This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
This page in a nutshell: If your planned article or editing would conflict with Wikipedia's standards, it's happened before. No website can be everything for everyone. Examples follow. |
Add your stories freely, but with respect for these caveats: Do not identify any person or organization who cannot be written about in Wikipedia. Do not state a fact or view that may not be stated on Wikipedia. Do not give a partial identification or statement that may help someone else, knowing other information, to infer the full identification or statement that may not be in Wikipedia. For example, do not be so specific that someone Googling can identify the person or organization, such as if you supply a quotation. The best way to keep a secret is not to tell anyone. Isolate the problem. Make the principles clear. For example, probably the city of an article's subject is irrelevant to a principle, in which case don't mention the city. To discuss an example, do so on this essay's talk page. |
At times, an article should not be written into Wikipedia, although we'd like to write it. This includes a potential new article and editing of content for an existing article. It shouldn't be written or edited because we can't do so within Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. This is not necessarily a bad quality of Wikipedia; it may even be good to preserve it. But it is noteworthy for discussion.