When it comes to getting information from the web, the first source that comes to one’s mind is Wikipedia. It is the largest information source on the internet and the biggest encyclopedia in the online world. The recognition of Wikipedia is not just limited to a particular state or county; it is global. Anyone in the world from any place on earth can access Wikipedia and find answers to their questions; all they need is good internet.
Currently, Wikipedia is home to over fifty-six million articles and reaches billions of views each year. Not just that, but there are thousands of articles still pending in the list of requested articles waiting for getting approved on Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an open-to-all platform where anyone can read, write, and edit. Anyone who is willing to follow all Wikipedia guidelines and policies and learn how to get a Wikipedia page approved can have a Wikipedia page.
Another reason behind Wikipedia’s success and recognition is that it does not have any kinds of restrictions on what information and about who can or cannot be added to the site. As long as it meets the Wikipedia criteria, it is good to be published. So whether you want to create a page for yourself, a politician, an actor, a brand, a company, or even an athlete, all you need is to follow some Wikipedia guidelines and there, you can create a Wikipedia page.
Here, our focus is on how to make a Wikipedia page for an athlete. Well, if you have the same question in mind, Wiki Specialist Inc. has created this brief guide for you to answer all your queries.
Why Does An Athlete Need A Wikipedia Account?
The life of an athlete is not easy. They have to maintain their health, time, energy, and diet in order to keep themselves strong enough to perform in the field. They need to fight through many struggles to become a good athlete. But the biggest struggle of all is to get themselves recognised. It is even a little easier in the athlete world or the physical world, but to gain online recognition as an athlete is extremely tough. You want the world to see you, to know you, but you will not have enough time to manage your online reputation on all these different platforms.
However, you must know that building your online profile is extremely important. It will help you boost your career and let the world know who you are. Not just that, but with a good reputation, you can easily reach high levels of success.
And when it comes to building an online presence and gaining more reputation within a shorter time, you need to go big. You need to develop yourself on a bigger online platform, and well, what’s more, significant than Wikipedia!
- Having a Wikipedia page for an athlete is extremely important because of two main reasons;
- Wikipedia can get you to a global audience.
Wikipedia is the world’s largest online encyclopedia, and having your profile on Wikipedia will make you authentic and add credibility to your career.
Now that you know why you must have a Wikipedia account for an athlete, your mind must be popping with questions about how to create a Wikipedia page for an athlete. Well, stay with us till the end, and we will have all your questions answered.
How to Make a Wikipedia Page for an Athlete
Before we get into the steps of how to make a Wikipedia page for an Athlete, we want you to know and learn the basic Wikipedia policies and guidelines that must be followed for successful page creation. Keep in mind that these policies are extremely important, and you cannot ignore them if you want to be on Wikipedia.
Now, you might be wondering why to go through all this trouble and learn these policies. Well, the reason is that this is the hard work you need to do to enjoy the fruits of having online recognition and reputation.
These are the main policies of Wikipedia;
1. The Notability
The most important policy of Wikipedia is the principle of notability. Wikipedia is very particular about this clause as it is a global encyclopedia and does not want to entertain pages with titles that have no online presence. As per Wikipedia’s notability guideline, you need to check whether the athlete for whom you are creating this page is notable enough in the online world?
The notability here is referring to the online visibility; it could be anywhere, a business page, a sports magazine, a newsletter, or even any other Wikipedia page. But to meet the notability criteria, you need to have at least 7 or more credible sources to prove your online visibility.
If the athlete you are writing about does not meet this standard, then you need to first build their notability and then go for building a Wikipedia page. Find some articles or newsletters that might refer to your chosen athlete. And if not, you can hire an SEO expert or a PR professional that can help you get your name on the internet, enough to make you eligible for Wikipedia page creation.
2. Content Guidelines
One of the most important parts of your Wikipedia page is the content you add to the page. Without the content, there’s no point in creating a Wikipedia page for an athlete because that will be a complete waste. Wikipedia has two important principles for content that you need to consider while writing for the page;
- No Original Research
Wikipedia is an encyclopedia and does not allow any kind of original content. All the information you plan on adding to the page must have a source to back it up, or else it might lead to page rejection. You need to find information from published secondary resources to add it on Wikipedia. Anything that is a theory, an opinion, or an unpublished achievement cannot be added to the page. So, before you start shaping your article, find all the sources that have information about your chosen athlete and then start writing with that.
- Neutral Point of View
Wikipedia is extremely particular about the tone of your article. It cannot be opinionated or biased and must be neutral. So, if you are a fan making a Wikipedia page for your favourite athlete or you are an athlete yourself creating a page for you, you need to watch out for your tone throughout the article. Wikipedia editors often reject and even delete pages that have biased information. You need to understand Wikipedia is about sharing legit and direct information, not for sharing your opinions about an athlete.
3. Vandalism
While it is a good thing that Wikipedia has given open access to the world to read, write, and edit on the site, it has also led to a few negative impacts. Such as people editing articles for their own interest and writing negative comments about someone to beat the competition. So, as an athlete, you need to make sure that you don’t edit the pages of your competitors and spread negative things about them. This action falls under the act of vandalism and could lead to account deletion.
Step-by-Step Guide
Now, you have learned the basic important Wikipedia policies, and the rest you will learn as you will start on the Wikipedia land. It is time to get back to the question of how to create a Wikipedia account for an athlete. Follow this step-by-step guide, and you will have your page by the end of it!
1. Getting On Wikipedia
Keep in mind that you cannot do anything on Wikipedia except for reading information until you have an account on Wikipedia. Wikipedia only allows the verified account holders to edit and write on Wikipedia, so the first step on this journey for you will be to get a Wikipedia account.
All you need to do is get on the create account tab on Wikipedia and add in the required information such as username, email, password, etc. Once you have added the information, fill in the CAPTCHA and click on the create account button. Verify your email with the link sent by Wikipedia, and there, you have your own Wikipedia account. Also, don’t rush in and start editing and writing right away; you need to wait for at least four days before you can do that.
2. Find Your Title
Now, the next step is where you need to check whether the title you are looking for on your Wikipedia page is available on Wikipedia or not. Since, you are creating a Wikipedia page for an athlete, the title of the page will be on the name of the athlete themselves. Search it on the search bar to check the availability.
As you will start typing, you will see that Wikipedia will be showing you one of two links below, a blue one and a red one. If it is a blue link that this is bad news for you because a page with the name same as yours already exists, and you have to find another name. On the other hand, if it is a red link, you are good to go with the page, and the title you have searched is available.
3. Writing on the Page
Now that you have your red link, the only thing left is to start writing the article you want to publish on that page. Start adding information you want on the page and shape your article as per the outline mentioned by Wikipedia.
When writing an article, you have two options; either get on the Article Wizard or go for the sandbox. The article wizard is where you add the final draft of your article, the one that you want to get published. While on the sandbox, you can practise, edit, delete, and rewrite the article. So, you need to make this choice for your page.
Coming the content, try to add as much information as you can about the athlete from their early childhood to personal life to career to achievements. You need to give the readers the most you can so that they can know the athlete you are writing about.
A pro tip is to write your Wikipedia article by stating facts!
4. Add Citations
This is one of the most important parts of your journey on Wikipedia, and you cannot miss this stop. Throughout your articles, you need to add citations from both external and internal sources to make your content credible. The more citations you have, the more credible it will be on Wikipedia.
Once you have added all the in-text citations to support your Wikipedia article, make sure to mention all the references at the bottom of the article.
5. Formatting & Proofreading
Don’t worry; you have come a long way, and we are moving toward the end! Now, what is left is that you need to give a thorough read to your article. You need to make sure your article is error-free so that when it gets translated into other languages, it does not lose its accuracy and credibility.
Moreover, to get your Wikipedia page approved, it is important to have an article that has zero or minimum errors to enhance the credibility of the article. Along with proofreading, keep on formatting your article, make subheadings, use small sentences, focus on sentence structure, justify the alignment, etc. The more formatted your article will be, the better readability it will have.
6. Submit Your Page
Finally, your work here is done! Now you need to submit your page on Wikipedia and wait for it to get approved by Wikipedia. This could take up a lot of time because Wikipedia already has a long list of requested articles to be approved. However, if you have followed the guidelines and steps we have mentioned, you can be relaxed because there are good chances that your page will be approved.
The Bottom Line
As an athlete, we are sure you will not have enough time to go through all these steps and follow these guidelines because you already would have too much to do in the field. Well, we have a simple solution for you; let Wiki Specialist Inc. do this job for you. Contact us now and let us know your requirements, and we will perform all the tasks for you! So, your Wikipedia page is our responsibility!
