Hi Alex jirgens, and Welcome to Wikipedia!   

 Welcome to Wikipedia! I hope you enjoy the encyclopedia and want to stay. As a first step, you may wish to read the Introduction. 

 If you have any questions, feel free to ask me at my talk page — I'm happy to help. Or, you can ask your question at the New contributors' help page. 

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 Here are some more resources to help you as you explore and contribute to the world's largest encyclopedia... 

  Finding your way around:  

  
 * Table of Contents 

 * Department directory 

  
  Need help?  

  
 * Questions — a guide on where to ask questions. 
 * Cheatsheet — quick reference on Wikipedia's mark-up codes. 

 * Wikipedia's 5 pillars — an overview of Wikipedia's foundations 
 * The Simplified Ruleset — a summary of Wikipedia's most important rules. 

  
  How you can help:  

  
 * Contributing to Wikipedia — a guide on how you can help. 

 * Community Portal — Wikipedia's hub of activity. 

  
  Additional tips...   

  
 * Please sign your messages on talk pages with four tildes(~~~~). This will automatically insert your "signature" (your username and a date stamp). The  button, on the tool bar above Wikipedia's text editing window, also does this.  

 * If you would like to play around with your new Wiki skills the Sandbox is for you.  
 * If you'd like to tell us about yourself and meet other new users, be sure to introduce yourself at our new user log.   

  
  Good luck, and have fun. -''''''