A Simple Guide to Creating a Wikipedia Biography Page
A Wikipedia biography page is a great way to share your life story with the world. You can control what information is shared and how it is presented. Creating a biography page on Wikipedia is easy and only takes a few simple steps.
A biography is a story about a person’s life, and a Wikipedia biography page is a place where you can share your story with others.
Wikipedia has over 32.5 million registered users, so creating a biography page on this popular website is a great way to get your story out there.
Besides, the platform ranks among the top 15 most visited websites globally, according to Alexa, a web traffic data company. For this reason, we cannot underestimate the potential reach of a Wikipedia page.
Biographies are most suitable for living people who have made significant contributions in their field or for recently deceased people whose death has been widely publicized. Read on to find out how to create your own Wikipedia biography page.
What Details Do I Need to Create a Biography on Wikipedia?
You should include some critical details in your biography to ensure that your page meets Wikipedia’s standards. Below are some key elements to help you create a successful Wikipedia page.
1. Information about the subject: Before you can start writing a biography, you need to have enough information about the person or topic that you are writing about. Include basic facts such as date and place of birth, education, work history, and other relevant information.
2. Target audience: Keep in mind who will be reading your biography page. For instance, if you are writing about a famous historical figure, you will need to include more detail than if you are writing about a contemporary person.
3. Reference Materials: These are the sources you will use to gather information about your subject. You need to have a list of books, websites, articles, and other sources containing information about your subject.
Recommended reading: Stub Wikipedia Articles — What are they?
The Wikipedia Biography Page Creation process
Creating a biography on Wikipedia doesn’t have to be complicated. Following the steps discussed below, you’ll have a well-written and informative page.
1. Create a Wikipedia account
To help you create a Wikipedia biography, you’ll need to create a Wikipedia profile first. The process is simple as it only requires an email address and a password. To get started, visit Wikipedia.org, select your preferred language, and click on the “create account” link at the top of the page. Next, you should complete adding your details and verify your email address. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be able to log in to your new account and start editing pages.
2. Choose your topic
Now that you have a Wikipedia account, it’s time to choose the subject of your biography. Ideally, you should select a title that is both interesting and notable. To help you find a good subject, try browsing through the “Featured articles” or “Good articles” lists. You can check if the title you’re interested in is available by searching for it on the site using the red link tool.
3. Familiarize yourself with Wikipedia notability guidelines for biographies
Before you start writing, familiarize yourself with Wikipedia’s notability guidelines for biographies. These guidelines ensure that all articles are of high quality and provide encyclopedic value. To learn more about these guidelines, visit Wikipedia’s notability page. Notability entails more than having been born or having worked somewhere notable.
There are three primary notability guidelines applicable to biographies of living people.
- Neutrality: Every article should represent a fair and unbiased view of its subject. This means it should have a neutral point of view. You should avoid writing about your subject in a promotional or excessively negative manner.
- Verifiability: All information included in an article must be verified by authentic sources. This will help ensure that articles are based on fact rather than opinion.
- Original research is not allowed: Any information that a reliable source cannot verify should not be included in an article. This includes theories, hypotheses, and original ideas.
4. Prepare the sources for your biography
Find at least three to five reliable, third-party sources that can be used to verify the information in your biography. These sources could include newspaper articles, magazine articles, books, and websites. Ideally, these sources should be about the subject of your biography and not just mention them in passing.
5. Start creating your biography
After confirming that the page title of your biography is appropriate and that there is no existing article with a similar title, you can start creating your biography. You will see an option next to the red link that says “Create this page”. Clicking on this will take you to the editing interface.
6. Add content to your biography
When adding content to your biography, it’s essential to be concise and informative. Try to limit each section to a single paragraph and only include information that is relevant to your subject. In addition, be sure to source all of your information using reliable sources.
In your biography, you should include the subject’s:
- Early life: Include information about the subject’s parents, childhood, and early education.
- Career: Discuss the subject’s work history, notable achievements, and awards.
- Philosophical and political views: If the subject has expressed any strong views on philosophical or political issues, these should be included in the biography.
- Published works: If the subject has authored any books or articles, these should be listed in the biography.
- Personal life: Mention the subject’s spouse, children, and hobbies.
- Bibliography: You should include all the sources you used to write the biography in the bibliography section.
- Death: If the subject is deceased, include information about the cause of death and funeral arrangements.
7. Citations
Citing all of the information in your biography is essential. Wikipedia has a built-in citation tool that makes it easy to add citations to your articles. To use this tool, click on the “Cite” button at the top of the editing interface. You can choose from various citation formats, including MLA, APA, and Chicago.
8. Formatting
Once you have added all the content to your biography, it’s time to format it. Wikipedia articles are typically divided into sections, each headed by a level two heading (denoted by “==”). For example, the section on the subject’s early life might be headed by “== Early life ==”.
You can also add links to other articles on Wikipedia, as well as external links to websites. To do this, surround the text you want to link with double brackets. For example, [[New York City]] would create a link to the New York City article.
9. Revise and edit
You should ensure to properly check if your work is okay before submitting it for review. In addition to ensuring that all the information is accurate, you should also check for spelling and grammatical errors. In addition, you should ensure that the article flows well and is easy to read to prevent deletion.
10. Submit your biography page for approval
After you have finished revising and editing your biography, you can submit it for approval by clicking on the “Submit page” button at the bottom of the editing interface. Once your page has been approved, it will be published on Wikipedia for everyone to see! However, you will need to continue monitoring the page and ensure that the information remains accurate.
To Conclude
Wikipedia is a powerful tool that can help build your business brand and improve your professional reputation. A well-written Wikipedia biography can help you control the narrative about your life and work and ensure that accurate and positive information is disseminated about you to a wide audience.
Writing a Wikipedia biography can be challenging, especially for first-timers, as you need to ensure that it is accurate, well-written, and informative. If you followed the tips in this article, you should have no trouble creating an excellent Wikipedia biography.
However, if you’re still struggling, don’t hesitate to ask for help from our professional Wikipedia editors. Creating a Wikipedia biography can be a rewarding experience, so don’t give up!