Start with the infobox
A LifeWiki pattern page usually gives the facts first: pattern type, cell count, bounding box, period or lifespan, discoverer, year, rules, and pattern files.
Those fields answer the first user questions faster than the article body. Is it stable? Does it move? How big is it? Can I copy it into a simulator?
Then read for behavior
The useful habit is to translate page facts into an experiment. If a page says period 15, run the pattern for 15 ticks. If it says lifespan 1103, ask what counts as stabilization and whether escaping gliders are included.
This keeps LifeWiki from becoming trivia. Each fact should change what you watch on the board.
Use links as a research map
Pattern pages are dense because the Life community has built decades of vocabulary: syntheses, sparks, catalysts, ash, apgcodes, and file formats.
Do not try to absorb every link in one pass. Follow the link that explains the behavior you just observed. A beehive page can lead to honey farms and eaters; an R-pentomino page can lead to methuselahs, gliders, and the first gun.
Working takeaway
Read LifeWiki with a simulator open. The page gives names and facts; the board gives the reason those facts matter.