Thelemapedia:How to Contribute
(Revision as of 09:33, 18 Sep 2004)
| Table of contents |
Key Policies
Thelemapedia is a collaborative Wiki (http://meta.wikipedia.org/) project with a central purpose:
To create the best and most comprehensive source of information relating to Thelema.
Thelemapedia is an open source project, meaning that no entry has copyright protection. This leads to the first two Prime Directives:
Prime Directive #1: Only post material that you own or that is in the public domain.
Prime Directive #2: Everyone has the right to edit your entries
You are a Thelemapedia editor. Although we do have Executive Editors, their main function is to help expand the site and monitor entries that might be inappropriate for the intended context. The vast majority of the editing will be done by the active participants. Because of the volatile nature of many in the Thelemic community, we have instituted:
Prime Directive #3: Content wars are completely forbidden.
Entering into a content war is a fast way to getting banned from contributing to Thelemapedia. This is an encyclopedia, not a platform for individual agendas. If a serious disagreement about content occurs, you may make a Mediation Request.
Read the Thelemapedia Editorial Policy for more information about editing and contributing to Thelemapedia.
General Principles
Avoid bias. Articles should be written from a neutral point of view, representing differing views on a subject fairly and sympathetically. If something is a general opinion, state it as such. Avoid speaking from the first person.
Don't infringe copyrights. Thelemapedia is a free encyclopedia licensed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html). Submitting work which infringes copyrights threatens our objective to build a truly free encyclopedia that anyone can redistribute, and could lead to legal problems.
Thelemapedia is an encyclopedia. It is not a dictionary, soapbox, discussion forum, site mirror, or link repository. It is not a place to bash other people or groups.
Respect other contributors. Thelemapedia contributors have widely different views. Treating others with respect is key to collaborating effectively in building an encyclopedia. For some guidelines, see the Wikipedia Etiquette Guide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiquette), and our Mediation Request page.
Other than what you see here, we subscribe to the general MediaWiki policies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines), which we highly recommend reading.
How to Edit a Page
It is very easy to edit a Thelemapedia page. Simply click on the "Edit this page" link at the top of a page. This will bring you to a page with a text box containing the editable text of that Wiki page.
Then type away, write a short edit summary on the small field below the edit-box, and when finished press "Save"! You can also preview your changes before saving if you like. Be sure to check out the formatting markup commands below...they are very easy to use and can make your entry much easier to read and use.
When editing a page, a logged-in user has the option of flagging the edit as a "minor edit". When to use this is somewhat a matter of personal preference. The rule of thumb is that an edit of a page that is spelling corrections, formatting, and minor rearranging of text should be flagged as a "minor edit". A major edit is basically something that makes the entry worth relooking at for somebody who wants to watch the article rather closely, so any "real" change, even if it is a single word.
Thelemapedia Markup
Wiki does not use normal HTML for most markup options. Here are the basic methods for formatting your entries. There are a lot of other of Wiki formatting options (http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_User%27s_Guide:_Editing_overview#The_wiki_markup), so be sure to check those out.
If you want to try some of these out, you can play in the Temp Zone. There, you can mess around as much as you want without worry...it will get cleaned out every so often.
| What it looks like | What you type |
|
Italics, bold, bold italics. |
''Italics'', '''Bold''', ''''Bold Italics''''.
|
|
You can also write italic and bold using HTML. |
You can also write <i>italic</i> and <b>bold</b>
using HTML.
|
|
This is how to make a link. Putting any text in double brackets creates a link to an internal Thelemapedia page. If that page doesn't yet exist, the link will be orange, and clicking the link will create the new page. (This is one way to create new pages). |
This is how to [[make a link]].
|
|
Same target, different name: Billy.
|
Same target, different name: [[Billy Boy|Billy]]
|
| External link: Scarlet Woman Lodge (http://www.scarletwoman.org) |
External link: [http://www.scarletwoman.org Scarlet Woman Lodge]
|
| Or just give the URL: http://www.scarletwoman.org |
Or just give the URL: http://www.scarletwoman.org
|
|
Start your sections with header lines: SectionSubsectionSub-subsection |
== Section ==
=== Subsection ===
==== Sub-subsection ====
|
|
A picture:
|
A picture: [[Image:crowley.jpg]]
or, with alternate text (strongly encouraged)
[[Image:wiki.png|Thelemapedia]]
Web browsers render alternate text when not displaying an image -- for example, when the image isn't loaded, or in a text-only browser, or when spoken aloud. |
| <p>Redirect one article title to another by putting text like this in its first line. |
#REDIRECT [[United States]]
|
Creating a New Entry
First Things First:
- SEARCH Thelemapedia to see whether someone has written a similar page before you start one yourself.
- Review the naming conventions of the project you are working in before naming a new page or setting up a new index page. (For example: topics that relate directly to astrology might use the naming convention "Astrology: Specific topic", like "Astrology: Sextiles").
- Read Thelemapedia Article Basics and the Thelemapedia Editorial Policy.
Ways to start a new page
1) Start a page from an existing link. If the link is red, then it links to an empty page. Simply click on that link and begin typing in the text box.
2) Create a link from an existing page. While you are editing an existing page, if a word or phrase strikes you as if it ought to have an article of its own, just put it in double square brackets,[[like this]]When you save the present page, that word will magically link to the Thelemapedia article by the same name.
3) Start a page from the Temp Zone. Edit the Temp Zone, then create a new link. Then create/edit your new page by clicking on the link and writing new text. Note: The Temp Zone is periodically erased, so remember to bookmark the page(s) you have created, in order to edit them again in the future. If you are a registered user, it will also appear under "My contributions" in the Quickbar.
4) Starting a page by editing the URL. Simply enter something like the following into your browser as a page address:
http://www.thelemapedia.org/wiki/Sample_page_title
Replacing "Sample_page_title" with whatever you want the page to be called.
This will bring up a template page that informs you that there is currently no text in the page yet. So, click on the "Edit" link at the top of that page, and presto! you are now editing your brand new page.
Links of Interest
Avoiding Common Mistakes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoiding_common_mistakes) (from Wikipedia)
Content Guidelines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines#Content_guidelines) (from Wikipedia)
Manual of Style (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style) (from Wikipedia)
MediaWiki User's Guide (http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_User%27s_Guide)
![[Main Page]](http://www.thelemapedia.org/images/logo.gif){kind=logo}