Help:About help pages

This is an information page. It is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines; rather, its purpose is to explain certain aspects of Wikipedia's norms, customs, technicalities, or practices. It may reflect differing levels of consensus and vetting.

Shortcuts H:A H:ABOUT

This page in a nutshell: This is a general information page about Wikipedia's help system. For the primary "help page", see Help:Contents or browse the Help menu or the Help directory.

The help resource system of Wikipedia consists of a wide variety of

Where to start for new editors

If you would like to get a good overview of the whole project and how it works, you could read through the introductory page at Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia or go through the tutorial at Help:Introduction. Help:Getting started contains a listing of introductions and tutorials on the various aspects of Wikipedia.

If you just want help on how to read Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:FAQ/Readers. For information on searching and browsing the encyclopedia, see Help:Navigation.

Searching help pages

If you type keywords of your question into the search box, a page relevant to your question will usually turn up in the search results, e.g. 'How do I create an article?' ( type in 'create an article' ), 'What size are thumbnails?' ( type in 'thumbnail size' ). The search needs to be limited to the help pages using the advanced search page (which appears after you have clicked 'search') or you can use the search box in Help:contents (accessed at any time by clicking Help displayed on the left side of all pages.). This is duplicated below.

Navigating help pages

• Help:Contents is the main help page that will guide you in the right direction.
• Frequently asked questions are listed by general topic at Wikipedia:FAQ (great place for fast info).
• Help:Menu is a menu-style page that will direct you to the right place to find information.
• Help:Directory is a descriptive listing of Wikipedia's informative, instructional and consultation pages.
• Category:Wikipedia information pages and Category:Wikipedia how-to are the main subcategories listing help pages.
• The help portal nearby will direct you to the main "help contents" page.

• The templates below outlines Wikipedia's help pages and can be viewed at the bottom of related articles.
  

{{Wikipedia help pages}} {{Wikipedia technical help}} {{Basic information}}

• See also: Wikipedia: The Missing Manual is a converted book that covers most subjects, split into 21 chapters.

Interactive assistance

• You can ask for help on using Wikipedia at the help desk and teahouse.
• General information questions can be asked at the reference desk.

Like articles, most of the help pages can be edited – so feel free to improve any pages you come across. When a high traffic page has been protected to help prevent vandalism, suggestions can still be made on the talk page. Some coordination happens at Wikipedia:Help Project.