When you’re registered (Why Register?), and logged into Wikipedia, you’ll see links in a number of places: at the screen’s top right; across the top in tabs; on the left side in boxes, and at the bottom of the page in disclaimers and other boilerplate text.
These features are discussed in detail where they come up throughout this book. This appendix serves as a quick reference when you have a question about what an onscreen element does.
Note
The placement of the links and tabs described in this appendix are based on the use of the Monobook skin, the standard way that all new editors see Wikipedia. If you’re using one of the other seven skins that you can choose from, some of these elements will be in a different place on your screen, and some may not be visible at all. (If you’re not sure which skin you’re using, see Skin.)
The upper-right corner of your screen contains six links when you’re logged in. If you’re not logged in, it says, “Sign in / create account”. Each of these links takes you to one of your personal account pages.
Note
If you have windows open to multiple Wikipedia pages, logging out on one page logs you out completely. Each of the other open pages continues to display the six links in the upper-right corner until you refresh the page. Beware: If you edit one of those pages—whether you refresh the page or not—you’re editing anonymously (Disadvantages to Using Your IP Address), since you’re not logged in.
Opens your user page; User:Your username goes here. If the page doesn’t yet exist, the link is red. Page 54 describes how to create and use this page.
Opens your user talk page; User talk:Your username goes here. If the page doesn’t yet exist, the link is red. Page 156 discusses user talk pages.
Opens a page with 11 tabs. Starts out showing the contents of the first tab, User Profile. The options listed on these 11 tabs let you customize how you experience Wikipedia, as both a reader and an editor. Chapter 20 discusses this customization in detail (Chapter 20).
Shows the Special:Watchlist report, used for monitoring edits by other editors to pages you’re interested in. A lengthy discussion of the use of this report begins on The Standard Watchlist Report.
Shows the Special:Contributions report, preloaded with your user name in the “IP Address or username” field. The report lists all your edits in reverse chronological order, going back to the first edit you ever did. Page 100 shows what the report looks like.
Note
If you edited a page that was subsequently deleted, you don’t see the edit listed in this report. Only administrators get to see such edits.