ErrorDatabase:Crash course

From ErrorDatabase

Jump to: navigation, search

This article will provide you with a quick overview of how to use MediaWiki, the software that powers this site. You may want to look at some of the following resources as well:

They provide a more comprehensive overview of using MediaWiki, whereas this article is intended to provide you with enough information to get started.

Contents

[edit] Using MediaWiki

[edit] Getting Started

Before you begin participating, it is recommended that you create an account. Doing so will give you access to features you would otherwise not have. For the time being you are not required to be registered to edit or create pages, but certain pages will required you to be logged in. In the future we may decide to require that all users be logged in to edit.

[edit] Editing

Anyone can edit most of the pages on this site. To begin editing click the 'edit' tab at the top of the page. If you do not see an edit tab you probably need to login. If you still don't see an edit tab the page is restricted; use the discussion page (more on this later) to suggest changes.

Once you are on the edit page you will have absolute freedom to change or add whatever you want. Please do not abuse that freedom. It is recommended that you use the discussion page to suggest changes prior to changing what someone else wrote. Use your discretion when determining whether or not to ask before editing. Typos, clarifications, minor organizational changes, and other minor edits do not need to be discussed. We will cover the syntax used when writing pages later.

[edit] Creating a Page

When creating a page, the first step is to choose a title. Once you have a title in mind just navigate to the URL your page will reside at and click the create tab. For example, if title I chose is 'Foo bar' then to create the Foo bar page I will navigate to http://errordatabase.info/wiki/Foo_bar.

[edit] Syntax

This site uses the wiki markup language for page content. Explaining every feature offered by the markup is beyond the scope of this article. Instead we will go over some of the more commonly used markups.

[edit] Sections

To create a section to surround the title of your section with the appropriate number of = symbols: 

= Section Title =

Section content goes here

== Subsection Title ==

Subsection content goes here

Section a page also generates a table of contents. A table will not be generated if there are only a few sections.

[edit] Links

Rather than write out the html code for a link, you can (and should) use the wiki markup link syntax. For internal links, that is, links to pages on this site us the following syntax: 

[[Page_title|Display]]

For example: 

[[Main_Page|Home Page]]

will display: Home Page You should note that the page_title portion of the link is case-sensitive; the pages Main_Page and main_page are distinct. It is okay to link to pages that do not exist; linking to non-existing pages is one way to suggest that a page be created. You may do so at your own discretion, but try to only do it in cases where a page need be created.

External links (links to other sites) use a similar syntax: 

[http://google.com Goolge Search]

will display: Goolge Search

[edit] Categories

Categories are a way of organizing and tagging pages. They can be used to indicate that pages have content related in some way as well as let others know that they need attention (the Drafts and Requests categories are examples of this).

In order to place a page in a category, you need to put the category wiki code at the bottom of the page (it can be placed anywhere, but normally it should be placed at the bottom of the page). If I wanted to put a page in both the PHP and Requests categories I would put the following code at the bottom of the page: 

[[Category:PHP]][[Category:Requests]]

The syntax for adding a page to a category is almost identical to the syntax used to link to a page. For this reason there is a special syntax for linking to a category: 

[[:Category:Requests|Requested Pages]]

will result in Requested Pages

There is also a shortcut syntax for this: 

[[:Category:Requests|]]

will result in Requests

[edit] Lists

Creating lists is very simple. An asterisk (*) denotes each list item. You can use multiple asterisks for lower level list items: 

*Item 1
*Item 2
**Item 2.1
*Item 3

will result in:

  • Item 1
  • Item 2
    • Item 2.1
  • Item 3

To create a numbered list, use a # in place of a *: 

#Item 1
#Item 2
##Item 2.1
#Item 3

will result in:

  1. Item 1
  2. Item 2
    1. Item 2.1
  3. Item 3

[edit] Tables

There is a bit more syntax involved in creating a table, so rather than reinvent the wheel I'll defer to the existing documentation: Tables

[edit] Signatures

Signatures are commonly used on discussion pages in order to indicate who wrote what and when they wrote it: 

:~~~~

will result in:

Tinsley 06:13, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

Of course the information displayed will be different for each user.

[edit] Tips

  • A good way to figure out how something is done is to look at existing examples, such as an existing page. Click the edit tab to take a look at the syntax used to create a page.
Retrieved from "http://unlaunchedprojects.com/wiki/ErrorDatabase:Crash_course"
Personal tools