The book is broken out in to five parts, concluding with a few useful appendices and a lengthy index. The first part goes over the process of editing, creating, and maintaining existing Wikipedia articles. Notably, the author waits until the third chapter to cover the process of registering an account on the site. While it is possible to edit a Wikipedia page without having an account, your access to additional functions and features, including the addition of new pages, is significantly limited. Broughton gives you all you need to know for basic editing, and then explains why it is important to register an account before he goes on to lay out all of the other things that are possible on the site.
The second part covers aspects of collaborating with other Wikipedia editors. This is essential, since anyone can edit a page, you will find that most articles on Wikipedia are the result work by several different contributors. Most contributors never meet face-to-face, so online etiquette is essential, not to mention following the site rules so that you do not inadvertently come across as a troll or spammer.
The third part discusses the process for formatting and illustrating articles. If you have used Wikipedia for very long, you will recognize that there is a stylistic design to the layout of content on the pages, and it can be jarring when you stumble upon a page that does not follow that design or has so little content than it cannot conform. If you want Wikipedia readers to take your writing seriously, you must follow the formatting conventions of the site. In addition, content like tables and images will enhance the reader's understanding of the article content, so using those things appropriately is important.
Part four focuses on enhancing the encyclopedic quality of Wikipedia through tools such as accurate navigation connections, article categorization, and basic copy editing. Appropriate page naming is one of the first steps in making sure that readers can find the information they seek, so occasionally you will find it necessary to move content to a more accurately named page or to redirect readers to that page. In addition, when words or names have multiple meanings or contexts, disambiguation pages are created to allow the user to locate the information they seek. Broughton uses this section to explain the value of these tools, as well as the technical process for using them.
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