Take a look at this short video by the librarians at NC State which summarizes How Wikipedia Works. For more information, see the ‘Bookshelf‘ at Wikimedia (a closely related site dedicated to the same open source philosophy as Wikipedia).
Editing without an account
You don’t need to have a Wikipedia account to edit articles. Each article comes with an ‘Edit’ button in the upper right. Note that if you are not logged in to an account, your IP Address is made public after you post an edit. With an account, only your Wikipedia username is made public. Stephen Colbert claimed to edit a page on his show, and mayhem ensued.
Setting up an account
Here are the steps you need to follow.
- Go to the Wikipedia Main Page.
- In the upper right, click ‘Create an account.’
- Follow those steps, and then log in. Any edits you post now will show up with your Wikipedia username.
(Note that I am NOT asking you to edit an article online through Wikipedia. This is background information, so you can be a more informed USER of Wikipedia. Once you see how it’s done, you might choose to become involved in the Wikipedia project.)
If you decide to write for Wikipedia, check out: Your first article. This is a useful summary of what Wikipedia aspires to be, including do’s and dont’s and things to avoid.
Next, go to Wikipedia an peruse the Help pages, the Help:Editing pages, and especially the Core Content Policies. When you read articles, consider whether they are consistent with these policies.
For comparison, here are the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy guidelines for writing an article.