Wikipedia:Seven Ages of Wikipedians

This page contains material that is kept because it is considered humorous. Such material is not meant to be taken seriously.

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"All the wiki's a stage,

And all the Wikipedians merely players."

— As You Like It

, a general guide to the behaviour and editing of Wikipedians at different stages during their editing careers.

It is important to note that these ages refer to the length of

, and should only be used as a rough guide.

WikiInfant

WikiInfants are new to

.

Those WikiInfants who explore

and begin editing as WikiChildren.

Although WikiInfants rarely, if ever,

of the encyclopedia.

WikiChildren are

.

At this age, Wikipedians are

by a more experienced user.

, while WikiOgres remain dormant for long periods.

Edits made by WikiChildren may be

.

Most importantly, be welcoming and encouraging to WikiChildren, even when offering criticism or setting limits.

vandalism.

After being a WikiChild, many Wikipedians mature into WikiTeens (referred to by Shakespeare, somewhat ironically, as WikiLovers). They become

.

Some WikiTeens become

, helping the WikiTeen to decide what they want to do.

When WikiTeens

right track

.

Not all WikiTeens are

knowledge

.

WikiYoungAdult

Once a WikiTeen reconciles themselves to

towards other editors.

However, after long periods of

.

This is the WikiYoungAdult's way of

.

More mature than the WikiYoungAdult, the WikiAdult (Shakespeare's WikiJustice) generally balances a number of tasks. They often

.

WikiSeniors

After a long and fruitful career of editing Wikipedia regularly, a Wikipedian may become a WikiSenior.

One type of WikiSenior is characterised by a general loss of enthusiasm for editing, even on articles they previously enjoyed working on. WikiSeniors of this type return to using Wikipedia mainly as a

. This may be the first indications of WikiSenility.

But very few WikiSeniors may become WikiElders, respected by their

.

Eventually, every Wikipedian faces the prospect of WikiDeath. Those approaching their WikiDeath

.

Fortunately, unlike

a parallel universe

.

WikiDeath is not always due to problems with Wikipedia, but we should always do our best to keep Wikipedia strong and growing by contributing to an environment that encourages editors to stick around. Wikipedia's well-being and continued success depends on this.

Identifying WikiAges

Wikipedians who want to advertise their WikiAge can do so with the help of {{User:Strdst grl/ubx/sevenages}} – a userbox which can be adapted for each of the ages above.