User:Conrad Devonshire/Wikipedia entrance exam

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The Wikipedia entrance exam is a policy proposed by Conrad Devonshire which, if accepted, would require new users (both user accounts and anonymous IPs) to take a brief tutorial on editing before making making their first edit.

[edit] Overview

A rough outline of this proposal is as follows:

When a new user attempts to make its first edit, a screen will appear stating that the user must complete the entrance exam before making edits and providing a link to the exam. The exam will be divided into several sections, each of which focuses on a different aspect of editing, one such for example showing how to bold or italicise text; another how to categorise articles. Before proceeding from one section to the next, the user must first complete a practice edit related to the subject(s) of editing discussed in the current section to a body of text. Specific instructions will be given on what the user must do (e.g. Place [[double brackets]] around the word England). If the user's edit does not match what he is instructed to do, he must redo the edit until it is correctly done before preceeding to the next section. Once the exam is completed, the user's ability to make edits will be activated.

[edit] Exceptions to pre-exam editing limitation

A user however will be allowed to make edits to the following places even before completing the exam:

  1. His own user page
  2. Any talk pages
  3. The Village Pump

[edit] Potential benefits

Potential benefits that acceptance of this policy will offer include the following:

  1. The policy will help ensure that new users have a rough knowledge of formatting and how to edit before they begin editing. New users unfortunately often begin editing without reading about how to use the formatting code or Wikipedia's editing conventions, resulting in many of their edits or articles created being in need of Wikification.
  2. The policy will indirectly result in a steady decrease in vandalism, as many malicious users will not likely be willing to complete the exam simply for the purpose of being able to commit acts of vandalism. It will be especially effective against sockpuppetry, as users will be required to take the exam before making edits with any sockpuppet accounts that they register.