Wikipedia:Be bold
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This page documents an English Wikipedia editing guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense and the occasional exception. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. |
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This page in a nutshell: If you see something that can be improved, improve it! |
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Be bold |
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| Manual of Style
See also policies |
Be bold!
The Wikipedia community encourages users to be bold when updating pages. Wikis like ours develop faster when everybody helps to fix problems, correct grammar, add facts, make sure the wording is accurate, etc. We expect everyone to be bold and help make Wikipedia a better encyclopedia. How many times have you read something and thought, "Why aren't these pages copy-edited?" Wikipedia not only allows you to add, revise, and edit the article—it wants you to do it. It does require some amount of politeness, but it works. You'll see. Also, of course, others here will edit what you write. Do not take it personally! They, like all of us, just want to make Wikipedia as good an encyclopedia as it can possibly be.
Also, when you see a conflict in a talk page, do not be just a "mute spectator". Be bold and drop your opinion there.
...but please be careful
Though the boldness of contributors like you is one of Wikipedia's greatest assets, it is important that contributors take care of the common good and not edit recklessly. Of course, any changes you make that turn out badly can be reverted, usually painlessly. It is important not to be insulted if your changes are reverted or edited further. But there are some significant changes that can be more lasting, for better or for worse, that are harder to fix. This includes accidentally creating or getting involved in disputes in controversial or highly-praised (like our good articles and featured articles) articles. If you're unsure of anything, just ask for advice.
Or, in the words of Edmund Spenser, "Be bold, be bold, and everywhere be bold," but "Be not too bold".
Non-article namespaces
Although it is generally fine to be bold in updating articles, it is easier to cause problems in other namespaces by editing without due care. The admonition "but do not be reckless" is especially important in other namespaces.
Being bold in updating or creating categories and templates can have far reaching consequences. This is because category changes – and even more so template changes – can affect a large number of pages with a single edit. Templates, moreover, may have complex source code that can easily be broken by untested changes (which can fortunately be corrected with a single revert).
Because of these concerns, many heavily used templates are indefinitely protected from editing. Before editing templates or categories, consider proposing any changes on the associated talk pages and announcing the proposed change on pages of appropriate WikiProjects.
Care must also be taken on Wikipedia-space pages which reflect a community consensus or view, such as WikiProject pages. In these cases it is often better to discuss potential changes first. "Be bold" generally does not apply to policy pages, although spelling and grammatical errors can and should be fixed as soon as they are noticed.
In the case of images, new images should be uploaded with new names rather than overwriting old ones. Adding information to the description of an existing image is definitely an area where be bold applies.
It is generally recommended that you do not edit another Wikipedian's user page, or comments left on talk pages (other than your own, and even then do not be reckless). Fixing vandalism is nearly always welcome, even on user pages; specific users will let you know if they find your changes inappropriate or you've given incorrect information.
See also
- Article Rescue Squadron
- BOLD, revert, discuss cycle
- Boldness
- Defending article quality
- Editing policy
- How to edit a page
- Ignore all rules
- Old dogs and new tricks
- {{sofixit}}
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