Community portal .mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:" · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li:last-child::after{content:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:first-child::before{content:" (";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:last-child::after{content:")";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol{counter-reset:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li{counter-increment:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li::before{content:" "counter(listitem)"\a0 "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li ol>li:first-child::before{content:" ("counter(listitem)"\a0 "} Dashboard Departments Maintenance Tasks IRC Meetups Directories (Policies/Guidelines Essays How-to Index Noticeboards WikiProjects)
Policies and guidelines (list) Principles Five pillars Ignore all rules Content policies Article titles Biographies of living persons Image use Neutral point of view No original research Verifiability What Wikipedia is not (Not a dictionary) Conduct policies Civility Clean start Consensus Dispute resolution Edit warring Editing policy Harassment No legal threats No personal attacks Ownership of content Username policy Vandalism Other policy categories Deletion Enforcement Legal Procedural Directories List of policies List of guidelines Manual of Style contents .mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}vte

The following is a comprehensive list of policies and guidelines. For descriptive directories see Wikipedia:List of policies, Wikipedia:List of guidelines and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Contents.

Terminology

Wikipedia's rules and best practices are specified in two types of documents:

Policy

A policy documents a rule or standard with wide acceptance among Wikipedia editors that all users should normally follow.

Guideline

A guideline is a set of best practices that are supported by the consensus of Wikipedia editors. Editors should attempt to follow guidelines, though they are best treated with common sense. Occasional exceptions may apply. Naming conventions are considered guidelines.

The basics

The Five Pillars

The Five Pillars are the five fundamental principles of Wikipedia:

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia
Wikipedia is written from a neutral point of view
Wikipedia is free content that anyone can use, edit, and distribute
Editors should treat each other with respect and civility
Wikipedia has no firm rules

List

Large-print links are broad, fundamental policies and guidelines that apply throughout Wikipedia.
Normal-print links are policies and guidelines that are general in scope but may apply to more specific situations.
Small-print links are policies and guidelines that are specific to a subject area or process on Wikipedia.
 

Content policies

Biographies of Living Persons – Image Use Policy – Wikipedia is Not a Dictionary

Content guidelines

Autobiography – Accuracy Dispute – Content Forking – External Links – No Disclaimers in Articles – Non-Free Content – Non-Free Use Rationale Guideline – Non-U.S. Copyrights – Offensive Material – Portal Guidelines – Public Domain – Spam – Spoiler

Editing guidelines

As Of – Broad-Concept Articles – Categories, Lists, and Navigation Templates – Copying within Wikipedia – Reviewing Good Articles – Hatnote – Page Blanking – Overcategorization – Preparing Images for Upload – Red Link – Redirect – Set Index Articles – Soft Redirect – Spellchecking – Subpages – Updating Information – User Categories

Notability guidelines

Academics – Astronomical Objects – Books – Events – Films – Geographic Features – Music – Numbers – Organizations and Companies – People – Sports – Web

Naming conventions

Acronyms – Capitalization – Country-Specific Topics – Definite or Indefinite Articles – Events – Geographic Names – Numbers and Dates – Long Lists – People – Plurals – Technical Restrictions – Use English

Aircraft – Ancient Romans – Armenian – Astronomical Objects – Australian Roads – Baseball Players – Belgium: Castle, Country House, Château and Kasteel – Belgium: Alternate Language Names – Books – Broadcasting – Brussels – Burmese – Law Enforcement Agency Categories – Chemistry – Chinese – Clergy – College Football – Comics – Companies – Fauna – Films – Flora – Geographic names – UK Parliament Constituencies – Government and Legislation– Greek – Hebrew – Ice Hockey – Indic – Irish Categories – Korean – Languages – Latter Day Saints – Macedonia – Manuscripts – Mongolian – Music – New Zealand – Norse Mythology – Operas – Ethnicities and Tribes – Mining – Political Parties – Ships – Sports Teams – Sportspeople – Stations in Poland – Television – Tibetan – Royalty and Nobility – U.S. State and Territory Highways – UK Stations – Video Games – West Bank – Swiss Municipalities – Writing Systems

Style guidelines

Content: Accessibility – Biographies – Linking – Self-References to Avoid – Words to Watch – Wikimedia Sister Projects

Formatting: Abbreviations – Capital Letters – Dates and Numbers – Pronunciation – Proper Names – Spelling – Text Formatting – Titles

Layout: Layout – Lead Section – Lists (Embedded Lists – Lists of Works – Road Junction Lists – Stand-Alone Lists) – Tables – Trivia Sections

Images: Images – Captions – Icons

Arts – Anime and Manga – Comics – Film – Music (Music Samples – Record Charts – Stringed Instrument Tunings) – Novels – Television – Visual Arts – Writing About Fiction – History – Military History – Blazon – Legal – Legal – Trademarks – Regional – Canada – China – France – Hawaii – India – Ireland – Japan – Korea – Philippines – Poland – Singapore – Trinidad and Tobago – Religion – Islam – Latter Day Saints – Science – Chemistry – Computing – Mathematics – Medicine – TaxoBox Documentation – Sports – Cue Sports – Snooker – Wikipedia Content – Disambiguation Pages – Infoboxes

Conduct policies

Clean Start – Dispute Resolution – Edit Warring – No Personal Attacks – Ownership of Content – Sock Puppetry – Username Policy

Behavioral guidelines

Appealing a Block – Article Feedback Response Guidelines – Canvassing – Changing Username Guidelines – Courtesy Vanishing – Deceased Wikipedians Guidelines – Do Not Disrupt Wikipedia to Illustrate a Point – Gaming the System – Please Do Not Bite the Newcomers – Reviewing – Rollback – Signatures – Spam Blacklist – Linking to External Harassment

Deletion policies

Attack Page – Oversight – Proposed Deletion (Books) – Proposed Deletion of Biographies of Living People – Revision Deletion

Deletion guidelines

Deletion Guidelines for Administrators – Speedy Keep

Procedural policies

Arbitration Committee: CheckUser and Oversight – Bot Policy – CheckUser – Global Rights Policy – IP Block Exemption – Page mover – Open Proxies – Volunteer Response Team

Information pages about procedures: Bureaucrats – Office Actions

Enforcement policies

Discretionary Sanctions – Banning Policy

Legal policies

Child Protection – Copyright Violations – Libel – Non-Free Content Criteria – Paid-contribution disclosure – Reusing Wikipedia Content

Project content guidelines

Userboxes – WikiProject Council Guide

Template guidelines

High-Risk Templates – Substitution – Talk Page Templates

See also

Template:Wikipedia books

Tutorials
Related essays
Category