Help:Editing
Contents |
Sign Up
Before you can add a page or edit content, you must first sign up and log in. The process is fairly easy. Just click on the link in the top right of the page. Follow the prompts to establish a user name and password. Then, you'll be able to continue.
How to Add a Page
There are two ways to add a page to the site:
1. In an existing page, find the term/company/person/etc. that you would like to have as its own page. In the editing panel, highlight the item and create an internal link to it (see how to do this below). Since a page is not yet started under this term, the listing will appear in red instead of the normal blue/purple link color. If you click on the term, you will be taken to a fresh page where you will be invited to start a new page.
2. Type in the term (exactly as you want it to appear… includes appropriate capitalization) in the search box found on the top right-hand-side of the page. Hit “Go.” On the search results page, a note will appear, letting you know that “No page title matches” your term. It will also say: “You can create this page.” If you click on that link, you will be able to add content.
Note: Be sure to type in the term/name/etc. exactly as you want it to appear. This will be how it is labeled in the future. Also, be sure to read through any other choices listed under the search term… in case it’s already listed in some other format (abbreviated, etc.). This will help avoid duplications.
How to Add/Edit Content
The wiki program is designed to allow anyone to add or edit content on a page. The steps needed to do so are fairly straight-forward; however, there are some coding language specifics that you will need to learn to add headers, font styles, images, etc.
- Page Title
The title of the page will already be there because it will use the search term/link name that you already generated.
- Body Copy
The rest of the page is open for adding or editing the content. To add content, you can just type in (or copy and paste from another document) what you’d like to include.
There are certain formatting steps that need to be taken to add bold/italics/subheads and more. Across the top of the editing page, there are icons that allow you to quickly and easily add the formatting. All you must do is highlight the copy and click on the appropriate formatting button. Here’s a brief explanation of the major buttons (from left to right on the menu):
1. B = bold copy
Mediawiki coding: Adds three apostrophes before and after the selected item
How it looks on the page: '''bolded item'''
2. I = italics copy
Mediawiki coding: Adds quote marks around the selected item
How it looks on the page: ''italics item''
3. Ab = creates an internal link (which means it will link to another item that’s already been created or soon will be created on TheAquapedia.com)
Mediawiki coding: Puts double brackets around the words that will be linked
How it looks on the page: [[item that is linked]]
4. Globe icon = creates an external link (for example, a link to another Website). You will need to write in http:// before the Web address. Also note: There are several different ways that the link can appear.
Mediawiki coding: Puts the Website address (including the prefix http://) in brackets. The wording that you want it linked to should be written directly after the Web address and before the final brackets.
How it looks on the page: [http://www.hanleywood.com Hanley Wood]
5. A = adds a subhead to the page. Note: This is automatically underlined, so you don’t have to add an additional horizontal line underneath it.
Mediawiki coding: Puts the subhead text within two sets of == marks.
How it looks on the page: == Subhead ==
6. Picture icon = adds an embedded file to the page. Note: Before you can link to an image, you must upload the image file. See how to do so below.) You cannot link to images hosted on other external Websites.
Mediawiki coding: Puts brackets around the word File: and the name of the file selected
How it looks on the page: [[File:Example.jpg]]
7. Trumpet icon = a way to add media files to the page
Mediawiki coding: Puts brackets around the word Media: and the name of the file selected
How it looks on the page: [[Media:Example.pdf]]
8. Square root symbol = adds math formulas to the write up
Mediawiki coding: Puts <math> and </math> around the actual formula
How it looks on the page: <math>a + b = c</math>
9. W circled and crossed out = ignores the wiki formatting
Mediawiki coding: Puts and around the words
How it looks on the page: text w/out wikification
10. Cursive writing = adds a signature line to the item
Mediawiki coding: Adds --Theaqua1 03:11, 16 November 2009 (UTC)
How it looks on the page: --Theaqua1 03:11, 16 November 2009 (UTC)
11. — = adds a horizontal rule (isn’t used much)
Mediawiki coding: The following symbols are placed on their own line ----
How it looks on the page: ----
Note: You’re always given the option to preview a page before you save it, so you should be able to spot any errors before it goes live. Otherwise, don’t stress too much, everything can be edited or adjusted if it doesn’t turn out quite like you expected.
- Editing Resources
These links may also help you as you’re editing the page:
1. Editing Tips from WikiEducator
3. Editing Cheatsheet from Wikipedia
4. Editing Reference Card from Wikimedia
Categories
To make it easier for other users to search for items on the site, you can place each item in whatever categories apply to it. For example, if it’s a write-up of an industry firm, we want to include it in the “Companies and Organizations” category.
Note: While the category code can be listed anywhere on the page, our style has this placed as the very last item on the page, so it’s easier for people to find.
1. To add a category, simply place the following code at the bottom of the page: [[Category:CategoryName]] So, for a company's category listing, it would look like this: [[Category:Companies and Organizations]]
2. You can include multiple categories for each item. You just need to list them separately. So a distributor’s potential categories could be listed as:
[[Category:Companies and Organizations]]
[[Category:Distributors]]
3. Within the actual page for each category, the software automatically sorts the items alphabetically based on the first word in the Page Title. So, Pool & Spa News will be placed under “P”. However, with people’s names, this is not helpful. To force the category to sort it differently, you need to specify how you’d like the item to appear. To do this, you need to add an additional bit of code:
For a listing on Maria Bella, for example, you would need to use this as the category code:
[[Category:People|Bella, Maria]]
Now, it will sort it with the “B”s instead of the “M”s.
4. Here are our current categories:
[[Category:Companies and Organizations]]
[[Category:Terms and Phrases]]
[[Category:Events]]
[[Category:Legislation]]
[[Category:Products]]
[[Category:Projects]]
How to Add Images/PDFs/Media to a Page
There is also a fairly streamlined process for adding photos and other media to a page. Please note that copyrighted images should not be posted without permission.
You first need to upload the item to the Website. To do this:
1. In the “Toolbox” box on the left sidebar, select “Upload file.”
2. In the “Source filename” box, you can browse to find the file that you’d like to upload. Simply click on the file and its info will be entered into the field.
3. In the “Summary” box, add a brief description of the photo.
4. Click on “Upload file” and it’s been loaded to the site.
Then, on the page that you’d like to place the photo, you need to add some code.
If you are just placing the photo as is, the code would be:
[[Image:name.jpg]]
If you would like it to appear on the right side of the page (which will be our standard placement), the code should be:
[[Image:name.jpg|right]]
Adjustments can also be made to add a frame, caption, text around the photo. See the cheat sheets listed above for these options.
