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) 18:24, 25 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

Unblock me

edit

{{unblock|I have done nothing wrong. My account was hijacked by my coworker when I got up to get some food. I did not make the edits you see on this account.}}

 
Should this user be unblocked?

SVTCobra has reviewed Please tell me where you've hidden my poop's request to be unblocked, and the result was declined.
The reason given by SVTCobra was: It is your responsibility to safeguard your account and/or device. Multiple pages were vandalized. You have never made a constructive edit to Wikinews and your choice of username does not indicate a person who is here to contribute to the reporting of the news..
Further debate can proceed here, however, the administrator's decision may be final, and the result of administrative consensus.


Unrequested advice

edit

I am not familiar with how the block/unblock process works here at Wikinews. I also have had no previous interaction with the editor. This is unrequested advice that you are free to do with as you will.

@Heavy Water mentioned a poll in one of the edit summaries. Is that something only for admins/reviewers and where is it located?

Assuming good faith...your username does not help the perception that this is not a serious account intent on writing serious content. It may also violate the username policy if it is deemed offensive. I assume your username alone is why @Wutsje reported the account. It may help your unblock request if you offer to change the username to something more appropriate.

As per policy, you should also explain how you intend to prevent future hijackings of your account.

This project needs all the editors it can get, which is the reason I'm giving this advice.

Michael.C.Wright (Talk/Published) 17:11, 4 February 2024 (UTC)Reply

Oh, {{votings}}? That's actually the template near the top of Recent changes, where you see "Articles needing review", "Developing articles", and so on. Adding the {{unblock}} template adds the category for unblock requests, and by extension and more importantly, causes this to be included in the count next to "Unblock requests" in {{votings}}. Heavy Water (talk) 03:09, 5 February 2024 (UTC)Reply
Just as a sidenote, WP:AGF doesn't apply here. We follow WN:Never assume, judging things based on the evidence we have seen. A.S. Thawley (talk) (calendar) 06:42, 7 February 2024 (UTC)Reply