Help:Editing

This guide explains how to contribute to American Girl Wiki. Start with the community guidelines, and use the sandbox to practice.

Before you edit

Create an account, provide an email address you control, and follow the confirmation link sent to you. Editing requires a confirmed email address.

Choose a username you are comfortable displaying publicly. Articles, edit summaries, discussions, and page histories are public.

Read the relevant article and its discussion page before making substantial changes. Check whether another contributor has already explained a disputed point.

Edit, preview, and save

1. Log in and open the article.
2. Select Edit. The source editor accepts MediaWiki markup.
3. Make your changes and provide an informative edit summary.
4. Select Show preview to check formatting and references.
5. Use Show changes when useful to review what you changed.
6. Save when the result is ready.

Keep unrelated changes separate when practical. Small, clearly explained edits are easier to review.

If you see View source or a permission message, the page may require additional permissions or your email may need confirmation. Read the explanation rather than repeatedly submitting the same change.

Basic formatting

These examples show source markup:

== Section heading ==
=== Subsection heading ===
'''Bold text'''
''Italic text''
* Bulleted item
# Numbered item
[[Kirsten Larson]]
[[Kirsten Larson|Kirsten]]
[https://www.americangirl.com/ American Girl's official website]

Use internal links to connect relevant articles. External links should support the information being discussed, rather than advertise unrelated products or services.

You may be asked to complete an anti-spam check when adding external links.

Add sources and references

Check that a source supports the exact statement you are adding. Identify the source you actually read, including an appropriate URL, title, edition, date, or page number.

For an inline reference, place the source information after the supported statement:

Your verified statement.<ref>Source title, edition, and page number, or an appropriate source URL.</ref>

References are displayed using:

== References ==
<references />

Many existing articles already have a references section. Preserve it and add citations to the relevant statements rather than creating unnecessary duplicate reference lists.

Do not invent sources, quotations, links, or page numbers. Clearly distinguish verified facts from interpretation or uncertainty.

Images

Follow the image use policy before uploading. Use Special:Upload and provide the source, creator, rights status, attribution, and any required use justification.

Selecting a licensing option records your statement about the file; it is not verification or approval by the wiki.

To insert an existing image:

[[File:Your filename.jpg|thumb|A descriptive caption.]]

Use the actual uploaded filename and describe what the image shows. Do not assume that an image has the same license as the surrounding article text.

AI-assisted contributions

You may use AI tools for assistance, but you remain responsible for the result. Verify factual statements, citations, and quotations against reliable sources before saving. Review grammar-only changes for unintended changes in meaning or factual details.

AI-generated and substantially AI-altered images are strongly discouraged as article illustrations. Any such material that is used must be clearly labeled and meet the image-use requirements.

Read the full AI-use guidelines.

Discussions and disagreements

Use an article's Discussion page to explain a disputed change, compare sources, or propose a substantial revision.

Start a new section for a new topic. Sign discussion comments by typing:

~~~~

Do not sign encyclopedia article text. Keep discussion civil, address the content and evidence, and pause repeated reversals of the same edit.

For general questions, use the community discussion page. For administrator help, see Project:Administrators.

Account permissions

After email confirmation, ordinary contributors can edit unprotected articles, create pages, upload new images, and replace uploads permitted by the wiki's own-upload permission.

Own-upload permissions concern the uploading account; they do not establish copyright ownership.

Ordinary accounts normally become autoconfirmed after both four days and ten edits. Autoconfirmed contributors can move pages and files, replace other users' uploads, and edit pages protected at the autoconfirmed level.

Do not make unnecessary edits merely to reach the threshold. Autoconfirmed status is a permission level, not a statement that your contributions have been reviewed or endorsed.

Administrator-only protection still applies to official policies and other protected pages. Changes to a page's technical content model are reserved for administrators.

Further help

• Contributor links and suggested tasks
• Community guidelines
• Copyright, licensing, and fair use
• Image use policy
• Administrator help and reporting
• MediaWiki's general help