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Wikipedia:List of policies and guidelines

The following is a comprehensive list of policies and guidelines. For a quick overview, see Wikipedia:Simplified ruleset; for descriptive directories see Wikipedia:List of policies, Wikipedia:List of guidelines and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Contents.

Terminology

Wikipedia's rules and best practices are specified in two types of documents:

Policy

A policy documents a rule or standard with wide acceptance among Wikipedia editors that all users should normally follow.

Guideline

A guideline is a set of best practices that are supported by the consensus of Wikipedia editors. Editors should attempt to follow guidelines, though they are best treated with common sense. Occasional exceptions may apply. Naming conventions are considered guidelines.

Basics

Five Pillars

The Five Pillars are the five fundamental principles of Wikipedia:

List

Large-print links are broad, fundamental policies and guidelines that apply throughout Wikipedia.

Normal-print links are policies and guidelines that are general in scope but may apply to more specific situations.

Small-print links are policies and guidelines that are specific to a subject area or process on Wikipedia.


Searching

Policies and guidelines can also be navigated via categories, the navigation template or by custom search boxes (as seen below).



See also

Tutorial
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