Help:Editing Articles

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Contents

Introduction

The MediaWiki software used by this site makes editing articles relatively easy. The following sections detail the commonly used markup and should provide a basic start in writing articles for this website. For more detail or instructions for more sophisticated commands, please see the Wikipedia 'How to edit a page' article. If you are already familiar with editing articles in Wikipedia then you don't need to read any further as these two sites use the same underlying software.

Formatting Articles

Basic Character Formatting

The most common markup used within articles are the bold and italic commands. To use these, simply enclose the text in question as follows:

Command Result
''italics'' italics
'''bold''' bold
'''''bolded italics''''' bolded italics

Sections

To help improve the readability and organization of the article, users can add headings and subheadings to split things up into different sections. In addition to presenting the headings within the main body of the article, ProPhotoWiki will automatically produce a table of contents at the top of articles with more than three sections.

To create sections, use enclose the header with two or more equals signs on each side (eg ==Heading==, ===First-Level Subheading===, ====Second-Level Subheading====, etc.). This allows headings to be nested within one another, providing further context to the information and allowing users to go directly to the content they want via the table of contents.

Links

Pleural Forms

Note that if the pleural form of an article is required, use the singular form of the article title for the link and place the extra character outside of the link. That is, to get Articles you would enter [[Article]]s. When MediaWiki interprets the code it will automatically detect this and expand the link.

Case Sensitivity

It is also important to note that article names are case sensitive, so 'WiFi' is different than 'Wifi'. If alternate capitalizations are required, use the pipe convention noted above (eg [[WiFi|Wifi]]). Note that the first letter in an article name will automatically be capitalized, so article is the same as Article.

Link Appearance

Internal links pointing to articles that already exist within ProPhotoWiki will appear in Blue (like this). If an article hasn't been written yet, it will appear in Red (like this). Note that even if an article hasn't been written yet, you are still encouraged to produce links when appropriate as it will encourage other users to create those articles.

When to Create Links

When writing articles, it is advised that links be used for any terms that readers may want further information on. The author should ask themselves whether it is possible a reader may not understand the term, and provide a link if not. When in doubt, it is generally a good idea to use a link as it will likely help more people than it will hurt. Naturally, as this is a bit of a difficult thing to quantify, please look at other ProPhotoWiki articles for examples of when to use them and when not to use them.

Categories

In order to make it easier for readers to navigate the Wiki, articles can be placed into Categories. By clicking on the category link at the bottom of an article, readers can quickly find other articles on similar topics. Further, the main page of the Wiki provides a list of the more popular categories so readers can also browse from there.

To add your article to a category, simply place the following at the very bottom of your article:

  • [[Category:Computers]] (Replace Computers with the name of the category you'd like to use).

Asside from adding a link to that category, it also causes this article to be added to the index of articles. This process is handled automatically, so no further action is necessary.

Please note that users are strongly advised to use categories that already exist in the system. Adding new categories takes a number of additional steps and is a process best performed by administrators. For a list of existing categories please see this link.

Lists

Lists are another common structure that is required when writing articles. As with the other formating conventions, MediaWiki uses a relatively simple mechanism to handle this process. To create a simple bulleted list, simply use the following format: 

* This is the first item in the list.
* This is the second item in the list.
** This is a child item to the above.
* This is the third item in the list.
** This is a child to the third item.
*** This is a child to the above subitem.
* etc...

Which would result in the following:

  • This is the first item in the list.
  • This is the second item in the list.
    • This is a child item to the above.
  • This is the third item in the list.
    • This is a child to the third item.
      • This is a child to the above subitem.
  • etc...

A single asterisk at the begining of a line indicates a bulleted item. Two or more asterisks indicate increasingly lower level bullet points, allowing you to create nested lists. If you'd like to create a numbered list, simply use the number sign (#) instead of the asterisk: 

# This is the first item in the list.
# This is the second item in the list.
## This is a child item to the above.
# This is the third item in the list.
## This is a child to the third item.
### This is a child to the above subitem.
# etc...

Resulting in the following:

  1. This is the first item in the list.
  2. This is the second item in the list.
    1. This is a child item to the above.
  3. This is the third item in the list.
    1. This is a child to the third item.
      1. This is a child to the above subitem.
  4. etc...

Tables

One of the more complex structures to create in ProPhotoWiki are tables. These allow information to be presented in a very structured manner, but the simple text format used by the editor makes it difficult to enter this data. Due to the complexity of this task, please refer to the Wikipedia article for detailed instructions.

Superscript/Subscript

MediaWiki simply uses the standard HTML markup for superscripts and subscripts. To create a superscript or subscript, simply enter the following code:

  • <sup>Superscript</sup> which will generate Superscript.
  • <sub>Subscript</sub> which will generate Subscript.

Comments

Comments allow users to insert messages into the code for users who edit the article in the future. Text stored within these blocks will be invisible to normal readers and only seen once the editing interface is opened. To generate a comment, simply use the following format:

<!-- Write your comment here -->

Note that discussions about content should be reserved for the associated Talk page. Use comments only to refer to structural elements in order to assist future editors in making changes without damaging the formating in use on the page.

Creating and Editing Articles

Editing an Existing Article

If you see an existing article that needs modification, simply click the 'edit' tab at the top of the window. This will automatically load the article into the editor and allow you to edit as desired. When you've made your changes, click the Show preview button and ProPhotoWiki will generate a preview of your article. If everything is as intended, simply write a quick summary of the changes you've made into the summary field and click the Save page button to commit your changes.

Minor Edits

If the edit that you've made is relatively minor, please check the This is a minor edit checkbox below the summary. This helps editors review changes that have been made, as they indicate how significant the changes are. Only leave this box unchecked when making significant changes such as adding new sections or rewriting several paragraphs.

The Sandbox

As many new users may not be comfortable editing a live article the first time out, we have a sandbox article that can be used to try things out. This article provides no useful function other than to serve as a place for users to test out the system and become familiar with the way everything works. It is strongly advised that new users play around with this when first granted write access to ProPhotoWiki to sharpen their skills.

Creating a New Article

If you see a Red Link in ProPhotoWiki it means that the article being linked to has not yet been created. If you feel that you can contribute information on this topic, simply click on the link and you will be automatically placed into the editing interface to create the new article.

This is, by far, the most common way that new articles are created in wikis such as this one. Asside from helping clarify the contents of other articles, this method ensures that there is at least one article pointing to the new content. Without that, it is possible that many users will not find your new article.

When you would like to create a new article that isn't referred to in other messages, simply enter the name in the Search box and press Go. If the article doesn't exist, ProPhotoWiki will offer you the option to create the article. Simply click the link and you will be presented with the editing interface.

Cross-Linking

Once you've created a new article, it is advised that you look for similar articles in ProPhotoWiki and add references. Almost all articles contain a See Also section at the end, so this is generally the most appropriate location to do this. This ensures that readers will be able to find your content and makes the Wiki easier to navigate.

Redirects

If the topic that you wrote the article about is referred to by multiple names, it is advised that you create redirects using those names. This ensures that any links pointing to those alternate names will reach the proper article, and cuts down on the ammount of duplicate material in the Wiki. To create a redirect, simply create a new article using the alternate name and then link it to the first with the following syntax:

  • #REDIRECT [[Article]] (Replace Article with the name of the real article)
Once this is done, any links pointed at this article will automatically be directed to the link entered above. This process is transparent to the reader and makes the system much easier to navigate.

Stubs

Stubs are a type of placeholder article that provides some basic information (usually just a definition) and requires expansion. If you run across any stubs in the Wiki and feel that you can flesh out the topic, we strongly encourage you to do so. Stubs are automatically added to the Stubs category so that editors can quickly find them and complete the task.

Creating a Stub

When you come across a link pointing to a non-existent article and feel that you are able to provide some basic information it is advised that you create a Stub. To do so, simply click on the link and add the code {{Stub}} to the top of the article. This will automatically insert a header notifying users that this article is just a stub, and will also add it to the Stubs category for you.

While writing a full article is definately preferred, sometimes time or knowledge doesn't allow you to do so. Creating stubs provides readers with some basic information until the article can be fleshed out by another reader. In addition, it flags the article so that other users who may have additional information will notice it.

Finishing Stubs

Users with the ability to contribute to ProPhotoWiki are strongly advised to periodically check the stubs category and finish up any articles they can. Even if you are unable to write the entire article, simply add as much information as you can as it may assist readers looking into the topic.

If you are able to completely flesh out a stub article, simply delete the {{Stub}} marker from the begining of the article. This will remove the stub header and take it off of the list of stubs in the system.

See Also

External Links

Retrieved from "http://www.prophotowiki.com/w/index.php/Help:Editing_Articles"
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