Help:方針與指引簡介/1
維基百科的確有幾條嚴格的規則，但這些規則立基於五大支柱。維基百科的方針與指引由社群發展而來，用以澄清上述原則，並以最佳的方法針對其應用進行描述與解決衝突，以進一步實現我們的目標，即創立一部免費可靠的百科全書。
Essentially, policies express the fundamental principles of Wikipedia in more detail and guidelines advise how to apply policies and provide general consistency across articles. Formal policies and guidelines have a notice at the top of their pages, and the prefix "Wikipedia:" or "WP:" before their page name.
While there is usually a policy or guide for every issue imaginable, no one is expected to know all of them! Luckily there are a handful upon which all others are based. The next few pages describe the most significant of these, representing the general spirit of Wikipedia's 'rules'. Knowing these basics makes discussions and editing easier and more productive.