Wikipedia:FAQ

This is a list of frequently asked questions about using and contributing to Wikipedia. For factual and other kinds of questions, use the search box or the Reference desk. If your question is not answered on this page, use the search box above, browse the various FAQ pages or perform a search on the Help desk archives.

[edit] How do I create a new page?

For creating a new article see Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:Article development. You need to have a Wikipedia account to create a new article. For creating a new page in your userspace see How do I create a user subpage?

[edit] Why has my article been deleted?

The best way to find out is to look at the deletion log for reasons (type the exact name of the article in the Title box, including the capitalization you used). 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/delete my username?

For changing your username see Wikipedia:Changing username.

For deleting your username, the truth is, you cannot; if you could delete your username, we could not 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] 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 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. Toplists are available there.

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?