How to Become a Wikipedia Editor: What You Need to Know

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Learn how to start volunteering as a Wikipedia Editor

Co-authored by Hannah Dillon Reviewed by Stan Kats

Last Updated: June 2, 2025 Fact Checked

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• Becoming a Wikipedia Editor
|
• Working at Wikimedia
|
• Q&A
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• Tips
|
• Warnings

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Do you want to be a Wikipedia Editor? If so, then great news—becoming a Wikipedia Editor is super easy! However, to become a great Wikipedia Editor, you'll need to put in a little time and dedication. In this article, we go over how to become a Wikipedia Editor and what to expect once you start editing and creating articles. We also go over how you can apply for a job at the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization behind Wikipedia.

Becoming a Wikipedia Editor

You don't need an account to make edits on Wikipedia, but you will have to sign up to write new articles. Wikipedia doesn't have any strict rules, but it has guidelines, principles, and best practices. Start small and learn a little bit of Wikipedia's markup coding before you make your first article.

Steps

Section 1 of 2:

Becoming a Wikipedia Editor

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1. 
   1
   Create a Wikipedia account. To do this, go to wikipedia.com, click on your language, and then click Create account in the upper-right corner. While it's not required to create a Wikipedia account to edit articles, you will need to be a registered user to create new articles. Additionally, having an account gives you the following benefits:

   • A user page where you can share information about yourself.
   • A sandbox where you can practice writing and editing Wikipedia articles.
   • A talk page where you can easily communicate with other editors.
   • Notifications when someone has pinged you.
   • A unified login for other Wikimedia projects (such as Wiktionary and Wikimedia Commons).
     • Once your account is 4 days old and you've made 10 edits, you'll be able to edit semi-protected pages (pages with a gray lock in the upper-right corner) and you'll also be able to make new articles, rename articles, and upload files.
     • Once your account is 30 days old and you've made over 500 edits, you'll be able to edit extended protected pages (pages with a blue lock in the upper-right corner).
2. 
   2
   Familiarize yourself with Wikipedia's expectations and culture. While Wikipedia doesn't have any firm rules, they do have some expectations and best-practice guidelines. Read the five pillars of Wikipedia to know about Wikipedia's main principles.

   • While it's a good idea to be familiar with these principles, Wikipedia also states that perfection is not required.
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3. 
   3
   Play the Wikipedia Adventure game. Wikipedia Adventure has seven missions, each with its own skills and surprises. It will teach you about the basic principles and rules of Wikipedia and is designed to help you to become a great Wikipedian.
4. 
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   Read existing articles before making any edits. While Wikipedia states that it isn't a requirement to read an article before you edit it, it's a good idea to read some articles before you start making edits. This will give you an idea of what to write when you make your edits.
5. 
   5
   Start small. Look for small edits you can make right away, like spelling and grammar fixes. This will allow you to familiarize yourself with Wikipedia's formatting before you jump into making bigger edits or creating new articles.
6. 
   6
   Remain neutral and unbiased. Since Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, it strives for impartial articles that don't reflect any biases, personal experiences, opinions, or interpretations. If a topic is controversial or has "sides," make sure all points of view are included in the article.

   • Do not create an article about yourself, family, friends, clients, employers, your financial relationships, or any other relationships on Wikipedia as it is against Wikipedia's Conflict of Interest policy.
7. 
   7
   Cite your sources. Make sure all facts are cited by reliable sources. Citations should verify the text you've written, but you shouldn't copy and paste from the source unless you're including a short quotation.

   • If you find yourself enjoying the sourcing/citation process, Wikipedia has over 500,000 articles that need citations added. Use the Citation Hunt tool to easily find statements that need sources.
8. 
   8
   Follow Wikipedia's best practices. This will help you be a good Wikihow citizen. Some best practices include:

   • Copyedit any article if you find spelling and grammar errors or readability issues.
   • Use edit summaries.
   • Avoid controversy and edit wars.
   • Engage in a collaborative and constructive manner (building good and featured articles or expanding stubs).
   • Do maintenance tasks like reverting vandalism and removing copyright material.
9. 
   9
   Review Wikipedia's style documents. While it's easy enough to navigate around Wikipedia's markup coding when you're editing an article, it's a little overwhelming when you're thinking about writing something new. Before you write an article, review Wikipedia's manual of style.

   • Bookmark the manual of style for easy access. Even if you become a prolific Wikipedia editor, there will probably still be bits of code you don't remember how to do, or the style guide may change in the future.
10. 
    10
    Ask for help if you need it. If you need help, there are many ways to get help on Wikipedia, including:

    • Help:Cheatsheet: A basic guide to wiki text. If there's some syntax you don't know, check here first.
    • Community portal: A place where you get to know which articles need small editing.
    • Contact the Help Desk for on-wiki support.
11. 
    11
    Stay active. The more you contribute, the better you'll get at it! However, don't be afraid to make some mistakes. Since Wikipedia is always a work in progress, it's okay if the first draft of an article isn't perfect.
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Section 2 of 2:

Getting a Career at Wikimedia

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1. 
   Wikipedia editors all work on a volunteer basis. You don't get paid to be a Wikipedia editor. However, the Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia's host) does have a number of job positions open at any given time.

   • Go to the Wikimedia Foundation jobs page to find all of their open positions. The Wikimedia Foundation has job openings in the following categories:
     • Advancement (product managers, fundraising, CRM, etc.)
     • Communications
     • Finance and Administration
     • Legal
     • People Department
     • Product and Technology

Community Q&A

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• Question

  Why is the Wikipedia community harsh and unwelcoming?

  

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  Community Answer

  Some experienced Wikipedians might dislike new editors as many of them only vandalize Wikipedia and cause a huge workload for admins and other volunteers. Also, new users are unfamiliar with Wikipedia policies and usually make mistakes. Of course, there are welcoming, friendly, and helpful Wikipedians, and they won't mind pointing out mistakes of new editors. Some of them might be tired of such new editors and become unwelcoming though.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
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• Question

  Are there other roles/positions for Wikipedia editors?

  

  Community Answer

  There are, but they require certain prerequisites. Check out Wikipedia:User_access_levels for more.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

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• Question

  Would I get paid to be an editor?

  

  Community Answer

  No. Wikipedia is an open project that relies on volunteers, not paid staff editors.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

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Tips

• Always be civil, kind, supportive, and assume good faith. Remember, Wikipedia is a collaborative effort, and everyone makes mistakes.
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Warnings

• Do not create multiple accounts on Wikipedia, as you might get accused of abusive sock puppetry. If that happens, all your accounts will end up being blocked/banned unless you have a legitimate reason to start a new account.
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