Wikipedia:Why create an account

This is , the free encyclopedia. It is free to read, and free to edit. Go beyond reading, and join the world's community of volunteers.

You don't need to be registered to contribute, but getting an account will allow you to:

is quick and completely free.

You will also have a permanent talk page you can use to communicate with other users. You will be notified whenever someone writes a message on your talk page. If you choose to give an e-mail address, other users will be able to contact you by e-mail. This feature is anonymous; the user who emails you will not know your e-mail address.

You are actually less identifiable logged in than you are as an unregistered editor, owing to the hiding of your IP address (so long as you avoid disclosing identifiable information on your user page). You might want to consider privacy and the possibility of offline harassment, when deciding what to say on your user page.

Sometimes new or unregistered users are prevented from editing pages that are common targets of vandalism (just as this page is protected, and only users with an account can edit it). Also, bots can mistake even good faith IP address edits for vandalism. For these reasons, edits under a user name tend to be more successful.

Your user name may also receive recognition for good work such as Barnstars, Project Awards, Personal User Awards, or nomination for voted accolades like Editor of the Week. You need a fixed account identity to accumulate these pats on the back; they are not awarded to IP addresses.

As your reputation builds, it is possible to earn privileges such as rollback, sysop/administrator, and others. It is not possible for an unregistered editor to be granted these privileges.

As a registered user, you can customize the way pages are displayed by altering your preferences. There, in the Appearance tab, you can change the following display settings:

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