View source for Wikipedia:How to create a page

{{Short description|Help you to start a new page}}
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{{Wikipedia how-to|WP:HTCAP}}
<!--<div class="notice" style="background:#def; border:1px solid #468; padding:0.5em; margin:0.5em auto; background-color:#EBFFEB;"><center>Note: For a [[Wikipedia:Autoconfirmed article creation trial|trial period]] from September 14, 2017 to at least March 14, 2018, users will not be able to create pages directly in the [[Wikipedia:What is an article?#Namespace|article mainspace]] until their accounts are [[Wikipedia:User access levels#Autoconfirmed and confirmed users|autoconfirmed]] – an editing threshold passed when a user's account is at least 4 days (96 hours) old, and has made more than ten edits.</center></div>-->
This page sets forth the nuts and bolts of creating a page in any [[Wikipedia:Namespace|namespace]] – the ''mechanics'' of doing so. Please note that only [[Special:UserLogin|logged in]] users can create pages in ''non-talk'' namespaces.   
 
This page does not delve into the reasons one should or should not create a page, what to consider before doing so, nor what content would or would not be appropriate. For a more general treatment regarding the DOs and DON'Ts of ''article creation'', please see [[Help:Your first article]]. For a general introduction to contributing, see [[Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia]] and consider taking a tour through the [[Wikipedia:Tutorial]]. For a guided process to create an article (and for which these technical instructions will not be needed), see the [[Wikipedia:Article wizard|article wizard]] and [[Wikipedia:Articles for creation]], where a proposed article will first be created as a draft and then submitted for review before possible "publication" by a move to the article mainspace.

For relevant considerations before creating an encyclopedia article, please see the [[WP:N|main notability guideline]], our policies on [[WP:V|verifiability]], writing from a [[WP:NPOV|neutral point of view]], our restrictions on [[WP:OR|original research]] and our guide to [[WP:NOT|what Wikipedia is ''not'']]. For styling issues, see the [[WP:MOS|manual of style]] and the [[WP:LAYOUT|article layout guideline]]. For what title to choose for an article, see the [[Wikipedia:Article titles|article titling policy]].
 
You can also create a page by entering the page name in the input field below.
 
<inputbox>
type=create
width=20
buttonlabel= Create page
placeholder= Enter the page name
</inputbox>

==How a page is created==
All Wikipedia pages are created by accessing a page title that ''does not yet exist'', usually by clicking on a [[Proposed Title|red-colored link]] (which denotes non-existence, as opposed to a [[Help:Link color|blue link]] which, with some exceptions, indicates the linked page exists). Creation is simple: upon clicking a [[WP:RED|red link]], you will be transported to a blank page. Once there, enter any text and then click the {{button|Publish changes}} button. That's it; the page should have been created. 
 
Many pages are created after a user sees an ''existing'' red link on a page, and then follows these steps. The methods explored below describe how to access a non-existent page when a red link is not already presented to you, in order for you to follow these steps to creation.
 
===Method 1: searching===
Enter text in the search field that you seek to create as a page title. If the title you entered does not already exist, is not [[Wikipedia:Page name#Technical restrictions and limitations|technically restricted]] and is not [[WP:SALT|creation protected]], the resulting page will i) tell you that it does not exist; ii) advise that you can create the page, and iii) will provide a red link to the page title. It will normally appear in the following form (it may vary depending on the [[WP:Skin|skin]] you have set):
 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There were no results matching the query.
 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;'''You may create the page "[[Proposed Title|Red-linked Text You Searched For]]".'''
 
===Method 2: previewing a red link===
#Click edit on any accessible page;
#Surround the page title you want to create in doubled brackets, e.g., {{mono|<nowiki>[[Proposed Title]]</nowiki>}};
#Click the {{button|Show preview}} button (''<u>not</u>'' the Publish changes  button);
#Click on the red link revealed.
 
===Method 3: saving a red link===
Often you will want to have easy continuing access to a page you create. One way is to save a link at your [[Wikipedia:User pages#Terminology and page locations|user page]], or sometimes, on your [[Wikipedia:User pages#Terminology and page locations|user talk page]]. Once you save a red link there, and create the page, the link will turn blue and will be accessible anytime you visit it.
#Go to your user or user talk page (both permanently linked at the top of any Wikipedia page);
#Surround the page title you want to create in doubled brackets, e.g., {{mono|<nowiki>[[Proposed Title]]</nowiki>}};
#Click the {{button|Publish changes}} button;
#Click on the red link revealed.
 
===Method 4: changing a URL===
If you click edit on any existing page or page section and then change the title of the page shown in the [[URL]] of your browser's address bar to the name of a non-existent page, and then hit return/enter, the resulting page shown will be the same as if you clicked on a red link, allowing you to create a page by the title entered. For example, were you to click edit at the top of this page, you would see this URL in your browser's address bar:
:<small>{{mono|{{xt|<nowiki>https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=</nowiki>}}{{!xt|Wikipedia:How_to_create_a_page}}{{xt|<nowiki>&action=edit</nowiki>}}}}</small>
To make a page called "Proposed Title" using it, you would change it to:
:<small>{{mono|{{xt|<nowiki>https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=</nowiki>}}{{!xt|Proposed Title}}{{xt|<nowiki>&action=edit</nowiki>}}}}</small>
 
==Namespace considerations==
{{Namespaces}}
{{Main|Wikipedia:Administration#Data structure and development}}
===Articles versus other namespaces===
Only encyclopedia articles are created without a [[WP:Namespace|namespace]] prefix. All pages outside of the [[Wikipedia:What is an article?|article mainspace]] are prefixed by the namespace followed by a colon before the title, e.g., your user page's title starts with the prefix&nbsp;&nbsp;'''{{mono|User:}}''' The various namespaces are shown in the table to the right. 
 
The red links one would thus create for any page that is not an encyclopedia article must start with the namespace prefix. For example, to create a proposed article in the Draft namespace, it would be created via a red link to {{mono|<nowiki>[[Draft:Proposed Title]]</nowiki>}}.
 
===Category namespace exception===
One exception to the instructions above regarding saving or previewing a red link is that links to pages in the [[Wikipedia:Categorization|Category]] namespace will not work unless a colon is also placed ''before'' the namespace prefix (missing this step will result in the page being placed into the category you typed). For example, if one wanted to create a category for "Canadian lute players", the red link would be invoked by previewing or saving the code: {{mono|<nowiki>[[</nowiki>''':'''Category:Canadian lute players<nowiki>]]</nowiki>}}.
 
===File namespace exception===
The file namespace is another exception in that media files are not created directly by any of the methods discussed above. Rather, media files are ''uploaded'', which is done through a separate and dedicated interface, accessed by clicking on "Upload file" from the tool menu on the left of a page. (Please note that media files that are in the [[public domain]] or which bear a free copyright license [[WP:COMPLIC|compatible]] with the free licenses borne by Wikipedia's content should generally be uploaded to the [[Commons:|Wikimedia Commons]] rather than to Wikipedia, so that all Wikimedia projects have access to the media file.)
 
===Restricted namespaces===
There are four namespaces that are restricted from creation except by [[Wikipedia:Administrators|administrators]] and certain other users with [[Wikipedia:User access levels|higher access levels]]: ''Special'' pages, ''MediaWiki'' pages, ''Module'' pages and ''Education Program'' pages. However, any user may create talk pages of these namespaces, except for those in the Special namespace, which [[Help:Special page#Modifying special pages|do not have direct talk pages at all]].
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