Difference between revisions of "Help:How Do I"

Revision as of 08:25, 9 September 2007

How do I...?

Create a new page

There are two ways to create a new page in the wiki. Whichever method you choose, please search the wiki first to make sure that the page you want to create doesn't already exist. If your new page will have a multi-word title, try searching on just one or two relevant words to see where else your terms might already show up.

The Preferred Method

The preferred method of creating a new page is to insert a link into an existing page, then to click on that (red underlined) link to begin editing the new page. This method helps reduce "orphaned pages," pages that have been created but can't be easily found because they aren't linked from other pages in the wiki.

• Determine an appropriate page to contain the first link to your new page. Go to that page and click the "Edit" tab.
• Insert your link either in already-developed text or your own new text. Wiki links are created by putting a double pair of square brackets around the word or words that represent the title of the page. For example, in the edit box, you might enter a sentence like this:

         Of all the subways I've been on, the [[London Underground]], or "Tube," is my favorite.

• Now click the "Show preview" button beneath the edit box to take a look at your page. Notice that the text you entered between the brackets should now be red and underlined, thus:

Of all the subways I've been on, the London Underground, or "Tube," is my favorite.

• When you're happy with your editing, click the "Save page" button.
• Finally, click on the new link you created. Your new page will open, ready for you to edit.

The Alternate Method

You may also start a new page by typing the page title directly into your browser's address bar, thus:

From the main page (or any other page not in edit mode), when your browser's address bar looks like this: File:MenuBarBefore.png

...you can replace the current page name (the part after the "index.php/" with the name of the new page, like this: Address Bar After

Then press the Enter key, or use the appropriate control for your browser to navigate to the new page. Click the edit tab to begin entering text on your new page.

Furthermore...

• Keep in mind that if you make a mistake when creating the page title, you can cancel your progress at any point. The new page will not be saved in the database until you press the "Save page" button the first time.
• Note that any spaces in the URL will be converted to underscores.
• Always click the "Show preview" button and review your article before committing your changes to the database.
• For more help on creating new pages, see Help:Starting a New Page at MediaWiki.

Edit an existing page

Editing a page in the wiki is a snap, especially if all you want to do is add to or alter existing text. Simply click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the page and make your changes in the edit box. Be sure to enter a summary of your changes and view a preview before clicking the "Save page" button.

Formatting and special characters

The MediaWiki software allows you to format text using unique combinations of characters. This is known as markup, and wiki pages that include markup are called wikitext. For example:

• To italicize, surround the text with two apostrophes, like this: ''italics''
• To make text bold, surround the text with three apostrophes, like this: '''bold'''
• To insert an accent egu (é), enter the following code: é

Note that you can also use some HTML tags. See here for more details.

A complete list of formatting and special symbol markups are available at WikiMedia's Help:Editing page.

Comment on a page without altering the page itself

Sometimes you'll want to ask a question or make a comment about a page. Some pages lend themselves to discussion within the body of the page, but for most articles you'll want to use the "Talk" page, accessible for each article by clicking the "Discussion" tab at the top of the page in question.