Wikipǣdia:Fīf styde

Wikipedia's official policies and guidelines can be summarized as five pillars that define the character of the project:

	Wikipǣdia is wīsdōmbōc incorporating elements of general encyclopedias, specialized encyclopedias, and almanacs. All articles must follow our no original research policy, and strive for verifiable accuracy: unreferenced material may be removed, so please provide references. Wikipedia is not the place to insert personal opinions, experiences, or arguments. Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information. Wikipedia is not a soapbox, a vanity press, an experiment in anarchy or democracy, or a web directory. It is not a newspaper or a collection of source documents; these kinds of content should be contributed to the Wikimedia sister projects.
	Wikipedia has a neutral point of view, which means we strive for articles that advocate no single point of view. Sometimes this requires representing multiple points of view, presenting each point of view accurately, providing context for any given point of view, and presenting no one point of view as "the truth" or "the best view". It means citing verifiable, authoritative sources whenever possible, especially on controversial topics. When a conflict arises regarding neutrality, declare a cool-down period and tag the article as disputed, hammer out details on the talk page, and follow dispute resolution.
	Wikipǣdia is frēo innung þe ǣnig cann ādihtan. Eall traht is open under þǣre GNU Frēo Gewrites Gelēafnesse (GFDL) and mæg bēon gewīdmǣrsod oþþe gebunden æfter þǣm. Oncnāw þæt gewritu fram ǣnigum cunnon bēon gehwierfed and nā ān mann wieldeþ ǣnig syndrig gewrit; forþǣm can ǣnig wrītung bēon būtan miltse ādihtod and gebrǣded geþancweorþlīce fram þǣm gemǣnescipe, þe þu forðast. Ne oferbrec þu bewrītunglēafnesse oþþe insend weorc mid lēafnesse on wīsan þe is unefen mid þǣre GFDL.
	Wikipedia has a code of conduct: Respect your fellow Wikipedians even when you may not agree with them. Be civil. Avoid conflicts of interest, personal attacks or sweeping generalizations. Find consensus, avoid edit wars, follow the three-revert rule, and remember that there are 4,609 articles on the Englisc Wikipedia to work on and discuss. Act in good faith, never disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point, and assume good faith on the part of others. Be open and welcoming.
	Wikipedia does not have firm rules besides the five general principles presented here. Be bold in editing, moving, and modifying articles. Although it should be aimed for, perfection is not required. Do not worry about messing up. All prior versions of articles are kept, so there is no way that you can accidentally damage Wikipedia or irretrievably destroy content. Remember, whatever you write here will be preserved for posterity.

Note

This page describes Wikipedia's fundamental principles. These principles pre-date the creation of this page.

See also

Wikipedia's principles
Five pillars	Simplified ruleset	List of policies	Foundation issues	Statement of principles
Overview of our foundation	Synopsis of our conventions	Full list of official policies	Wikimedia Foundation issues	Historic beginnings