Wikiquote:What Wikiquote is not

Wikiquote briefly describes what Wikiquote is, and what its goals are. The following discusses what Wikiquote is not.

Wikiquote is not an encyclopedia
Wikiquote is not the same as its sister project, Wikipedia. A short introduction is used to identify an article's subject and, if needed, indicate why it is notable. Longer expositions, encyclopedic references, and suggestions for further reading about the subject may be added to a corresponding Wikipedia article, but do not belong in Wikiquote.

Wikiquote is not a dictionary
Wikiquote is not a place for dictionary definitions, which may be added to its sister project, Wiktionary, which is a dictionary. Quotes can be about a certain theme, such as Love, but not any random word.

Wikiquote is not a textbook
Wikiquote is not a collection of information found in textbooks and guides. See Wikibooks.

Wikiquote is not a place for public domain documents
Wikiquote is not a collection of public domain documents such as source code, original historical documents, letters, laws, whole books or whole poems.


 * Famous speeches of historical value can be added to the speeches portal at Wikisource.
 * Whole public domain books can be added to Wikisource or Wikibooks, see Wikisource Project:Annotations.
 * Generic deposits of published information may be appropriate at Wikisource.
 * Book PDFs/DJVUs, pictures, sound files, and other forms of media that are in the public domain or under a libre license are accepted at Wikimedia Commons.

Wikiquote is not a personal website
Wikiquote is not Myspace or Facebook. Every registered user is able to create a user page about themself as a Wikiquotian, but they should not use it for posting non-Wikiquote related topics, such as résumés, personal files, etc. Please see User page for more information on userpages.

Wikiquote is not a collection of your personal quotes
Any user can place quotes they or their friends may have said on their user page, but you should not create your own page in the main namespace for your own quotes, or add your own personal quotes, or those of your friends and acquaintances to existing articles.

Wikiquote is not an internet directory
Articles are for collections of quotes, not random links. You should not create pages solely for the purpose of listing your favorite sites, random phone numbers, and other unrelated information.

Wikiquote is not a discussion forum
Users are allowed to post messages to each other on their respective User talk pages, but you must confine those chats to those pages only, not to the article talk pages, which are reserved for discussion regarding that page only.

Wikiquote is not a weblog
Wikiquote is not a collection of journal entries from various weblogs. While users may post their thoughts on their user pages, they should not use them solely for the purpose of maintaining a weblog.

Wikiquote is not a place for posting substantial quotations from copyrighted works
Wikiquote is not a compendium of song lyrics or entire poems, and there are definite copyright issues in using more than a few lines of modern songs or modern poetry, even under fair use provisions. The same applies to dialogue from films, TV shows, and video games. While there are no legal impediments to using entire poems or lyrics that are in the public domain, the use of entire poems or the full lyrics of any songs are not encouraged, and a selection process of significant statements within a poem or a song should generally occur. Postings of copyrighted works on the Internet does NOT place them in the public domain. See Copyrights.

Wikiquote is not a collection of advertisements
While there is a place on Wikiquote for advertising slogans, Wikiquote does not allow gratuitous advertising (spam) of any type. Users who repeatedly post links to commercial websites or to their personal website after being warned against doing so may be blocked from editing Wikiquote.

Wikiquote is not a crystal ball
Wikiquote works to ensure accuracy by citing reliable sources for its quotes. Books, films, games, and other works that have not yet been released are not accessible for verification, so quotes from and articles on these subjects are not acceptable unless there is a reliable publication previewing them. Articles that are skeletons to be filled in after the work is released are especially inappropriate, as they provide no value to readers looking for quotes, and may be speedy-deleted for having no quote content.

Similar official policies on other sister projects

 * Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not
 * Wikibooks:What is Wikibooks
 * Wikinews:What Wikinews is not
 * Wikisource:What is Wikisource?
 * Wiktionary:What Wiktionary is not