welcome to wikipedia the free encyclopedia you don't have to log in to read or edit articles on wikipedia but creating an account is quick free and non intrusive requires no personal information and gives you many benefits including the use of a username of your choice provided that it is appropriate the use of your own personal watchlist to which you can add articles that interest you the ability to start new pages the ability to rename pages the ability to edit semi protected pages the ability to upload images the ability to customize the appearance and behavior of the website the eligibility to eventually become an administrator your ip address will no longer be visible to other users we hope that you choose to become a wikipedian and create an account feel free to ask me any questions you may have on my talk page by the way make sure to sign your posts and comments with four tildes which will let others know who left it