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4–Editing an Article

1. With the exception of a few protected articles, every page has an Edit tab which lets you edit the article you are looking at. It’s Wikipedia’s most basic feature, and allows you to make corrections and add extra content to articles. Make sure you’re logged in beforehand if you have an account.

2. After clicking on edit you will come to a screen with the edit box, you will see the article is written using Wiki Mark Up language (For more information see 5–Formatting and Writing using a Wiki pg 13). Make the edits you wish within the article.

3. Any time you make an edit to a page it’s considered good etiquette to enter an explanation of your changes in the Edit Summary box, which you will find below the edit window. You can state a general reason for your update or keep it short. For example, if you are making a spelling correction, you might just type typo. If the change you have made to a page is minor, such as correcting a spelling or grammar error, it's helpful if you tick the box "This is a minor edit". (This box is only available if you have logged in.)

4. You should then always click on the Show Preview button. This function lets you see what the page will look like after your edit, before you actually save it. We all make mistakes; this feature helps you catch them before other people see them. Using Show Preview before saving also lets you try format changes and other edits without cluttering up the page history.

5. Once you are happy with your preview, click the Save Page button.

More detailed information on Editing can be found through Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Editing

Wikipedia Training Manual
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