Difference between revisions 119651 and 207642 on orwiki

:''For the Wikipedia project, see [[Wikipedia:WikiProject_Essays|Wikiproject Essays]]
:''To cite essay policy in an MfD essay discussion, use [[WP:ESSAYS]]
{{guidance essay|interprets=[[Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines#Essays|Wikipedia essays]]|WP:WES}}

On Wikipedia, an '''essay''' is a page in the [[WP:PRJ|project namespace]] (''Wikipedia:'') that is written by one or more editors that typically addresses some aspect of working on or with Wikipedia. Such pages are categorized into [[:Category:Wikipedia essays]] or a related subcategory. Essays may range from personal or minority views, to views that enjoy a wide [[WP:CONS|consensus]] amongst Wikipedia editors. Essays typically contain advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. Unlike [[WP:POL|policies and guidelines]], usually no formal attempt to judge the community's support for the essay's content has been made.

Related items:

* '''User essays''' - [[:Category:User essays|User essays]] have a purpose similar to essays placed in the project namespace; however, they are often authored by only one person, and may represent a strictly personal viewpoint about Wikipedia or do not contain enough advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors to be considered a Wikipedia essays.
* '''Wikipedia information pages''' - [[:Category:Wikipedia information pages|Wikipedia informaHistorition pages]], while not policies or guidelines themselves, are intended to supplement or clarify Wikipedia practices, guidelines, policies, or other Wikipedia norms and practices that in fact have communal consensus. Where essay pages offer advice or opinions through viewpoints, information pages supplement or clarify communal consensus through impartiality.
* '''Historical essays''' - The Wikimedia Foundation's [[meta:|Meta-wiki]] was envisioned as the original place for editors to comment on and discuss Wikipedia, although the "Wikipedia" project space has since taken over most of that role. Many historical essays can still be found within [[:Meta:Category:Essays|Meta's essay category]].

==How to write an essay==

===Creating the essay page===
A Wikipedia essay may be written by anyone.  Before creating an essay, it is a good idea to check if similar essays already exist. Check the "see also" section of relevant guidelines and related essays, or perform a [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&search=&fulltext=Search&ns4=1&ns12=1&redirs=0 search of Help and Project pages].

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*Writings that overtly contradict policy (or other pages with established consensus), especially if they are intended to undermine, not just disagree with, those pages.  Such oppositional views are, however, generally tolerated within [[:Category:User essays|user essays]].

==See also==
*[[Wikipedia:The value of essays]]
*[[:Category:Top-impact Wikipedia essays|Top-impact Wikipedia essays]]

{{Essays on building Wikipedia}}