Chester Wiki Guide

From Chester Wiki

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Facts and Opinions 2.1 References 3 Editing 4 Linking 5 New pages 6 Info Tab / Revision History 7 Tips 8 Frequently Asked Questions

[edit] Introduction

A wiki is a linked set of pages which anyone can edit and expand. This freedom allows for unique expression and helps foster interesting and new ideas in an organic and very dynamic way.

If you see something you think is inaccurate or incorrect, you have the power to change it. If you see that something is incomplete, you can add more information. You can also create completely new content and tie it into the rest of the site. Likewise, others have the power to veto your changes. It is a delicate balance but one which ultimately leaves the users with the content they most want.

Never be afraid to change something or try something new!

IMPORTANT: In order to edit pages, you must first create an account. This is a very painless process and the only hurdle to contributing content.

Making an account is as easy as clicking a button and choosing an appropriate name (like BobSmith). If you would like to be able to retrieve a forgotten password, you should also enter a valid email address. That's it. After making an account you should check out the People page and make a homepage for yourself.

[edit] Facts and Opinions

The aim of a wiki is to present objective facts, rather than personal opinions. The exception is reviews of pubs and restaurants, bearing in mind that libellous comments will be removed swiftly (see Legal notice for more info). Repeat offenders making libellous comments on businesses risk being banned.

We recognise the importance of healthy and lively debate. If you wish to express your personal views on, for example, aspects of development plans in Chester or other controversial local topics, please use the Forum.

[edit] References

Chester Wiki does not (yet) have the same rigorous approach as Wikipedia to providing references to stated facts on the various pages. This is largely because in many cases it is not necessary. However, if you are writing anything historical about Chester, it is polite and useful to back up your facts with referenced sources. You can do this in two ways: either add a superscript notation number to your fact and create a list of numbered references at the foot of the page; or add a link to the external web page you consulted.

[edit] Editing

Editing a page is as simple as clicking on the "Edit" tab at the top of the screen. There are, however, many possible options for markup (i.e. making the page look pretty.) For your convenience, we have made a formatting toolbar, which works very much like a toolbar in a word processor. By highlighting text and clicking one of the buttons, such as Bold, the text will be surrounded by the appropriate markup to make it appear bold. More information on editing can be found over at Help On Editing. In general, just looking at how existing pages do things (by clicking on Edit and looking at the "raw" content) should let you figure out the markup — which is very simple! (Always make sure you "Preview" before you "Save Changes", otherwise you might end up editing a page several times).

[edit] Linking

Linking is the most important concept. The idea is to have all pages linked together in a logical and intuitive way. To make a link to a page, type the exact name of the page you wish to link to, surrounded by 2 brackets. This means to link to the page Front Page I type Main Page. All I did there was [[<insert page name here>]]. It's that simple. To make a link to a page that displays differently, such as a link to Front Page that displays as Hello World! you just write Hello World. Capitalisation doesn't matter for links.

Also, try to be descriptive in your linking. Don't use the "click here!" phrase: "For more info check here" is bad! "Check out Wiki Sand Box for more info" is good!

To link to a page outside the wiki, write your link like Chester Wiki which displays as this. Of course, you can also just write http://www.chesterwiki.com if you don't want any alternative text.

Remember — use 2 brackets for things inside the wiki, and one pair of brackets for things outside (external websites).

[edit] New pages

To create a page, first think about where you want this page to be linked from. Say you want to create a page about your favourite local band. Ideally, there should be a link to this band in Music Scene, or perhaps other pages as well. You first edit Music Scene to add a link to your page — even though your page hasn't been made yet. Save your changes, then click on the new link - you'll be given the opportunity to create the page!

TIP: If you can't think of a page to create, look over the Wanted Pages. It is a list of pages which have been linked but have not been created. Perfect candidates for a write-up!

If this is unclear, just view the source by clicking on "Info" and clicking on "raw" for the top item (or if you're lazy, just by clicking "Edit") of some pages! It will become perfectly clear after a few minutes.

To create a page without making a link to it first, simply type the name of the desired page in the search box. You will then prompted to create the page. But remember — because you made the page without first making a link to it, it might get lost in the sea of pages. Linking is very important for this reason — If you don't link your new page from existing pages, then no one will be able to find it. Spend some time thinking about good places where you should make a link to your new page. Using the search box is very useful for finding phrases and material where you might want to provide a link.

You can head over to the Chester Wiki Sandbox to edit it and play around!

[edit] Info Tab / Revision History

The wiki tracks all the changes made to all the pages, and this information is available in the Info tab at the top of the screen. Every edit of a page accounts for a new version, and clicking "Diff" once in the Info tab allows you to see differences between selected versions. "view" shows you what that version of the page looked like, "raw" shows you the raw wiki markup, "print" gives you a printer-friendly version, and "revert" reverts the current version of the page back to that particular version.

In the Info tab you may also bookmark a page, which allows you to track the changes to the page via the Bookmarks page. Setting wiki bookmarks allows you to easily see when pages important to you change, and allows you to keep a list of pages you like, as well. You should probably set a wiki bookmark for your user page so you can see when others leave you comments.

Now what?

After you've made an account, viewed the source of some pages, and played around with editing over in the Sandbox, you should go ahead and make a home page for yourself. To make a homepage, simply make a page in the wiki with the same name as your login name. This means if your name is PhilipNeustrom (it's not), you simply make the page with the title PhilipNeustrom and fill it with whatever you want (an easy way to do this: click on your user name in the upper right-hand corner). After making your homepage, head over to People and add your page to the list.

Then, you should check out how to edit a page.

[edit] Tips

Use Bookmarks! You can mark pages as bookmarks by going into their "Info" tab. When a page is bookmarked you'll be able to remember it later on, and also see if it has been changed (without having to check Recent Changes).

Link link link! After you've made a page, search the wiki to find places where you can add links to your new page. After all, if you make a page, shouldn't you make sure everyone else can see it? Occurrences of the page name are immediate candidates for links. Beyond this, you can get creative and link relevant text accordingly.

Preview! Always click "Preview" before you click "Save Changes" in order to make sure everything looks right, etc! Even the best of us forget this all too often.

More tips can be found in Quick Wiki Tips.

[edit] Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have a question? Did you read through here, look at how to edit a page, and play with the Sandbox? Do you still have a question? Then ask it!

Go to the FAQ and press Edit. Just scroll to the bottom, ignore anything that's written (but leave it there), and ask your question (don't worry about anything — just type!). Add your signature to the question by typing 4 tilde marks (~) in a row with no spaces, then save the page. Then hold tight and wait for someone to come along and answer your question. Questions are good as they help us improve the Chester Wiki!

If that seems like too much work, the dwiki irc channel usually has people in it.