Help:Starting a new page

From Wiki.GIS.com

There are several ways to start a new page. These can vary based on the type of page started, as well as the wiki and namespace.

Contents 1 Tips for Creating Quality Wiki Pages 2 Creating titles 3 Using Wiki links 4 Using the URL 5 From the search page 6 Create redirects to your new page 7 Protecting your new page

Tips for Creating Quality Wiki Pages

• Use the 5Ws method – who, what, where, when, why. NOT HOW!
• Keep content encyclopedic and conceptual (remember, users are generally coming to the wiki looking for a definition, not a user manual).
• Do not include How-to’s – if there is a knowledge base (KB) article or Web Help that is available and that would provide the users with valid and necessary information, then link to it or provide a citation in the Further Reading section of the wiki page. This will make maintenance of how-to steps easier.
• Be sure to create categories for each wiki page, such as [[Category:GIS_software]].
• Link to Web Help and knowledge base (KB) articles when necessary and/or possible.
• Create internal and external links as often as possible.
• Be sure to cite properly and as necessary.
• If the wiki page relates to software, it may be appropriate to use the Infobox_Software template (i.e., {{Infobox_Software}})

Creating titles

When creating a wiki page, the title should be written in title case or Start Case. The table below gives an example of each type.

Once a page is created, meaning the title has been generated, the title cannot be edited; therefore, please use careful consideration and be sure to check your title for accuracy before saving your wiki page.

Example								Rule
A	Shapefile	Is	Composed	Of	Various	Component	Files	"Start case" – capitalization of all words.
A	Shapefile	Is	Composed	of	Various	Component	Files	"Title case" – capitalization of all words, except for internal articles (a, an, and the), prepositions, and conjunctions.

Because of the differences in capitalization, when creating a title for your new page, it may be a good idea to check that your page doesn't already exist, but with different capitalization (e.g. "Aerial Photography" is not the same as "aerial photography"!). It is possible to have pages with the same names but different capitalization existing on wiki.GIS.com at the same time.

Using Wiki links

MediaWiki makes it very easy to link wiki pages using a standard syntax (see Internal links). If you (or anyone else) create a link to an article that doesn't exist yet, the link will be coloured red, like this.

Clicking a red link will take you to the edit page for the new article. Simply type your text, click save and the new page will be created.

Once the page has been created, the link will change from red to blue (purple for pages you've visited) indicating that the article now exists.

Usually this is the best way to create a new page, because it means that right from the start, the page will be linked from at least one other place on the wiki (and typically you will want to mesh it into other related pages later). If you are creating a new page without creating any link to it, you may need to ask yourself: Does this page really fit in with the topics already covered in the wiki? Also, how are you expecting visitors to find this page? Normally there is no reason to create a page without first creating a red link to it.

Using the URL

You can use the wiki's URL for creating a new page. The URL to an article of the wiki is usually something like this:

• http://www.wiki.gis.com/wiki/index.php/ARTICLE   

If you replace ARTICLE with the name of the page you wish to create, you will be taken to a blank page which indicates that no article of that name exists yet. Clicking the "edit" page tab at the top of the page will take you to the edit page for that article, where you can create the new page by typing your text, and clicking submit.

From the search page

If you search for a page that doesn't exist (using the search box and “Go” button on the left of the page) then you will be provided with a link to create the new page. (Note that this technique doesn't work if you use the “Search” button).

Create redirects to your new page

Don't forget to setup redirects when you create a page. If you think another person may search for the page you've created by using a different name or spelling, please create the proper redirect(s).

Protecting your new page

Normally a new wiki page can be edited by other people (that is one of the main ideas of a wiki!) However, a sysop could 'protect' the page, if desired, to prevent normal users from editing it.