Essays, as used by Wikipedia editors, typically contain information, advice or opinions of one or

more Wikipedia contributors. The purpose of an essay is to aid or comment on the encyclopedia and
not any unrelated causes. Essays have no official status, and do not speak for the Wikipedia
community as they may be created without approval. Following the instructions or advice given in an
essay is optional. There are currently thousands of essays on a wide range of Wikipedia related
topics.
Contents
[hide]

1 About essays
o

1.1 Types of essays

2 Creation and modification of essays

3 Finding essays

About essays[edit]
Although essays are not policies or guidelines many are worthy of consideration. Policies and
guidelines can not cover all circumstances, consequently many essays serve as interpretations or
commentary of perceived community norms for specific topics and situations. The value of an
essay should be understood in context, using common sense and discretion. Essays can be written
by anyone and can be long monologues or short thesis, serious or funny. Essays may represent
widespread norms or minority viewpoints. An essay, as well as being useful, can potentially be
a divisive means of espousing a point of view. The Wikipedia community has historically tolerated a
wide range of Wikipedia related subjects and viewpoints on essay pages.
The difference between policies, guidelines, and some essays on Wikipedia maybe obscure. Essays
vary in popularity and how much they are followed and referred to. Editors should defer to official
policies or guidelines when essays are inconsistent with establishedcommunity standards and
principals. Avoid "quoting" essays as though they are policyincluding this essay. Essays can be
written without muchif anydebate, as opposed to Wikipedia policy that have been thoroughly
vetted by the community. In Wikipedia discussions, editors may refer to essays provided that they do
not hold them out as general consensus or policy. Proposals for new guidelines and policies require
discussion and a high level of consensus from the entire community for promotion.
See Wikipedia:How to contribute to Wikipedia guidance for more information.

Types of essays[edit]
Essays are located in the Wikipedia namespace (e.g., Wikipedia:Reasonability Rule) and in User
namespaces (e.g., User:Coffee/Why we're here). The Help namespace contains essays which

provide information on using Wikipedia and its software (e.g., Help:Editing). However the Wikipedia
namespace and User namespaces also contains many "how to" style essays
(e.g., User:Tony1/Beginners' guide to the Manual of Style). The {{essay}}, {{Wikipedia how to}},
{{supplement}}, {{Information page}} and {{WikiProject style advice}} versus the {{guideline}}, {{MoSguideline}} and {{policy}} templates give an indication as to a pages status within the community.
Some essays at one time were proposed policies or guidelines, but they could not gain consensus
overall; as indicated by the template {{Failed proposal}}. Other essays that at one time had
consensus, but are no longer relevant are tagged with the template {{Historical}}. Current essay
policy nominations are indicated by the banner {{proposed}}. See Wikipedia:Template
messages/Wikipedia namespace for a listing of namespace banners.
Wikipedia essays
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 many often have a significant degree of influence during discussions
(e.g., Wikipedia:Tendentious editing). Essays may be moved into userspace (or deleted) if
they are found to be unhelpful or to contradict a settled point of policy.
See: Category:Wikipedia essays
User essays
These are similar to essays placed in the Wikipedia namespace; however, they are often
authored/edited by only one person, and may represent a strictly personal viewpoint about
Wikipedia or its processes (e.g., User:Jehochman/Responding to rudeness). Writings that
contradict or subvert policy are somewhat tolerated within the User namespace. The author
of a personal essay located in his or her user space has the right to revert any changes
made to it by any other user.
See: Category:User essays
Wikipedia how to, information, and supplemental pages
These are informative essays typically edited by the community, while not policies or
guidelines themselves, are intended to supplement or clarify Wikipedia guidelines, policies,
or other Wikipedia norms, processes and practices that in fact have communal consensus.
Where essay pages offer advice or opinions through viewpoints, information pages
supplement or clarify communal consensus generally in an impartial way
(e.g., Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia).
See: Category:Wikipedia information pages
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
(e.g., Wikipedia:WikiProject Bibliographies#Recommended structure).
See: Category:WikiProjects
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.

Creation and modification of essays[edit]

Main page: Wikipedia:Wikipedia essays
You do not have to be the one who originally created an essay in order to
improve it. If an essay already exists, you can add to, remove from, or
modify it as you wish, provided that you use good judgment. However,
essays placed in the User: namespace are oftenthough not always
meant to represent the viewpoint of one user only. You should not normally
edit someone else's user essay without permission.
Before creating an essay, it is a good idea to check if similar essays already
exist. Although there is no guideline or policy that explicitly prohibits
it, writing redundant essays is discouraged. Avoid creating essays just to
prove a point or game the system. Essays that violate one or more
Wikipedia policies, such as spam, personal attacks, copyright violations,
or what Wikipedia is not tend to get deleted or transferred to user space.

Finding essays[edit]
Wikipedia:About essay searching lists over 800 essays to allow searching
for key words or terms with your browser. The gist of user written essays
can be found atWikipedia:Essays in a nutshell and Wikipedia:List of essay
categories. Essays can also be navigated via categories, the navigation
template (as seen below), orSpecial:Search (as seen below; include the
words "Wikipedia essays" with your other search-words).
Essays, as used by Wikipedia editors, typically contain information, advice or opinions of one or
more Wikipedia contributors. The purpose of an essay is to aid or comment on the encyclopedia and
not any unrelated causes. Essays have no official status, and do not speak for the Wikipedia

community as they may be created without approval. Following the instructions or advice given in an
essay is optional. There are currently thousands of essays on a wide range of Wikipedia related
topics.
Contents
[hide]

1 About essays
o

1.1 Types of essays

2 Creation and modification of essays

3 Finding essays

About essays[edit]
Although essays are not policies or guidelines many are worthy of consideration. Policies and
guidelines can not cover all circumstances, consequently many essays serve as interpretations or
commentary of perceived community norms for specific topics and situations. The value of an
essay should be understood in context, using common sense and discretion. Essays can be written
by anyone and can be long monologues or short thesis, serious or funny. Essays may represent
widespread norms or minority viewpoints. An essay, as well as being useful, can potentially be
a divisive means of espousing a point of view. The Wikipedia community has historically tolerated a
wide range of Wikipedia related subjects and viewpoints on essay pages.
The difference between policies, guidelines, and some essays on Wikipedia maybe obscure. Essays
vary in popularity and how much they are followed and referred to. Editors should defer to official
policies or guidelines when essays are inconsistent with establishedcommunity standards and
principals. Avoid "quoting" essays as though they are policyincluding this essay. Essays can be
written without muchif anydebate, as opposed to Wikipedia policy that have been thoroughly
vetted by the community. In Wikipedia discussions, editors may refer to essays provided that they do
not hold them out as general consensus or policy. Proposals for new guidelines and policies require
discussion and a high level of consensus from the entire community for promotion.
See Wikipedia:How to contribute to Wikipedia guidance for more information.

Types of essays[edit]
Essays are located in the Wikipedia namespace (e.g., Wikipedia:Reasonability Rule) and in User
namespaces (e.g., User:Coffee/Why we're here). The Help namespace contains essays which
provide information on using Wikipedia and its software (e.g., Help:Editing). However the Wikipedia
namespace and User namespaces also contains many "how to" style essays
(e.g., User:Tony1/Beginners' guide to the Manual of Style). The {{essay}}, {{Wikipedia how to}},

{{supplement}}, {{Information page}} and {{WikiProject style advice}} versus the {{guideline}}, {{MoSguideline}} and {{policy}} templates give an indication as to a pages status within the community.
Some essays at one time were proposed policies or guidelines, but they could not gain consensus
overall; as indicated by the template {{Failed proposal}}. Other essays that at one time had
consensus, but are no longer relevant are tagged with the template {{Historical}}. Current essay
policy nominations are indicated by the banner {{proposed}}. See Wikipedia:Template
messages/Wikipedia namespace for a listing of namespace banners.
Wikipedia essays
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 many often have a significant degree of influence during discussions
(e.g., Wikipedia:Tendentious editing). Essays may be moved into userspace (or deleted) if
they are found to be unhelpful or to contradict a settled point of policy.
See: Category:Wikipedia essays
User essays
These are similar to essays placed in the Wikipedia namespace; however, they are often
authored/edited by only one person, and may represent a strictly personal viewpoint about
Wikipedia or its processes (e.g., User:Jehochman/Responding to rudeness). Writings that
contradict or subvert policy are somewhat tolerated within the User namespace. The author
of a personal essay located in his or her user space has the right to revert any changes
made to it by any other user.
See: Category:User essays
Wikipedia how to, information, and supplemental pages
These are informative essays typically edited by the community, while not policies or
guidelines themselves, are intended to supplement or clarify Wikipedia guidelines, policies,
or other Wikipedia norms, processes and practices that in fact have communal consensus.
Where essay pages offer advice or opinions through viewpoints, information pages
supplement or clarify communal consensus generally in an impartial way
(e.g., Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia).
See: Category:Wikipedia information pages
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
(e.g., Wikipedia:WikiProject Bibliographies#Recommended structure).
See: Category:WikiProjects
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.

Creation and modification of essays[edit]

Main page: Wikipedia:Wikipedia essays
You do not have to be the one who originally created an essay in order to
improve it. If an essay already exists, you can add to, remove from, or
modify it as you wish, provided that you use good judgment. However,
essays placed in the User: namespace are oftenthough not always
meant to represent the viewpoint of one user only. You should not normally
edit someone else's user essay without permission.
Before creating an essay, it is a good idea to check if similar essays already
exist. Although there is no guideline or policy that explicitly prohibits
it, writing redundant essays is discouraged. Avoid creating essays just to
prove a point or game the system. Essays that violate one or more
Wikipedia policies, such as spam, personal attacks, copyright violations,
or what Wikipedia is not tend to get deleted or transferred to user space.

Finding essays[edit]
Wikipedia:About essay searching lists over 800 essays to allow searching
for key words or terms with your browser. The gist of user written essays
can be found atWikipedia:Essays in a nutshell and Wikipedia:List of essay
categories. Essays can also be navigated via categories, the navigation
template (as seen below), orSpecial:Search (as seen below; include the
words "Wikipedia essays" with your other search-words).