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Formal policies and guidelines have a notice at the top of their pages, and the prefix "Wikipedia:" or "WP:" before their page name. While there is a policy or guideline for almost every issue imaginable, no one is expected to know all of them! Luckily, there are a handful upon which all others are based.
The authoritativeness of the policy or guideline in Wikipedia hierarchy. This is based on it's policy vs. guideline status, it's prominence, and strength and broadness of consensus that led to it; How strong and categorical the applicable wording in the policy or guideline is. For example "suggested: vs. "must"
The purpose of policies and guidelines is to state what most agree upon, and should be phrased to reflect the present consensus. Editing a policy/guideline/essay page does not in itself imply an immediate change to accepted practice. It is bad practice to recommend a rejected practice on a policy or guideline page.
The difference between policies, guidelines, and essays on Wikipedia is obscure. There is no bright line between what the community chooses to call a "policy" or a "guideline" or an "essay" or an "information page". This explanatory essay itself is a supplemental page, which is an even more ambiguous group. [1]
Introduction to policies and guidelines – a quick introduction to the major policies and guidelines for very new users. Related essays. Simplified rule-set – some basic aspect of Wikipedia norms and practices. Eight rules for editing – if you start out by following these simple rules, the rest should come naturally.
Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organization. Policies can assist in both subjective and objective decision making.
List of policies and guidelines — a list of principle policies and guidelines. List of policies — a comprehensive descriptive directory of policies. List of guidelines — a comprehensive descriptive directory of guidelines. Manual of Style contents — a comprehensive descriptive directory of the pages which make up the Manual of Style.
To some, Wikipedia can seem very bureaucratic. There are hundreds of policy and guideline pages, a virtual "alphabet soup" such as WP:V, WP:OR, WP:NPOV, WP:RS, WP:THIS, and WP:THAT (not to mention over 1600 like this one). However, if you start out by following these eight simple rules, the rest should come naturally.