View source for Help:About help pages

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{{Hatnote|For the main description of Wikipedia, see [[Wikipedia:About]]}}
{{Information page|H:A|H:ABOUT}}
{{Nutshell|This is a general information page about Wikipedia's help  system. For the primary "help page", see '''[[Help:Contents]]''' or browse the '''[[Help:Menu|Help&nbsp;menu]]''' or the '''[[Help:Directory|Help directory]]'''. }}

==About the help system==
{{seealso|Wikipedia:Project namespace#Wikipedia how-to and information pages}}
[[File:wiki-help.png|frameless|right||link=Wikipedia:Help desk]]
The help resource system of Wikipedia consists of a wide variety of [[WP:HOWTOPAGES|how-to and information pages]], written to differing levels of technical expertise and in widely varying styles. This variety however has its flaws: it is easy to navigate to a page that regurgitates the same information, contains concepts that have not already been covered, is overly complicated for one's needs, or pages with a listing of links to other pages with listings of links.  Information is also spread over a variety of namespace prefixes.

The  ''[[Wikipedia:Wikipedia namespace|Wikipedia namespace]]'' (prefix ''Wikipedia:''): contains many types of pages connected with the Wikipedia project itself: basic information (e.g., [[Wikipedia:Administration]]), policies (e.g., [[Wikipedia:Editing policy]]), guidelines (e.g., [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style]]),  essays (e.g., [[Wikipedia:Reasonability rule]]), how-to pages (e.g., [[Wikipedia:Purging]]). The ''[[WP:Help namespace|Help namespace]]'' (prefix ''Help:''): contains pages which provide help in using Wikipedia and its software, both for users of the encyclopedia and for editors (e.g., [[Help:Footnotes]]). However the ''Wikipedia namespace'' also contains many help style pages that in some cases contain repeated information or more detailed information.  For example, [[Wikipedia:Media help]] and  [[Help:Files]] are  help pages located in different prefixes covering some of the same information presented in differing levels of technical expertise.{{update inline |date=November 2024}}

There are also pages that have completely different styles of presenting the same information (e.g., [[Help:Referencing for beginners]] and [[Help:Introduction to referencing]]).  For this reason [[Help:redirect|redirect]]s and [[WP:hatnote|hatnote]]s are often set up between these two namespaces. Aside from the static pages there are a multitude of interactive assistances pages see, [[Wikipedia:Requests]] for a listing of those.

==How to utilize help==
===Where to start for new editors===
If you would like to get a good overview of the whole project and how it works, you could read through the introductory page at [[Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia]] or go through the tutorial at [[Help:Introduction]]. [[Help:Getting started]] contains a listing of introductions and tutorials on the various aspects of Wikipedia. 

If you just want help on how to read Wikipedia, see [[Wikipedia:FAQ/Readers]]. For information on searching and browsing the encyclopedia, see [[Help:Navigation]].

===Searching help pages===
{{see|Help:Searching#Custom search boxes}}
If you type keywords of your question into the search box, a page relevant to your question will usually turn up in the search results, e.g. 'How do I create an article?' ( type in 'create an article' ), 'What size are thumbnails?' ( type in 'thumbnail size' ). The search needs to be limited to the help pages using the advanced search page (which appears after you have clicked 'search') or you can use the search box in [[Help:contents]] (accessed  at any time by clicking ''Help'' displayed on the left side of all pages.). This is duplicated below.
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namespaces=Help**,Wikipedia**,Template**
searchbuttonlabel=Search help pages
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===Navigating help pages===
[[File:Gnome-help-faq.svg|right|150px|link=]]
*[[Help:Contents]] is the main help page that will guide you in the right direction. 
*Frequently asked questions are listed by general topic at [[Wikipedia:FAQ]] (great place for fast info).
*[[Help:Menu]] is a menu-style page that will direct you to the right place to find information.
*[[Help:Directory]]  is a descriptive listing of Wikipedia's informative, instructional and consultation pages.
*[[:Category:Wikipedia information pages]] and [[:Category:Wikipedia how-to]] are the main subcategories listing help pages.
*The help portal nearby will direct you to the main "help contents" page.
{{Portal|Help}}
*The templates below outlines Wikipedia's help pages and can be viewed at the bottom of related articles.<br/>
{{Tl|Wikipedia help pages}}
{{Tl|Wikipedia technical help}}
{{tl|Basic information}}
*See also: [[Help: Wikipedia: The Missing Manual|Wikipedia: The Missing Manual]] is a converted book that covers most subjects, split into 21 chapters.

===Interactive assistance=== 
*You can ask for help on using Wikipedia at the [[Wikipedia:Help desk|help desk]] and  [[Wikipedia:Teahouse|teahouse]].
*General information questions can be asked at the [[Wikipedia:Reference desk|reference desk]].

==Contributing to the help pages==
Like articles, most of the help pages can be edited&nbsp;&ndash; so feel free to improve any pages you come across. When a high traffic page has been protected to help prevent vandalism, suggestions can still be made on the talk page. Some coordination happens at [[Wikipedia:Help Project]].
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