Getting a page on Wikipedia can be one of the hardest things you can do in your life. With a slew of guidelines to follow, you’ll find yourself scratching your head and on the verge of a breakdown than any closer to having your Wikipedia biographical article.
Wikipedia makes it challenging for individuals to make pages because the platform authority wants the website to offer valid information to users who need it. For that reason, it has requested users to follow the writing policies. That’s why hiring someone else, like a Wikipedia page creation expert, would be the smart move if you want to get listed on Wikipedia.
Creating a Wikipedia profile is a challenge, but by leveraging the right tools, you can provide yourself some relief. The following blog looks at the tools that ease the profile creation process and explains the steps for publishing on Wikipedia. In addition, it also points out some mistakes you must avoid if you don’t want to face constant rejections after submitting a Wikipedia biography.
Top Tools You Need to Create a Wikipedia Page:
Although Wikipedia has a ton of guidelines every writer should follow, it has never once gone against using tools. In fact, some Wikipedians have gone out of their way to dedicate a page on these Wikipedia tools that you may find helpful in the different steps of the creation process. You do have the opportunity to create your page without them, but leveraging them can make the job easier and may also reduce the chance of rejection. We’ve divided the tools based on their purpose. Here’s what you need to know:
1. Editing Tools:
As we said before, writing a Wikipedia page requires following the guidelines and policies, which you can’t do much about apart from ensuring your page is up to code. However, the Editing tool refers to the tools you need to write and edit the profile script before publishing. Several tools can streamline the editing process. Here are a few crucial ones:
(a) WikiEd
(b) Offline MediaWiki Code Editor:
(c) SyncWiki:
If you have already written the Wikipedia article and just want to upload it to the encyclopedia platform, then SyncWiki can be a great help. The tool lets you upload your text file for further editing and formatting. It also lets you download text files from Wikipedia as well.
(d) WikiFundi:
WikiFundi works more like an offline Wiki editing environment. It was made by Wiki in Africa. The platform was made to help users edit Wikipedia articles, where a stable internet is often an issue. However, another purpose surfaced soon after its release. Teaching individuals to write and edit Wikipedia articles collaboratively. It’s a great tool, especially for beginners who have just gotten the basics of Wikipedia writing down. For the tool to operate, you only need a small portable server such as a Raspberry Pi.
(e) AutoWikiBrowser:
If you want to fix tedious errors like typos, then consider using an AutoWikiBrowser. The platform makes Wikipedia editing even faster and easier.
2. Citation Tools:
Wikipedia is an encyclopedia platform, so users need countless sources to present their information. The platform requires that the user provide citations when creating a Wikipedia profile. Citing sources individually can put a lot of stress on you, so you can use tools to assemble the citation. This way, you can create citations even with limited information. Here are a few tools you can use for citations:
(a) Citer:
Citer can convert URL, DOI, ISBN, PMID, PMCID, OCLC, or Google Books URL into a citation and a shortened footnote. This helps save time when creating individual citations and references to add to Wikitext while writing Wikipedia articles.
(b) Citoid:
Just like Citer, it is a tool but also a visual editor that lets you build a full citation from the URL,
(c) RefScript:
The tool allows you to generate references from news websites, including BBC Washington Post, New York Times, etc
(d) Wikipedia AutoReferencer:
The tool is a tool from Microsoft that lets you convert embedded links to wikitext.
3. Anti-Vandalism Tools:
You’re not just done once you create the Wikipedia profile. As information is ever-changing, the platform allows anyone to become a contributor. Even if it is your page, anyone can edit and revise information. Once the page is published, it’s at risk of vandalism. It is a term when a page is badly edited by a user. As these issues can happen anytime, you can’t expect to monitor them all the time. Tools can be a great way to catch up on these issues and have them reverted or fixed. Here are some tools that you should know of:
(a) Huggle:
It is a fast diff browser that parses edits from users and then sorts them based on the predicted level of vandalism. It helps identify malicious edits, which you can revert back through a click of a button.
(b) RCMap:
The tool allows you to view anonymous edits made from around the world with links to diffs.
(c) AntiVandal:
It is another web-based vandalism tool that has a user interface similar to Huggle’s. However, it differs as it not only reverts the malicious edit but also warns the vandal. In addition, it can also directly report the vandalism to the Administrator Intervention against Vandalism once sufficient warning is given.
How to Create a Wikipedia Profile?
Just knowing the tools won’t make the writing process easy. Wikipedia writing is a skill of its own. Not everyone has the skill to create a Wikipedia profile. It requires the individual to use a non-biased, neutral tone while also ensuring the information they collect isn’t from a source they relate to. If you want to create a Wikipedia page on your own instead of relying on a Wikipedia writing expert, then here are the steps you need to follow:
1. Conduct your Research :
2. Create an Account:
3. Become an Auto-confirmed User:
4. Collect your Sources:
In time, you have to be a newly registered user on Wikipedia to create the page, and you start by gathering the sources that you wish to use to create the page. It’s important to remember that while Wikipedia allows users to collect information from interviews, blogs, and science journals,
However, they need to make sure that any information they collect, the source, should not directly be related to the subject in question. As an example, if you are creating a Wikipedia profile yourself, then you need to make sure that the information isn’t from a blog or journal you made.
5. Begin the Draft:
Once you’ve collected all the resources, you should open up a document editor to start preparing the draft. A great way to write the draft is to form an outline to structure where you want to put what information. Your goal should be to break information into digestible information that is easy to read, understand, and find. Once you’re done with the outline, take time to write the content for each section. Wikipedia requires that you keep a neutral and unbiased tone while writing. So, don’t be hasty about finishing it early. Write the content down, making sure the style is up-to-code.
6. Page Submission:
Once you’ve written the content, the next step involves uploading your work to the Article Wizard. In the article wizard, you can use the various Wikipedia editing and citation tools. This will ensure the content you wrote doesn’t have any mistakes, such as typos or syntax issues, while also uploading tables and citations without any hitch.
Once everything’s done, submit the Wikipedia article for final review before publication. Although becoming an auto-confirmed user will allow a quicker review, you may still need to wait patiently for the page to get approved.
7. Regular Updates:
Even if your page has landed a spot on Wikipedia, you’re still not done. Just as information changes from time to time, you need to make sure the information on the page you made is updated as well. Updated pages are more relevant and have a better search rate. So, if you do find any new information that you can contribute, be sure to do so to keep the page relevant.
Mistakes to Avoid While Writing a Wikipedia Article:
Mistakes are a part of the writing process. However, when it comes to Wikipedia, there are some mistakes you don’t want to repeat. It’s because these mistakes can lead to rejection and resubmission. Here’s what you need to be careful of while writing a Wikipedia page.
1. Submitting Your Own Wikipedia Biography
Although Wikipedia doesn’t restrict anyone from writing a Wikipedia page, the community however does demotivate individuals to create a Wikipedia profile of their own. Although there is no such rule for writing your own Wikipedia page, the community believes that a person who writes about themselves is more prone to bias.
This would lead to page rejection. In instances where you require a Wikipedia biography article, consider waiting patiently for a contributor to notice you on the web and write a page for you. This method could take months or even years, but if you want one in less time, then consider hiring a Wikipedia page creation expert.
The service providers know all the ins and outs of writing for Wikipedia, and they ensure that they provide an unbiased, well-written, informative page that serves to provide information only to readers.
2. Never Use it for Publicity:
Did you know that businesses consider creating a Wikipedia profile a major part of their marketing strategy? It’s because Wikipedia is among the major websites that have popped up in the top search engine results.
Search engines, such as Google, love to place Wikipedia articles on the first search page. This is because most Wikipedia articles align with the user’s intent in the search. However, there is a clear difference between using Wikipedia for publicity and using publicity on Wikipedia that most new writers always forget.
Wikipedia is, first and foremost, an encyclopedia, which means that any content you share needs to be purely factual and unbiased. Self-promotion, or using a promotional tone, is strictly against Wikipedia policy. Failure to do so would result in page rejection. Make sure to remain neutral and stick to information to ensure you don’t violate the guidelines.
3. Using Original Research:
Wikipedia doesn’t restrict information from any source, but it does, however, want users to use information that isn’t from promotional sources or made by them. This includes PR and self-written blogs. Using original research is the biggest writing mistake you can make while drafting a Wikipedia biography is using original research sources to present information from.
Wiki editor, at the time of review, check the references you used, apart from the writing style. If they find you referencing information from a blog you made or taken from a PR, then they’ll reject it, even if the page is well-written. So, to avoid rejection and resubmission, check your sources and use those sources to which you are referred but didn’t contribute.
Final Note:
Creating a Wikipedia profile can be a challenging but rewarding process. While the platform itself doesn’t have tools specifically designed for creating a Wikipedia profile, there are many external editing and citation tools that can make the writing process smoother. However, keep in mind that meeting Wikipedia’s notability guidelines and maintaining a neutral tone throughout the writing is crucial for getting your profile approved.
If you’re unsure about your eligibility or find the process too daunting, consider collaborating with a Wikipedia page creation expert who can ensure your profile meets all the guidelines and increases the chances of getting it published. Remember, the key to creating a Wikipedia profile is to provide well-sourced and unbiased information for the readers.