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A long-running debate amongst Wikipedians is whether or not to require users to register an account in order to be able to edit or not. Consensus is currently in favor of not requiring account creation, and this essay is designed to outline reasons why.
A person editing with an account is not treated as doing so on behalf of another body or person. (Exceptions are exceedingly rare and require approval.) Examples: Names promoting a business, group, activist stance, or organization; Offensive or disruptive: User names are used to simply identify users uniquely.
First off, Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a promotional device. It's wonderful to create an article on a favorite band of yours, but improving Wikipedia should be the main desire, not improving the band. Some edit having the band in mind first, and the addition to Wikipedia's knowledge is just a helpful side effect.
Power users sometimes also threaten to withhold their donations, but some are not donors anyway, and the majority of donors give less than US$100, so making a dent in the multimillion-dollar budget would require a concerted action by a large proportion of the community, rather than a snit by a few power users.
Wikipedia:Username policy § Deleting and merging accounts – Why it is not possible to delete user accounts and the alternatives available. Help:Logging in – Help for logging in to an existing account. Advice for parents – Brief introduction to Wikipedia for parents and legal guardians. Contributing to Wikipedia – How and where you can ...
Keep in mind, however, that Wikipedia is not a web directory; external links should support the content of the article, not replace it. An article should be more than a container for external links, and the content should not require the reader to leave the site to understand the subject. Do not place advertising links in Wikipedia.
Wikipedia is funded primarily by donations and grants. It does not charge for access nor offer any paid subscription services. If you're looking to acquire a profitable company to diversify your business portfolio, or if you're thinking of trying to save an indebted company from bankruptcy, Wikipedia isn't it. See Wikipedia:Fundraising statistics.
You do not need to reveal your offline identity, but having a static IP, or a recognizable dynamic IP range gives you a fixed Wikipedia identity that other users will take pains to recognize. You will have a static or dynamic user talk page you can use to communicate with other users.