Welcome to Wikinews

A nice cup of coffee for you while you get started

Getting started as a contributor
How to write an article
  1. Pick something current?
  2. Use two independent sources?
  3. Read your sources before writing the story in your own words?. Do choose a unique title? before you start.
  4. Follow Wikinews' structure? for articles, answering as many of who what when where why and how? as you can; summarised in a short, two- or three-sentence opening paragraph. Once complete, your article must be three or more paragraphs.
  5. If you need help, you can add {{helpme}} to your talkpage, along with a question, or alternatively, just ask?

  • Use this tab to enter your title and get a basic article template.
    [RECOMMENDED. Starts your article through the semi-automated {{develop}}—>{{review}}—>{{publish}} collaboration process.]

 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 an 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 need to look into key project policies and other discussions you can participate in; so, keep this message on this page and refer to the other links in it when you want to learn more, or have any problems.

Wikipedia's puzzle-globe logo, © Wikimedia Foundation
Wikipedia's puzzle-globe logo, © Wikimedia Foundation
  Used to contributing to Wikipedia? See here.
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.

Find help and get involved
Write your first article for Wikinews!

Use the following box to help you create your first article. Simply type in a title to your story and press "Create page". Then start typing text to your story into the new box that will come up. When you're done, press "save page". That's all there is to it!



It is recommended you read the article guide before starting. Also make sure to check the list of recently created articles to see if your story hasn't already been reported upon.


-- Wikinews Welcome (talk) 01:07, 25 July 2022 (UTC)Reply

Thanks

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Thank you for submitting Ukraine makes major gains as Russia retreats from Kherson. Even if it does not get published, it is an opportunity for you to understand how to write an article better. Follow through the page history, as the changes were gradual. Most importantly: try to get at least one source from the other side (in this case: the Russians), and avoid analysis. Feel free to ping me or reach out to others, if you would need help. - Xbspiro (talk) 09:19, 16 November 2022 (UTC)Reply

Hello Xbspiro, I hope you're doing well. Thank you for messaging me, and I couldn't agree more. Even if this page doesn't get published I am very happy I wrote it- as it has taught me a lot about the editing guidelines of Wikinews in comparison to Wikipedia's. I absolutely plan on writing more in the future, and I greatly appreciate you reaching out and for your help on the page. Thanks! Johnson524 (talk) 12:27, 16 November 2022 (UTC)Reply
@Xbspiro: I also appreciate you leaving very detailed and helpful edit summaries. It's not something you see a lot, but it's so helpful, especially in this case to help me go back and review what mistakes you fixed as to hopefully not repeat them again. I appreciate it 😁 Johnson524 (talk) 15:23, 16 November 2022 (UTC)Reply

Awards

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  The Order of the Humble Pencil


For completing 5 edits.

Heavy Water (talk) 17:04, 29 January 2023 (UTC)Reply
  The Order of the Modest Pencil


For getting your first article published!

I totally forgot to award you these, but you earned the first a few months ago and this one a couple weeks ago! Heavy Water (talk) 17:04, 29 January 2023 (UTC)Reply
@Heavy Water Oh my goodness, thank you so much for these :D Johnson524 (talk) 17:16, 29 January 2023 (UTC)Reply
No problem! Heavy Water (talk) 17:17, 29 January 2023 (UTC)Reply
By the way, you should sign up for the writing contest we're holding, I think it'll be fun. Heavy Water (talk) 18:48, 29 January 2023 (UTC)Reply
Oh cool, this is the first time I'm being told about this. I probably will 😁 Johnson524 (talk) 21:00, 29 January 2023 (UTC)Reply
It is in the site notice at the top of every page. Announcements are made there, it is not just static boilerplate text. I recommend glancing at the site notice from time to time. Cheers, SVTCobra 23:21, 29 January 2023 (UTC)Reply
Sorry, I'll be sure to. Johnson524 (talk) 04:15, 30 January 2023 (UTC)Reply
Well, I sign almost all my messages and comments with "cheers" ... If you get into the habit, it won't sound phony or sarcastic. I do try to avoid it when I am scolding spammers. Cheers, SVTCobra 04:42, 30 January 2023 (UTC)Reply
I am not telling you to use "cheers" at all ... just how I use it. You do not have to use any so-called polite word (be it 'sincerely', 'cheers', 'regards') in you communications with other users. Cheers, SVTCobra 06:06, 30 January 2023 (UTC)Reply
Sorry for my late response, I was busy today 😅 I am still trying to find a polite tag to end my messages on the project, because as of now, I kind of cycle through them all with no good consistency. I used "cheers" to try to end my message in a positive tone, but I feel it did the opposite so I removed it. I'm trying to get better at that like you said, so I am really sorry if I offended you in any way, that wasn't my intention. Wishing you the best! Johnson524 (talk) 02:45, 31 January 2023 (UTC)Reply

If you like categories

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Hey, if you like categories, you may be interested in Wikinews:To-Do List/May need Topic cat. Background: Wikinews originally used threadbare templates like {{countrycategory}} on cats; {{topic cat}} was created in 2010, allowing the easy inclusion of media and links to sister projects. Gradually, we've been converting categories to use {{topic cat}}, but it's slow going.

I picked up this task in March; I typically check Wikidata for any sister links, but sometimes I check Commons and Wikipedia manually if I don't see links to them from a relevant Wikidata item or Wikidata doesn't have an item, and Wiktionary if it seems like the subject would have a Wiktionary entry (since Wiktionary entries are supposed to never be connected to Wikidata, for some reason). I also add a link to the Wikinews cat from any Wikidata item. We always categorize articles in all relevant cats, so readers can see, e.g., the latest news in business at Category:Economy and business, without having to sift through subcats, but, to my knowledge, we only categorize cats themselves into the most relevant parent cats. It gets more complicated when a cat is not fully populated (best solution's to leave a message on the cat talk page with {{fill this category}} for admins if the article(s) is/are archived, which is likely), when things are improperly categorized (leave a message on the article talk page with {{editprotected}} if archived), or one needs to create a mainspace redirect to the cat so one can easily link to the cat from an article (e.g., business; please ask on the redirect's talk page using {{makeprotected}} to ask for it to be protected). Hope that's interesting to you, Heavy Water (talk) 21:59, 11 September 2023 (UTC)Reply

Hi @Heavy Water, and sorry for the late response. Thanks for letting me know about this! I'm not sure when, but I can totally see myself dabbling in this in the future. I have really gotten into categories and templates recently, so I'd be happy to do this 🙂 I have a lot of college work to do right now though, so I'm not doing much on any of the wikis at the moment, but this should lighten up soon. Cheers! Johnson524 (talk) 11:43, 13 September 2023 (UTC)Reply

Reporting

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How are things with you? Come back! Do good work here! --Bddpaux (talk) 15:54, 24 April 2024 (UTC)Reply

Hey @Bddpaux, thanks for reaching out! School is super busy for me right now and, at least this week, I won't be able to write anything. You've inspired me though, so hopefully by the end of the month I will be able to write a new story 🙂 Thank you for all the work you do too, cheers! Johnson524 (talk) 03:11, 25 April 2024 (UTC)Reply
Is this high school or college if I may ask? What is your major? Gryllida (talk) 03:13, 26 September 2024 (UTC)Reply
Hello @Gryllida, I hope you’re well 😄 I’m working on a Microbiology degree in college right now, and am also in Naval ROTC. Thanks for asking! You commenting made me remember that I had said I’d make another article here, oops. Hopefully I can make one soon, better late than never. Cheers! Johnson524 (talk) 03:22, 26 September 2024 (UTC)Reply
Sounds exciting, I like spending time at the water very much. I hope you're enjoying both of these undertakings.
I would be happy to help you with the writing.
Please note you can follow other newer drafts and help out also -- it could be the less time consuming alternative to writing a completely new article -- they're visible in Newsroom and the even shorter summary of ongoing queries is in Wikinews:Water cooler/assistance; as a easiest first step you're welcome to 'Subscribe' to the latter linked page to be notified of new discussions. -- Gryllida (talk) 03:32, 26 September 2024 (UTC)Reply
@Gryllida: I really appreciate you reaching out! Whether it be working on a draft or starting a whole new article, I hope I can do something on here again soon. Cheers! Johnson524 (talk) 03:38, 26 September 2024 (UTC)Reply