Wikipedia:Learning the ropes

This help page is a how-to guide. It details processes or procedures of some aspect(s) of Wikipedia's norms and practices. It is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, and may reflect varying levels of consensus and vetting.

Shortcuts WP:LEARN WP:ROPES

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To access an encyclopedia article directly, type the topic or subject into Wikipedia's search box, and click "Go". If an article by that name exists, it will be displayed on your screen. If an article with that exact name doesn't exist, the program will automatically look for near matches (in the titles and content of pages) and display the matches it finds in a list for you to choose from. If you pressed "Go", and got an article you weren't looking for, press "Search" - that'll bypass the viewing and will execute the match search just described.

For instructions on how to access other page types besides encyclopedia articles, see the section immediately below.

By namespace

Wikipedia can be considered to be two levels deep. The top level is the encyclopedia itself (the collection of articles about every subject under the sun, and beyond), and it is therefore the easiest to access - simply enter the name of the article you wish to view in Wikipedia's searchbox. The section of Wikipedia that the articles are on is called the "main namespace". It is Wikipedia's default namespace - pages from all other namespaces must have their namespace specified in searches or links (followed by a colon). But not articles in the main namespace. Because they're the whole point of Wikipedia.

All of Wikipedia's namespaces other than the main namespace can be considered Wikipedia's 2nd level. For a list and explanation of these, see

By link structure

Almost every page on Wikipedia is connected within a massive web of links. Some pages are more centrally connected than others and serve as tables of contents or directories to the information on Wikipedia. These pages are presented in Wikipedia's 3 main navigation bars, found at the top of the very same pages, the navbars allowing for easy movement between and browsing of these pages. Each of these navbars is just one-click away...

The following navbar presents the tables of contents to the encyclopedia itself, and is accessible from the Contents link on the sidebar, or from the top of the Main Page.

The next navbar shows the Wikipedia community's main directories and resource pages, and it is accessible from the

Wikipedia's main help pages are available on the navbar below, which is accessible from the Help link on the Main Page and on Wikipedia's navigation menu (in the sidebar).

The template below outlines Wikipedia's help pages and can be viewed at the bottom of most related pages.