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{{Infobox website
| name = English Wikipedia
| logo = Wikipedia-logo-v2-en.svg
| logo_size = 85%
| logo_caption = Logo of the English Wikipedia
| screenshot = English Wikipedia screenshot.png
| screenshot_alt = The homepage of the English Wikipedia
| caption = The homepage of the English Wikipedia celebrating its 5,000,000th article in November 2015
| collapsible = Yes
| url = {{URL|https://en.wikipedia.org/}}
| commercial = No
| type = [[Internet encyclopedia]]
| registration = Optional, but required for certain tasks including {{unbulleted list|•{{thinsp|[[protected page]] edit}}|•{{thinsp|page creation}}|•{{thinsp|file upload}}}}
| num_users = {{NUMBEROFUSERS}}
| owner = [[Wikimedia Foundation]]
| author = [[Jimmy Wales]], [[Larry Sanger]]<ref name=foundercontroversy>There is controversy over who founded Wikipedia. Wales considers himself to be the sole founder of Wikipedia and has told the ''[[Boston Globe]]'' that "it's preposterous" to call Sanger the co-founder.{{Citation needed|date=February 2015}} However, Sanger strongly contests that description. He was identified as a co-founder of Wikipedia as early as September 2001 and referred to himself as being founder as early as January 2002.{{Citation needed|date=February 2015}}
* {{Cite news|url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041206/news_mz1b6encyclo.html|first=Jonathan|last=Sidener|title=Everyone's Encyclopedia|accessdate=15 October 2006|publisher=San Diego Union Tribune|date=6 December 2004|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114101809/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/uniontrib/20041206/news_mz1b6encyclo.html|archivedate=14 January 2016|df=dmy-all}}
* {{Cite news|first=Peter|last=Meyers|title=Fact-Driven? Collegial? This Site Wants You|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E5D6123BF933A1575AC0A9679C8B63&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fC%2fComputer%20Software|work=New York Times|accessdate=15 October 2006|date=20 September 2001}}
* {{cite web|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia_and_why_it_matters&oldid=149626|author=Sanger, Larry|title=What Wikipedia is and why it matters|accessdate=12 April 2006|authorlink=Larry Sanger}}</ref>
| launch date = {{start date and age|df=yes|2001|1|15}}
| content license = {{nobr|[[Creative Commons licenses|Creative Commons Attribution/<br />Share-Alike]] 3.0}} (most text also dual-licensed under [[GFDL]])<br />Media licensing varies
}}
The '''English Wikipedia''' is the [[English language|English-language]] edition of the free online encyclopedia [[Wikipedia]]. Founded on 15 January 2001, it is the first edition of Wikipedia and, {{As of|2017|11|lc=y}}, has [[list of Wikipedias|the most articles of any of the editions]].<ref>about 50 percent more than the next in rank, the [[Swedish Wikipedia]]. See [[:m:List of Wikipedias]].</ref> As of {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}, {{Percentage|{{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|en}}|{{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|total}}}} of articles in all Wikipedias belong to the English-language edition. This share has gradually declined from more than 50 percent in 2003, due to the growth of Wikipedias in other languages.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Wikipedias&oldid=520778 |title=List of Wikipedias |author=Wikimedia Meta-Wiki |date=21 September 2008 |accessdate=21 September 2008}}</ref> As of {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}, there are [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] articles on the site.<ref>The number of articles on the English Wikipedia is shown by the [[MediaWiki]] variable <code><nowiki>{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}</nowiki></code>, with all Wikipedias as total <code><nowiki>{{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|total}}</nowiki></code> = {{formatnum:{{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|total}}}}.</ref> In October 2015, the combined text of the English Wikipedia's articles totalled 11.5 [[gigabyte]]s when compressed.<ref>See size of downloads at [[Wikipedia:Database download]] and a list of historical sizes [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikipedia_article_size_in_gigabytes.png#Summary here]</ref> On 1 November 2015, the English Wikipedia announced it had reached 5,000,000 articles<ref>{{cite web|title=Wikipedia:Five million articles|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Five_million_articles|website=Wikipedia|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=1 November 2015}}</ref> and ran a special logo to reflect the milestone.<ref>{{cite web|title=File:Wikipedia-logo-v2-en 5m articles.png|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikipedia-logo-v2-en_5m_articles.png|website=Wikimedia Commons|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=1 November 2015}}</ref>
The [[Simple English Wikipedia]] is a variation in which most of the articles use only basic English vocabulary. There is also the [[Old English|Old English (Ænglisc/Anglo-Saxon)]] Wikipedia ([[:ang:Hēafodtramet|angwiki]]). Community-produced news publications include ''[[The Signpost]]''.<ref name=AyersMatthews2008/>
== Pioneering edition ==
{{See also|Wikipedia:Milestones}}
The English Wikipedia was the first Wikipedia edition and has remained the largest. It has pioneered many ideas as conventions, policies or features which were later adopted by Wikipedia editions in some of the other languages. These ideas include "featured articles",<ref>{{cite web | url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Featured_articles&oldid=104207677 | title=Featured articles | author=English Wikipedia | date=30 January 2007 | accessdate=30 January 2007}}</ref>
the neutral-point-of-view policy,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view&oldid=103033132 | title=Neutral point of view | author=English Wikipedia | date=25 January 2007 | accessdate=30 January 2007}}</ref> navigation templates,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Template&oldid=520481 | title=Help:Template | author=Wikimedia Meta-Wiki | date=29 January 2007 | accessdate=30 January 2007}}</ref>
the sorting of short "stub" articles into sub-categories,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:WikiProject_Stub_sorting&oldid=101829026 | title=WikiProject Stub sorting | author=English Wikipedia | date=19 January 2007 | accessdate=30 January 2007}}</ref> [[dispute resolution]] mechanisms such as mediation and arbitration,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Resolving_disputes&oldid=103577785 | title=Resolving disputes | author=English Wikipedia | date=27 January 2007 | accessdate=30 January 2007}}</ref>
and weekly collaborations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Article_Creation_and_Improvement_Drive&oldid=104243512|title=Article Creation and Improvement Drive|author=English Wikipedia|date=30 January 2007|accessdate=30 January 2007}}</ref>
The English Wikipedia has adopted features from Wikipedias in other languages. These features include verified revisions from the German Wikipedia ([[:de:Wikipedia:Hauptseite|dewiki]]) and town population-lookup templates from the [[Dutch Wikipedia]] ([[:nl:Hoofdpagina|nlwiki]]).
Although the English Wikipedia stores images and audio files, as well as text files, many of the images have been moved to [[Wikimedia Commons]] with the same name, as passed-through files. However, the English Wikipedia also has [[fair-use]] images and audio/video files (with copyright restrictions), most of which are not allowed on Commons.
Many of the most active participants in the [[Wikimedia Foundation]], and the developers of the [[MediaWiki]] software that powers Wikipedia, are English users.
== Users and editors ==
<center>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ '''English Wikipedia statistics'''
|-
! Number of user accounts !! Number of articles !! Number of files !!Number of administrators
|-
| {{NUMBEROFUSERS}} || {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} || {{NUMBEROFFILES}} || {{NUMBEROFADMINS}}
|}
</center>
The English Wikipedia reached 4,000,000 registered user accounts on 1 April 2007,<ref name="4,564,000">[[Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2007-04-02/News and notes]]. Retrieved 20 April 2007</ref> just a little over a year since it had crossed a threshold of 1,000,000 registered user accounts in late February 2006.<ref name="1,000,000">[[Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-02-27/News and notes]]. Retrieved 20 April 2007</ref>
Over 800,000 editors have edited Wikipedia more than 10 times.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/TablesWikipediaEN.htm#wikipedians |title=Wikipedia Statistics – Tables – English |publisher=Stats.wikimedia.org |accessdate=8 August 2013}}</ref> 300,000 editors edit Wikipedia every month;{{Citation needed|date=September 2014}} of these, over 30,000 perform more than 5 edits per month, and a little over 3,000 perform more than 100 edits per month.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/TablesWikipediaEN.htm#activitylevels |title=Wikipedia Statistics – Tables – English |publisher=Stats.wikimedia.org |accessdate=8 August 2013}}</ref> By 24 November 2011, a total of 500 million edits had been performed on the English Wikipedia.{{Citation needed|date=May 2012}}
As the largest Wikipedia edition, and because English is such a widely used language, the English Wikipedia draws many users and editors whose [[native language]] is not English. Such users may seek information from the English Wikipedia rather than the Wikipedia of their native language because the English Wikipedia tends to contain more information about general subjects. Successful collaborations have been developed between non-native English speakers who successfully add content to the English Wikipedia and native English speakers who act as copyeditors for them.{{Citation needed|date=September 2014}}
=== Arbitration committee ===
{{Main|Arbitration Committee}}
The English Wikipedia has an arbitration committee (also known as ArbCom) that consists of a panel of editors that imposes binding rulings with regard to disputes between other editors of the online encyclopedia.<ref name="AU">{{cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/democracy-for-knowalls/2006/11/30/1164777721624.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2 |title=Know-alls |accessdate= 15 June 2009 |last=Schiff |first=Stacy | authorlink=Stacy Schiff |date=2 December 2006 |work=[[The Age]] |location=Australia |publisher=Fairfax Digital Network }}</ref> The committee was created by [[Jimmy Wales]] on 4 December 2003 as an extension of the decision-making power he had formerly held as owner of the site.<ref name="Wales1">{{cite web|url=http://markmail.org/message/komcldyapats43xj#query:+page:1+mid:komcldyapats43xj+state:results |title= WikiEN-l Wikiquette committee appointments |accessdate=9 June 2009 |last=Wales |first=Jimmy |date=4 December 2003 |work=Wikipedia |publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]] }}</ref><ref name="SSRN">{{cite journal|title=Wikitruth Through Wikiorder |journal=[[Emory Law Journal]]|year=2010|first=David A.|last=Hoffman|author2=Salil Mehra |volume=59|issue=2010|ssrn=1354424}}</ref>
When initially founded, the committee consisted of 12 [[arbitrators]] divided into three groups of four members each.<ref name="Wales1"/><ref name="Fortune">{{cite web|url=http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/31/magazines/fortune/mysql_greatteams_fortune/index.htm |title=Secrets of Greatness: Great Teams |accessdate= 15 June 2009 |last=Hyatt |first=Josh |date=1 June 2006 |work=Fortune |publisher=[[Time Warner]] }}</ref> Since then, the committee has gradually expanded its membership to 18 arbitrators.<ref name="Wales2">{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&oldid=259248025 |title=ArbCom Appointments |accessdate=14 June 2009 |last=Wales |first=Jimmy |date= 20 December 2008 |work=Wikipedia }}</ref>{{Failed verification|reason=One of the 18 had retired|date=September 2014}}
As with other aspects of the English Wikipedia, some of Wikipedia's sister projects have emulated the arbitration committee with their own similar versions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?title=Q3999572&oldid=163359767#sitelinks-wikipedia|title=Wikipedia sitelinks for Arbitration Committee|author=Wikidata|date=1 April 2015|accessdate=1 April 2015}}</ref> For instance, in 2007, an arbitration committee was founded on the [[German Wikipedia]] called the {{Interlanguage link multi|Schiedsgericht|de}}.<ref name="dewiki-2007">{{cite web|url=http://www.heise.de/newsticker/Wikipedia-sucht-Schiedsrichter--/meldung/89083 |title=Wikipedia sucht Schiedsrichter |accessdate= 9 June 2009 |last=Kleinz |first=Torsten |date= 30 April 2007 |publisher=heise online |language=German }}</ref>
== Controversies ==
{{Main|Criticism of Wikipedia}}
{{See also|Wikipedia Seigenthaler biography incident|Essjay controversy}}
=== Threats against high schools ===
Several incidents of threats of violence against high schools on Wikipedia have been reported in the mainstream press.<ref name="LATimes">{{cite news| url=http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/29/local/me-wikipedia29 | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Molly | last=Hennessy-Fiske | title=Wikipedia threats went unchecked – Los Angeles Times | date=29 April 2008}}</ref><ref name="ABCLocal">{{cite web|url=http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local&id=6087243 |title=Hacienda Heights school receives possible threat | website=abc7.com |publisher=Abclocal.go.com |date=18 April 2008 |accessdate=8 August 2013}}</ref><ref name="LATimes2">{{cite news |title=Student arrested for violent threats on Wikipedia |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/04/wiki.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef011571abd811970b |work=Los Angeles Times |date=29 April 2008 |accessdate=19 January 2012}}</ref> The [[Glen A. Wilson High School]] was the subject of such a threat in 2008,<ref name="LATimes" /><ref name="ABCLocal" /><ref name="LATimes2" /> and a 14-year-old teenager was arrested for making a threat against [[Niles West High School]] on Wikipedia in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pantagraph.com/news/article_baef01f3-e56f-52e1-b9af-e90eb83e811b.html|title=Teen charged after threat to school on Wikipedia|date=31 October 2006|agency=Associated Press |publisher=Pantagraph.com|accessdate=26 January 2011|location=Bloomington, IL}}</ref>
=== Disputed articles ===
A 2013 study from [[Oxford University]] concluded that the most disputed articles on the English Wikipedia tended to be broader issues, while on other language Wikipedias the most disputed articles tended to be regional issues; this is due to the English language's status as a global ''[[lingua franca]]'', which means that many who edit the English Wikipedia [[English as a second language|do not speak English as a native language]].{{Clarify|date=March 2017}} The study stated that the most disputed entries on the English Wikipedia were: [[George W. Bush]], [[anarchism]], [[Muhammad]], [[list of WWE personnel]], [[global warming]], [[circumcision]], [[United States]], [[Jesus]], [[race and intelligence]], and [[Christianity]].<ref name=Gross>Gross, Doug. "[http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/24/tech/web/controversial-wikipedia-pages/index.html?hpt=hp_t5 Wiki wars: The 10 most controversial Wikipedia pages]." ''[[CNN]]''. 24 July 2013. Retrieved on 26 July 2013. {{cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/24/tech/web/controversial-wikipedia-pages/index.html?hpt=hp_t5 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=26 July 2013 |deadurl=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412001130/http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/24/tech/web/controversial-wikipedia-pages/index.html?hpt=hp_t5 |archivedate=12 April 2016 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
=== Varieties of English ===
One controversy in the English Wikipedia concerns which [[List of dialects of the English language|national variety]] of the English language is to be preferred, with the most commonly advocated candidates being [[American English]] and [[British English]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style_%28spelling%29|title=Wikipedia:Manual of Style (spelling)|author=English Wikipedia|accessdate=25 February 2006}}</ref> Perennial suggestions range from standardizing upon a single form of English to [[fork (software)|forking]] the English Wikipedia project. A style guideline states, "the English Wikipedia has no general preference for a major national variety of the language" and "an article on a topic that has strong ties to a particular English-speaking nation uses the appropriate variety of English for that nation".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style#National_varieties_of_English|title=Wikipedia:Manual of Style|author=English Wikipedia|accessdate=10 October 2007}}</ref> An article should use spelling and grammar variants consistently; for example, ''color'' and ''colour'' are not to be used in the same article, since they represent American and British English, respectively. The guide also states that an article must remain in its original national variant.
There has been a [[Chinese Wikipedia#Automatic conversion between traditional and simplified Chinese characters|similar issue in the Chinese-language Wikipedia]] concerning regional differences in writing. Efforts toward a language fork for [[Portuguese Wikipedia]] have failed, but those regarding [[Norwegian Wikipedia]] succeeded.
[[Andrew Lih]] wrote that the English Wikipedia "didn't have the chance to go through a debate over whether there should be a British English Wikipedia or an American English Wikipedia" because the English Wikipedia was the original edition.<ref>[[Andrew Lih|Lih]], p. 135.</ref>{{Clarify|reason=How does being the original edition prevent debate?|date=February 2015}} Editors agreed to use U.S. spellings for primarily American topics and British spellings for primarily British topics. In 2009 Lih wrote, "No doubt, American spellings tend to dominate by default just because of sheer numbers."<ref>[[Andrew Lih|Lih]], p. 136.</ref>
== Wikiprojects, and assessments of articles' importance and quality ==
<!-- This section is transcluded into [[Wikipedia]]; please do not change this section's heading without also changing the selective transclusion markup in that article -->
{{Main|WikiProject}}
A "[[WikiProject]]" is a [[social group|group]] of contributors who want to work together as a team to improve Wikipedia. These groups often focus on a specific topic area (for example, [[women's history]]), a specific location or a specific kind of task (for example, checking newly created pages). The English Wikipedia currently has over [[Wikipedia:Database reports/WikiProjects by changes|2,000 WikiProjects]] and activity varies.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject | title=Wikipedia: Wikiprojects | accessdate=16 March 2015}}</ref>
In 2007, in preparation for producing a print version, the English Wikipedia introduced an assessment scale of the quality of articles.<ref name="WP 1.0 editorial team 1">{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Version_1.0_Editorial_Team/Assessment|title=Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Assessment|accessdate=28 October 2007}}</ref> Articles are rated by WikiProjects. The range of quality classes begins with "Stub" (very short pages), followed by "Start", "C" and "B" (in increasing order of quality). Community peer review is needed for the article to enter one of the highest quality classes: either "[[WP:Good articles|good article]]", "A" or the highest, "[[WP:Featured articles|featured article]]". Of the about 4.4 million articles and lists assessed as of March 2015, a little more than 5,000 (0.12%) are featured articles, and fewer than 2,000 (0.04%) are featured lists. One featured article per day, as selected by editors, appears on the [[main page]] of Wikipedia.<ref name="FMonday feat article patterns 1">{{cite web|url=http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2365/2182|title=Comparing featured article groups and revision patterns correlations in Wikipedia|publisher=[[First Monday (journal)|First Monday]]|accessdate=13 July 2010}}</ref><ref name="IBM feat articles hidden pattern 1">{{cite journal|url=http://www.research.ibm.com/visual/papers/hidden_order_wikipedia.pdf|author1=Fernanda B. Viégas |author2=Martin Wattenberg |author3=Matthew M. McKeon |title=The Hidden Order of Wikipedia|publisher=Visual Communication Lab, IBM Research|date=22 July 2007|format=PDF|accessdate=30 October 2007}}</ref>
The articles can also be rated as per "importance" as judged by a WikiProject. Currently, there are 5 importance categories: "low", "mid", "high", "top", and "???" for unclassified/uncertain level. For a particular article, different WikiProjects may assign different importance levels.
The [[Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team|Wikipedia Version 1.0 Editorial Team]] has developed a table (shown below) that displays data of all rated articles by quality and importance, on the English Wikipedia. ''If an article or list receives different ratings by two or more WikiProjects, then the highest rating is used in the table, pie-charts, and bar-chart''. The software regularly auto-updates the data.
Researcher Giacomo Poderi found that articles tend to reach featured status via the intensive work of a few editors.<ref name="Poderi Giacomo feat articles 1">Poderi, Giacomo, ''Wikipedia and the Featured Articles: How a Technological System Can Produce Best Quality Articles'', Master thesis, [[University of Maastricht]], October 2008.</ref> A 2010 study found unevenness in quality among featured articles and concluded that the community process is ineffective in assessing the quality of articles.<ref name="FMonday WP quality control 1">{{cite journal|url=http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2721/2482|title=Evaluating quality control of Wikipedia's featured articles|first=David|last=Lindsey|journal=First Monday|volume=15|issue=4|date=5 April 2010|accessdate=29 January 2017}}</ref>
{{Pie chart
| caption = '''Quality-wise distribution of over 5.5 million articles and lists on the English Wikipedia, {{As of|2017|1|29|lc=y}}'''<ref name="en.wikipedia">[[Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Statistics|Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Statistics – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]]</ref>
| other =
| label1 = Featured articles
| value1 = 0.11
| color1 = violet
| label2 = Featured lists
| value2 = 0.04
| color2 = indigo
| label3 = A class
| value3 = 0.03
| color3 = lightblue
| label4 = Good articles
| value4 = 0.50
| color4 = darkgreen
| label5 = B class
| value5 = 2.00
| color5 = lightgreen
| label6 = C class
| value6 = 4.32
| color6 = yellow
| label7 = Start class
| value7 = 26.41
| color7 = orange
| label8 = Stub class
| value8 = 53.01
| color8 = red
| label9 = Lists
| value9 = 3.65
| color9 = purple
| label10 = Unassessed
| value10 = 9.94
| color10 = black
}}
<div style="float: right; padding-left: 7 px;">
{{Pie chart
| caption = '''Importance-wise distribution of over 5.5 million articles and lists on the English Wikipedia, {{As of|2017|1|29|lc=y}}'''<ref name="en.wikipedia" />
| other =
| label1 = Top
| value1 = 0.91
| label2 = High
| value2 = 3.20
| label3 = Medium
| value3 = 12.21
| label4 = Low
| value4 = 51.68
| label5 = ???
| value5 = 32.00
}}
</div>
{{User:WP 1.0 bot/Tables/OverallArticles}}
{{ #invoke:Chart | bar chart
| height = 700
| width = 800
| stack = 1
| group 1 = 1173 : 1804 : 1708 : 1060 : 187
| group 2 = 141 : 562 : 661 : 600 : 118
| group 3 = 221 : 427 : 579 : 371 : 80
| group 4 = 2089 : 4767 : 9291 : 10076 : 1692
| group 5 = 12033 : 22850 : 34918 : 27805 : 13632
| group 6 = 10253 : 29618 : 66133 : 91622 : 43202
| group 7 = 17198 : 75703 : 305141 : 783520 : 290296
| group 8 = 4225 : 30940 : 225862 : 1855720 : 837412
| group 9 = 3009 : 11220 : 34137 : 93404 : 61514
| group 10 = 139 : 407 : 1787 : 16209 : 535499
| colors = violet : indigo : lightblue : darkgreen : lightgreen : yellow : orange : red : purple : black
| group names = Featured articles : Featured lists : A-class articles : Good articles : B-class articles : C-class articles : Start-class articles : Stub articles : Lists : Unassessed articles and lists
| x legends = Top : High : Medium : Low : ???
}}
{{selfref inline|''[Note: The table above (prepared by the [[Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team|Wikipedia Version 1.0 Editorial Team]]) is automatically updated daily by [[User:WP 1.0 bot]], but the bar-chart and the two pie-charts are not auto-updated. In them, new data has to be entered by a Wikipedia editor (i.e. user).]''}}
Automatic quality assessment of Wikipedia articles is a known and wide scientific problem.<ref>[https://wikipediaquality.com/wiki/Wikipedia_Quality Wikipedia Quality]</ref> For example, as measures for assessing quality, it can be taken into the account number of the references, text length, number of images, sections, articles popularity and others.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lewoniewski |first1=Włodzimierz |last2=Węcel |first2=Krzysztof |last3=Abramowicz |first3=Witold |date=2017-12-08 |title=Relative Quality and Popularity Evaluation of Multilingual Wikipedia Articles |url=http://www.mdpi.com/2227-9709/4/4/43 |journal=Informatics |volume=4|issue=4 |pages= |doi=10.3390/informatics4040043 |access-date=2018-07-02 }}</ref>
== Graphics ==
<gallery widths="300" heights="200">
Wikipedia by Language.svg|Percentages of articles written in various language families. In March 2013, 16.76% of articles were in English.
English Wikipedia – Most popular edition of Wikipedia by country – Wikimedia Traffic Analysis Report – 1 Jul 2009-31 Oct 2013.svg|The countries in which the English Wikipedia is the most popular language version of Wikipedia are shown in red.<ref name="stats">{{cite web|url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/squids/SquidReportPageViewsPerCountryTrends.htm|title=Wikimedia Traffic Analysis Report – Wikipedia Page Views Per Country – Trends|first=Erik|last=Zachte|date=14 November 2011|publisher=Wikimedia Statistics|accessdate=19 January 2011}}</ref>
Enwiki-map.png|Top 25 contributor countries to the English Wikipedia. Dark green: Native English speaking countries; light green: countries with English as a foreign language.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/squids/SquidReportPageEditsPerLanguageBreakdown.htm|title=Wikimedia Traffic Analysis Report – Page Edits Per Wikipedia Language – Breakdown|first=Erik|last=Zachte|date= 14 November 2011|publisher=Wikimedia Statistics|accessdate=19 January 2011}}</ref>
Wiki feel stupid v2.ogv|In April 2009, the Wikimedia Foundation conducted a usability study on the English Wikipedia, questioning users about the editing mechanism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://usability.wikimedia.org/wiki/Usability_and_Experience_Study |title=Usability and Experience Study |publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]] |accessdate=19 January 2012}}</ref>
Wikipedia_5_million_articles_milestone_video_November_2015.ogv|Video marking English Wikipedia's milestone of [[Wikipedia:Five million articles|five million articles]] on 1 November 2015
</gallery>
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="width:310px;"
|-
! Bar chart, origin of edits
|-
| {{bar box
|title = Origin of edits (2014/1 – 2014/3)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/squids/SquidReportPageEditsPerLanguageBreakdown.htm |title=Wikimedia Traffic Analysis Report – Page Edits Per Wikipedia Language – Breakdown |publisher=Stats.wikimedia.org |accessdate=28 July 2014}}</ref>
|titlebar=#ddd
|width = 300px
|bars=
{{bar percent|{{Flag|United States}}|Black|38.3}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|United Kingdom}}|Blue|13.2}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|India}}|Orange|6.9}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Canada}}|Red|5.4}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Australia}}|Purple|3.6}}
{{bar percent|Unknown|DeepPink|2.9}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Philippines}}|Green|2.6}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Germany}}|Brown|1.5}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Brazil}}|Orange|1.1}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Italy}}|Black|1.0}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Ireland}}|Yellow|1.0}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Pakistan}}|Black|0.9}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|France}}|Black|0.8}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Malaysia}}|Black|0.8}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Netherlands}}|Purple|0.8}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Indonesia}}|Black|0.8}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|China}}|Black|0.7}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|New Zealand}}|Black|0.7}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Spain}}|Black|0.7}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Iran}}|Black|0.7}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Mexico}}|Black|0.5}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Sweden}}|Black|0.5}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Russia}}|Black|0.5}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Greece}}|Black|0.5}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Turkey}}|Black|0.5}}
{{bar percent|Other|grey|13.1}}
}}
|}
==Internal news publications==
{{See also|The Signpost}}
[[File:WikipediaSignpostIcon.svg|right|frameless|55x55px]]
Community-produced news publications include [[WP:Signpost|''The Signpost'']].<ref name=AyersMatthews2008>{{cite book|author1=Phoebe Ayers|author2=Charles Matthews|author3=Ben Yates|title=How Wikipedia Works: And how You Can be a Part of it|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lHdi1CEPLb4C&pg=PA345|year=2008|publisher=No Starch Press|isbn=978-1-59327-176-3|pages=345–}}</ref> ''The Signpost'' (previously known as ''The Wikipedia Signpost''<ref name=Cohen2007>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/technology/05wikipedia.html|accessdate=29 February 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]|first=Noam|last=Cohen|title=A Contributor to Wikipedia Has His Fictional Side|date=5 March 2007|page=C5}}</ref>) is the English Wikipedia's newspaper.<ref name=AyersMatthews2008/><ref name=Koebler2016>{{Cite news|url=https://motherboard.vice.com/read/wikipedias-secret-google-competitor-search-engine-is-tearing-it-apart |title=The Secret Search Engine Tearing Wikipedia Apart |last=Koebler |first=Jason |date=16 February 2016 |work=[[Vice (magazine)#Website|Vice]]}}</ref><ref name=Geoffroy2014>{{Cite news|url=http://www.lesinrocks.com/2014/01/16/actualite/employee-wikipedia-debarquee-monnaye-articles-11460948/ |title= Une employée de Wikipédia débarquée pour avoir monnayé ses articles |last= Geoffroy |first=Romain |date=16 January 2014 |work=[[Les Inrockuptibles]]}}</ref> It is managed by the [[Wikipedia community]] and is published online weekly.<ref name=AyersMatthews2008/><ref name=Dobusch2014>{{Cite news|url= https://netzpolitik.org/2014/interview-mit-dirk-franke-ueber-grenzen-der-bezahlung-in-der-wikipedia// |title= Interview mit Dirk Franke über "Grenzen der Bezahlung" in der Wikipedia |last= Dobusch |first=Leonhard |date=12 January 2014 |work=[[Netzpolitik.org]]}}</ref> Each edition contains stories and articles related to the Wikipedia community.<ref name=Rosen2013>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/02/if-you-want-your-wikipedia-page-to-get-a-ton-of-traffic-die-while-performing-at-the-super-bowl-half-time-show/272919|title=If You Want Your Wikipedia Page to Get a TON of Traffic, Die While Performing at the Super Bowl Half-Time Show|website=[[The Atlantic]]|date=6 February 2013|last1=Rosen|first1=Rebecca|access-date=21 February 2016}}</ref><ref name=Jemielniak2014>{{cite book|author=Dariusz Jemielniak|title=Common Knowledge?: An Ethnography of Wikipedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Iw5AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA231|year=2014|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0804797238|pages=231–}}</ref> A wide range of editors contribute articles and other pieces.<ref name=AyersMatthews2008/>
The publication was founded in January 2005 by [[Wikipedia administrator]] and later Chair of the [[Wikimedia Foundation]] Board of Trustees, Michael Snow.<ref name=AyersMatthews2008/><ref name=Cohen2007/><ref name=McCarthy2008>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnet.com/news/wikimedia-foundation-edits-its-board-of-trustees/#! |title=Wikimedia Foundation edits its board of trustees |last=McCarthy |first=Caroline |date=18 July 2008 |publisher=[[CNET]]}}</ref> Originally titled ''The Wikipedia Signpost'', it was later shortened to simply ''The Signpost''.<ref name=Cohen2007/><ref name="okoli">{{cite journal|first1=Chitu|last1= Okoli|first2=Mohamad |last2=Mehdi|first3=Mostafa|last3= Mesgari|first4=Finn Årup |last4=Nielsen|first5=Arto|last5= Lanamäki|title=The people's encyclopedia under the gaze of the sages: A systematic review of scholarly research on Wikipedia|ssrn=2021326|date=24 October 2012|doi=10.2139/ssrn.2021326|journal=}}</ref> The newspaper reports on Wikipedia events including [[Arbitration Committee]] rulings,<ref name="ayeletoz">{{cite journal|first=Ayelet|last=Oz|date=1 September 2014|publisher=[[Harvard Law School]]|title=The Legal Consciousness of Wikipedia|ssrn=2572381|doi=10.2139/ssrn.2572381|journal=}}</ref> Wikimedia Foundation issues,<ref name=ParoutisHeracleous2013>{{cite book|author1=Sotirios Paroutis|author2=Loizos Heracleous|author3=Duncan Angwin|title=Practicing Strategy: Text and Cases|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DZsQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT237|date=1 February 2013|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4462-9047-7|pages=237–}}</ref> and [[Outline of Wikipedia#Wikipedia-related projects|other Wikipedia-related projects]].<ref name=Waters2010>{{cite book|pages=180, 270|first=John K.|last=Waters|title=The Everything Guide to Social Media|year=2010|publisher=Adams Media|isbn=978-1440506314}}</ref> Snow continued to contribute as a writer to ''The Signpost'' until his appointment to the [[m:Board of Trustees|Board of Trustees]] of the Wikimedia Foundation in February 2008.<ref name="congratulatesnow">{{cite news|accessdate=1 March 2016|author=Ral315|work=The Wikipedia Signpost|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2008-02-18/From_the_editor&oldid=192509690|date=18 February 2008|title=From the editor: This week, I'd like to congratulate and thank Michael Snow}}</ref>
[[Investigative journalism]] by ''The Signpost'' in 2015 on changes to [[freedom of panorama]] copyright restrictions in Europe was covered by publications in multiple languages including German,<ref name="germanpanorama">{{cite news|language=German|accessdate=5 March 2016|title=Geben Sie Panoramafreiheit, Sire!|work=FAZ – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung|url=http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/panoramafreiheit-in-gefahr-das-betrifft-jeden-13668160.html|date=27 June 2015|archivedate=29 June 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629034301/http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/panoramafreiheit-in-gefahr-das-betrifft-jeden-13668160.html|first=Andrea|last=Diener}}</ref> Italian,<ref name="italianpanorama">{{cite news|accessdate=5 March 2016|date=22 June 2015|language=Italian|work=Blogo: Informazione libera e indipendente|title=Libertà di Panorama: a rischio in Europa con una riforma del copyright|archivedate=23 June 2015|url=http://www.clickblog.it/post/185665/liberta-di-panorama-a-rischio-in-europa-con-una-riforma-del-copyright|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623122005/http://www.clickblog.it/post/185665/liberta-di-panorama-a-rischio-in-europa-con-una-riforma-del-copyright}}</ref> Polish,<ref name="wyborczapanorama">{{cite news|accessdate=5 March 2016|language=Polish|date=24 June 2015|title=Chcesz robić zdjęcia znanych budowli Europy? Spiesz się. To mogą być ostatnie tygodnie|url=http://wyborcza.pl/1,75475,18241931,Chcesz_robic_zdjecia_znanych_budowli_Europy__Spiesz.html|work=[[Gazeta Wyborcza]]|issn=0860-908X|archivedate=27 June 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627094832/http://wyborcza.pl/1,75475,18241931,Chcesz_robic_zdjecia_znanych_budowli_Europy__Spiesz.html}}</ref> and Russian.<ref name="prophotosrupanorama">{{cite news|accessdate=5 March 2016|url=http://prophotos.ru/news/17098-trevoga-svobodnaya-s-emka-na-ulitsah-evropy-pod-ugrozoy|language=Russian|date=23 June 2015|title=ТРЕВОГА! Свободная съемка на улицах Европы – под угрозой|archivedate=27 June 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627065322/http://prophotos.ru/news/17098-trevoga-svobodnaya-s-emka-na-ulitsah-evropy-pod-ugrozoy}}</ref> Wikipedia users Gamaliel and Go Phightins! became editors-in-chief of ''The Signpost'' in January 2015; prior editor-in-chief The ed17 noted that during his tenure the publication expanded its scope by including more reporting on the wider Wikimedia movement and English Wikipedia itself.<ref name="introducingyournew">{{cite news|accessdate=1 March 2016|author=The ed17|work=The Signpost|title=From the editor: Introducing your new editors-in-chief|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-01-21/From_the_editor|date=21 January 2015}}</ref> In a letter to readers upon the newspaper's tenth anniversary, the new co-editors-in-chief stressed the importance of maintaining independence from the Wikimedia Foundation in their reporting.<ref name="includesyou">{{cite news|accessdate=1 March 2016|work=The Signpost|date=28 January 2015|title=From the editor: An editorial board that includes you|author=Go Phightins! and Gamaliel|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-01-28/From_the_editor&oldid=644803485}}</ref>
''The Signpost'' has been the subject of academic analysis in publications including ''[[Sociological Forum]]'',<ref name="sociologicalforum">{{cite journal|journal=[[Sociological Forum]]|title=Governance, Organization, and Democracy on the Internet: The Iron Law and the Evolution of Wikipedia|first=Piotr|last= Konieczny|volume=24|issue=1|date=March 2009|pages=167|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons|Wiley]]|subscription=yes|jstor= 40210340}}</ref> the social movements journal ''Interface'',<ref name="interface">{{cite journal|issn=2009-2431 |url=http://interfacejournal.nuim.ie/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Interface-1-2-pp212-232-Konieczny.pdf|accessdate=1 March 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607013320/http://interfacejournal.nuim.ie/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Interface-1-2-pp212-232-Konieczny.pdf|archivedate=7 June 2012|title=Wikipedia: community or social movement?|first=Piotr |last=Konieczny|journal=Interface: A Journal for and about Social Movements|volume=1|issue=2|pages=212–232}}</ref> and ''New Review of Academic Librarianship'';<ref name=Bayliss2013>{{cite journal|page=39|first=Gemma|last=Bayliss|journal=New Review of Academic Librarianship|via=[[EBSCO Host]]|title=Exploring the Cautionary Attitude Toward Wikipedia in Higher Education: Implications for Higher Education Institutions|doi=10.1080/13614533.2012.740439|issn=1361-4533|date=January 2013|volume=19|issue=1|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13614533.2012.740439|accessdate=1 March 2016}}</ref> and was consulted for data on Wikipedia by researchers from [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]] and [[Dartmouth College]].<ref name="yan2011">{{cite book|accessdate=1 March 2016|url=http://permalink.lanl.gov/object/tr?what=info:lanl-repo/lareport/LA-UR-11-02385|publisher=IEEE Computer Society Washington|chapter=Wiki-watchdog: Anomaly detection in Wikipedia through a distributional lens|title= Proceedings of the 2011 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conferences on Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent Technology – Volume 01|first1=Guanhua|last1=Yan|last2=Arackaparambil|first2= Chrisil|doi=10.1109/WI-IAT.2011.86|pages=257–264|isbn= 978-0-7695-4513-4}}</ref> It has garnered generally positive reception from media publications including ''[[The New York Times]]'',<ref name="allthenews">{{cite news|first=Jonathan|last=Dee|work=[[The New York Times]]|accessdate=29 February 2016|title=All the News That's Fit to Print Out|date=1 July 2007|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/magazine/01WIKIPEDIA-t.html}}</ref> ''[[The Register]]'',<ref name=Orlowski2016>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/01/12/wikimedia_dumps_elected_trustee/ |title= Wikimedia Foundation bins community-elected trustee |last=Orlowski |first=Andrew |date=12 January 2016 |work=[[The Register]]}}</ref> ''Nonprofit Quarterly'',<ref name=McCambridge2016>{{Cite web |url=https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2016/02/16/knight-foundation-grant-request-tears-at-wikipedias-community/ |title=Knight Foundation Grant Request Tears at Wikipedia's Community |last=McCambridge |first=Ruth |date=16 February 2016 |work=Nonprofit Quarterly}}</ref> and ''[[Heise Online]]''.<ref name=Kleinz2016>{{cite web|url=http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Kommentar-Wie-geht-es-weiter-mit-der-Wikimedia-Foundation-3119568.html|title=Kommentar: Wie geht es weiter mit der Wikimedia Foundation?|last=Kleinz|first=Torsten|date=27 February 2016|work=Heise Online}}</ref> The book ''[[Wikipedia: The Missing Manual]]'' called ''The Signpost'' essential reading for ambitious new Wikipedia editors.<ref name=Broughton2008>{{cite book|author=John Broughton|title=Wikipedia: The Missing Manual: The Missing Manual|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h37N0BvkVSUC&pg=PA454|date=25 January 2008|publisher="O'Reilly Media, Inc."|isbn=978-0-596-55377-7|pages=454–}}</ref>
Other past and present community news publications include the "[[WikiWorld]]" web comic, the [[WP:Wikipedia Weekly|''Wikipedia Weekly'']] podcast, and newsletters of specific WikiProjects like [[Wikipedia:BUGLE|''The Bugle'']] from [[WP:Milhist|WikiProject Military History]] and the monthly newsletter from [[WP:GOCE|The Guild of Copy Editors]]. There are also a number of publications from the Wikimedia Foundation and multilingual publications such as the [[wmfblog:|Wikimedia Blog]] and ''[[:outreach:This Month in Education|This Month in Education]]''.
== See also ==
* [[English Wikipedia blackout]]
* [[History of Wikipedia]]
* [[Reliability of Wikipedia]]
* [[Simple English Wikipedia]]
* [[Wikipedia for Schools]]
* [[Wikipedia community]]
* [[Wikipedia:Milestones]]
* [[Wikipedia:Milestone statistics]]
== Footnotes ==
{{Reflist}}
== References ==
* [[Andrew Lih|Lih, Andrew]]. ''[[The Wikipedia Revolution: How a Bunch of Nobodies Created the World's Greatest Encyclopedia]]''. [[Hyperion Books|Hyperion]], New York City. 2009. First Edition. {{ISBN|978-1-4013-0371-6}} (alkaline paper).
== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://en.wikipedia.org English Wikipedia] <!-- This is useful for mirrors of Wikipedia content -->
* [[:meta:English Wikipedia|English Wikipedia on Meta-Wiki]]
{{Wikipedia}}
{{Wikipedias}}
[[Category:2001 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:English-language encyclopedias|Wikipedia]]
[[Category:English-language websites]]
[[Category:Global culture]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2001]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Wikipedias by language]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox website
| name = English Wikipedia
| logo = Wikipedia-logo-v2-en.svg
| logo_size = 85%
| logo_caption = Logo of the English Wikipedia
| screenshot = English Wikipedia screenshot.png
| screenshot_alt = The homepage of the English Wikipedia
| caption = The homepage of the English Wikipedia celebrating its 5,000,000th article in November 2015
| collapsible = Yes
| url = {{URL|https://en.wikipedia.org/}}
| commercial = No
| type = [[Internet encyclopedia]]
| registration = Optional, but required for certain tasks including {{unbulleted list|•{{thinsp|[[protected page]] edit}}|•{{thinsp|page creation}}|•{{thinsp|file upload}}}}
| num_users = {{NUMBEROFUSERS}}
| owner = [[Wikimedia Foundation]]
| author = [[Jimmy Wales]], [[Larry Sanger]]<ref name=foundercontroversy>There is controversy over who founded Wikipedia. Wales considers himself to be the sole founder of Wikipedia and has told the ''[[Boston Globe]]'' that "it's preposterous" to call Sanger the co-founder.{{Citation needed|date=February 2015}} However, Sanger strongly contests that description. He was identified as a co-founder of Wikipedia as early as September 2001 and referred to himself as being founder as early as January 2002.{{Citation needed|date=February 2015}}
* {{Cite news|url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041206/news_mz1b6encyclo.html|first=Jonathan|last=Sidener|title=Everyone's Encyclopedia|accessdate=15 October 2006|publisher=San Diego Union Tribune|date=6 December 2004|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114101809/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/uniontrib/20041206/news_mz1b6encyclo.html|archivedate=14 January 2016|df=dmy-all}}
* {{Cite news|first=Peter|last=Meyers|title=Fact-Driven? Collegial? This Site Wants You|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E5D6123BF933A1575AC0A9679C8B63&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fC%2fComputer%20Software|work=New York Times|accessdate=15 October 2006|date=20 September 2001}}
* {{cite web|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia_and_why_it_matters&oldid=149626|author=Sanger, Larry|title=What Wikipedia is and why it matters|accessdate=12 April 2006|authorlink=Larry Sanger}}</ref>
| launch date = {{start date and age|df=yes|2001|1|15}}
| content license = {{nobr|[[Creative Commons licenses|Creative Commons Attribution/<br />Share-Alike]] 3.0}} (most text also dual-licensed under [[GFDL]])<br />Media licensing varies
}}
The '''English Wikipedia''' is the [[English language|English-language]] edition of the free online encyclopedia [[Wikipedia]]. Founded on 15 January 2001, it is the first edition of Wikipedia and, {{As of|2017|11|lc=y}}, has [[list of Wikipedias|the most articles of any of the editions]].<ref>about 50 percent more than the next in rank, the [[Swedish Wikipedia]]. See [[:m:List of Wikipedias]].</ref> As of {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}, {{Percentage|{{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|en}}|{{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|total}}}} of articles in all Wikipedias belong to the English-language edition. This share has gradually declined from more than 50 percent in 2003, due to the growth of Wikipedias in other languages.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Wikipedias&oldid=520778 |title=List of Wikipedias |author=Wikimedia Meta-Wiki |date=21 September 2008 |accessdate=21 September 2008}}</ref> As of {{CURRENTDAY}} {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{CURRENTYEAR}}, there are [[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] articles on the site.<ref>The number of articles on the English Wikipedia is shown by the [[MediaWiki]] variable <code><nowiki>{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}</nowiki></code>, with all Wikipedias as total <code><nowiki>{{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|total}}</nowiki></code> = {{formatnum:{{NUMBEROF|ARTICLES|total}}}}.</ref> In October 2015, the combined text of the English Wikipedia's articles totalled 11.5 [[gigabyte]]s when compressed.<ref>See size of downloads at [[Wikipedia:Database download]] and a list of historical sizes [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikipedia_article_size_in_gigabytes.png#Summary here]</ref> On 1 November 2015, the English Wikipedia announced it had reached 5,000,000 articles<ref>{{cite web|title=Wikipedia:Five million articles|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Five_million_articles|website=Wikipedia|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=1 November 2015}}</ref> and ran a special logo to reflect the milestone.<ref>{{cite web|title=File:Wikipedia-logo-v2-en 5m articles.png|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikipedia-logo-v2-en_5m_articles.png|website=Wikimedia Commons|publisher=Wikimedia Foundation|accessdate=1 November 2015}}</ref>
The [[Simple English Wikipedia]] is a variation in which most of the articles use only basic English vocabulary. There is also the [[Old English|Old English (Ænglisc/Anglo-Saxon)]] Wikipedia ([[:ang:Hēafodtramet|angwiki]]). Community-produced news publications include ''[[The Signpost]]''.<ref name=AyersMatthews2008/>
== Pioneering edition ==
{{See also|Wikipedia:Milestones}}
The English Wikipedia was the first Wikipedia edition and has remained the largest. It has pioneered many ideas as conventions, policies or features which were later adopted by Wikipedia editions in some of the other languages. These ideas include "featured articles",<ref>{{cite web | url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Featured_articles&oldid=104207677 | title=Featured articles | author=English Wikipedia | date=30 January 2007 | accessdate=30 January 2007}}</ref>
the neutral-point-of-view policy,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view&oldid=103033132 | title=Neutral point of view | author=English Wikipedia | date=25 January 2007 | accessdate=30 January 2007}}</ref> navigation templates,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Template&oldid=520481 | title=Help:Template | author=Wikimedia Meta-Wiki | date=29 January 2007 | accessdate=30 January 2007}}</ref>
the sorting of short "stub" articles into sub-categories,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:WikiProject_Stub_sorting&oldid=101829026 | title=WikiProject Stub sorting | author=English Wikipedia | date=19 January 2007 | accessdate=30 January 2007}}</ref> [[dispute resolution]] mechanisms such as mediation and arbitration,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Resolving_disputes&oldid=103577785 | title=Resolving disputes | author=English Wikipedia | date=27 January 2007 | accessdate=30 January 2007}}</ref>
and weekly collaborations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Article_Creation_and_Improvement_Drive&oldid=104243512|title=Article Creation and Improvement Drive|author=English Wikipedia|date=30 January 2007|accessdate=30 January 2007}}</ref>
The English Wikipedia has adopted features from Wikipedias in other languages. These features include verified revisions from the German Wikipedia ([[:de:Wikipedia:Hauptseite|dewiki]]) and town population-lookup templates from the [[Dutch Wikipedia]] ([[:nl:Hoofdpagina|nlwiki]]).
Although the English Wikipedia stores images and audio files, as well as text files, many of the images have been moved to [[Wikimedia Commons]] with the same name, as passed-through files. However, the English Wikipedia also has [[fair-use]] images and audio/video files (with copyright restrictions), most of which are not allowed on Commons.
Many of the most active participants in the [[Wikimedia Foundation]], and the developers of the [[MediaWiki]] software that powers Wikipedia, are English users.
== Users and editors ==
<center>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ '''English Wikipedia statistics'''
|-
! Number of user accounts !! Number of articles !! Number of files !!Number of administrators
|-
| {{NUMBEROFUSERS}} || {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} || {{NUMBEROFFILES}} || {{NUMBEROFADMINS}}
|}
</center>
The English Wikipedia reached 4,000,000 registered user accounts on 1 April 2007,<ref name="4,564,000">[[Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2007-04-02/News and notes]]. Retrieved 20 April 2007</ref> just a little over a year since it had crossed a threshold of 1,000,000 registered user accounts in late February 2006.<ref name="1,000,000">[[Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-02-27/News and notes]]. Retrieved 20 April 2007</ref>
Over 800,000 editors have edited Wikipedia more than 10 times.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/TablesWikipediaEN.htm#wikipedians |title=Wikipedia Statistics – Tables – English |publisher=Stats.wikimedia.org |accessdate=8 August 2013}}</ref> 300,000 editors edit Wikipedia every month;{{Citation needed|date=September 2014}} of these, over 30,000 perform more than 5 edits per month, and a little over 3,000 perform more than 100 edits per month.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/TablesWikipediaEN.htm#activitylevels |title=Wikipedia Statistics – Tables – English |publisher=Stats.wikimedia.org |accessdate=8 August 2013}}</ref> By 24 November 2011, a total of 500 million edits had been performed on the English Wikipedia.{{Citation needed|date=May 2012}}
As the largest Wikipedia edition, and because English is such a widely used language, the English Wikipedia draws many users and editors whose [[native language]] is not English. Such users may seek information from the English Wikipedia rather than the Wikipedia of their native language because the English Wikipedia tends to contain more information about general subjects. Successful collaborations have been developed between non-native English speakers who successfully add content to the English Wikipedia and native English speakers who act as copyeditors for them.{{Citation needed|date=September 2014}}
=== Arbitration committee ===
{{Main|Arbitration Committee}}
The English Wikipedia has an arbitration committee (also known as ArbCom) that consists of a panel of editors that imposes binding rulings with regard to disputes between other editors of the online encyclopedia.<ref name="AU">{{cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/democracy-for-knowalls/2006/11/30/1164777721624.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2 |title=Know-alls |accessdate= 15 June 2009 |last=Schiff |first=Stacy | authorlink=Stacy Schiff |date=2 December 2006 |work=[[The Age]] |location=Australia |publisher=Fairfax Digital Network }}</ref> The committee was created by [[Jimmy Wales]] on 4 December 2003 as an extension of the decision-making power he had formerly held as owner of the site.<ref name="Wales1">{{cite web|url=http://markmail.org/message/komcldyapats43xj#query:+page:1+mid:komcldyapats43xj+state:results |title= WikiEN-l Wikiquette committee appointments |accessdate=9 June 2009 |last=Wales |first=Jimmy |date=4 December 2003 |work=Wikipedia |publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]] }}</ref><ref name="SSRN">{{cite journal|title=Wikitruth Through Wikiorder |journal=[[Emory Law Journal]]|year=2010|first=David A.|last=Hoffman|author2=Salil Mehra |volume=59|issue=2010|ssrn=1354424}}</ref>
When initially founded, the committee consisted of 12 [[arbitrators]] divided into three groups of four members each.<ref name="Wales1"/><ref name="Fortune">{{cite web|url=http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/31/magazines/fortune/mysql_greatteams_fortune/index.htm |title=Secrets of Greatness: Great Teams |accessdate= 15 June 2009 |last=Hyatt |first=Josh |date=1 June 2006 |work=Fortune |publisher=[[Time Warner]] }}</ref> Since then, the committee has gradually expanded its membership to 18 arbitrators.<ref name="Wales2">{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jimbo_Wales&oldid=259248025 |title=ArbCom Appointments |accessdate=14 June 2009 |last=Wales |first=Jimmy |date= 20 December 2008 |work=Wikipedia }}</ref>{{Failed verification|reason=One of the 18 had retired|date=September 2014}}
As with other aspects of the English Wikipedia, some of Wikipedia's sister projects have emulated the arbitration committee with their own similar versions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?title=Q3999572&oldid=163359767#sitelinks-wikipedia|title=Wikipedia sitelinks for Arbitration Committee|author=Wikidata|date=1 April 2015|accessdate=1 April 2015}}</ref> For instance, in 2007, an arbitration committee was founded on the [[German Wikipedia]] called the {{Interlanguage link multi|Schiedsgericht|de}}.<ref name="dewiki-2007">{{cite web|url=http://www.heise.de/newsticker/Wikipedia-sucht-Schiedsrichter--/meldung/89083 |title=Wikipedia sucht Schiedsrichter |accessdate= 9 June 2009 |last=Kleinz |first=Torsten |date= 30 April 2007 |publisher=heise online |language=German }}</ref>
== Controversies ==
{{Main|Criticism of Wikipedia}}
{{See also|Wikipedia Seigenthaler biography incident|Essjay controversy}}
=== Threats against high schools ===
Several incidents of threats of violence against high schools on Wikipedia have been reported in the mainstream press.<ref name="LATimes">{{cite news| url=http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/29/local/me-wikipedia29 | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Molly | last=Hennessy-Fiske | title=Wikipedia threats went unchecked – Los Angeles Times | date=29 April 2008}}</ref><ref name="ABCLocal">{{cite web|url=http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local&id=6087243 |title=Hacienda Heights school receives possible threat | website=abc7.com |publisher=Abclocal.go.com |date=18 April 2008 |accessdate=8 August 2013}}</ref><ref name="LATimes2">{{cite news |title=Student arrested for violent threats on Wikipedia |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/04/wiki.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef011571abd811970b |work=Los Angeles Times |date=29 April 2008 |accessdate=19 January 2012}}</ref> The [[Glen A. Wilson High School]] was the subject of such a threat in 2008,<ref name="LATimes" /><ref name="ABCLocal" /><ref name="LATimes2" /> and a 14-year-old teenager was arrested for making a threat against [[Niles West High School]] on Wikipedia in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pantagraph.com/news/article_baef01f3-e56f-52e1-b9af-e90eb83e811b.html|title=Teen charged after threat to school on Wikipedia|date=31 October 2006|agency=Associated Press |publisher=Pantagraph.com|accessdate=26 January 2011|location=Bloomington, IL}}</ref>
=== Disputed articles ===
A 2013 study from [[Oxford University]] concluded that the most disputed articles on the English Wikipedia tended to be broader issues, while on other language Wikipedias the most disputed articles tended to be regional issues; this is due to the English language's status as a global ''[[lingua franca]]'', which means that many who edit the English Wikipedia [[English as a second language|do not speak English as a native language]].{{Clarify|date=March 2017}} The study stated that the most disputed entries on the English Wikipedia were: [[George W. Bush]], [[anarchism]], [[Muhammad]], [[list of WWE personnel]], [[global warming]], [[circumcision]], [[United States]], [[Jesus]], [[race and intelligence]], and [[Christianity]].<ref name=Gross>Gross, Doug. "[http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/24/tech/web/controversial-wikipedia-pages/index.html?hpt=hp_t5 Wiki wars: The 10 most controversial Wikipedia pages]." ''[[CNN]]''. 24 July 2013. Retrieved on 26 July 2013. {{cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/24/tech/web/controversial-wikipedia-pages/index.html?hpt=hp_t5 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=26 July 2013 |deadurl=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412001130/http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/24/tech/web/controversial-wikipedia-pages/index.html?hpt=hp_t5 |archivedate=12 April 2016 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
=== Varieties of English ===
One controversy in the English Wikipedia concerns which [[List of dialects of the English language|national variety]] of the English language is to be preferred, with the most commonly advocated candidates being [[American English]] and [[British English]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style_%28spelling%29|title=Wikipedia:Manual of Style (spelling)|author=English Wikipedia|accessdate=25 February 2006}}</ref> Perennial suggestions range from standardizing upon a single form of English to [[fork (software)|forking]] the English Wikipedia project. A style guideline states, "the English Wikipedia has no general preference for a major national variety of the language" and "an article on a topic that has strong ties to a particular English-speaking nation uses the appropriate variety of English for that nation".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style#National_varieties_of_English|title=Wikipedia:Manual of Style|author=English Wikipedia|accessdate=10 October 2007}}</ref> An article should use spelling and grammar variants consistently; for example, ''color'' and ''colour'' are not to be used in the same article, since they represent American and British English, respectively. The guide also states that an article must remain in its original national variant.
There has been a [[Chinese Wikipedia#Automatic conversion between traditional and simplified Chinese characters|similar issue in the Chinese-language Wikipedia]] concerning regional differences in writing. Efforts toward a language fork for [[Portuguese Wikipedia]] have failed, but those regarding [[Norwegian Wikipedia]] succeeded.
[[Andrew Lih]] wrote that the English Wikipedia "didn't have the chance to go through a debate over whether there should be a British English Wikipedia or an American English Wikipedia" because the English Wikipedia was the original edition.<ref>[[Andrew Lih|Lih]], p. 135.</ref>{{Clarify|reason=How does being the original edition prevent debate?|date=February 2015}} Editors agreed to use U.S. spellings for primarily American topics and British spellings for primarily British topics. In 2009 Lih wrote, "No doubt, American spellings tend to dominate by default just because of sheer numbers."<ref>[[Andrew Lih|Lih]], p. 136.</ref>
== Wikiprojects, and assessments of articles' importance and quality ==
<!-- This section is transcluded into [[Wikipedia]]; please do not change this section's heading without also changing the selective transclusion markup in that article -->
{{Main|WikiProject}}
A "[[WikiProject]]" is a [[social group|group]] of contributors who want to work together as a team to improve Wikipedia. These groups often focus on a specific topic area (for example, [[women's history]]), a specific location or a specific kind of task (for example, checking newly created pages). The English Wikipedia currently has over [[Wikipedia:Database reports/WikiProjects by changes|2,000 WikiProjects]] and activity varies.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject | title=Wikipedia: Wikiprojects | accessdate=16 March 2015}}</ref>
In 2007, in preparation for producing a print version, the English Wikipedia introduced an assessment scale of the quality of articles.<ref name="WP 1.0 editorial team 1">{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Version_1.0_Editorial_Team/Assessment|title=Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Assessment|accessdate=28 October 2007}}</ref> Articles are rated by WikiProjects. The range of quality classes begins with "Stub" (very short pages), followed by "Start", "C" and "B" (in increasing order of quality). Community peer review is needed for the article to enter one of the highest quality classes: either "[[WP:Good articles|good article]]", "A" or the highest, "[[WP:Featured articles|featured article]]". Of the about 4.4 million articles and lists assessed as of March 2015, a little more than 5,000 (0.12%) are featured articles, and fewer than 2,000 (0.04%) are featured lists. One featured article per day, as selected by editors, appears on the [[main page]] of Wikipedia.<ref name="FMonday feat article patterns 1">{{cite web|url=http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2365/2182|title=Comparing featured article groups and revision patterns correlations in Wikipedia|publisher=[[First Monday (journal)|First Monday]]|accessdate=13 July 2010}}</ref><ref name="IBM feat articles hidden pattern 1">{{cite journal|url=http://www.research.ibm.com/visual/papers/hidden_order_wikipedia.pdf|author1=Fernanda B. Viégas |author2=Martin Wattenberg |author3=Matthew M. McKeon |title=The Hidden Order of Wikipedia|publisher=Visual Communication Lab, IBM Research|date=22 July 2007|format=PDF|accessdate=30 October 2007}}</ref>
The articles can also be rated as per "importance" as judged by a WikiProject. Currently, there are 5 importance categories: "low", "mid", "high", "top", and "???" for unclassified/uncertain level. For a particular article, different WikiProjects may assign different importance levels.
The [[Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team|Wikipedia Version 1.0 Editorial Team]] has developed a table (shown below) that displays data of all rated articles by quality and importance, on the English Wikipedia. ''If an article or list receives different ratings by two or more WikiProjects, then the highest rating is used in the table, pie-charts, and bar-chart''. The software regularly auto-updates the data.
Researcher Giacomo Poderi found that articles tend to reach featured status via the intensive work of a few editors.<ref name="Poderi Giacomo feat articles 1">Poderi, Giacomo, ''Wikipedia and the Featured Articles: How a Technological System Can Produce Best Quality Articles'', Master thesis, [[University of Maastricht]], October 2008.</ref> A 2010 study found unevenness in quality among featured articles and concluded that the community process is ineffective in assessing the quality of articles.<ref name="FMonday WP quality control 1">{{cite journal|url=http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2721/2482|title=Evaluating quality control of Wikipedia's featured articles|first=David|last=Lindsey|journal=First Monday|volume=15|issue=4|date=5 April 2010|accessdate=29 January 2017}}</ref>
{{Pie chart
| caption = '''Quality-wise distribution of over 5.5 million articles and lists on the English Wikipedia, {{As of|2017|1|29|lc=y}}'''<ref name="en.wikipedia">[[Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Statistics|Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Statistics – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]]</ref>
| other =
| label1 = Featured articles
| value1 = 0.11
| color1 = violet
| label2 = Featured lists
| value2 = 0.04
| color2 = indigo
| label3 = A class
| value3 = 0.03
| color3 = lightblue
| label4 = Good articles
| value4 = 0.50
| color4 = darkgreen
| label5 = B class
| value5 = 2.00
| color5 = lightgreen
| label6 = C class
| value6 = 4.32
| color6 = yellow
| label7 = Start class
| value7 = 26.41
| color7 = orange
| label8 = Stub class
| value8 = 53.01
| color8 = red
| label9 = Lists
| value9 = 3.65
| color9 = purple
| label10 = Unassessed
| value10 = 9.94
| color10 = black
}}
<div style="float: right; padding-left: 7 px;">
{{Pie chart
| caption = '''Importance-wise distribution of over 5.5 million articles and lists on the English Wikipedia, {{As of|2017|1|29|lc=y}}'''<ref name="en.wikipedia" />
| other =
| label1 = Top
| value1 = 0.91
| label2 = High
| value2 = 3.20
| label3 = Medium
| value3 = 12.21
| label4 = Low
| value4 = 51.68
| label5 = ???
| value5 = 32.00
}}
</div>
{{User:WP 1.0 bot/Tables/OverallArticles}}
{{ #invoke:Chart | bar chart
| height = 700
| width = 800
| stack = 1
| group 1 = 1173 : 1804 : 1708 : 1060 : 187
| group 2 = 141 : 562 : 661 : 600 : 118
| group 3 = 221 : 427 : 579 : 371 : 80
| group 4 = 2089 : 4767 : 9291 : 10076 : 1692
| group 5 = 12033 : 22850 : 34918 : 27805 : 13632
| group 6 = 10253 : 29618 : 66133 : 91622 : 43202
| group 7 = 17198 : 75703 : 305141 : 783520 : 290296
| group 8 = 4225 : 30940 : 225862 : 1855720 : 837412
| group 9 = 3009 : 11220 : 34137 : 93404 : 61514
| group 10 = 139 : 407 : 1787 : 16209 : 535499
| colors = violet : indigo : lightblue : darkgreen : lightgreen : yellow : orange : red : purple : black
| group names = Featured articles : Featured lists : A-class articles : Good articles : B-class articles : C-class articles : Start-class articles : Stub articles : Lists : Unassessed articles and lists
| x legends = Top : High : Medium : Low : ???
}}
{{selfref inline|''[Note: The table above (prepared by the [[Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team|Wikipedia Version 1.0 Editorial Team]]) is automatically updated daily by [[User:WP 1.0 bot]], but the bar-chart and the two pie-charts are not auto-updated. In them, new data has to be entered by a Wikipedia editor (i.e. user).]''}}
Automatic quality assessment of Wikipedia articles is a known and wide scientific problem.<ref>[https://wikipediaquality.com/wiki/Wikipedia_Quality Wikipedia Quality]</ref> For example, as measures for assessing quality, it can be taken into the account number of the references, text length, number of images, sections, articles popularity and others.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lewoniewski |first1=Włodzimierz |last2=Węcel |first2=Krzysztof |last3=Abramowicz |first3=Witold |date=2017-12-08 |title=Relative Quality and Popularity Evaluation of Multilingual Wikipedia Articles |url=http://www.mdpi.com/2227-9709/4/4/43 |journal=Informatics |volume=4|issue=4 |pages= |doi=10.3390/informatics4040043 |access-date=2018-07-02 }}</ref>
== Graphics ==
<gallery widths="300" heights="200">
Wikipedia by Language.svg|Percentages of articles written in various language families. In March 2013, 16.76% of articles were in English.
English Wikipedia – Most popular edition of Wikipedia by country – Wikimedia Traffic Analysis Report – 1 Jul 2009-31 Oct 2013.svg|The countries in which the English Wikipedia is the most popular language version of Wikipedia are shown in red.<ref name="stats">{{cite web|url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/squids/SquidReportPageViewsPerCountryTrends.htm|title=Wikimedia Traffic Analysis Report – Wikipedia Page Views Per Country – Trends|first=Erik|last=Zachte|date=14 November 2011|publisher=Wikimedia Statistics|accessdate=19 January 2011}}</ref>
Enwiki-map.png|Top 25 contributor countries to the English Wikipedia. Dark green: Native English speaking countries; light green: countries with English as a foreign language.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/squids/SquidReportPageEditsPerLanguageBreakdown.htm|title=Wikimedia Traffic Analysis Report – Page Edits Per Wikipedia Language – Breakdown|first=Erik|last=Zachte|date= 14 November 2011|publisher=Wikimedia Statistics|accessdate=19 January 2011}}</ref>
Wiki feel stupid v2.ogv|In April 2009, the Wikimedia Foundation conducted a usability study on the English Wikipedia, questioning users about the editing mechanism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://usability.wikimedia.org/wiki/Usability_and_Experience_Study |title=Usability and Experience Study |publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]] |accessdate=19 January 2012}}</ref>
Wikipedia_5_million_articles_milestone_video_November_2015.ogv|Video marking English Wikipedia's milestone of [[Wikipedia:Five million articles|five million articles]] on 1 November 2015
</gallery>
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="width:310px;"
|-
! Bar chart, origin of edits
|-
| {{bar box
|title = Origin of edits (2014/1 – 2014/3)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/squids/SquidReportPageEditsPerLanguageBreakdown.htm |title=Wikimedia Traffic Analysis Report – Page Edits Per Wikipedia Language – Breakdown |publisher=Stats.wikimedia.org |accessdate=28 July 2014}}</ref>
|titlebar=#ddd
|width = 300px
|bars=
{{bar percent|{{Flag|United States}}|Black|38.3}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|United Kingdom}}|Blue|13.2}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|India}}|Orange|6.9}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Canada}}|Red|5.4}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Australia}}|Purple|3.6}}
{{bar percent|Unknown|DeepPink|2.9}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Philippines}}|Green|2.6}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Germany}}|Brown|1.5}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Brazil}}|Orange|1.1}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Italy}}|Black|1.0}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Ireland}}|Yellow|1.0}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Pakistan}}|Black|0.9}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|France}}|Black|0.8}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Malaysia}}|Black|0.8}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Netherlands}}|Purple|0.8}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Indonesia}}|Black|0.8}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|China}}|Black|0.7}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|New Zealand}}|Black|0.7}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Spain}}|Black|0.7}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Iran}}|Black|0.7}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Mexico}}|Black|0.5}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Sweden}}|Black|0.5}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Russia}}|Black|0.5}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Greece}}|Black|0.5}}
{{bar percent|{{Flag|Turkey}}|Black|0.5}}
{{bar percent|Other|grey|13.1}}
}}
|}
==Internal news publications==
{{See also|The Signpost}}
[[File:WikipediaSignpostIcon.svg|right|frameless|55x55px]]
Community-produced news publications include [[WP:Signpost|''The Signpost'']].<ref name=AyersMatthews2008>{{cite book|author1=Phoebe Ayers|author2=Charles Matthews|author3=Ben Yates|title=How Wikipedia Works: And how You Can be a Part of it|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lHdi1CEPLb4C&pg=PA345|year=2008|publisher=No Starch Press|isbn=978-1-59327-176-3|pages=345–}}</ref> ''The Signpost'' (previously known as ''The Wikipedia Signpost''<ref name=Cohen2007>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/technology/05wikipedia.html|accessdate=29 February 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]|first=Noam|last=Cohen|title=A Contributor to Wikipedia Has His Fictional Side|date=5 March 2007|page=C5}}</ref>) is the English Wikipedia's newspaper.<ref name=AyersMatthews2008/><ref name=Koebler2016>{{Cite news|url=https://motherboard.vice.com/read/wikipedias-secret-google-competitor-search-engine-is-tearing-it-apart |title=The Secret Search Engine Tearing Wikipedia Apart |last=Koebler |first=Jason |date=16 February 2016 |work=[[Vice (magazine)#Website|Vice]]}}</ref><ref name=Geoffroy2014>{{Cite news|url=http://www.lesinrocks.com/2014/01/16/actualite/employee-wikipedia-debarquee-monnaye-articles-11460948/ |title= Une employée de Wikipédia débarquée pour avoir monnayé ses articles |last= Geoffroy |first=Romain |date=16 January 2014 |work=[[Les Inrockuptibles]]}}</ref> It is managed by the [[Wikipedia community]] and is published online weekly.<ref name=AyersMatthews2008/><ref name=Dobusch2014>{{Cite news|url= https://netzpolitik.org/2014/interview-mit-dirk-franke-ueber-grenzen-der-bezahlung-in-der-wikipedia// |title= Interview mit Dirk Franke über "Grenzen der Bezahlung" in der Wikipedia |last= Dobusch |first=Leonhard |date=12 January 2014 |work=[[Netzpolitik.org]]}}</ref> Each edition contains stories and articles related to the Wikipedia community.<ref name=Rosen2013>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/02/if-you-want-your-wikipedia-page-to-get-a-ton-of-traffic-die-while-performing-at-the-super-bowl-half-time-show/272919|title=If You Want Your Wikipedia Page to Get a TON of Traffic, Die While Performing at the Super Bowl Half-Time Show|website=[[The Atlantic]]|date=6 February 2013|last1=Rosen|first1=Rebecca|access-date=21 February 2016}}</ref><ref name=Jemielniak2014>{{cite book|author=Dariusz Jemielniak|title=Common Knowledge?: An Ethnography of Wikipedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Iw5AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA231|year=2014|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0804797238|pages=231–}}</ref> A wide range of editors contribute articles and other pieces.<ref name=AyersMatthews2008/>
The publication was founded in January 2005 by [[Wikipedia administrator]] and later Chair of the [[Wikimedia Foundation]] Board of Trustees, Michael Snow.<ref name=AyersMatthews2008/><ref name=Cohen2007/><ref name=McCarthy2008>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnet.com/news/wikimedia-foundation-edits-its-board-of-trustees/#! |title=Wikimedia Foundation edits its board of trustees |last=McCarthy |first=Caroline |date=18 July 2008 |publisher=[[CNET]]}}</ref> Originally titled ''The Wikipedia Signpost'', it was later shortened to simply ''The Signpost''.<ref name=Cohen2007/><ref name="okoli">{{cite journal|first1=Chitu|last1= Okoli|first2=Mohamad |last2=Mehdi|first3=Mostafa|last3= Mesgari|first4=Finn Årup |last4=Nielsen|first5=Arto|last5= Lanamäki|title=The people's encyclopedia under the gaze of the sages: A systematic review of scholarly research on Wikipedia|ssrn=2021326|date=24 October 2012|doi=10.2139/ssrn.2021326|journal=}}</ref> The newspaper reports on Wikipedia events including [[Arbitration Committee]] rulings,<ref name="ayeletoz">{{cite journal|first=Ayelet|last=Oz|date=1 September 2014|publisher=[[Harvard Law School]]|title=The Legal Consciousness of Wikipedia|ssrn=2572381|doi=10.2139/ssrn.2572381|journal=}}</ref> Wikimedia Foundation issues,<ref name=ParoutisHeracleous2013>{{cite book|author1=Sotirios Paroutis|author2=Loizos Heracleous|author3=Duncan Angwin|title=Practicing Strategy: Text and Cases|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DZsQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT237|date=1 February 2013|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4462-9047-7|pages=237–}}</ref> and [[Outline of Wikipedia#Wikipedia-related projects|other Wikipedia-related projects]].<ref name=Waters2010>{{cite book|pages=180, 270|first=John K.|last=Waters|title=The Everything Guide to Social Media|year=2010|publisher=Adams Media|isbn=978-1440506314}}</ref> Snow continued to contribute as a writer to ''The Signpost'' until his appointment to the [[m:Board of Trustees|Board of Trustees]] of the Wikimedia Foundation in February 2008.<ref name="congratulatesnow">{{cite news|accessdate=1 March 2016|author=Ral315|work=The Wikipedia Signpost|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2008-02-18/From_the_editor&oldid=192509690|date=18 February 2008|title=From the editor: This week, I'd like to congratulate and thank Michael Snow}}</ref>
[[Investigative journalism]] by ''The Signpost'' in 2015 on changes to [[freedom of panorama]] copyright restrictions in Europe was covered by publications in multiple languages including German,<ref name="germanpanorama">{{cite news|language=German|accessdate=5 March 2016|title=Geben Sie Panoramafreiheit, Sire!|work=FAZ – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung|url=http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/panoramafreiheit-in-gefahr-das-betrifft-jeden-13668160.html|date=27 June 2015|archivedate=29 June 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629034301/http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/panoramafreiheit-in-gefahr-das-betrifft-jeden-13668160.html|first=Andrea|last=Diener}}</ref> Italian,<ref name="italianpanorama">{{cite news|accessdate=5 March 2016|date=22 June 2015|language=Italian|work=Blogo: Informazione libera e indipendente|title=Libertà di Panorama: a rischio in Europa con una riforma del copyright|archivedate=23 June 2015|url=http://www.clickblog.it/post/185665/liberta-di-panorama-a-rischio-in-europa-con-una-riforma-del-copyright|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623122005/http://www.clickblog.it/post/185665/liberta-di-panorama-a-rischio-in-europa-con-una-riforma-del-copyright}}</ref> Polish,<ref name="wyborczapanorama">{{cite news|accessdate=5 March 2016|language=Polish|date=24 June 2015|title=Chcesz robić zdjęcia znanych budowli Europy? Spiesz się. To mogą być ostatnie tygodnie|url=http://wyborcza.pl/1,75475,18241931,Chcesz_robic_zdjecia_znanych_budowli_Europy__Spiesz.html|work=[[Gazeta Wyborcza]]|issn=0860-908X|archivedate=27 June 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627094832/http://wyborcza.pl/1,75475,18241931,Chcesz_robic_zdjecia_znanych_budowli_Europy__Spiesz.html}}</ref> and Russian.<ref name="prophotosrupanorama">{{cite news|accessdate=5 March 2016|url=http://prophotos.ru/news/17098-trevoga-svobodnaya-s-emka-na-ulitsah-evropy-pod-ugrozoy|language=Russian|date=23 June 2015|title=ТРЕВОГА! Свободная съемка на улицах Европы – под угрозой|archivedate=27 June 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627065322/http://prophotos.ru/news/17098-trevoga-svobodnaya-s-emka-na-ulitsah-evropy-pod-ugrozoy}}</ref> Wikipedia users Gamaliel and Go Phightins! became editors-in-chief of ''The Signpost'' in January 2015; prior editor-in-chief The ed17 noted that during his tenure the publication expanded its scope by including more reporting on the wider Wikimedia movement and English Wikipedia itself.<ref name="introducingyournew">{{cite news|accessdate=1 March 2016|author=The ed17|work=The Signpost|title=From the editor: Introducing your new editors-in-chief|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-01-21/From_the_editor|date=21 January 2015}}</ref> In a letter to readers upon the newspaper's tenth anniversary, the new co-editors-in-chief stressed the importance of maintaining independence from the Wikimedia Foundation in their reporting.<ref name="includesyou">{{cite news|accessdate=1 March 2016|work=The Signpost|date=28 January 2015|title=From the editor: An editorial board that includes you|author=Go Phightins! and Gamaliel|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-01-28/From_the_editor&oldid=644803485}}</ref>
''The Signpost'' has been the subject of academic analysis in publications including ''[[Sociological Forum]]'',<ref name="sociologicalforum">{{cite journal|journal=[[Sociological Forum]]|title=Governance, Organization, and Democracy on the Internet: The Iron Law and the Evolution of Wikipedia|first=Piotr|last= Konieczny|volume=24|issue=1|date=March 2009|pages=167|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons|Wiley]]|subscription=yes|jstor= 40210340}}</ref> the social movements journal ''Interface'',<ref name="interface">{{cite journal|issn=2009-2431 |url=http://interfacejournal.nuim.ie/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Interface-1-2-pp212-232-Konieczny.pdf|accessdate=1 March 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607013320/http://interfacejournal.nuim.ie/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Interface-1-2-pp212-232-Konieczny.pdf|archivedate=7 June 2012|title=Wikipedia: community or social movement?|first=Piotr |last=Konieczny|journal=Interface: A Journal for and about Social Movements|volume=1|issue=2|pages=212–232}}</ref> and ''New Review of Academic Librarianship'';<ref name=Bayliss2013>{{cite journal|page=39|first=Gemma|last=Bayliss|journal=New Review of Academic Librarianship|via=[[EBSCO Host]]|title=Exploring the Cautionary Attitude Toward Wikipedia in Higher Education: Implications for Higher Education Institutions|doi=10.1080/13614533.2012.740439|issn=1361-4533|date=January 2013|volume=19|issue=1|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13614533.2012.740439|accessdate=1 March 2016}}</ref> and was consulted for data on Wikipedia by researchers from [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]] and [[Dartmouth College]].<ref name="yan2011">{{cite book|accessdate=1 March 2016|url=http://permalink.lanl.gov/object/tr?what=info:lanl-repo/lareport/LA-UR-11-02385|publisher=IEEE Computer Society Washington|chapter=Wiki-watchdog: Anomaly detection in Wikipedia through a distributional lens|title= Proceedings of the 2011 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conferences on Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent Technology – Volume 01|first1=Guanhua|last1=Yan|last2=Arackaparambil|first2= Chrisil|doi=10.1109/WI-IAT.2011.86|pages=257–264|isbn= 978-0-7695-4513-4}}</ref> It has garnered generally positive reception from media publications including ''[[The New York Times]]'',<ref name="allthenews">{{cite news|first=Jonathan|last=Dee|work=[[The New York Times]]|accessdate=29 February 2016|title=All the News That's Fit to Print Out|date=1 July 2007|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/magazine/01WIKIPEDIA-t.html}}</ref> ''[[The Register]]'',<ref name=Orlowski2016>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/01/12/wikimedia_dumps_elected_trustee/ |title= Wikimedia Foundation bins community-elected trustee |last=Orlowski |first=Andrew |date=12 January 2016 |work=[[The Register]]}}</ref> ''Nonprofit Quarterly'',<ref name=McCambridge2016>{{Cite web |url=https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2016/02/16/knight-foundation-grant-request-tears-at-wikipedias-community/ |title=Knight Foundation Grant Request Tears at Wikipedia's Community |last=McCambridge |first=Ruth |date=16 February 2016 |work=Nonprofit Quarterly}}</ref> and ''[[Heise Online]]''.<ref name=Kleinz2016>{{cite web|url=http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Kommentar-Wie-geht-es-weiter-mit-der-Wikimedia-Foundation-3119568.html|title=Kommentar: Wie geht es weiter mit der Wikimedia Foundation?|last=Kleinz|first=Torsten|date=27 February 2016|work=Heise Online}}</ref> The book ''[[Wikipedia: The Missing Manual]]'' called ''The Signpost'' essential reading for ambitious new Wikipedia editors.<ref name=Broughton2008>{{cite book|author=John Broughton|title=Wikipedia: The Missing Manual: The Missing Manual|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h37N0BvkVSUC&pg=PA454|date=25 January 2008|publisher="O'Reilly Media, Inc."|isbn=978-0-596-55377-7|pages=454–}}</ref>
Other past and present community news publications include the "[[WikiWorld]]" web comic, the [[WP:Wikipedia Weekly|''Wikipedia Weekly'']] podcast, and newsletters of specific WikiProjects like [[Wikipedia:BUGLE|''The Bugle'']] from [[WP:Milhist|WikiProject Military History]] and the monthly newsletter from [[WP:GOCE|The Guild of Copy Editors]]. There are also a number of publications from the Wikimedia Foundation and multilingual publications such as the [[wmfblog:|Wikimedia Blog]] and ''[[:outreach:This Month in Education|This Month in Education]]''.
== See also ==
* [[English Wikipedia blackout]]
* [[History of Wikipedia]]
* [[Reliability of Wikipedia]]
* [[Simple English Wikipedia]]
* [[Wikipedia for Schools]]
* [[Wikipedia community]]
* [[Wikipedia:Milestones]]
* [[Wikipedia:Milestone statistics]]
== Footnotes ==
{{Reflist}}
== References ==
* [[Andrew Lih|Lih, Andrew]]. ''[[The Wikipedia Revolution: How a Bunch of Nobodies Created the World's Greatest Encyclopedia]]''. [[Hyperion Books|Hyperion]], New York City. 2009. First Edition. {{ISBN|978-1-4013-0371-6}} (alkaline paper).
== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://en.wikipedia.org English Wikipedia] <!-- This is useful for mirrors of Wikipedia content -->
* [[:meta:English Wikipedia|English Wikipedia on Meta-Wiki]]
{{Wikipedia}}
{{Wikipedias}}
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