Welcome to Wikinews!

A nice cup of coffee for while you get started

Getting a head start as a Wikinews contributor

Welcome! Thank you for joining Wikinews; we'd love for you to stick around and get more involved. To help you get started we have a short essay that will guide you through the process of writing your first full article. There are many other things you can do on the project, but its lifeblood is new, current, stories written neutrally.

As you get more involved you will want to look into the key policies for the project and other discussions you can participate in, so keep this message on your collaboration page and refer to the other links in it if you have problems or want to learn more.

 

 

 

 

 
All Wikimedia projects have rules. Here are ours.

Listed here are the official policies of the project, you may be referred to some of them if your early attempts at writing articles don't follow them. Don't let this discourage you, we all had to start somewhere.

The rules and guides laid out here are intended to keep content to high standards and meet certain rules the Wikimedia Foundation applies to all projects. It may seem like a lot to read, but you do not have to go through it all in one sitting, or know them all before you can start contributing.

Remember, you should enjoy contributing to the project. If you're really stuck come chat with the regulars. There's usually someone in chat who will be happy to help, but they may not respond instantly.

The core policies
 

 

 

 

 
Places to go, people to meet

Wiki projects work because a sense of community forms around the project. Although writing news is far more individualistic than contributing to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, people often need minor help with things like spelling and copyediting. If a story isn't too old you might be able to expand it, or if it is disputed you may be able to find some more sources and rescue it before it is listed for deletion.

There are always discussions going on about how the site could be improved, and your input is of value. Check the links here to see where you can give input to the running of the Wikinews project.

Where you can help and get involved
 

 

 

 

 

Obama sets deadline to withdraw troops from Iraq

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Thanks for your excellent start to Obama sets deadline to withdraw troops from Iraq. It really is appreciated. Unfourtunately, however, it is not yet quite long enough to be published, so I had to fail the review. Hopefully, someone will expand the article so it can be published. Thanks, Anonymous101talk 09:24, 28 February 2009 (UTC)Reply

Cricket articles

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Hi...sorry I have been busy today and am fighting off the flu. Unfortunately someone already beat me to the punch, and because of the article style, have been marked abandoned. If they are still around tomorrow, and newer updated sources can be found, then I don't see a problem with publishing them, provided they meet the policy guidelines etc. I apologize for our slacking on reviews, but of the regular contributors we have, about half of them have been sick the past few days. So you can blame me if you like :-P So again I do apologize and I hope this does not drive you away from Wikinews. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 00:20, 12 March 2009 (UTC)Reply

West Indies

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You are going to have to explain more fully why Wikipedia is wrong in saying:

"The West Indies, is a multi-national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of a dozen English-speaking Caribbean countries and British dependencies that form the British West Indies."

The link you provided (http://www.windiescricket.com/index.cfm?objectid=30090D16-E3BB-BC62-FFB8A7C330B60B0F) does not really shed any light on the distinctions. Cheers, --SVTCobra 02:26, 12 March 2009 (UTC)Reply

Replied and Explained on your talk page.. Sorry for being so picky.. :-)

Maybe I was dense, but I think I get it now. It is is a team made up of not only the British West Indies, but also other Caribbean islands. For some reason I believed that BWI was more inclusive, not less. Cheers, --SVTCobra 02:51, 12 March 2009 (UTC)Reply

Signing comments

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Hi. I see that you have been typing in your user name at the end of your messages on talk pages. I just wanted to let you know that there is an easier - and more accepted - way of doing this: simply add ~~~~ to the end of your messages instead. This will automatically produce your user name, as well as the time when the message was added. Thanks. Tempo di Valse ♪ 02:56, 12 March 2009 (UTC)Reply

Your recent edits

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Hi there. In case you didn't know, when you add content to talk pages and Wikinews pages that have open discussion, you should sign your posts by typing four w:tildes ( ~~~~ ) at the end of your comment. On many keyboards, the tilde is entered by holding the w:Shift key, and pressing the key with the tilde pictured. You may also click on the signature button   located above the edit window. This will automatically insert a signature with your name and the time you posted the comment. This information is useful because other editors will be able to tell who said what, and when. Thank you!

--SineBot (talk) 02:57, 12 March 2009 (UTC)Reply

User:Tempodivalse/Writing contest

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Hello! I noticed you're online today. Just wanted to let you know there's an article writing contest that's currently in progress. If you're interested in joining, sign yourself up at the above link. Thanks! Tempo di Valse ♪ 14:29, 21 March 2009 (UTC)Reply