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How to Understand What wikiHow Is Not

originated by:Jack Herrick, Anonymous, Tom Viren, Zack (see all)

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wikiHow is a collaborative writing project building the world's largest how-to manual. We offer clear and concise instructions to solve everyday problems. Please stay focused on our mission and keep in mind what wikiHow is not:

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    This is not a totally safe website. Beware of trolls. A person may pretend to be a young girl, but is actually an old man. Another person may pretend to be a doctor, but is actually without formal education. Be cautious of advice that may cause mental, physical or financial harm. Please notify the Administrator Notice Board of possible harm.
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  2. 2
    This is not a role playing site. Do not impersonate a famous person or another wikiHow user.
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    This is not a blog. You cannot control or own a page on wikiHow. This is not a place to operate a blog or daily journal.
  4. 4
    This is not like MySpace. All edits should not go into your User page. A User page is designed for others to get to know you. Do not reveal your personal information, such as your real name, address, phone number, IP address or credit card information. If you are under thirteen, be sure your parents sign a permission form.
  5. 5
    This is not a chat site. Talk pages are for comments and collaboration related to the improvement of wikiHow. The General Chat forum and the IRC chatroom are the places to chat with your friends on wikiHow. Remember that all posts, on the main site, are patrolled by fellow editors in Recent Changes. Admins patrol the forums.
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    This is not an advertising platform for your products or services. Articles that demonstrate how to use or buy a product are welcome, such as "How to Use iTunes". Articles written to hawk a product or list its features will be deleted as spam.
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    This is not a place to vandalize. Mature or mean-spirited content will be deleted. Be of good faith. Testing is permitted and encouraged, in the Sandbox, to learn how to edit. Disrupting the community, or encouraging others to do so, is strongly discouraged. If you vandalize or misuse templates, serious action may be taken.
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    This is not a place for instructions that are only valuable to one person or a select group. Create instructions that could be used by people all over the world. Articles about a particular city will not be deleted, such as "How to Get a Good Cup of Coffee in Staten Island". Vanity articles, such as "How to Drive to My House", will be deleted.
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    This is not a link farm. WikiHow articles should contain useful instructions, with a reasonable amount of specific links, to attain a logical goal. They should not be made solely of links.
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    This is not a mirror or file hosting site. Please do not gratuitously upload and save images or files on our servers. They must be used on active wikiHow pages and conform to our deletion, image and copyright policies.
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    This is not a joke book. We encourage some humor, but the articles should still display useful instructions to attain a reasonable goal. Articles such as "How to Disco with Aliens on Venus", "How to Make Poop" or "How to Raise a Pet Oogle" will be deleted. If you must joke, go to a site such as Uncyclopedia or Encyclopedia Dramatica.
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    This is not a place for sarcasm. wikiHow aims to teach people how to do new things. To truly appreciate and understand sarcasm, one must have knowledge of their topic. Sarcastic articles will be deleted as "joke pages".
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    This is not a playground. Experimenting is allowed and encouraged, but only if it helps to further our mission.
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    This is not a place for instructions about what society should do. Focus on something that individuals or small groups may be able to accomplish. It is acceptable to write articles on how to realistically take action against something unjust, such as "How to Take Action Against the Death Penalty". It is not acceptable to write articles about goals that only society as a whole could accomplish, such as "How to Repeal the Death Penalty" or "How to Stop War".
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    This is not a place to express your opinion. Feel free to post political or personal opinions on your User page, but remain nonjudgemental and unbiased on other wikiHow pages. An article's Discussion page should discuss only the article's content. For example, on an article entitled "Become a Democrat", do not post a comment such as "Democrats make bad decisions - that's why I'm a Republican".
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    This is not a place to promote or criticize a particular official, candidate or political party.
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    This is not a place for hate-based or obviously damaging instructions. Most of the people on wikiHow are good citizens. We would hate to be blamed when someone reads an article about "How to Give your Grandmother a Concussion" and subsequently sends their granny to the hospital.
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edit Warnings

  • To maximize fun, wikiHow aims to minimize rules. Please do not add topics to the above list. If you see a developing problem, please post it in the forums for community discussion.

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Last edited:
July 5, 2010 by Lillian May

Categories:
About wikiHow | Help

Recent edits by: Wdt3223, Difu Wu, Supershadow (see all)

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