Wikipedia:Don't overwhelm the newbies: Difference between revisions

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''Before reading this essay, please read [[WP:BITE]], [[WP:ARGH!]], and [[WP:NOCLUE]]. For information about essays, see [[WP:WES]], [[WP:VALUE]], and [[WP:The difference between policies, guidelines and essays]]. If you are new to Wikipedia, please read [[WP:5P]], [[WP:ABOUT]], [[WP:NOT]], and [[WP:FAQ]]. Also see the [[WP:general disclaimer|general disclaimer]].''

{{essay|WP:OW|WP:WHELM}}

{{essay|WP:WHELM}}

{{nutshell|Do not ask newcomers to read all the policies and guidelines. If necessary to link to policies/guidelines, limit yourself to '''one (1)''' per comment.}}

Joining Wikipedia can be like wading into the water at an oceanfront beach. At first, it seems pleasant, so you go further out, into deeper and deeper waters. Suddenly, a big wave appears, and gets bigger and bigger until it crashes onto you. That wave is [[WP:List of policies and guidelines]]. A helpful Wikipedian places the {{tl|Welcomeg}} on your talk page, and you diligently start to read. Five years later, you give up.

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==Biting vs. Overwhelming==

There has long been a guideline known as [[Wikipedia:Please do not bite the newcomers]]. The guideline suggests being extra-[[WP:civil|civil]], and explaining a lot. These are extremely important rules. But the guideline does not prohibit bombarding a newbie with an abundance of policies, which the newbie will often assume he must read in their entirety. A newbie may receive a very friendly message with many links, which can drive away the newbie as quickly as insulting him. So don't bite, but don't overwhelm either!

;Examples

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<blockquote>

;Can I use school or local publications as references for an article about a high school?

;Very basic summary of what original research is please?

I want my high school students to work on completing the article about our school but have not found a very good example yet of a high school page. I am particularly concerned with students' ability to find published sources with the information they need. For example, if they are writing about the football team, they will inevitably go first to the football coach to find out about the history of team. Can they use old yearbooks, school newspapers, and local newspapers as published references?

I read the article and it was quite hard to understand.

:Hi! I can help you, just give me one second.

:Hi Newbie! [[WP:Original research|Original research]] is material that you cannot back up with reliable published sources (because such sources do not exist). Say, you know for certain that "such and such has a dog", so you add it to the corresponding article; but no reliable, published sources exist to back up that statement: it will have to be removed. See also [[Wikipedia:Verifiability]] —the threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth.

::All right, sorry about that. At [[WP:EDUCATOR|this page]] there is a boatload of applicable information that may be of use to you. As for your question on sources, two examples of school district articles I've found are [[Columbia Borough School District|this one]] and [[Ephrata Area School District|this one]]. I think you, however are more interested in the article on your high school. Wikipedia needs to be written from a [[WP:NPOV|neutral point of view]], so [[WP:COI|potential conflicts of interest]] are of concern. I'm sorry for the number of links I've posted on this page related to policy...I promise, I only have one more. Our guideline on reliable sources is located [[WP:RS|here]]. The Go Phightins! abridged version would essentially be as follows: the best sources are independent of the subject and are reputable (e.g., newspapers, magazines, etc.). I would say that local newspapers are definitely permissible, school newspapers are borderline, so it would be better if you could find something else, but in a pinch, I suppose you could use them, and I would stay away from yearbooks. If you have any further questions at all, do not hesitate to contact me at [[User talk:Example|my talk page]] or via email (a link is on my talk page). This sounds like a really cool project and I would love to assist you in any way possible. Thanks again,

</blockquote>

Enough said.

This may not seem too much for an experienced Wikipedian, but a newbie may find even one or two long policies too much. In the above case, a Teahouse host responded to someone who didn't understand [[WP:OR]] by recommending a look at [[WP:V]]. That's not so helpful!

==See also==

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===Unrelated, but important===

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*[[WP:NPOV]]

*[[WP:V]]

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*[[WP:NOT]]

*[[WP:N]]

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*[[WP:NOR]]

*[[WP:RS]]

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*[[WP:IAR]]

*[[WP:DR]]

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*[[WP:CIVIL]]

*[[WP:EDIT]]

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*[[WP:AGF]]

*[[WP:BOLD]]

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*[[WP:SIG]]

*[[WP:TALK]]

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*[[WP:NPS]]

*[[WP:USER]]

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*[[WP:HAT]]

*[[WP:HARASS]]

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*[[WP:OWN]]

*[[WP:NLT]]

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*[[WP:SOCK]]

*[[WP:DEL]]

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*[[WP:VANDAL]]

*[[WP:COPY]]

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