Help:Troubleshooting
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Start with the symptom below. Keep a copy of valuable unsaved text before reloading, switching editors or trying again.
| What happened? | What to try |
|---|---|
| I only see View source, or cannot create a page. | Sign in, then check access levels. New accounts cannot edit articles until granted access. Archive groups, page protection and blocks can impose further limits. Ask staff; do not create a duplicate to bypass the restriction. |
| I cannot find the edit, move or history buttons. | Open the page tools / More actions menu. Citizen folds actions into menus on small screens. Move appears only where your permissions allow it. |
| I want to leave editing. | Use Cancel and choose whether to discard changed text. In the classic source editor, Cancel below the form also returns to reading. Leaving does not save a draft. |
| I clicked Save changes and nothing was saved yet. | In VisualEditor it opens a review dialog first. Add a summary and confirm publication there. A preview is also unsaved. |
| My new title opened an existing page. | That title is already taken. Leave without replacing it, search for the subject and choose a distinct title if you are writing something different. |
| I cannot type inside an infobox or generated list. | Select it and edit its template fields, or use source mode. Generated content is maintained through its inputs, not by typing into the displayed result. |
| There is an edit conflict. | Another edit was saved while you worked. Follow the conflict guide to compare and merge the passages. Do not overwrite the other editor's work to get past the warning. |
| A template shows an error or raw braces. | Check the template name, matching braces and required fields in its documentation. Preview before saving. Ask a maintainer about shared-code changes. |
| An image is missing or too wide. | Check the exact uploaded filename and preview on a small screen. Help:Images and files explains file links and character-panel image fields. |
| Copy source did not reach my clipboard. | Select the text in the dialog and press Ctrl+C / Command+C. Your browser may block automatic clipboard access. |
| I cannot read a Gatekeep page I expect to access. | Ask staff to check Gatekeep membership. Keep the draft link and screenshots in a private support channel. Other staff roles do not automatically grant read access. |
Ask for help
Send the page link, what you clicked, and the visible error message to the community's staff. Mention your browser and whether you used a phone if the layout is the problem. For public pages, a cropped screenshot can help. Do not send passwords, recovery codes or private draft contents to a public channel.
For a mistaken saved edit, try Help:History and undo. For accidental publication of personal/private information, contact a wiki administrator privately; removing the current text alone does not remove its history.