Wikipedia:Writing Wikipedia Articles course/Create an account

	Writing Wikipedia Articles: The Basics and Beyond
	a free six week course

Are you ready to create a Wikipedia account, so you can keep track of articles in a watch list, customize your reading and editing preferences, and communicate with other Wikipedia volunteers about improving articles that interest you? GREAT!

Your first big decision will be choosing a username. And you can't do that until you've considered:

"Should you be fully public about your contributions? Or anonymous? Or somewhere in between?"

There are reasons for going in any of these directions.

Personae

• Pamela Bunster is passionate about local history. She participates in several online blogging and social media communities, and is building a reputation as an expert in environmental and transportation issues. On Wikipedian, she calls herself Pamela Bunster; and on her user page, she lists various personal and professional accomplishments, and links various online profiles.
• Jim Mickles is a lot like Pamela, but he is building a career and an online presence as a tax attorney. He doesn't mind anybody knowing who he is, but prefers not to emphasize his name. On Wikipedia, he calls himself LocalHistory9999; he puts his name on his user page along with some info about himself.
• Heather Bronson is like Jim and Pamela, but she is more private by nature. She doesn't like getting in arguments, and when they happen, she likes to be able to walk away from them easily. She has been online for a long time; her Twitter account, and her username in many online forums, is "Historynut1234." She chooses the Wikipedia username Historynut1234; her name doesn't appear anywhere on her user page, but she does link to her Twitter account.
• Anthony Robson is a very private person. He has similar interests to these others; but he likes to be prepared. For instance, maybe in the future he will be interested in something that is culturally taboo or politically unpopular, and edit relevant Wikipedia articles. He wants to be very confident that co-workers or family members won't connect those things to him. He chooses Shadowy Figury 9876 as his username. His user page has little or no information about himself or his interests; he just uses it to keep links to interesting Wikipedia pages for future reference.