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At times, you may notice an article tagged with a template saying, “This article contains personal references. Please edit this page to make the article more general.” This will help you to understand the intent of wikiHow articles.

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EditSteps

  1. Avoid Using Personal Reference on wikiHow Step 1.jpg
    1
    Address a reader’s needs, thoughts, and actions in your process.
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  2. Avoid Using Personal Reference on wikiHow Step 2.jpg
    2
    Guide the reader through your instructions from the reader's point of view. How the reader will do it...
  3. Avoid Using Personal Reference on wikiHow Step 3.jpg
    3
    Avoid personal or subjective reference including: “I, me, my, mine, we, our, ours or us,” which addresses the writer -- but, directly address the reader, instead.
  4. Avoid Using Personal Reference on wikiHow Step 4.jpg
    4
    Replace personal reference with "you", "your" -- for example: "Replace__" means "You replace__", but don't actually say "You" (just realize that you-is-understood).
    • This will address a reader directly and conform with wikiHow guidelines.
  5. Avoid Using Personal Reference on wikiHow Step 5.jpg
    5
    Incorporate personal experience objectively:
    • Explain what may happen, what may go wrong, what is recommended, etc.
  6. Avoid Using Personal Reference on wikiHow Step 6.jpg
    6
    Clarify a tricky step in the process from experience without making personal references, so not: "I had to adjust my___", but rather "Adjust your__".
  7. Avoid Using Personal Reference on wikiHow Step 7.png
    7
    If possible, post the {{personal}} template on the user talk page of the author of the article, once you are done editing.
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EditExamples of Personal Reference




Instead of...
Consider...

Hi, my name is Jane and I will teach you how to bake a chocolate cake.
This article teaches you how to bake a chocolate cake.

I've studied martial arts for 20 years, so you can count on me.
Delete this statement as extraneous information.

I recommend using butter, as margarine doesn't provide the right consistency.
Consider using butter in place of margarine, as it provides a better consistency.

If you have any questions, you can Email me at [email protected].
Remove personal information.

Be careful when working with hot liquids. Trust me - I know.
Be cautious when working with hot liquids.



EditTips

  • Avoid using your name within the text of an article.
  • Personal promotion is acceptable on your User page.
  • Avoid adding your Email address to an article. For your own safety, it will be removed by patrollers.
  • Review how to reference sources if you wish to include information from your own work or website.
  • Editors are listed in succession at the end of each article, and your contribution and all the others are shown in exact detailed comparison in two columns, seen by clicking "history" -- and then clicking the blue button labeled "(last)" -- on any edit that you want to see.
    • Also, you can compare two previous versions by marking a particular pair as "(cur)" and "(last)", then click the (last) that you have marked -- here (cur), means "previous", and (last), means the "more recent one" in your selected pair.

EditWarnings

  • Note that an article may be nominated for deletion if personal reference is difficult to remove from the context of an article.

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Article Info

Categories: Writing and Editing

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Español: Cómo evitar el uso de referencias personales en wikiHow

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