Difference between revisions of "Willipedia:FAQ"

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''The [[Wiki_board|Willipedia board]] is well aware that this page isn't very helpful now.  Please do post your questions here, and be aware that we are working on a comprehensive page for this and other guiding necessities. We will post notice when we have made substantial improvements.''
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'''How do I ask questions about Willipedia that aren't listed here?'''
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Email <email>wiki@wso.williams.edu</email> to contact the [[Willipedia board]], which will answer your question promptly and may place it here.  Alternately, you may add your question to this page if you think seeing the answer is in the interest of the public, and the board or another user may answer it.
  
 
==General questions==
 
==General questions==
  
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'''Where should questions about Willipedia be directed?'''
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'''How do I add a page?'''
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There are two ways to add a page.
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# You can create a link to it from another page.  Edit the page which will link to your new page, and put in something about the page you want to add, including its exact title enclosed in  double square brackets, <code><nowiki>[[like this]]</nowiki></code>. Click "Save page" at the bottom, and you will see a link to your new page included on the existing page. This link will be red, since the new page does not yet exist.  Clicking on it will allow you to create your new page.
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# Alternatively, put the title of the page you want to create in the text box on the left sidebar of every Willipedia page; then click on "Start this article."
  
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<email>wiki@wso.williams.edu</email> Alternately, you may add your question to this page if you think seeing the answer is in the interest of the public.
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Important: before creating a new page, you should search the wiki for the term you want to be the title of your page; if it already exists, there's no need to recreate it.  (Be sure to check for the same title with different capitalization; this should happen automatically when you search.)
  
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'''How do I add a page?'''
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'''How do I delete a page?'''
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You don't.  You can edit a page, you can even delete all the text on a page, but normal users cannot actually delete a page. The reason for this restriction is that deleting a page removes all of that page's edit history, which makes reversion or further improvement of that page impossible.  Where possible, you should try to improve pages rather than annihilate them in this way.  Currently, only members of the [[Willipedia board]] have the power to delete, and use it sparingly. If you think a page should be deleted, you can delete all the text on the page and put the word delete within two sets of curly brackets, like this: <code><nowiki>{{delete}}</nowiki></code>.
  
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To add a page, you must first link it from another page. The first thing to do is to search the wiki for the term you want to be the title of your page; if it already exists, you can put double square brackets around the word, and then click Save page at the bottom, and then you will see the text of your title in red on the preexisting page. Click on that, and edit away; now you have your new page. In general, go to an existing page that is related to the page you want to add. Put in something about the page you want to add, including the exact title of the page you want to create, and put that in square brackets. Then do as above.
 
  
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'''How do I delete a page?'''
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'''How do I upload a file?'''
  
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You don't.  You can edit a page, you can even delete all the text on a page, but general users cannot delete a page because deleting a page removes all of that pages edit history, which makes reversion or further improvement of that page possible.  Where possible, we should improve pages rather than annihilate them in this way.  Currently, only members of the [[Wiki_board|Willipedia board]] have the power to delete, and use it sparingly. If you think a page should be deleted, you can delete all the text on the page and put the word delete within two sets of curly brackets.
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Log in, and then go to the [[Special:Upload|file uploading page]]. (This page can be accessed by clicking on "Special pages" at the top right of any Willipedia page, and then selecting "Upload file.")
  
 
==Formatting questions==
 
==Formatting questions==
  
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'''How do I format something like a poem?'''
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''For a more exhaustive list, see [http://wso.williams.edu/wiki/index.php/Help:Editing Editing help].''
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'''I left lines between paragraphs of text, but my text is showing up as one big block. How do I fix it?'''
  
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To make the wiki recognize single carraige returns, preface each line with a colon, like this :Hi.
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To create a division between paragraphs skip a line (two carriage returns) in the edit box.  To indent text, preface each paragraph (or each line, in a poem) with a colon. ''':Hi.''' produces
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:Hi.
  
 
'''How do I make something bold or italicized?'''
 
'''How do I make something bold or italicized?'''
  
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Italicized text has two single quotes (') around it. Bold text has three.
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Italicized text has two single quotes (<code>'</code>) on either side of it, <code><nowiki>''like this''</nowiki></code>. Bold text has three quotes on each side.
  
 
'''How do I offset a block of text, like a long quotation from another source?'''
 
'''How do I offset a block of text, like a long quotation from another source?'''
  
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At the beginning of the text block, put the word blockquote between < >. At the end, put it between </ >.
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At the beginning of the text block, put <code><nowiki><blockquote></nowiki></code>. At the end, put <code><nowiki></blockquote></nowiki></code>. If the text block has multiple paragraphs, do this for each paragraph, or use colons as described above.
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'''What if I want to link to an article, but I don't want to use the article's title or capitalization style as the linking word?'''
 
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Put this [[ | ]], with the actual title of the article in the space to the left of the line, and the words you want to appear in your article in the space to the right of the line. (The vertical line is often found below Backspace, and requires use of the Shift key.)
 
  
 
'''What if I want to format something and the answer isn't here?'''
 
'''What if I want to format something and the answer isn't here?'''
  
 
Go to a page that has the formatting you want, click on "Edit page," and see how  it works there. Then click "back" so you don't change anything about the page. If you think many people would like to know the answer, add it to this section.
 
Go to a page that has the formatting you want, click on "Edit page," and see how  it works there. Then click "back" so you don't change anything about the page. If you think many people would like to know the answer, add it to this section.

Latest revision as of 23:46, December 5, 2006

How do I ask questions about Willipedia that aren't listed here?

Email <email>wiki@wso.williams.edu</email> to contact the Willipedia board, which will answer your question promptly and may place it here. Alternately, you may add your question to this page if you think seeing the answer is in the interest of the public, and the board or another user may answer it.

General questions

How do I add a page? There are two ways to add a page.

  1. You can create a link to it from another page. Edit the page which will link to your new page, and put in something about the page you want to add, including its exact title enclosed in double square brackets, [[like this]]. Click "Save page" at the bottom, and you will see a link to your new page included on the existing page. This link will be red, since the new page does not yet exist. Clicking on it will allow you to create your new page.
  2. Alternatively, put the title of the page you want to create in the text box on the left sidebar of every Willipedia page; then click on "Start this article."

Important: before creating a new page, you should search the wiki for the term you want to be the title of your page; if it already exists, there's no need to recreate it. (Be sure to check for the same title with different capitalization; this should happen automatically when you search.)

How do I delete a page?

You don't. You can edit a page, you can even delete all the text on a page, but normal users cannot actually delete a page. The reason for this restriction is that deleting a page removes all of that page's edit history, which makes reversion or further improvement of that page impossible. Where possible, you should try to improve pages rather than annihilate them in this way. Currently, only members of the Willipedia board have the power to delete, and use it sparingly. If you think a page should be deleted, you can delete all the text on the page and put the word delete within two sets of curly brackets, like this: {{delete}}.


How do I upload a file?

Log in, and then go to the file uploading page. (This page can be accessed by clicking on "Special pages" at the top right of any Willipedia page, and then selecting "Upload file.")

Formatting questions

For a more exhaustive list, see Editing help.

I left lines between paragraphs of text, but my text is showing up as one big block. How do I fix it?

To create a division between paragraphs skip a line (two carriage returns) in the edit box. To indent text, preface each paragraph (or each line, in a poem) with a colon. :Hi. produces

Hi.

How do I make something bold or italicized?

Italicized text has two single quotes (') on either side of it, ''like this''. Bold text has three quotes on each side.

How do I offset a block of text, like a long quotation from another source?

At the beginning of the text block, put <blockquote>. At the end, put </blockquote>. If the text block has multiple paragraphs, do this for each paragraph, or use colons as described above.

What if I want to format something and the answer isn't here?

Go to a page that has the formatting you want, click on "Edit page," and see how it works there. Then click "back" so you don't change anything about the page. If you think many people would like to know the answer, add it to this section.

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