Creating an account/span> is quick and completely free. You don't need to be registered to contribute, but registering and using an account on Wikipedia to contribute allows you to: * Choose an appropriate username, which will be reserved just for you on Wikipedia and other

Wikimedia The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., or Wikimedia for short and abbreviated as WMF, is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California and registered as a charitable foundation under local laws. Best know ...

projects. * Create your own

user page A user profile is a collection of settings and information associated with a user. It contains critical information that is used to identify an individual, such as their name, age, portrait photograph and individual characteristics such as ...

, to collaborate, share information about yourself, or just practice editing and publishing in your own sandbox. * Communicate with other editors via your own

talk page MediaWiki is a free and open-source wiki software. It is used on Wikipedia and almost all other Wikimedia websites, including Wiktionary, Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata; these sites define a large part of the requirement set for Media ...

. You can also opt in to exchanging

emails Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" mean ...

with other users. * Get automatic notifications that alert you when someone has ed you, or wikilinked your user ID. * Use custom preferences to change the look and behaviour of Wikipedia. * Use your unified login to work on Wikimedia's other projects, such as

Wiktionary Wiktionary ( , , rhyming with "dictionary") is a multilingual, web-based project to create a free content dictionary of terms (including words, phrases, proverbs, linguistic reconstructions, etc.) in all natural languages and in a numbe ...

and

Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons (or simply Commons) is a media repository of free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used across all of the Wikimedia projects in ...

. * Use more advanced editing tools. Once you have had an account for 4 days and made 10 edits, you can: * Edit semi-protected pages, which display a grey lock Semi-protection-shackle

. IP address users and non-confirmed users cannot edit pages of this security level. * Start new articles, rename pages, or upload images. And once you have had an account for 30 days, and have made at least 500 edits, you will be allowed to edit extended protected pages, which display a blue lock Extended-protection-shackle

Summary of benefits

Username and privacy

If you create an account/span>, you can pick a

user name A user is a person who utilizes a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified to the system by a username (or user name). Other terms for username include login name, screenname (or screen name), accoun ...

provided it is available and unique. Edits you make while logged in will be assigned to that name, not to your IP address. You will have your own permanent ''

'' where you can write a bit about yourself. While Wikipedia is not a homepage provider, you can use this to display a few free pictures, write about your hobbies, etc. Many users use their user page to maintain a list of the articles they are most proud of, or to collect other valuable information from Wikipedia. You will also have a permanent ''

'' you can use to communicate with other users. You will be notified whenever someone writes a message on your talk page. If you choose to give an e-mail address, other users will be able to contact you by e-mail. This feature is ''anonymous''; the user who emails you will not know your e-mail address. You are actually less identifiable logged in than you are as an unregistered editor, owing to the hiding of your IP address (so long as you avoid disclosing identifiable information on your user page). You might want to consider privacy and the possibility of offline harassment, when deciding what to say on your user page.

Reputation, communication, and more successful edits

Having an account gives you a fixed Wikipedia identity that other users will recognize. While we welcome contributions from unregistered editors, logging in under a user name lets you build trust and respect through a history of good edits, and makes it easier for veteran users to assume good faith, communicate and collaborate. Having a good name (or a pseudonym to protect your identity) promotes more responsible editing, and more

civil discourse Civil discourse is the engagement in discourse ( conversation) intended to enhance understanding; Civil discourse exists as a function of freedom of speech. It is discourse that "supports, rather than undermines the societal good." An example of ...

. Sometimes new or unregistered users are prevented from editing pages that are common targets of

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term ...

(just as this page is protected, and only users with an account can edit it). Also,

bots The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Bri ...

can mistake even good-faith IP address edits for vandalism. For these reasons, edits under a user name tend to be more successful. Having an account is a must for many processes in Wikipedia, such as voting for administrators. As your reputation builds, it is possible to earn privileges such as

rollback In political science, rollback is the strategy of forcing a change in the major policies of a state, usually by replacing its ruling regime. It contrasts with containment, which means preventing the expansion of that state; and with détente, w ...

, sysop/administrator, and others. It is not possible for an unregistered editor to be granted these privileges. Your user name may also receive recognition for good work such as Barnstars, Project Awards, Personal User Awards, or nomination for voted accolades like Editor of the Week. You need a fixed account identity to accumulate these pats on the back; they are not awarded to IP addresses.

User preferences

As a registered user, you can customize the way pages are displayed by altering your

preferences In psychology, economics and philosophy, preference is a technical term usually used in relation to choosing between alternatives. For example, someone prefers A over B if they would rather choose A than B. Preferences are central to decision the ...

. There, in the Appearance tab, you can change the following display settings: * Under Skin: various options as to the appearance of the website * Under Math: how mathematical formulas are displayed * Under Files: how large image thumbnails should be And various editing preferences: * How your username signature appears on talk pages * How pages should be displayed in recent changes * and many others

Open research

Wikipedia accounts can gain access to the vital reliable sources via

The Wikipedia Library Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read referenc ...

Blocked?

Shared

IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...

es such as school and enterprise networks or

proxy server In computer networking, a proxy server is a server application that acts as an intermediary between a client requesting a resource and the server providing that resource. Instead of connecting directly to a server that can fulfill a reques ...

s are frequently blocked for

which, unfortunately, may also affect innocent editors on the same network. However, registered users in good standing can request existing blocks on their IP address be modified to affect only unregistered editors so that they can continue contributing to Wikipedia. If you are currently blocked from creating an account, we suggest you do one of the following: * Try again after the block on your IP address expires. Go to my contributions and follow the link at the top of that page to find the length of the block. If no block appears go to Special:BlockList and copy the IP address which appears at the top of Special:MyPage into the box next to "IP address for username:". * Request an account by following the instructions at Wikipedia:Request an account. * If your IP address is globally blocked, request an account by following the instructions at Wikipedia:Request an account and request global IP block exemption. See the Blocking policy for details.

Create an account now/span>

To create an account, click on the "Create an account now" link and fill out the required fields. This will be logged, and your account will be created.