Help:Editing
From AtheistWiki
If you have never edited a wiki before, the first thing you should know is that it is very easy.
Contents |
Editing a page which already exists
If you want to edit a page which already exists then you should click on the "edit" button at the top of the page. This will change your view of the page to the code behind the page. Don't let this frighten you as it's very easy to understand. You will see that, with few exceptions, it's made up of real text. Edit this text, or add to it, and then click "Show preview" at the bottom of the page - this will let you see what your text will look like when (or if) you decide to save it.
If you still see something which you don't like, then edit in the box below and click on "Show preview" again. If you're happy with the result then click on "save page" at the bottom and you're done.
Of course you don't have to preview first, if it's a small edit like a spelling correction you would probably simply click "save page" without doing a preview first.
Edit summary
A the bottom of the page you will see a long oblong text box with the word "summary" to the left. You can use this box to tell other people what sort of edit you have made. Some people like to put the first line of the paragraph they have added to give others an idea of their edit.
This is a minor edit
If you have only corrected the spelling of one word or made some other small change then you should click the "This is a minor edit" box so that other users know that you have not made a major change to an article they may be watching.
Watch this page
Many regular wiki users like to be able to easily see when a page that interests them has been changed. If you click the "watch this page" box at the bottom of the page then any changes to it will show up in bold when you look at the " Recent changes" page. You can obtain the same result by clicking the "watch" tab at the top of the page.
Creating a new page
If you wish to crate a page on a new topic then enter the topic in the search box to the left click on "Go". If the topic already exists then you can edit if if you like. If it does not exist then you will be offered the opportunity to create it. The conventions we would like you to follow are indicated below - but nobody will shout at you if you don't follow them exactly or make any mistakes.
Talk pages
Every article page also has an associated talk page. Please feel free to raise any relevant issue on this page.
Conventions
If the title is two words then only the first word should usually be capitalized. The topic you are defining should be the first word or should be included in the first sentence and it should be in bold. The simplest way to make something bold is to select it with your cursor and then click the B button to the top left of the editing box.
Headings
If you wish to create a heading then write your heading text, select it, and click on the big A button at the top left of the editing page. You can obtain the same result by entering == each side of the text you want to be your heading. If you wish to create sub-headings then write your heading and put ===my heading=== where "my heading" is replaced by the text you want to use.
Categories
It is a good idea to end your new page with a category. You do this by entering [[your category]] where "your category" is the category you wish to use. A list of existing categories can be found here. If you cannot see an appropriate category then please create one. You do this by simply including the [[your new category]] at the bottom of the page. This will create a new category in red. Please also click on this red link and write a small definition of the new category.
Sandbox
If you want to test your wiki editing skills then please use the sandbox.
