Help:Quick Guide to Creating and Editing Articles
Contents |
[edit] Log In
- Find Log in / create account link at top right hand corner of WikiNorthia site.
[edit] New Article
- Search WikiNorthia using the search box on the home page to ascertain if an article on the topic you have chosen already exists
- If there is no match you will receive a message reading: ‘There is no page titled ....... You can create this page.’
- Click on the link create this page
- WikiNorthia will create a new page for this subject with a text box. You can type an article or paste text from a word document or similar and edit and format appropriately within the text box.
[edit] Edit an existing article
- If you search for an article that already exists WikiNorthia will take you to that page. Towards the bottom of the column of links on the left hand side is an Edit link. Click on this if you need to edit multiple sections.
- Each section has its’ own edit link at the right hand side of the section heading. Click there to edit that section.
[edit] Before adding content
Before adding content make sure you are familiar with the WikiNorthia Style manual, particularly the section on Quality. It is important to break articles up under appropriate headings to make them easier for users to scan. It is also important to acknowledge sources and references.
[edit] Text Box
- Within the text box you can add additional information, alter incorrect information, correct misspellings etc.
- Any changes should be made carefully and should only be made to improve an article. Don’t edit articles casually. Make sure that any information you add is clear, correct and verifiable.
[edit] Section Headings
- If articles will extend to more than 300 words, consider breaking the article into logically headed sections. This will make the article much more accessible for readers. The sections might include one or several paragraphs focusing on a particular time, area, occurrence or issue.
- Once you have decided how the article divides into logical sections, enter an appropriate heading to each section of the article. Each section heading should be highlighted, then click on the
icon. It will insert the section heading correctly like this ==Heading==. If you feel there are appropriate section subheadings under a particular heading enter them like this ===Subheading===.
- The other benefit of this, apart from clarity, is that WikiNorthia will automatically create a contents box of headings and subheadings.
[edit] Contents
- As above a contents box will be automatically created if you break your article into headed sections. The headings and subheadings in the contents box will link to that section. See the contents box at the top of this page for example.
[edit] Category
All articles will be listed within at least one subcategory. If appropriate items may be identified under several subcategories. Prior to entering the article choose an existing category from the category list that appears on each page:
- Art & Literature
- Buildings
- Community
- Environment
- Events
- People
- Places
- Sports & Recreation
- Transport
- Work & Commerce
Click on the category chosen and choose a subcategory. When you complete your article enter the subcategory you have chosen within double square brackets. For instance Category: Community leaders enclosed in square brackets [[ ]]. The article will automatically be placed under that subcategory within the People category.
[edit] Preview and Save
- When you are editing or creating a page there are three buttons at the bottom of the screen allowing you to show changes ; show preview ; and save changes .
- If editing a page click on Show Changes (which will highlight the text you have edited). For new pages (and for editing too) click on Show Preview (which will show the page as it would appear once published). Always do this to check your work before saving (and publishing) your article. When you are satisfied with the content click on Save Page. The page will be published online including any changes you have made. Once you have done this check the page again. If it is a new article, try browsing for it via the category and subcategory you have placed it in.
[edit] PDF documents
Usually articles should be added in text. There may be occasions when PDF documents are linked from an article to add to the information. A typical case where a pdf document is included might be a list. For example an article about a cricket team might have a PDF document attached that lists all captains and award winners. It is important that these PDF documents don't exceed 150kb. In most cases consider converting the documents to plain text.
[edit] Audio and Video
At this point the input of other media such as audio and video is still in development. Contact admin@wikinorthia.net.au for further details.
[edit] Text Box Icons
- The text box has a number of icons at the top, which make it easy for you to do a range of things on your page. For instance use the icons to insert links, insert headings, insert images, insert references, bold or italic text etc.
- A number of these icons will be low use or self explanatory. If you place your cursor over an icon, text, explaining the function of the icon, will pop up.
- Below is an explanation of some of the common icons.
[edit] Embedded image
- To include a photograph in your article it is first necessary to upload it to WikiNorthia.
- Under the Toolbox heading in the left hand menu choose Upload File. Then select the image you want to upload by typing in the file name or selecting it using the browse menu. In the next box choose a name for the file. This should be one or two words followed by file type, preferably .jpg. If your file name is two words, connect with underscore - for instance Edwin_Bastings.jpg.
- Keep image sizes to under 100kb. The images are intended to illustrate the article rather than to be displayed at archival quality.
- In the summary box include a meaningful caption for the photograph, then choose to upload the file. Now the file is available to be included in an article.
- To include the image in an article place the cursor where you want the image to be displayed. Click on the embedded image icon
. Enter the name of the image and orientation and size within the brackets. For instance: Image:My picture.jpg|right|200px.
- The size is expressed in pixels. It is recommended to limit the size of images to between 100 and 300 pixels.
- If you don't designate a size the image will display at the size it was uploaded.
- Alternately you can describe the image as a thumbnail and it will display at a standard size - for example Image:My picture.jpg|thumb|right
- The image displayed within the page will automatically link to the full size image, (regardless of whether it is designated as a thumb or not). With very rich images you may want to upload a large (80kb) version but designate a small size (either thumb or up to 300 pixels) that fits within your page. Anyone reading your article can view it at the size it was uploaded by clicking on the image in the article.
[edit] External link
- To link to an external site highlight the text you wish to create the link from and click the external link icon
. Enter the url then a space and the text to be linked within the brackets. For example the URL, then a space, followed by Yarra Plenty Regional Library within square brackets will display as Yarra Plenty Regional Library – linking directly to that site.
- Only link to external sites where the information is particularly relevant to your article.
- Remember that if you create an external link, it is your responsibility to regularly check that the link remains live and to remove the link if the destination URL ceases to be active or ceases to be relevant.
[edit] Internal link
- This should be used to link to other articles within WikiNorthia. The piece of text highlighted should be the exact title of another article (this includes capitalisation).
- Click on the internal link icon
, the text will be automatically [bracketed] creating a link to the named article in WikiNorthia.
- For instance if the article you are writing refers to Edwin Bastings and you wish to create a link from your article to a WikiNorthia article on Bastings, check WikiNorthia to see whether an article on him exists. If it does, enter his name exactly as it appears in the article title – in this case Edwin Bastings (1828-1909). Highlight the text, click on the internal link icon, and a link to the article about Bastings on WikiNorthia will automatically be created.
- Remember to check that an article exists within WikiNorthia before linking, and that your link is the exact title of that article, otherwise the link will go to a page that doesn’t exist yet!
[edit] My Watchlist
Use the My Watchlist function to keep track of changes to any article on WikiNorthia. You must be logged in to access My Watchlist. Go to the article you wish to watch. Click on the Watch link (the last link under Views on the left hand side of your screen). Then go to the My Preferences link at the top right hand side of the screen. The first time you go to My Preferences you will receive a prompt requesting that you confirm your email address. Following confirmation you will receive an acknowledging email. To ensure you receive emails advising any changes made to pages you have added to your watchlist, tick the box E-mail me when a page I'm watching is changed.
You can click on the My Watchlist link (from links at top right hand of screen). There is an option to remove pages from your watchlist from within the My Watchlist page.
