Help:Contributing/entities - Revision history

SeedBot: Creating an item: document the auto-created main-namespace page (Sep 22 2026) (via update-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)

2026-09-22T20:13:36Z

Creating an item: document the auto-created main-namespace page (Sep 22 2026) (via update-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:13, 22 September 2026
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	<li>Add statements (next section). An item with no statements is just a stub.</li>		<li>Add statements (next section). An item with no statements is just a stub.</li>
	</ol>		</ol>

			'''A classic page is created for you.''' Saving a new item at [[Special:NewItem]] also creates a wiki page in the main namespace titled with the item's label — an item labelled <code>Ada Lovelace</code> gets the page <code>Ada Lovelace</code> — and links the item to that page (the '''Sitelink''' tab then shows blue). If a page with that name already exists, the item is linked to the existing page instead of overwriting it; use the '''Sitelink''' tab if you need to correct a wrong link. A label containing characters MediaWiki forbids in page titles (<code># < > [ ] { } \|</code>) is normalised for the page title only (those characters become dashes); the item's label is stored unchanged.

	== Adding and editing statements ==		== Adding and editing statements ==

SeedBot: Automated edit (via update-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)

2026-08-26T11:09:48Z

Automated edit (via update-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:09, 26 August 2026
Line 111:		Line 111:
	Raw statement editing (add/remove values, qualifiers, references, ranks) is still done on the item page as described in [[#Adding and editing statements\|Adding and editing statements]].		Raw statement editing (add/remove values, qualifiers, references, ranks) is still done on the item page as described in [[#Adding and editing statements\|Adding and editing statements]].

	== ~~Updating basic information with a form~~ ==		== See also ==

	~~Items created through~~ the ~~guided flows (persons, sources, collectives, software, fictional characters) can be edited in place with the same form that created them:~~		* [[Help:Contributing]] — the hub
			* [[Help:Contributing/access]] — who can do what
	* ~~On the item page (<code>/wiki/Item~~:~~Q1<~~/~~code>), the '''Update basic information''' button under the title opens the matching page~~ — <code>Special:UpdatePerson</code>, <code>Special:UpdateSource</code>, <code>Special:UpdateCollective</code>, <code>Special:UpdateSoftware</code> or <code>Special:UpdateFictionalCharacter</code> (the page is chosen from the item's class).		* [[Help:Contributing/query]] — querying with SPARQL
	* The form shows the same fields as the creation flow, '''prefilled from the item's current statements'''. Change what ~~needs changing and submit.~~		* [[Help:Contributing/house-rules]] — house rules for this instance
	* ~~'''What updates'''~~: the item's English label and description, and the statements for the fields the form shows (authors, publisher, journal, dates, places, facts, …). Everything else — sitelinks, references on other statements, uploaded portraits/~~logos you did not replace~~ — ~~is left untouched.~~		* [[Help:Contributing/import]] — importing from external authorities
	* ~~'''Renames''': if the new label differs, the classic page (e.g. <code>Person~~:~~Old Name<~~/~~code>) is renamed to match, with a redirect left behind.~~		* [[Help:Contributing/api]] — API and bulk editing
	* ~~When a form field is filled automatically from fetched source data (for example a license from an image's metadata, or a publisher from a book record), the wiki shows a confirmation line~~ — ~~"{field} fetched~~ from ~~source: {value}, we think this corresponds to {label} (Q#)." — with '''Yes, that's right''' or '''No, let me correct'''. Say No to clear the field and pick another item yourself.~~

	~~Raw statement editing (add/remove values, qualifiers, references, ranks) is still done on the item page as described in~~ [[~~#Adding and editing statements\|Adding~~ and editing ~~statements]].~~

SeedBot: Automated edit (via update-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)

2026-08-26T11:09:43Z

Automated edit (via update-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)

@@ Line 99: / Line 99: @@
 '''Delete''' an entity page: [[Special:DeletePage]] (<code>Item:Q12</code>) — admins only. Deleting a property is rare and breaks the statements that use it — prefer deprecating it instead.
-== See also ==
+== Updating basic information with a form ==
 == Updating basic information with a form ==

SeedBot: Automated edit (via update-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)

2026-08-26T11:08:39Z

Automated edit (via update-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:08, 26 August 2026
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	* [[Help:Contributing/import]] — importing from external authorities		* [[Help:Contributing/import]] — importing from external authorities
	* [[Help:Contributing/api]] — API and bulk editing		* [[Help:Contributing/api]] — API and bulk editing
			== Updating basic information with a form ==

			Items created through the guided flows (persons, sources, collectives, software, fictional characters) can be edited in place with the same form that created them:

			* On the item page (<code>/wiki/Item:Q1</code>), the '''Update basic information''' button under the title opens the matching page — <code>Special:UpdatePerson</code>, <code>Special:UpdateSource</code>, <code>Special:UpdateCollective</code>, <code>Special:UpdateSoftware</code> or <code>Special:UpdateFictionalCharacter</code> (the page is chosen from the item's class).
			* The form shows the same fields as the creation flow, '''prefilled from the item's current statements'''. Change what needs changing and submit.
			* '''What updates''': the item's English label and description, and the statements for the fields the form shows (authors, publisher, journal, dates, places, facts, …). Everything else — sitelinks, references on other statements, uploaded portraits/logos you did not replace — is left untouched.
			* '''Renames''': if the new label differs, the classic page (e.g. <code>Person:Old Name</code>) is renamed to match, with a redirect left behind.
			* When a form field is filled automatically from fetched source data (for example a license from an image's metadata, or a publisher from a book record), the wiki shows a confirmation line — "{field} fetched from source: {value}, we think this corresponds to {label} (Q#)." — with '''Yes, that's right''' or '''No, let me correct'''. Say No to clear the field and pick another item yourself.

			Raw statement editing (add/remove values, qualifiers, references, ranks) is still done on the item page as described in [[#Adding and editing statements\|Adding and editing statements]].

SeedBot: Rewrite in code-guide style: strip translation markup, `for plain tokens (via update-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)`


2026-08-19T17:26:52Z
Rewrite in code-guide style: strip translation markup, <code> for plain tokens (via update-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)
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SeedBot: docs: migrate contribution guide §2-7 (entities) from docs/contribution-guide.md (via create-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)
2026-08-19T10:04:02Z
docs: migrate contribution guide §2-7 (entities) from docs/contribution-guide.md (via create-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)
New page
<languages/>



<translate>

<!--T:1-->

This page explains the data model and how to create and edit items and properties. Start at the <tvar name="hub">[[Help:Contributing]]</tvar> hub if you are new here.

</translate>



== <translate><!--T:2--> The data model in five minutes</translate> ==



<translate>

<!--T:3-->

Wikibase is the software behind Wikidata. Two entity types exist on this instance:

</translate>



{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"

|-

! <translate><!--T:4--> Entity</translate> !! <translate><!--T:5--> ID</translate> !! <translate><!--T:6--> URL form</translate> !! <translate><!--T:7--> Example</translate>

|-

| <translate><!--T:8--> Item</translate> || <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>Q1</syntaxhighlight>, <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>Q2</syntaxhighlight>, … || <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>/wiki/Item:Q1</syntaxhighlight> || <translate><!--T:9--> a book, a person, a place</translate>

|-

| <translate><!--T:10--> Property</translate> || <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>P1</syntaxhighlight>, <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>P2</syntaxhighlight>, … || <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>/wiki/Property:P1</syntaxhighlight> || <translate><!--T:11--> "instance of", "date"</translate>

|}



<translate>

<!--T:12-->

Each entity has:

</translate>



<translate>

<!--T:13-->

* <b>Terms</b>: a multilingual <b>label</b> (unique per language per type), a <b>description</b>, and optional <b>aliases</b>.

* <b>Statements</b>: a <b>property → value</b> pair, optionally with <b>qualifiers</b> (details) and <b>references</b> (provenance), and a <b>rank</b> (preferred, normal, deprecated).

</translate>



<translate>

<!--T:14-->

Order of work: define <b>properties first</b> (the schema), then create <b>items</b> (the data).

</translate>



== <translate><!--T:15--> Before you create anything</translate> ==



<translate>

<!--T:16-->

<ol>

<li><b>Search first</b> — use the search box or <tvar name="search">[[Special:Search]]</tvar>; do not create a duplicate item or property.</li>

<li><b>Reuse existing properties</b> — browse <tvar name="listprops">[[Special:ListProperties]]</tvar> (sidebar → <b>Semantic tools</b> → <b>Browse properties</b>) before proposing a new one. A property is expensive: its datatype is permanent.</li>

<li><b>Labels are unique per language</b> — an item cannot have two labels in the same language. Use the description to disambiguate.</li>

</ol>

</translate>



== <translate><!--T:17--> Creating a property</translate> ==



<translate>

<!--T:18-->

<ol>

<li>Go to <tvar name="newprop">[[Special:NewProperty]]</tvar> (also in the sidebar → <b>Semantic tools</b> → <b>Create new property</b>).</li>

<li>Fill in at least a <b>label</b> (for example <tvar name="lbl"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>instance of</syntaxhighlight></tvar>) and a <b>description</b> (for example <tvar name="desc"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>that class of which this subject is a particular example and member</syntaxhighlight></tvar>). Add aliases (for example <tvar name="al1"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>is-a</syntaxhighlight></tvar>, <tvar name="al2"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>isa</syntaxhighlight></tvar>).</li>

<li>Choose the <b>datatype</b> — the most important decision, and it <b>cannot be changed after creation</b>:</li>

</ol>

</translate>



{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"

|-

! <translate><!--T:19--> Datatype</translate> !! <translate><!--T:20--> Use for</translate> !! <translate><!--T:21--> Example value</translate>

|-

| <translate><!--T:22--> Item</translate> || <translate><!--T:23--> link to another entity</translate> || <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>Q5</syntaxhighlight> (a person)

|-

| <translate><!--T:24--> Property</translate> || <translate><!--T:25--> link to another property</translate> || <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>P1</syntaxhighlight>

|-

| <translate><!--T:26--> String</translate> || <translate><!--T:27--> free text</translate> || <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>"ISBN-13"</syntaxhighlight>

|-

| <translate><!--T:28--> External identifier</translate> || <translate><!--T:29--> identifier in another system</translate> || <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>Q1234</syntaxhighlight> → <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1234</syntaxhighlight>

|-

| <translate><!--T:30--> URL</translate> || <translate><!--T:31--> web address</translate> || <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>https://example.org</syntaxhighlight>

|-

| <translate><!--T:32--> Monolingual text</translate> || <translate><!--T:33--> text with a language tag</translate> || <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>"hello"@en</syntaxhighlight>

|-

| <translate><!--T:34--> Quantity</translate> || <translate><!--T:35--> numbers with units</translate> || <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>3</syntaxhighlight> (unit <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>Q11573</syntaxhighlight>, kg)

|-

| <translate><!--T:36--> Time</translate> || <translate><!--T:37--> dates</translate> || <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>2026-08-15T00:00:00Z</syntaxhighlight>

|-

| <translate><!--T:38--> Globe coordinate</translate> || <translate><!--T:39--> latitude and longitude</translate> || <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>48.85N 2.35E</syntaxhighlight>

|-

| <translate><!--T:40--> Commons media</translate> || <translate><!--T:41--> a file name</translate> || <syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>File:Foo.jpg</syntaxhighlight>

|}



<translate>

<!--T:42-->

The dropdown in <tvar name="newprop">[[Special:NewProperty]]</tvar> shows the full set of datatypes available here.

</translate>



<translate>

<!--T:43-->

For <tvar name="extid"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>External identifier</syntaxhighlight></tvar>, also set the <b>formatter URL</b> (formatter-url field), for example <tvar name="fmt"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/$1</syntaxhighlight></tvar> — it makes values dereferenceable URIs in RDF.

</translate>



<translate>

<!--T:44-->

Save: the property gets its permanent ID (<tvar name="pid"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>P1</syntaxhighlight></tvar>, <tvar name="pid2"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>P2</syntaxhighlight></tvar>, …). Other editors can now use it in statements.

</translate>



== <translate><!--T:45--> Creating an item</translate> ==



<translate>

<!--T:46-->

<ol>

<li>Go to <tvar name="newitem">[[Special:NewItem]]</tvar> (also in the sidebar → <b>Semantic tools</b> → <b>Create new item</b>).</li>

<li>Fill in a <b>label</b> (English at minimum — <tvar name="en"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>en</syntaxhighlight></tvar>; other languages welcome), a <b>description</b>, and optional aliases.</li>

<li>Save: the item gets its permanent ID (<tvar name="qid"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>Q1</syntaxhighlight></tvar>, <tvar name="qid2"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>Q2</syntaxhighlight></tvar>, …).</li>

<li>Add statements (next section). An item with no statements is just a stub.</li>

</ol>

</translate>



== <translate><!--T:47--> Adding and editing statements</translate> ==



<translate>

<!--T:48-->

On an item page (<tvar name="q1">[[Special:EntityPage/Q1]]</tvar>):

</translate>



<translate>

<!--T:49-->

<ol>

<li>Click <b>+ add statement</b> (or <b>+ add value</b> for more values of one property).</li>

<li><b>Property</b>: start typing <tvar name="p1"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>P1</syntaxhighlight></tvar> or its label — autocomplete.</li>

<li><b>Value</b>: depends on the datatype (item → start typing another entity's label).</li>

<li><b>Qualifiers</b> (optional): refine the statement, for example the <tvar name="date"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>date</syntaxhighlight></tvar> property (<tvar name="p8"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>P8</syntaxhighlight></tvar>) on <tvar name="ex"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>population → 2.1 million</syntaxhighlight></tvar>.</li>

<li><b>References</b> (recommended for facts — this is the provenance layer): <b>Add reference</b>, for example the <tvar name="srcurl"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>source URL</syntaxhighlight></tvar> property (<tvar name="p7"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>P7</syntaxhighlight></tvar>) for a web source, <tvar name="src"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>source</syntaxhighlight></tvar> (<tvar name="p28"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>P28</syntaxhighlight></tvar>) for a book or article, or <tvar name="date2"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>date</syntaxhighlight></tvar> (<tvar name="p8b"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>P8</syntaxhighlight></tvar>) if the fact itself has a date. Every fact should say where it comes from.</li>

<li><b>Rank</b>: mark conflicting or outdated values as <b>deprecated</b>, the best value as <b>preferred</b>.</li>

</ol>

</translate>



<translate>

<!--T:50-->

Editing tips:

* Statement values are editable by clicking them; remove a statement with the ✕ control.

* Terms (label, description, aliases) are edited directly in the entity header — click the pencil icon and choose the language tab.

* Undo or roll back via the page <b>history</b> tab — every change is a wiki revision.

</translate>



== <translate><!--T:51--> Deleting and merging</translate> ==



<translate>

<!--T:52-->

<b>Merge</b> two duplicate items: use <b>merge</b> on the item page (right: <tvar name="merge"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>item-merge</syntaxhighlight></tvar>, granted to registered users).

</translate>



<translate>

<!--T:53-->

<b>Delete</b> an entity page: <tvar name="del">[[Special:DeletePage]]</tvar> (<tvar name="ex"><syntaxhighlight lang="text" inline>Item:Q12</syntaxhighlight></tvar>) — admins only. Deleting a property is rare and breaks the statements that use it — prefer deprecating it instead.

</translate>



== <translate><!--T:54--> See also</translate> ==



<translate>

<!--T:55-->

* <tvar name="hub">[[Help:Contributing]]</tvar> — the hub

* <tvar name="access">[[Help:Contributing/access]]</tvar> — who can do what

* <tvar name="query">[[Help:Contributing/query]]</tvar> — querying with SPARQL

* <tvar name="house">[[Help:Contributing/house-rules]]</tvar> — house rules for this instance

* <tvar name="import">[[Help:Contributing/import]]</tvar> — importing from external authorities

* <tvar name="api">[[Help:Contributing/api]]</tvar> — API and bulk editing

</translate>

Help:Contributing/entities - Revision history

SeedBot: Creating an item: document the auto-created main-namespace page (Sep 22 2026) (via update-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)

SeedBot: Automated edit (via update-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)

SeedBot: Automated edit (via update-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)

SeedBot: Automated edit (via update-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)

SeedBot: Rewrite in code-guide style: strip translation markup, for plain tokens (via update-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)

SeedBot: docs: migrate contribution guide §2-7 (entities) from docs/contribution-guide.md (via create-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)

SeedBot: Rewrite in code-guide style: strip translation markup, `for plain tokens (via update-page on MediaWiki MCP Server)`