User:Bdcousineau/sandbox1

Useful links: Help! | The Missing Manual | Manual of Style | Wikipedia Cheatsheet | Community Portal

This is a Wikipedia Manual intended for public librarians, however, the information is useful for anyone who is interested in editing Wikipedia articles, and learning about Wikipedia. It is not intended to be exhaustive, but useful as a starting point for basic information. In each content area, links to relevant articles are embedded into the text. These and other links are repeated in list form at the end of each section as well.

Where should I start?

Background

It’s important to spend some time understanding the conventions and background that created Wikipedia:

Learn why contributing to Wikipedia is important, and read some of the essays on Wikipedia philosophy:

It’s also helpful to read articles on topics that interest you, as well as articles related to other public libraries and library topics. There are also many WikiProjects covering a variety of subjects. A stroll through these and other links will help you “enter into the spirit of community” that constitutes the collective editorship of Wikipedia.

Help Pages and Manuals

There are lots of help pages scattered everywhere in Wikipedia. A great place to start is the main Help Menu.

The Wikimedia Foundation has provided instructional videos about Wikipedia editing and other topics on Youtube:

Wikimedia Foundation

Manuals, tutorials and cheat sheets are essential for the new editor or “newbie”.

Basic Search Tips

There are several basic ways to search.

To search for encyclopedia entries (for example, information about a subject) just type the word into the search bar located at the upper right of the wiki page. It it located below your user information and to the right of the Read/Edit/View History tabs. The results will be returned in a list. If your request doesn’t exist yet, you will be prompted to create the page. Wikipedia is a text search only – typing in a question will not return an answer!
To search for help on performing a task (for example, how to do something on Wikipedia) type Help:your topic.
To search for information on Wikipedia guidelines and policies (for example, conduct, or the 5 pillars) type Wikipedia:your topic.
To search within an existing category (for example, amusement parks or ice hockey) type Category:your topic.
Wikipedia portals are all the entries on a given topic. To search for an existing portal (for example, on cycling) type Portal:your topic.
Wikipedia “projects” or WikiProject, are a group of contributors who gather around a topic to improve the articles on that topic. The directory of WikiProjects is a useful starting point. To search for an existing project(for example on cycling) type Project:your topic.
To search for another contributor, type User:their username.

A guide to all the Wikipedia prefixes or namespaces is also available.

Namespace

Standard search syntax (double quotes, Boolean, exclusion) can be used. Prefix, intitle, and incategory search parameters can also be used.

Be bold - jump in!

Easy edits

An easy way to start editing Wikipedia is to correct typos and grammatical errors, or make small changes to a page’s layout. The Community Portal has a list of “to-do’s” that changes daily. There are always many types of easy edits needed, and instructions. This is a great place to start.

Adding a short sentence is another low-impact choice.

While the coding behind wikimarkup can look intimidating, it is simple to use. A quick way to become familiar with it is by copy-paste.

1. Find the result you’d like to emulate on the “Read” page of an article. For example, in the article on Michigan, this word is a link: freshwater -- it's in blue, indicating that is is linked to a different article in Wikipedia.
2. Open the “edit source” tab, and locate the result as it looks in wikimarkup. In the markup it looks like this: [[freshwater]].
3. Copy and paste the code to the new location, inserting your change. For example you want add the word “French” and make it a link (in the same article): copy [[freshwater]] and replace "freshwater" with "French": French. Since it is blue, it is now a link.

Always choose “show preview” to review your edits before you save them.

Create an Account

Before you begin to edit or write an article, it's useful to register and create a user name and user page. You can, however, also edit and write without registering. In that case any changes are recorded using the IP address of the computer from which they were made. With an account, you can view a list of your contributions and media uploads (Wikimedia Commons), communicate via talk page (see next section), work in your own sandbox, gain permissions to perform complex actions, etc. All entries or changes made are recorded in Wikipedia, and each page has a history page as well as the editable page, where all changes are noted. All Wikipedia pages are viewable by everyone, and most are editable by anyone. The exceptions are “locked” article and pages, denoted by a padlock in the upper right tab bar.

User and Talk Pages

Your User Page

All registered users have user page and a talk page. Your user page tab is located to the right of the Wikipedia logo.

The user page lists static information about yourself, and serves as an introduction to who you are to other users. You might list (but are not required to) topics that interest you, where you are from, or pithy sayings. You do not have to reveal any personal information. Any other user from any Wikipedia project can read your user page, so no information on there is private. After you become more adept at locating others’ user pages, you can get an idea of what to post .... badges, pictures, animations... you can change your user page whenever you’d like.

Your Talk Page

The “Talk” tab is located on the upper left of each page, next to the "User page" tab. Both article pages and user pages have a “Talk” tab.

In the article space, the talk tab is where the “discussion” behind the article takes place. This is where editors comment on the article, suggest changes, and request information from other editors that the article might be missing. These discussions are the “soul of Wikipedia” and are what make Wikipedia such a fascinating place. Major changes to an article happen by consensus, and it is on the article talk page that this process is figured out.

On a user page, the talk tab is where editors leave each other messages about projects they may be collaborating on, or notes about new articles the user might have an interest in, and so on. User talk (as this page is known) is a great place to thank an editor for any help they may have given you, or ask a question about a revision they may have made.

If you leave a message on a talk page, make sure to check the box at the bottom of the editable area called “watch this page” - any changes to that page (another editor's response for example) will be noted on your “Watchlist” (top right of screen, by username). You can then refer back to the page to read the changes.

ALWAYS sign comments you make (but NOT articles) with ~~~~. This signature defaults to your chosen username on any page in Wikipedia. Try it out: open your talk page, choose the edit tab, add ~~~~ into the editable area, and click on “show preview”. You'll see your username and time stamp added to the page.

Be polite, be bold, and join in!

Visual editor

A beta-version of the Visual Editor (VE) is currently available (beginning summer 2013) to editors on Wikipedia. For users unfamiliar with wikimarkup or “source” editing, this might be a good choice. Be aware that this is in the testing phase, and you may encounter errors that may be in the code, and not from the operator!

Once activated, each editable article page will have two tabs:

Edit: to activate the visual editor.
Edit source: to edit the page using traditional wikimarkup.

Visual Editor

Sandbox

The sandbox is an area where you practice all the elements of writing an article – creating content, links, formatting, citing and referencing, etc. – and view the results as they would appear on a “live“ page. You may have more than one sandbox by adding numbers after the word: User:MyName/sandbox1.

A public sandbox is great for practicing, and it gets "cleaned out" on a regular basis by an Administrator. Registered, logged in users who create their personal sandboxes will have to clean them out themselves!

Create a new entry

Before beginning a new article it's essential to check that the article you’d like to write doesn’t already exist on Wikipedia. Use the search bar at the upper right of any Wikipedia page; enter the topic or name of the article you’d like to search for.

Don’t forget to use your sandbox or favorite text editor to create the the “bones” of the article. Remember, thousands of articles are posted to Wikipedia every day, and a large number of them get deleted or revised quickly. Don’t be afraid to engage with the editors that suggest or make changes to your article – just keep it civil!

Things to keep in mind

What Wikipedia is NOT

Wikipedia - and the sister projects - is a lot of things to a lot of people. For some, it is a place to create and work on articles (Wikipedia). For others, it’s a place to develop and use code ( MediaWiki). Others are interested in transcribing primary source materials ( Wikisource), or uploading media ( Wikimedia Commons). If your interests lie beyond contribution to article creation or editing, just look around - chances are you can find a project that interests you.

One of the most common mis-uses of Wikipedia is as a means of promoting a business’ product or service. Wikipedia is not a means of promotion, so please do not use it to advertise the company you work for or your favorite products. If you have a legitimate reason to write about your employer (you work at a public library, for example) be cautious of potential conflict of interest. Some government or state agencies have restrictions on article content written by their employees – for example, you may be able to write about the “stuff” your agency handles (i.e. author biographies) but not the agency’s role in the community.

Wikipedia is also not a blog or a social networking site. While collaboration and friendships naturally occur as you work with other editors, the entries on your User talk pages should stay on topic, and not become status updates. Article talk pages are just that – discussion areas about the article and proposed edits.

More of What Wikipedia is not

Wikipedia's 3 core content policies

Neutral point of view

The neutral point of view (NPOV) is one of the 5 Pillars of Wikipedia, and should be used when writing any article on Wikipedia.

This means that all entries must be treated by a neutral point of view, which means “representing fairly, proportionately, and, as far as possible, without bias, all of the significant views that have been published by reliable sources on a topic”. Editors often use the abbreviation NPOV.

Neutral point of view is the first of Wikipedia's core content policies, and as such determines the narrative quality of the articles and information on Wikipedia. Many edits are made because content does not meet this guideline. Opinions, judgmental language and stating only one point of view are the hallmarks of language that is NOT neutral.

Verifiability

The second of the core content policies is verifiabilty, which means “content is determined by previously published information rather than the beliefs or experiences of its editors.”

All material in Wikipedia, whether it is an article, a list, a table, etc., must be verifiable, that is, it must have a published source external to Wikipedia. Anecdotal evidence is not accepted on Wikipedia, unless it has been published and excerpted.

No Original research

The last main core content policies is that no original research is allowed. “Original” research refers to material for which no reliable published sources exist. Anecdotal evidence, the editor's own conclusions and ideas, unpublished data are all examples of original research and are not allowed on Wikipedia.

Articles in Wikipedia are based on published secondary sources, and those sources must be verified.

Conduct policies

Just as with any other interaction, in the real world or on a social media site, Wikipedia has etiquette. "The Golden Rule" applies here as it does everywhere: treat others as you would like to be treated!

Civility and consensus are the cornerstones of Wikipedia’s conduct policies. Moderation and kindness are always a good choice on any talk page entry.

Civility

Be polite! As in any group or collaborative setting, opinions abound. On Wikipedia, you may express your opinion (on a talk page, not in an article) in a clear, neutral fashion. Be prepared for others to do the same. Avoid sarcasm if possible. If you inadvertantly “step on toes” apologize, and try explaining your position again, if you can do so without creating more harm. If you feel as though an other editor has misunderstood you, assume good faith. If you make an edit to an article, use the talk page to explain your edit. Invite comments from other editors – who knows, you may end up making a new friend!

Consensus

Wikipedia works in part because editors follow conduct policies. One of the most important of these is consensus.

As you build or expand an article, other editors may implement changes to the content. An easy method of accepting a change to your article is to let the change stand as-is. You may also choose to revert the change back to the original state. Or, you can begin a discussion about the change on the article’s talk page. Other editors can and may join in. Building consensus happens on the talk pages behind the articles, while the results are seamlessly worked into the article content.

Consnesus is considered the most suitable and “natural” way to achieve the objectives of the Wikipedia project: synthesized neutral comments emerge and work together to develop the encyclopedia entries. On his userpage, Jimbo Wales has stated that Wikipedia is in a “permanent work-in-progress” – it is this organic process of consensus that ensures both the continual improvement of the articles, and the un-finished nature of Wikipedia.

Anatomy of an Article

Clockwise from the top left:

Project logo: Wikipedia is only one of the sister projects of the Wikimedia Foundation. The “project logo” of the project you are in will always appear here. For a list of other projects look here.
Title: Title of the article.
Lead section: Always the first few sentences of an article, and includes a brief summary and definition of the topic. See "lead section".
Edit tabs: “Read” the article, “edit” the article or “view” the article’s edit history.
User information: About you, including user name, a link to your sandbox, watchlist, contributions and preferences.
Search Bar: For searching with Wikipedia.
Infobox: A fixed-format table in the upper right of some articles that summarizes consistent data for that category. See "infobox" for more information.
Body of Article: The content of the article resides here.
Source information: Article references and cited sources are listed here.
Navbox: A navbox is part of Wikipedia’s templating system. Templates allow users to reproduce similar content quickly and efficiently.
Portal info: if the article is part of a portal, it will be noted here.
Categories: used to link articles under a common topic.
Licensing information:If needed, licensing information will be here.
Sidebar: The sidebar contains quick links to other areas in the English Wikipedia (Main Page, Current Events, etc), Help areas, a Toolbox, and the other language Wikipedias that have an article on this topic.
Contents: The contents template is automatically generated for each article, and is an outline of the sections and sub-sections of the article.

Additional Information

Wikipedia Loves Libraries

Wikipedia Loves Libraries is an initiative for improved Wikipedia engagement with libraries of all kinds (public libraries, archives, research and university libraries, etc.), and an annual campaign of wiki-workshops and Edit-a-thons and other community events at libraries concurrent with Open Access Week in October/November.

Any library can participate, and events do not need to be limited to October/November. Having a local edit-a-thon is a great idea at any time to encourage cross-use of the library space by Wikipedia editors and patrons who can watch editing "in action". Library Collaborations lists on-going and timely events.

Information about Wikipedia, libraries, and on-going projects is available in these locations:

Useful Pages

Reading

Along with the bibliographies on the Wikipedia Loves Libraries pages, the following will be of interest: