Wikipedia:FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

This is a list of frequently asked questions. If your question is not answered on this page, please see FAQ Index for a more extensive set of FAQs or Search all FAQs.

[edit] How do I create a new article?

See: Wikipedia:Your first article. You might also look at Wikipedia:Article development.

[edit] Why has my article been deleted?

The best way to find out is to look at the deletion log for reasons (type the name of the article in the Title box). For more information, see: Why was my article deleted?

[edit] How do I change the name of an article?

You move the article using the "move" button (to the right of the "edit this page" button). You must have an account, and it must be at least four days old and made ten edits to move pages. If the move is controversial or fails with an error message, visit Wikipedia:Requested moves.

[edit] How do I change my username?

See Wikipedia:Changing username.

[edit] How do I delete my username?

Truth is, you can't; if you could delete your username we couldn't attribute all of those edits you have made. You can, however, change your username, and request that your userpage and talk page be deleted by placing {{db-user}} on both pages.

[edit] How do I cite Wikipedia?

See Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia.

[edit] An article doesn't show up in the search

The search index is maintained on a dedicated server, and is updated completely approximately every thirty hours. Recent changes are not reflected until the next time the search index is updated. Also, article names are case sensitive. The "go" button usually masks this, but if an article name includes a mixture of capitalized and uncapitalized words or any words in camelCase a redirect is necessary.

[edit] When was Wikipedia last published?

Wikipedia is not a printed encyclopedia. If you are asking this question because you wanted to cite a certain revision of Wikipedia articles, you can see Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia.

[edit] Who wrote article X on Wikipedia?

Almost all articles on Wikipedia are written by multiple editors, not just one. If you click on the "history" tab on the top of an article, a list will be displayed of all the contributors to the article. If your purpose is to cite Wikipedia, see the question above. Also see Who writes Wikipedia.

[edit] Who owns Wikipedia?

See who owns Wikipedia.

[edit] Why have I been blocked?

There may be several reasons for this — if you feel you've been blocked wrongly, then put the text {{unblock|reason}} tag on your talk page, putting the reason you think you have been wrongly blocked in for reason. An administrator will come and take a look. It may be due to an automatic block by the software. Please be sure to include your IP address, which you can find in the block message.

[edit] Why am I having trouble logging in?

See Help:Logging in.

[edit] Are page hit counters available?

There is a third party site, not maintained by Wikipedia, which currently allows you to view page hit counts since December 2007.

The built in feature to count how many times a page has been visited has been turned off for performance reasons. For more details please see Wikipedia:Technical FAQ#Can I add a page hit counter to a Wikipedia page?