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{{Wikipedia-The Missing Manual - TOC|updated=yes}}

Most of this book is aimed at folks who want to edit Wikipedia articles and become more active in the Wikipedia community. But this appendix is all about appreciating Wikipedia as a ''reader''. It gives you some background on what Wikipedia is and how to get the most out of it even if you have no intention of editing an article.

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[[File:Top of Wikipedia-Contents.png|frame|center|'''Figure B-5''' The page [[Wikipedia:Contents]] is accessible via a single click from any other page in Wikipedia. It provides many links to starting points within Wikipedia that provide different top-down views, some of which are discussed later in this appendix.]]

==== Categories ====

Any article may belong to one or more categories ([[Help:Wikipedia: The Missing Manual/Building a Stronger Encyclopedia/Categorizing Articles|Chapter 17: Categorizing articles]]), which you'll find listed at the bottom of the article. Like everything else in an article, editors add the categories, so categories are only as accurate as the people who enter them; like everything else, if someone sees a mistake, shethey can fix it. When you click the Categories link shown in '''Figure B-5''', you'll see the master index (see '''Figure B-6''').

[[File:Wikipedia-The Missing Manual_I_mediaobject_d1e29590.png|frame|center|'''Figure B-6''' Here's the top-level list of categories. It's the starting point for drilling down to find all articles in any particular subcategory.]]

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=== Categories ===

You can view Wikipedia's entire hierarchy of categories by clicking the Categories link near the top of the MainContents Page, as shown in '''Figure B-6'''. But you can also use the category system to browse Wikipedia in a number of other ways, using tools both inside and outside of Wikipedia. For example, there are links at the bottom of each article that let you find articles in related categories. You can also find articles that fall into two different categories. You can even narrow your search by category when you're using an external search engine.

==== Category links at the bottom of articles ====

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If you see an image in a Wikipedia article that you'd like to have, just click it. You'll see a new page showing a larger image, as shown in '''Figure B-16'''.

The file Image:Fujisan from Motohakone.jpg is used in the article ''[[Tokyo]]''. Clicking the thumbnail image in the article shows you this larger image, though not necessarily a full-sized image. Click "fullOriginal resolutionfile" to see the full-sized version. Right-click the full-sized image to save it to your computer. You can also save the image as your new desktop background image.[[File:Wikipedia-The Missing Manual_I_mediaobject_d1e29885.png|frame|right|'''Figure B-16''' The file [[:ImageFile:Fujisan from Motohakone.jpg]] is used in the article ''Tokyo''. Clicking the thumbnail image in the article shows you this larger image, though not necessarily a full-sized image. Click "full resolution" to see the full-sized version. Right-click the full-sized image to save it to your computer. You can also save the image as your new desktop background image.]]

The vast majority of images on Wikipedia are free content—they're in the public ___domain or have Creative Commons licenses, for example. If you come across an image labeled as a "fair use" or "non-free" image (a screenshot of a commercial software program, for example), don't treat it as free content. Don't download it unless you're sure you're not infringing a copyright by doing so.

=== Commons ===

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Because Commons is a media storage site, you'll find a table of contents right on its Main Page ('''Figure B-17'''). With more than 4 million images, you may find something you really like—and it's all free content.

Commons' Main Page offers a number of ways to view its content—by starting with featured pictures, by drilling down through categories, or by choosing a topic area. If you choose a topic, you'll arrive at a category page similar to '''Figure B-4''' with one interesting difference—the page has a tab labeled CatScan. Yep—that's the category intersection tool mentioned [[#Articles in two different categories|earlier in this chapter]], and it works for Commons as well as Wikipedia.

[[File:Wikipedia-The Missing Manual_I_mediaobject_d1e29909.png|frame|right|'''Figure B-17''' Commons' Main Page offers a number of ways to view its content—by starting with featured pictures, by drilling down through categories, or by choosing a topic area. If you choose a topic, you'll arrive at a category page similar to '''Figure B-4''' with one interesting difference—the page has a tab labeled CatScan. Yep—that's the]]

The category intersection tool mentioned [[#Articles in two different categories|earlier in this chapter]], and it works for Commons as well as Wikipedia.]]

==== Picture of the day ====

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:If so, you don't need to post anything; you're done.

:But if you're looking at something that looks like an error message, which starts, "Wikipedia does not have a talk page with this exact title. Before creating this page, please verify that an article called ... ", ''don't worry''—this message means that your question couldn't possibly have been previously asked, because the talk page didn't even exist. You can go on to step 3.

3. Assuming your issue or question is new, click the "+New section" tab at the top of the talk page to start a new comment.

:You're in edit mode, with two boxes where you can type information.