Wiktionary:Welcome, newcomers

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Hello, welcome and thank you for taking the first step in making Wiktionary a better place! If you do not know what Wiktionary is, please visit the main page. This page is designed to provide newcomers with the minimum necessary information to start editing effectively and without issues. All contributions are welcome, no matter your expertise!

Prerequisites

Before diving in, it is important that you know some general rules. Namely:

All entries are subject to our inclusion criteria. Basically, we only record words and their definitions for how they have been actually used; no matter how informal, ungrammatical or offensive they are. Notable examples include: ain't, irregardless, rizz.
- We do not prescribe or proscribe terms; instead, we only note that a language community has done so.
- We do not create ghost words (no matter how intuitive they may seem), as other dictionaries have done in the past.
We follow a strict entry layout; each header has its own policy section. For a beginner, all you need to know is:
- It is recommended to copy a similar looking entry within your language and make applicable changes. Consult the policy as you become more curious.
- Do not create headers with a never-before-seen title. If you want to make a change, consult the language community.

Editing Wiktionary

See also: Help:How to edit a page

With that out of the way, you can now start your editorial journey! Wiktionary may seem overwhelming at first with its enormous amount of content and so, you may not know where to start. Here are a few inspirations:

Open up a random page in a book and pick a word that sticks out to you (or a news article, reddit post...the sky is the limit).
Learning a foreign language? See if our coverage matches what you have learned!
Have a favorite quote that illustrates a word quite well? Cite it!
Know how to pronounce a word from your native language? Record it!

You can jump in right now and add or alter a definition, add example sentences, or help us format or categorize entries properly. You can even create a page for a missing term. Do not be afraid to be bold in editing pages! However, there is no shame in asking for help or verification at our information desk; people here want to help!

How could allowing everyone to edit produce a high-quality product instead of total disorder? Because keeping it open to everyone creates the potential for making many good and ever-improving entries. Records are kept of all changes, so even unhelpful edits can easily be reverted by other users. In essence: “Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.”

On that note, please help us understand how you discovered the meaning of a word by providing a quotation or a reference citation. The more specific, the better!

Norms and etiquette

See also: Help:Interacting with other users

One important thing you should know is that we have borrowed from our sister project Wikipedia some cultural norms you should respect:

We try not to argue pointlessly. This isn't a debate forum. After civilized and reasonable discussion, we try to reach broad consensus to present an accurate, neutral summary of all relevant facts for future readers.
We try to make the entries as unbiased as we can, meaning that definitions or descriptions—even of controversial topics—are not meant to be platforms for preaching of any kind.
Bear in mind this is a dictionary, which means there are many things it is not.
At any point, if you are uncomfortable changing someone else's work, and you want to add a thought (or question or comment) about an entry or other page, the place is its talk page (click on the "Discussion" tab at the top or the "Discuss this page" link in the sidebar or elsewhere, depending on your preference skin). Note, though, that we try to keep discussions focused on improving this dictionary.

We highly recommend creating an account, so that you may build rapport, gain mentorship, help shape Wiktionary's practices in part or as a whole and, most importantly, become part of the community!

For more information

More introductory information and descriptions of community norms are on the following pages:

For more policy and style guidelines or guidance, see our Help:Contents or Community Portal.