Thelemapedia:Tutorial (Editing)

(Revision as of 00:11, 20 Jan 2005)

Editing pages is one of the most basic ways to have fun with Thelemapedia.

Editing pages

We'll start with the most basic Wiki feature of all: editing a page. With the exception of a few protected pages, every wiki page has a link at the top that says "edit". This link lets you do exactly what it says: edit the page you're looking at. Sites such as these where users can edit anything are known as wikis.

Try it! In a new browser window or tab, open the Temp Zone, and then click the "edit" link (Caution: DO NOT press the "edit" button above on this page). You'll see the wiki code for that page. Add anything you like..don't worry about messing anything up—that's what the Temp Zone is for! Then save it and see what you've done. Have a good time playing with the wiki! You might leave the page open to try out other things in the tutorial.

Show preview

An important feature to start using now is Show preview, which allows you to see what the page will look like after your edit, even before you save. Try making an edit in the Temp Zone, then clicking the Show Preview button. We all make mistakes, and this lets you catch them immediately. If you make a habit of using Show Preview before saving, you'll save yourself and other editors a lot of trouble. It also lets you try out format changes without actually changing the article until you're satisfied.

This is especially important if you think you may be making other edits on the page. It is a good idea to Save as few times as possible, to keep the Recent Changes page uncluttered.

The only other important thing to remember is: save your preview before moving on. A common mistake is to click to the preview page, read through it, and then click on through to other pages and forget to ever go back and save your changes. Certainly you should click through links you've added to make sure they go where you expect, but click Back immediately, and save your original edit.

Minor changes

You can mark an edit as "Minor" by checking the appropriate box before you save. This is used to show others that your edit is not something substantive. There's no strict guideline on when to do this, but certainly spelling corrections and minor format changes like adding a space or a wikilink are considered minor edits. In other words, changing the presentation is generally minor, but changing the content is not. When in doubt, don't mark the box.

Edit summary

Before you hit Save, it's considered good practice to enter a very brief summary of your changes in the "Edit summary" box between the edit window and the Save and Preview buttons. It can be quite terse; for example if you just enter "typo," people will know you made a minor spelling or punctuation correction, or some other small change.

Play around in the Temp Zone if you'd like, and then continue with the tutorial.