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brand Wikipedia
tagline The free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Collaborative, multilingual, citation-driven knowledge.
category Wiki
website https://wikipedia.org

Wikipedia — Information Architecture

Overview

The world's largest free encyclopedia, collaboratively written and maintained by volunteers. Wikipedia's mental model is an interlinked knowledge graph — articles reference each other through hyperlinks, forming a massive web of structured knowledge. Key differentiators: anyone can edit (with varying permission levels), every edit is tracked in version history, content requires citations from reliable sources, articles exist in 300+ languages independently, and there is no paywall, no ads, and no algorithmic feed. The IA is article-centric, with categories, portals, and disambiguation pages organizing millions of entries.

Site Map

├── Main Page
│   ├── Featured Article (daily rotation)
│   ├── Did You Know (new/expanded articles)
│   ├── In the News (current events)
│   ├── On This Day (historical events)
│   ├── Today's Featured Picture
│   └── Sister Projects (Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Commons, etc.)
├── Article Page
│   ├── Title
│   ├── Lead Section (summary, right-side infobox)
│   ├── Infobox (structured data: type, date, location, etc.)
│   ├── Table of Contents (auto-generated, collapsible)
│   ├── Body Sections
│   │   ├── Section Headings (h2–h6, with [edit] links)
│   │   ├── Text (prose with inline citations [1][2][3])
│   │   ├── Images / Galleries
│   │   ├── Tables
│   │   ├── Lists
│   │   ├── Infoboxes / Sidebars
│   │   ├── Navboxes (bottom navigation templates)
│   │   └── Math / Chemical Formulas (LaTeX)
│   ├── See Also (related articles)
│   ├── Notes / References Section
│   │   ├── Footnotes (numbered, linked back to text)
│   │   └── Full Citation Details (author, title, URL, date)
│   ├── Bibliography
│   ├── Further Reading
│   ├── External Links
│   ├── Categories (bottom of page)
│   ├── Article Tabs
│   │   ├── Article (read)
│   │   ├── Talk (discussion about the article)
│   │   ├── Edit / View Source
│   │   └── View History
│   └── Page Tools (sidebar)
│       ├── What Links Here
│       ├── Related Changes
│       ├── Upload File
│       ├── Special Pages
│       ├── Permanent Link
│       ├── Page Information
│       ├── Cite This Page
│       ├── Wikidata Item
│       ├── Download as PDF
│       └── Printable Version
├── Talk Page (per article)
│   ├── Discussion Threads (indented replies)
│   ├── Article Assessment (quality class, importance)
│   ├── WikiProject Banners
│   ├── Archives (old discussions)
│   └── New Section (+)
├── Edit Page
│   ├── Visual Editor (WYSIWYG)
│   │   ├── Toolbar (bold, italic, link, cite, template, table, media)
│   │   ├── Insert Citation Dialog
│   │   ├── Insert Template Dialog
│   │   ├── Preview
│   │   └── Publish Changes (edit summary required)
│   └── Source Editor (wikitext)
│       ├── Wikitext Markup
│       ├── Toolbar (formatting shortcuts)
│       ├── Show Preview
│       ├── Show Changes (diff)
│       └── Publish Changes
├── Search
│   ├── Full-text search across all articles
│   ├── Namespaces filter (article, talk, user, project, file...)
│   ├── Advanced Search (date, category, template)
│   └── Search Suggestions (autocomplete)
├── Categories
│   ├── Category Page (list of articles + subcategories)
│   ├── Category Tree (hierarchical browsing)
│   └── Hidden Categories (maintenance)
├── Portal Pages
│   ├── Portal:Science, Portal:History, Portal:Geography, etc.
│   ├── Featured content for the portal topic
│   ├── Tasks / To-do for editors
│   └── Related WikiProjects
├── User Page
│   ├── User Page (personal, like a profile/wiki page)
│   ├── User Talk Page (messages from others)
│   ├── Contributions (all edits by this user)
│   ├── Logs (actions taken)
│   ├── Sandbox (personal testing space)
│   ├── Watchlist Items
│   └── Preferences
├── Watchlist
│   ├── Recent Changes to watched pages
│   ├── Filter: Minor edits, bot edits, namespace
│   └── Manage Watchlist
├── Recent Changes (global)
│   ├── All Recent Edits (real-time feed)
│   ├── Filter: Namespace, edit type, user, tags
│   ├── Patrolled / Unpatrolled
│   └── Related Changes (for specific page)
├── Special Pages
│   ├── All Pages (alphabetical index)
│   ├── Random Article
│   ├── Statistics (article count, edit count, active users)
│   ├── Log (block, delete, move, protection)
│   ├── New Pages
│   ├── Orphaned Pages (no links to them)
│   ├── Dead-end Pages (no links out)
│   ├── Disambiguation Pages (multiple meanings)
│   └── Maintenance Reports
├── Community / Project
│   ├── Village Pump (community discussion)
│   ├── Administrators' Noticeboard
│   ├── WikiProjects (topic-based editorial groups)
│   ├── Policies & Guidelines (Neutral POV, Verifiability, No Original Research, etc.)
│   ├── Manual of Style
│   ├── Help Pages
│   ├── Sandbox (public testing)
│   └── Requests for Adminship (RfA)
├── History / Diff View
│   ├── Revision List (date, user, edit summary, size change)
│   ├── Diff View (side-by-side comparison of two revisions)
│   ├── Undo / Rollback
│   └── Thank Editor
├── Languages Sidebar
│   ├── List of all language versions of this article
│   └── Add Translation
└── Donate Banner (periodic)
    └── Fundraiser CTA (Wikimedia Foundation)

Navigation Model

Layer Pattern Behavior
Top Bar Fixed Wikipedia wordmark/logo, search bar (prominent, center), language switcher, user menu, create account/login
Left Sidebar Fixed (desktop), collapsible Main Page, Contents, Current Events, Random Article, About, Contact, Donate + Tools section (What links here, Related changes, etc.)
Article Tabs Horizontal tabs above article title Read, Talk, Edit (or View Source), View History
Table of Contents Auto-generated, collapsible (top of article) Jump to section, nested numbering (1, 1.1, 1.2, 2, ...)
Breadcrumbs Not standard — categories at bottom Categories as flat taxonomy (no hierarchy in article view)
Interwiki Links Left sidebar section Links to same article in other language Wikipedias
Section Edit [edit] link next to each heading Edit individual section without loading full article

Desktop Layout

[Left Sidebar (200px)]  |  [Article Content (fluid, max ~960px)]
                         |  [Table of Contents (floating or top)]
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Main Page               |  Article Title [edit]
Contents                |  ─────────────────
Current events          |  Lead section... infobox →
Random article          |  ─────────────────
About Wikipedia         |  Contents
Contact us              |  1. History
Donate                  |  2. Geography
─────────────           |  3. Demographics
Tools                   |  ...
What links here         |
Related changes         |  [Section content with citations]
Upload file             |
Special pages           |  ─────────────────
Permanent link          |  References
Page information        |  Categories: [cat1] [cat2] [cat3]
Cite this page          |

Content Model

Entity Key Attributes Relationships
Article title, body (wikitext/HTML), namespace, page_id, language, protection_level, created_at, last_edited, edit_count, page_views has many Revisions, Categories, Interwiki Links, Talk Page
Revision rev_id, parent_id, user, timestamp, edit_summary, size_bytes, minor (bool), tags[] belongs to Article
Category name, parent_categories[], subcategories[], article_count many-to-many with Articles (hierarchical tree)
User username, edit_count, registration_date, user_groups[] (autoconfirmed, admin, bureaucrat, etc.) has many Revisions, Talk Page, Watchlist
Talk Section heading, body, signatures[], archived (bool) belongs to Talk Page (associated with Article)
Infobox template_name, fields (key-value structured data) belongs to Article
Citation ref_id, type (web/book/journal), author, title, url, date, access_date, publisher belongs to Article (inline)
File filename, description, license, dimensions, upload_date, uploader hosted on Wikimedia Commons, used by Articles
Disambiguation title, entries[] (brief description + link for each meaning) special article type
Portal topic, featured_article, did_you_know, tasks[] links to many Articles
Redirect from_title, to_title connects old/alt names to canonical Article
WikiProject name, scope, assessment_criteria, members[] manages quality of Articles within a topic

Namespaces

(Main/Article) | Talk | User | User talk | Wikipedia | Wikipedia talk
File | File talk | MediaWiki | Template | Template talk | Help | Category
Portal | Draft | Module

Article Quality Scale

Stub → Start → C → B → Good Article (GA) → Featured Article (FA)

Protection Levels

Unprotected (anyone edits) → Semi-protected (autoconfirmed only) → Extended-confirmed → Full protection (admins only)

User Flows

Read and Navigate

Search → Article → Read Lead → Table of Contents → Jump to Section → Follow Wikilink → New Article → Continue

Quick Lookup

Search Bar → Type query → Autocomplete suggestion → Click → Read lead paragraph + infobox → Done

Edit an Article

Article → [Edit] Tab → Visual Editor → Make Changes → Add Citation → Preview → Write Edit Summary → Publish

Discuss Changes

Article → Talk Tab → Read Discussion → New Section → Write Opinion → Sign (~~~~) → Others Reply

Patrol Recent Changes

Recent Changes → Filter (unpatrolled) → Click Diff → Review Edit → Accept / Revert / Warn User

Create New Article

Search → "Create this page" → Choose Stub Template → Write Lead + Infobox + References → Add Categories → Publish → Others Expand

Compare Versions

Article → View History → Select Two Revisions → Compare → Diff View (additions green, removals red) → Undo if vandalism

URL / Route Structure

/wiki/:Title                       → Article Page
/wiki/Talk::Title                  → Talk Page
/wiki/User::Username               → User Page
/wiki/User_talk::Username          → User Talk Page
/wiki/Category::CategoryName       → Category Page
/wiki/Portal::TopicName            → Portal Page
/wiki/File::Filename               → File/Image Page
/wiki/Template::TemplateName       → Template Page
/wiki/Special:Search?search=:q     → Search Results
/wiki/Special:RecentChanges        → Recent Changes
/wiki/Special:Watchlist            → Watchlist
/wiki/Special:Contributions/:user  → User Contributions
/wiki/Special:Random               → Random Article
/wiki/Special:AllPages             → All Pages Index
/wiki/Special:Log                  → Action Logs
/wiki/Special:Statistics           → Site Statistics
/w/index.php?title=:T&action=edit  → Edit Page
/w/index.php?title=:T&action=history → View History
/w/index.php?title=:T&diff=:r1&oldid=:r2 → Diff View
/w/index.php?title=:T&oldid=:rev  → Specific Revision

Search & Filter

Context Search Scope Filter Dimensions Sort Options
Global Article titles + full text Namespace (Article, Talk, User, etc.), Language Relevance, Last Edited, Creation Date
Category Articles in category Subcategory, Alphabetical range Alphabetical (default)
Recent Changes All edits Namespace, User, Tags (reverted, visual edit, etc.), Minor/Bot Chronological (newest first)
Contributions Edits by specific user Namespace, Date Range, Tags Chronological
Watchlist Changes to watched pages Namespace, Change Type, Time Period Chronological

Search Features

  • Full-text search with highlighting
  • "Did you mean?" suggestions
  • Namespace-scoped search
  • Interwiki search (across Wikimedia projects)
  • Hatnotes at top of articles ("For other uses, see...")
  • Disambiguation pages for ambiguous terms

Responsive Behavior

Breakpoint Sidebar Content ToC
Desktop (≥1000px) Fixed left sidebar (200px) Fluid article content (max ~960px) Inline (top of article, collapsible)
Tablet (720–999px) Collapsed (hamburger) Full-width content Inline (collapsed by default)
Mobile (<720px) Hamburger drawer Full-width, simplified layout Sticky floating button (bottom)

Mobile Adaptations (Mobile Web / App)

  • Simplified header (search + hamburger)
  • Collapsible sections (tap heading to expand)
  • Infobox: horizontally scrollable or stacked
  • Table of Contents: floating button, opens as overlay
  • Images: tap to view full-screen
  • Edit: simplified visual editor
  • Language switcher: prominent button
  • Nearby: geo-based article discovery
  • Offline: save articles for offline reading (Wikipedia app)

Access Control

Role Read Edit Move/Rename Delete Protect Block Users
Anonymous (IP) ✅ Most articles (not semi-protected) — — — —
Registered (new) ✅ Most articles (not semi-protected) — — — —
Autoconfirmed (4 days + 10 edits) ✅ ✅ (incl. semi-protected) ✅ — — —
Extended Confirmed (30 days + 500 edits) ✅ ✅ (incl. extended-confirmed) ✅ — — —
Rollbacker ✅ ✅ ✅ — — — (+ one-click revert)
Administrator ✅ ✅ (incl. fully-protected) ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
Bureaucrat ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ + grant admin rights

Content Policies (enforced socially + technically)

  • Neutral Point of View (NPOV) — no bias
  • Verifiability — all claims need reliable sources
  • No Original Research — Wikipedia summarizes existing knowledge
  • Biographies of Living Persons (BLP) — strict sourcing requirements
  • Notability — subjects must have significant coverage in independent sources