Wikitravel is the first complete, up-to-date and reliable world-wide travel guide. It is built in collaboration by Wikitravellers from around the globe, and your contributions will be seen by 7 Million travelers every month!
You can make a valuable contribution to Wikitravel in just minutes. For information on how your contributions are licensed, read copyleft.
1. Add a listing. Articles on Wikitravel have different Sections: See, Do, Buy, Eat, Drink, Sleep. Right next to each section there is an option to Add Listing. Simply click on it and "Add New Listing" box will show up. Fill out the sections following our guidelines and click on Save. In this way you have contributed to Wikitravel and helped other Travelers!
What to add. Choose any attraction, park, view, bar, pub or restaurant that you are enthusiastic about and would like to share information about. It should be somewhere you know and have visited, but it really doesn't matter if you have been there while travelling, or if it is in your local area. You don't have to be an expert. Your experience and perspective is valuable to others like you.
How to describe it. Decide what type of person would like to visit, and what are the features that would make them want to visit. Everybody has different interests, from birdwatching to adventure sports, from quiet country pub to the latest urban beats. Help travellers find what they like. If you like it, what are your interests that make you like it? If you know the best way to get there, or the best time to experience it, add that too. Don't use I, me,, us, or we in the description. Don't hesitate to use you, though, when addressing the reader.
Edit a page
2. Edit a page. You can edit any article on Wikitravel simply by clicking "Edit" link. You will see the text formatted in Wiki markup. It helps the rest of us if you follow our policies and guidelines and manual of style. However, even more important than following every guideline is to plunge forward and write something – someone will be along to help with the formatting later! Add your hometown, or a place you’ve visited often!
Find the right article. Wikitravel articles are named after the geographical location. Select the best article based on where the attraction is. If it is outside of a town, you might have to place it where travellers would normally stay when visiting it.
How to describe it. Decide what type of person would like to visit, and what are the features that would make them want to visit. Everybody has different interests, from birdwatching to adventure sports, from quiet country pub to the latest urban beats. Help travellers find what they like. If you like it, what are your interests that make you like it? If you know the best way to get there, or the best time to experience it, add that too. Don't use I, me,, us, or we in the description. Don't hesitate to use you, though, when addressing the reader.
3. Create a page. sometimes the destination you would like to describe or add an attraction to doesn't exist. Plunge forward and start an article. Check that the page you want does not already exist, or that the information doesn't already exist on another page. Do a search for the name of your proposed new page, and see what is returned. When creating a new page, you will be asked to choose the right template. New pages can be created for cities, towns, national parks, and regions; for travel topics (including phrasebooks); and for itineraries. Please do not create new articles for hotels, restaurants or attractions; they should be listed in existing destination articles instead. See What is an article? for details.
4. Register an Account. Anybody can make contributions to Wikitravel, but creating an account will give you various benefits:
Write on User Talk pages to communicate with other writers about your edits and travel tips.
Ability to turn off advertising in your Account Settings.
Credit for your travel writing/edits, which will be attributed to you rather than just an IP address.
Your contributions will be more trusted as you become familiar to other Wikitravelers.
Avoid
Changing section headings - even if you don't like them. Wikitravel uses a standard template for each article.
Writing about culture. Wikitravel articles often have Respect or Understand sections, which attract extensive contributions on culture. However, your time is best spent adding practical advice and suggestions, and letting the traveller discover the culture for themselves when they get there.
Writing about things you don't like. Don't waste your time on Wikitravel telling travellers about places they don't want to go, sharing your insight into somewhere travellers would want to go is infinitely more valuable!
Encyclopaedic or promotional language. Writing that something is fantastic or the best can be meaningless to a reader who may have different interests to you. Remember to think of why you like something, and say it in the normal words you would use. Don't adopt the tone of a tourism board, or a neutral point of view just because you are writing in a guide. Your natural conversational tone, and your genuine interest in what you are describing is what we are hoping to capture!
Moving forward
If you want to get more involved, or learn more about Wikitravel you could start by reading the manual of style, and the help files which will give you an in-depth description, or by looking at some of our star articles.
