Meta:Training/coreresources/Helping students get started

Printable guides

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These printable PDF documents have instructions related to the basics of Wikipedia.

  • Wiki markup quick reference – a one-page quick reference (included in the Welcome to Wikipedia brochure) to help you remember the most frequently used wiki markup codes.
  • References – explains why references are important, what the expectations for sourcing on Wikipedia are, where to place references, and the basics of adding "ref" tags.
  • Reference formatting – explains in more detail how to create footnotes for citing sources, and how to cite the same source multiple times.
  • Using talk pages – explains how to use talk pages to communicate with other editors.
  • Choosing an article – explains the Dos and Don'ts of choosing an article to work on.
  • How to get help – explains the recommended way to get help and feedback. It also includes a glossary of additional help resources you can avail yourself of.
  • Avoiding plagiarism – explains what plagiarism is on Wikipedia—including "close paraphrasing"—in addition to why and how to avoid it.

On-wiki tutorials

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Tutorial videos

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Editing basics: Sandboxes Editing basics: bold and links
How to start an a sandbox page to play around with wiki markup or start an article draft (1m 16s) How to use the most basic features of wiki markup to create bold text and links to other pages (3m 37s)
How to use a watchlist How to use talk pages
How to use a watchlist to keep track of pages you are interested in or have edited (2m 16s) How to interact with other editors using talk pages, including article talk pages and user talk pages (2m 43s)
Editing basics: citing sources Citing sources with RefToobar
How to add citations using "ref" tags (2m 3s) How to use the "Cite" tool for inserting automatically formatted references (2m 25s)
Adding images
Uploading files such as images to Wikimedia Commons, using the upload wizard, and adding them to articles (2 min 41 sec)