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How to Contribute to wikiHow

originated by:James Quirk, Jack Herrick, Anonymous, Edge (see all)

Want to help build the world's largest, highest quality, free how-to manual? It may seem like an epic task, but thousands of people collaborate on wikiHow every day to reach this goal. Fortunately, there are many ways in which you can help out, so there's bound to be something that matches up with your interests and skills. Here's a list to help you get started!

edit Steps

1
Do you love to write? Anyone can start a new page on wikiHow, even anonymous contributors! The only thing we ask is that you try to avoid writing about a topic that we already have on the site, because we'd prefer that you improve the existing page instead. If you're not sure of what to write about, go to the Write an Article page and scroll down to the "I want topic suggestions" section. Type in a keyword and hit "Submit". This will give you ideas for articles that may not have been written about on wikiHow yet. Click on any red title to start that article.
- Look carefully at the list of similar existing articles. If any of the titles shown are on the same topic you're writing about, click on that title to add your insights to the existing page. If you start an article on a topic we already have on wikiHow, it'll most likely get merged. If your title is unique, though, just click "Next".
- For more ideas on what to write about, see How to Find a Subject to Write About at wikiHow.
2
Are you a perfectionist? If you're one of those people who always spots typos and grammar errors, you are most welcomed here. If you see any kind of mistake, you can always click on "Edit" tab at the top of an article and fix it on the spot. You don't even need to register. You can also browse categories of articles that have been tagged for attention by other contributors on the site:
- Read our copyediting tips and browse articles tagged for copyediting.
- Check out our formatting guidelines and articles in need of formatting
- Use generic pronouns to remove gender-specific language. Pages noted for needing gender neutralization are listed here but there are many across the site that you'll probably stumble upon.
- Remove personal references like "I" and "me". The reason we avoid this is because personal reference tends to discourage people from editing a page. Try and substitute words like "you" and "your". A list of articles that need to have personal references removed is here.
- Browse our cleanup category for pages that need some or all of the above!
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Help us patrol recent changes. On any wiki, there's a list of Recent Changes (RC) that show every change or addition that's been made to the site. Anyone is invited to use the tools we have on the site to review RC and decide which edits stay, and which ones don't. Most of the edits made on any given day are helpful, and any bad edits (vandalism) are usually quickly reverted by an RC patroller. Would you like to help out? Check out how it is done in this article: How to Patrol Recent Changes on wikiHow.
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Do you like to organize?
- Go to our list of uncategorized pages and click on the "Add Category" button next to each title. Categorizing helps our readers find the articles they're looking for. (Note that you need to be registered and logged in to do this.)
- People who like organizing and categorizing also tend to enjoy adding introductory images to our articles using our Image Picker App.
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Do you like to take photographs or draw?
- Look at our list of articles in need of step-by-step pictures. Consider taking instructional photos and adding them to articles!
- If you like to draw, many of our pages need diagrams too. You can scan or photograph your drawings and upload them the same way you would a photo.
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Are you good at fact-checking and research? Become familiar with our research standards and learn how to format citation links on wikiHow, then...
- Try your hand at accuracy patrol.
- Browse articles tagged as needing citations. Usually you'll see at least once sentence with "citation needed" at the end (e.g.^{[citation needed]}). Verify whether that statement is accurate and correct or remove it. Don't forget to remove the "citation needed" template by erasing {{fact}}.
- Expand a Stub. Some articles are incomplete and need significant help to reach their full potential. Feel free to get involved with a major revision.
- Browse articles tagged as being unclear and see if you can clarify or elaborate.
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If you enjoy watching instructional videos, help us add them to our articles. Learn how to embed a video then go to articles needing video (or any article that doesn't have video yet) and find the best video for that topic.
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Become a New Article Booster. They improve new articles and provide incentive to new editors. Attain at least one month of regular editing prior to applying.
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Join a project. Collaborate with others to create and improve a particular group of articles. Create a contest to spur inspiration.
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Start a wikiHow in another language. Our goal is to provide a free multi-lingual resource to help improve the everyday lives of everyone throughout the world.
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Offer thanks and praise to your fellow editors. Appreciate their excellence, enthusiasm and dedication. Add an award to an editor's Talk page. These acts of kindness increase the strength of our community.

edit Tips

Log in or register for a free account. You’re welcome to remain anonymous, but creating an identity allows everyone to relate in a more personal way. Log in to access all of the Editor's Tools.
- If you have an account, you can patrol recent changes and your name can be listed as an "RC leader" in the widget on the sidebar.
Take the wikiHow Tour and Work With the wikiHow Writing Coach.
For questions, click on Help at the upper right of any page. Feel free to contact the Help Team, an Admin, post in the Forum, IRC Chat Room or send an Email.
If something needs immediate attention, such as vandalism, contact the Administrator Notice Board.
Be civil, kind and supportive. Assume good faith.

edit Related wikiHows

Articles for You to Write

Here is a list of suggested articles that have not yet been written. You can help by researching and writing one of these articles. To get started writing one of these articles, click on the red link of a title below.