old-fashioned Wikipedian values Profanity, civility, and discussions Revert notification opt-out Shadowless Fists of Death! Staying cool when the editing gets hot The grey zone The last word There is no Divine Right Of Editors Most ideas are bad Nothing is clear The rules of polite discourse There is no common sense Two wrongs don't make a right Wikipedia is not about winning Writing for the opponent Reader
Dos	Argue better Assume good faith Assume the assumption of good faith Assume no clue Avoid personal remarks Avoid the word "vandal" Be excellent to one another Beyond civility Call a spade a spade Candor Deny recognition Desist Discussing cruft Drop the stick and back slowly away from the horse carcass Encourage full discussions Get over it How to lose Imagine others complexly Just drop it Keep it down to earth Mind your own business Say "MOBY" Read before commenting Settle the process first
Don'ts	ALPHABETTISPAGHETTI Civil POV pushing Cyberbullying Don't accuse someone of a personal attack for accusing of a personal attack Don't be a fanatic Don't be a jerk Don't be an ostrich Don't be ashamed Don't be a WikiBigot Don't be high-maintenance Don't be inconsiderate Don't be obnoxious Don't be prejudiced Don't be rude Don't be the Fun Police Don't bludgeon the process Don't call a spade a spade Don't call the kettle black Don't call things cruft Don't come down like a ton of bricks Don't cry COI Don't demand that editors solve the problems they identify Don't drink the consensus Kool-Aid Don't eat the troll's food Don't fight fire with fire Don't give a fuck Don't help too much Don't make a smarmy valediction part of your signature Don't remind others of past misdeeds Don't shout Don't spite your face Don't take the bait Don't template the regulars Don't throw your toys out of the pram Do not insult the vandals Griefing Nationalist editing No angry mastodons just madmen No Nazis No, you can't have a pony Passive aggression Please don't bite the newcomers POV railroad There are no oracles You can't squeeze blood from a turnip
WikiRelations	WikiBullying WikiCrime WikiHarassment WikiHate WikiLawyering WikiLove WikiPeace

Essays on notability

Humorous essays

About essays

About essays	Essay guide Value of essays Difference between policies, guidelines and essays Don't cite essays as if they were policy Avoid writing redundant essays Finding an essay Quote your own essay
Policies and guidelines	About policies and guidelines Policies Guidelines How to contribute to Wikipedia guidance Policy writing is hard

Wikipedia:Principles

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Wikipedia:Principles

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Further reading `(external links)`