# How does Wikipedia work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 22, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-wikipedia-work/607087 "2011-12-22T16:07:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-wikipedia-work/607087/21 "2011-12-25T05:25:43Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Not having much succes though … I found two dif User Names that I often use and requested an email to reset the password. > > I haven’t gotten the email and I’m positive I didn’tchange email accounts since then. It looks like I may have set up the User in 2006 if that clue helps anybody. Have you looked through the History on the pages you remember editing? That is a pretty easy to find exactly the user name you used to use. Remember also, Wikipedia user names are case sensitive. And spaces are allowed. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-wikipedia-work/607087/22 "2011-12-25T13:56:39Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Have you looked through the History on the pages you remember editing? That is a pretty easy to find exactly the user name you used to use. Remember also, Wikipedia user names are case sensitive. And spaces are allowed. I only attempted to edit a page once and I can’t remember what it was. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-wikipedia-work/607087/23 "2011-12-25T15:06:36Z")
I’m an old friend of someone with a Wikipedia entry. I went in once and spent ages correcting mistakes that I knew were untrue and adding a few things that I knew were definitely true and interesting (he didn’t ask me to do this, I took it upon myself). It was a bit disconcerting to have everything undone and put back to where it was very quickly afterwards. Admittedly I didn’t use cites, but nor did any of the incorrect information. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-wikipedia-work/607087/24 "2011-12-25T16:21:08Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > Admittedly I didn’t use cites, but nor did any of the incorrect information. Well, I’ve had problems because of people who had credible sources which turned out to be incorrect, but my sources, which had even more credibility, were not easily accessible with a click. [This entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_O'Neill) is a sore spot with me, now. That ain’t Al Bundy in “Deliverance,” but. . . a Leonard Maltin book says it is. Whoever edited that entry in Maltin’s book apparently was going based off a report of a false sighting, and had not actually seen the movie. ---
**Author:** ![SleepyDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@SleepyDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SleepyDuck)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-wikipedia-work/607087/25 "2011-12-26T04:35:13Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Well, I’ve had problems because of people who had credible sources which turned out to be incorrect, but my sources, which had even more credibility, were not easily accessible with a click. [This entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_O'Neill) is a sore spot with me, now. That ain’t Al Bundy in “Deliverance,” but. . . a Leonard Maltin book says it is. Whoever edited that entry in Maltin’s book apparently was going based off a report of a false sighting, and had not actually seen the movie. And then there’s [citogenesis](http://xkcd.com/978/), which I’ve actually run up against in my wikipedia editing. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-wikipedia-work/607087/26 "2011-12-26T04:35:25Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > I only attempted to edit a page once and I can’t remember what it was. If you don’t have any record to save, why not just create another one? I wouldn’t get concerned that anyone would accuse you of having a sockpuppet or anything. It’s what you do from now on that matters. > [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > I’m an old friend of someone with a Wikipedia entry. I went in once and spent ages correcting mistakes that I knew were untrue and adding a few things that I knew were definitely true and interesting (he didn’t ask me to do this, I took it upon myself). It was a bit disconcerting to have everything undone and put back to where it was very quickly afterwards. I’ve seen the subject of an article add something and get reverted. _Knowing_ is not the same as _proving_. > [@](#): > > Admittedly I didn’t use cites, but nor did any of the incorrect information. Yes, but if you did use cites, it would have remained. Also, try adding things one at a time, rather than putting in a whole pile of changes at once. And the most important bit is to create an account. If you put in stuff from an IP address, you may as well not bother. > [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Well, I’ve had problems because of people who had credible sources which turned out to be incorrect, but my sources, which had even more credibility, were not easily accessible with a click. [This entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_O'Neill) is a sore spot with me, now. That ain’t Al Bundy in “Deliverance,” but. . . a Leonard Maltin book says it is. Whoever edited that entry in Maltin’s book apparently was going based off a report of a false sighting, and had not actually seen the movie. Yeah, I had a problem like that. An entry said that a particular person had won a Tony. I checked the references, and yeah, the reference said he had won a Tony. But I checked the Tony web site, and it said he was nominated, but did not win. But the stupid Tony web site is entirely search-based and the cretin who coded it did not both putting in any fixed lists, so I can’t make a reference. Why only searchable? It’s not as if the list of Tony winners from the 1970s is going to _change_! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-wikipedia-work/607087.md?page=1)