• Write about what you know. While many admins have a wealth of experience about Wikipedia (WP) and how it works, if your working on something you know about and towards the goal, a good article, the admins in theory should help you or leave you alone.

• Start out with minor articles. It's reasonable to assume, WP devotes a lot of time to its big articles that pull the most traffic. If you are off in the hinterlands somewhere, working on minor articles, chances are, the admins will be fine with that. An example of a minor article is a local lake that you know something about. You may be the only person watching and editing that page. I think it's safe to assume all pages are watched by bots, so there will be oversight, just less of it.

• Don't argue with anyone. As a noob, you have realize that many admins know how WP works, and some of them have the knowledge to prevail even when they may not be right. Make a reasonable argument for your position on the article's discussion page, and then leave whatever the issue is, alone for a while.

• Use a Username. It adds to your credibility, which I think is a big part of WP. Stick with one name, and do not create another account unless you are done using your old one. See: Sockpuppet

• Don't write anything about anybody that you might regret later. Assume all your postings will outlive you. The software can do that, and usually does. Granted, there are some focused exceptions, but take the high road. People who are a problem for you and WP will eventually do themselves in, you don't have to help them on their way.

• Realize that you can be your own kind of Wikipedian and do not have to emulate the more famous ones. Try a bit of writing new articles, try watching a few pages you care about, try cleaning up a few pages, and try learning more about how the software works, to see what you like doing?

• When wondering if you should make a change to a page that someone might disagree with, use the discussion page first. You can usually track down the editor who wrote what you are about to change and discuss the change before you make it. Perhaps Wikipedia requires a balance between expediency and diplomacy.

• When a more experienced user makes an improvement to a page on your watchlist, learn from them (look at the code), and make similar improvements to other pages on your watchlist.

• When you want to add something that you see on one article to another article, open two windows so that you can see how it was coded on the model page, while working on your target page. If all else fails, use the {{helpme}} approach. Directions on how to do so are on your talk page. Your question is usually answered quickly, and sometimes the helper makes the change for you.

• Don't be afraid to start a new article. New articles do receive an automatic speedy review. You might want to save a copy of your work on your word processing software. Include on the new articles discussion page an argument as to why this belongs in WP? Add the article to your watchlist. Deletions are a part of WP. Hopefully, you will watch the page you started grow and improve, but there will be set-backs. It's part of the agreement you make as a WP writer.

• If your writing an article or reviewing one and can think of someone more qualified to work on it, ask them to, and offer to help them. Just remember to explain to them how WP works.

• When writing about something that is close to you, such as your company or organization, assume people will figure out the connection you have to the article. (See WikiScanner) Disclose on the article's talk page that you are biased. Disclose on your user page that you have contributed to the article. Opinions vary as to the propriety of writing about something that you have a material connection to. Be cautious and prepared to defend what you have written to other more senior Wikipedians. My own un-tested opinion is that those closest to an article should write it. Advocates and critics collaborating within the framework of Wikipedia.

• Buy important people at Wikipedia a "Wiki Babe", "WikiWitch" or "Wiki Man" T-Shirt from JokeCat's online store: http://www.cafepress.com/IHateWikipedia  They'll never forget you.

• Buy yourself a "Wiki Babe", "Wiki Witch" or "Wiki Man" T-Shirt. They may take away your editing privileges, but they will never take away your T-Shirt.

The WikiFreak Search Engine searches sites critical of Wikipedia. Send me your suggestions for websites to add.

WikiLove, WikiHate, WikiCrime, and WikiPeace - Communicating with Symbols - Beyond  : )
On the left is the symbol for WikiLove which usually does not refer to knowledge in the biblical sense. According to WP, WikiLove is the general spirit of collegiality and mutual understanding. It could be said to represent the love of knowledge, and if we fail to achieve WikiLove, we are left with only flamewars and biased articles that drive users and contributors away. The absence of WikiLove causes criticism sites like the Wikipedia Review, Wikipedia Watch, and Wikitruth to appear. In the upper right we have the symbol for WikiHate. Don't let his Jolly Rogers-like whimsical looks fool you. He may look like Johnny Depp but you don't want to be him, or date him. According to WP, WikiHate is a counterproductive attitude, as we Ayn Rand fans know, this is typical behavior for a "destroyer". Revert Wars and hate campaigns are examples of WikiHate. WikiHate is not the opposite of WikiLove, the opposite of WikiLove is WikiIndifference (see Elie Wiesel). I don't think there is a symbol for WikiIndifference but I'll see what I can do about that. Lower left is the surprising similar symbol for WikiCrime. WikiCrimes can land you in WikiJail, WikiHell, or WikiLimbo. Some examples of WikiCrimes are, vandalism, intentionally removing good content or intentionally adding bad content, inserting advertising on WP, revert warring, edit warring, and visiting this site. WP says placing propaganda on WP is WikiCrime, but really, what is propaganda? The word isn't neutral, is it? This brings us finally to WikiPeace. WikiPeace is kind of the poor relation of these other symbols with not a lot written about it. It's about making Wikipedia a more peaceful place by doing nice things. WP says on its WikiPeace page, "Our mission is to treat editors as one," I can't figure out what the heck that means? Are we one? If we were, there wouldn't be any conflicts. I mean, does the Borg Collective fight itself? I think that line needs an edit. You can sign up be a WikiPeaceNik on the WikiPeace page, but as of 6/29/07, only 20 people had done so. (Peace doesn't seem generate much interest.) But nevertheless, it's the heart and the dove versus Johnny Depp twice with two swords and two bones. So who is going to win? It's up to you, the noob editor to decide this. I hope you realize that though Depp may be rich, and has one heck of interesting life, he can't write no Encyclopedia.

Site Navigation. Yes, my site isn't well organized, but Google has an answer for that too. This second Search Engine returns results limited to the IHateWikipedia site and its blog.

http://www.ihatewikipedia.com/images/wikipedia_sock_puppet_medium_wazt.jpg