Wikipedia:Essays
Essays, as used by Wikipedia editors, typically contain advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. The three main types are Wikipedia essays and User essays and WikiProject advice pages.
Types of essay
- Wikipedia essays
- They are in the Wikipedia namespace. Typically addresses some aspect of working in Wikipedia. They have not been formally adopted as a guideline or policy by the community at large, but typically edited by the community and often have a significant degree of consensus.
- User essays
- They are in user namespaces. These are similar to essays placed in the Wikipedia namespace; however, they are often authored by only one person, and may represent a strictly personal viewpoint about Wikipedia. You should not normally edit someone else's user essay without permission.
- See: Category:User essays
- WikiProject advice pages
- WikiProjects are groups of editors who like working together. Advice pages written by these groups are formally considered the same as pages written by anyone else, that is, they are essays unless and until they have been formally adopted as community-wide guidelines or policies. WikiProjects are encouraged to write essays explaining how the community's policies and guidelines should be applied to their areas of interest and expertise.
- Historical essays
- The Wikimedia Foundation's Meta-wiki was envisioned as the original place for editors to comment on and discuss Wikipedia, although the "Wikipedia" project space has since taken over most of that role. Many historical essays can still be found within Meta:Category:Essays.
Information pages
Wikipedia information pages, while not policies or guidelines themselves, are intended to supplement or clarify Wikipedia practices, guidelines, policies, or other Wikipedia norms and practices that in fact have communal consensus. Where essay pages offer advice or opinions through viewpoints, information pages supplement or clarify communal consensus in an impartial way.
Templates
Pages tagged with {{essay}} categorize into Category:Wikipedia essays if they are in the Wikipedia namespace and into Category:User essays if they are in userspace. Please use more specific templates where appropriate:
{{Notability essay}}{{WikiProject notability essay}}{{Deletion essay}}{{Guidance essay}}{{Civility essay}}{{Humorous essay}}