Help:Editing
So you want to edit PortlandWiki? Well, don't screw anything up.
Just kidding! It's impossible to screw PortlandWiki up, since everything can be undone. So go wild. But if you want some guidance on what are best practices (and most of us do), keep reading.
Not the editing and writing type? Check out our to do list, it's full of random miscellaneous things to do that will help us build a great Portland resource we can all enjoy and be proud of!
Create a new page!
Creating a new PortlandWiki page is reasonably quick and mostly pain-free. As this wiki matures, there may come a time when most contributions will consist of editing and/or updating existing pages. But Portland Wiki is still growing like half-wild toddler, so what's stopping you? Go ahead, start a new page. You can do it!
Let's look at a few elements[1] you may want to include in even a minimalist new PortlandWiki page[2].
Page title
The first element you'll want to decide on as you create your new wiki page is a page title. The easiest way to entitle your new page is to perform a search to see if another Portland Wiki page already exists with that title. It's not likely you'll run into that problem while Portland Wiki is still a "tot," but if you do, perhaps you can think up another page title.
To search for a page, type your search query into the search box located in the top right corner of any PortlandWiki page.[3]
Consider visiting PortlandWiki's Sandbox page, where PortlandWiki contributors can freshen up their wiki markup skills.
Page structure
To create a new page, please include a minimal page structure, something like:
Clever paragraph header here
Grab your reader's attention with an eye-catching paragraph headline.
Next: two or three sentences about your subject
Now write a witty, light-of-heart (yet heavy of mind) opening paragraph.
Want an image with that?
The appropriate image[4] (one that won't permanently freak out a well-disciplined nun or psychologically harm a small child) can brighten up any wiki page. Here's how you can include an image:
- First, upload your pic by clicking the "Upload file" menu located under the "Toolbox" heading shown in the list of menu items on the left side of the page.
- Next, click on the Edit menu (instructions below) and insert the wiki text to display your image.
The wiki text to display the image shown to the right is:
[[File:Stop-TriMet-Service-Cuts-Rally.JPG|thumb|400px|[[OPAL]]'s [http://www.opalpdx.org/2010/08/rally-for-the-bus/ Rally for the BUS], held in front of [[Portland City Hall]] on September 1st, 2010.]]
How about a handy list?
- Foo
- Bar
- Foo lisH
Templates
Templates are handy pages that simplify text, image or object insertion.
With this example, we'll use a simple {{Foo}} template to insert the word "Foo" into a simple poem:
- There once was a man named McGoo
- Who fixed things with a dollop of glue
- He reached in his pocket
- To fix brok'n locket
- And pulled out a handful of Foo
To use the {{Foo}} template, simply follow the instructions on the Foo template page.
Other Tricks
Templates, Infoboxes, tags, categories and many other bits of wiki stuff help connect articles in useful ways, making PortlandWiki easier to navigate.
<videoflash>nGeXdv-uPaw</videoflash>
Videos
Burdened by an empire in decline, literacy rates that are plummeting and petty little verbal jabs -- like the U.S. becoming “Europe’s Mexico”[5] -- flung our way by high-minded Eurotrash from Old Europe's crustier regions, Americans have a lot to celebrate!
Why?
Because we've got videos!
Not only that, but we've got a handy little tool called VideoFlash installed on PortlandWiki! That means you can embed videos in the articles you edit.
Here's an example of the code you use:
<div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style=""> <videoflash>nGeXdv-uPaw</videoflash> <div class="thumbcaption">[http://youtu.be/nGeXdv-uPaw She's Alive... Beautiful... Finite... Hurting... Worth Dying for.]</div></div></div>
- The top line -- <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style=""> -- aligns your video to the right of the article and allows text to wrap beside it.
- The middle line -- <videoflash>nGeXdv-uPaw</videoflash> -- contains the video code -- nGeXdv-uPaw -- sandwiched between the videoflash tags.
- The last line...
<div class="thumbcaption">[http://youtu.be/nGeXdv-uPaw She's Alive... Beautiful... Finite... Hurting... Worth Dying for.]</div></div></div>
- ...contains the "caption" for your video that you can link back to its source.
The results are what you see to the right on this page! Yaaaay!!!
Tags or Categories
Did you just create or edit a restaurant article? If it's not already tagged with the "Restaurants" category, tag it with the following bit of code at the end of the article:
- [[Category: Restaurants]]
Take a peek under our skirts
Want to see what actual wiki text (wiki formatting mark-up code)[6] looks like so you can "try this at home"? Yes? Click here. (You can also click the "Edit" menu, sandwiched between the "Read" and "View history" menus, which are all located just to the left of the Search box situated at the top, right of each page.)
Useful external links are a nice distraction
- Wikipedia:Meetup Box
- Template:Centralized discussion
- Template:Annotated image
- Format your text using wiki markup.
- How to edit a wiki page.
- Assorted text characters and MediaWiki markup.