Wikipedia:Mistakes are allowed

This is an essay.

It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article or a Wikipedia policy, as it has not been reviewed by the community.

As editors work on Wikipedia, mistakes are not only allowed, but are inevitable. Perfection is impossible.

Sometimes people make silly proposals without checking it twice. In that case they may ask for help from other editors, who may inform them of the problems with the proposals, and provide a fresh set of eyes. Remember not to WP:BITE, even if the user is a more experienced editor, and even if they make a mistake remember to maintain WP:CIVILITY.

Mistakes may not be acceptable if:

They are purposeful (meaning they are not mistakes)
They occur a reasonable period of time after one has been warned that similar actions were mistakes
If they regard biographies of living people

However, mistakes may not be used to:

Prove that someone is unqualified to edit pages regarding a topic

Mistakes should be met with counsel, not criticism. Before banning or blocking someone, ask that user what happened, and look at how long that user has been an editor. If that user is new, it might have been a mistake.

Wikipedia:Mistakes are allowed

See also