Welcome

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Welcome to Wikinews

 

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
  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.

--Brian McNeil / talk 03:29, 20 May 2010 (UTC)Reply

Matthew, nice to see you came back. If you ever want some advice on how to edit here, feel free to ask! :-) --Diego Grez return fire 00:56, 20 June 2010 (UTC)Reply
Thanks! I'm just taking baby steps for now :) Matthewedwards (talk) 01:05, 20 June 2010 (UTC)Reply
Welcome back, Matthew. I was quite surprised - and pleased - to see your name in the recent changes with a new article symbol next to it. :-) If you ever need something or have questions, please don't hesitate to ping me at my talk page. Cheers, Tempodivalse [talk] 02:05, 21 June 2010 (UTC)Reply
Thank you :) There might be something soon, actually, to do with image placement. Matthewedwards (talk) 03:16, 21 June 2010 (UTC)Reply
Can someone delete Template:Doc, please? Not sure what the speedy delete policy is here, but I created it by accident and then blanked it. Thanks, 69.78.131.230 (talk) 05:01, 21 June 2010 (UTC)Reply
  Done. Feel free to stick {{delete}} on anything needing speedy. Bawolff 05:04, 21 June 2010 (UTC)Reply
If this is baby steps, I would love to see you run at full speed. Welcome back! --InfantGorilla (talk) 16:27, 21 June 2010 (UTC)Reply
Heh, thanks. I just meant I'm gonna stick to writing stories, rather than get involved in any discussions and what-not for now. :) Matthewedwards (talk) 13:24, 23 June 2010 (UTC)Reply

Diego Grez return fire 23:53, 2 August 2010 (UTC)Reply

something for you...

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The Resilient Barnstar

I award you the Resilient Barnstar for your excellent contributions to Wikinews, especially in the field of original reporting, despite our shameful treatment of you a few months ago. Thanks a lot! Benny the mascot (talk) 16:02, 3 August 2010 (UTC)Reply

Thank you. That means a lot. I suspect that if this wasn't a Wikimedia project I most likely wouldn't have returned. :) Matthewedwards (talk) 16:04, 4 August 2010 (UTC)Reply

Reviewer Promotion

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I have promoted you to the Wikinews:Reviewer class, entrusting you with the ability to mark revisions of articles as sighted (review). Please take a moment to read:

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask for help on my talk page, and thank you for contributing to Wikinews! —Mikemoral♪♫ 05:20, 9 August 2010 (UTC)Reply

Great stuff! Thanks to everyone who supported! :) Matthewedwards (talk) 22:15, 10 August 2010 (UTC)Reply

If you accidentally sight a revision of a developing article, don't carry the sighting along to later versions; it can only cause later trouble — e.g., when you accidentally added {{publish}} to the article that presumably actually self-published it, i.e., put it up on the main page for the few seconds it took you to fix it.

I unsighted all the revisions for you. Since de-sighting is a trick that, over at Wikibooks, we took many months to figure out, I'll remark that all it takes is going down to the "Review this revision" box at bottom of the page, unchecking "Accuracy", and clicking the "Submit" button. --Pi zero (talk) 16:26, 12 October 2010 (UTC)Reply

Oh good, so I wasn't the only one who took 6 months to figure out how to de-sight something? I felt pretty dumb when I realized how easy it is;). Gopher65talk 16:39, 12 October 2010 (UTC)Reply
Okay, thanks guys. I should have figured out there would be more to it. 208.54.5.77 (talk) 16:50, 12 October 2010 (UTC)Reply
Is that your IP? Want if so, sign in & say should you want it revdel'd. Blood Red Sandman (Talk) (Contribs) 16:58, 12 October 2010 (UTC) Never mind, seen the edit now that says you're on your phone and know you're logged out. Blood Red Sandman (Talk) (Contribs) 17:00, 12 October 2010 (UTC)Reply
Yeah, I don't really care if my IP is shown. Thanks though :). It's just my phone, and it changes each time I reopen the browser. Same with my home outer, really. I use a cellular based usb wifi single, and thats changes each time it connects. 208.54.5.77 (talk) 17:30, 12 October 2010 (UTC)Reply

Merry Christmas!

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fetch·comms 23:00, 19 December 2010 (UTC)Reply

Thank you! Same to you, too. Matthewedwards (talk) 19:33, 26 December 2010 (UTC)Reply

privs

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Busy elsewhere? We understand, but this is a notice of privilege expiry!

Note! Your privileges on English Wikinews have been reduced.

Under the Privilege expiry policy (enacted October 13, 2012) the rights held by your user account have been reduced due to inactivity, or lack of privilege use. You can view your user rights log here.
Point 4 of the Privilege expiry policy provides for fast-tracking reacquisition of privileges. We all understand that real-life commitments can severely curtail the level of commitment you can give to Wikinews; the privilege reduction is in no way intended as a reflection on your past work, or to imply you are unwelcome. The aim in curtailing privileges is to address security risks, and concern that a long period of inactivity means you may not be up-to-date with current policy and practices.

--Pi zero (talk) 21:46, 19 December 2012 (UTC)Reply