Best practices for editing live articles
- Make small changes and publish frequently. It's better to make small edits rather than one large edit all at once. (Remember, nothing is saved until you hit the "Publish changes" button!)
- Why? Small changes are easier for other Wikipedians to understand, and if they notice a problem with something you've changed, that change can easily be undone ("reverted") without affecting your other changes.
- Fill out the edit summary before you publish.
- Why? This is standard Wikipedia etiquette. It helps other editors understand the intent of your changes.
- Include a citation for each fact you add. Refer back to the "Adding citations" module for a refresher on adding citations.
- Why? Citations help others verify the accuracy of what you've written, and learn more.
- After making significant changes to the body of the article, update the lead section to reflect any changes you've made.
- Why? The lead section of a Wikipedia article should serve as a summary of the entire article. Many readers are looking for a quick overview and will only read the lead section.