Help:Getting Started
From MechWikia
Welcome to MechWikia, the collaborative database on the BattleTech universe. If you have never browsed a wiki or used a wiki created with WikiMedia software before, you may wish to read on. Whenever you feel ready, feel free to jump right in and start editing pages with the edit button at the top of every page.
MechWikia exists to provide a resource where fans or interested newcomers can find information about anything related to BattleTech, from pulse lasers to planets. As a wiki site, it is free for anyone to edit, meaning that you can get started contributing your knowledge right away. Only through cooperation and reader participation can a wiki grow into a major information resource.
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[edit] Browsing MechWikia
[edit] The navigation buttons
On the left side of the page is a sidebar which contains numerous buttons. Directly under the site logo are the navigation buttons. The two buttons you should concern yourself with at the moment are "Main Page" and "Help". The Main Page button obviously takes you to the main page and the Help button takes you to the Help page where you can learn more about using MechWikia.
[edit] The Main Page
The Main Page is the best place to start out if you aren't sure what you're looking for or just want to start looking around. In the title bar at the top are a few important links, including one to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.
Below this are the directory and news windows. The directory has a list of links to overview topics for you to get started with if you just want some general knowledge or aren't sure where you're headed. The news window has information regarding the latest changes to the site. As MechWikia grows, the Main Page will undoubtably change in content and appearance.
[edit] The search bar
If you know what you're looking for, the fastet way to get there is the search bar. If you know the exact title of the page you want, type it in and click Go, and you'll automatically be taken to that page. If that page doesn't exist or you click Search, you'll be taken to a results page with a list of all the pages containing your search terms.
For example, typing in "Timber Wolf" and clicking Go will take you directly to the page on the Timber Wolf, while clicking Search will show you a list of all the pages that contain the words "timber" and "wolf".
[edit] WikiLinks
On just about every page you look at, there will be numerous wikilinks - words or phrases colored blue or red. For example, the word wikilink in this sentence is a wikilink.
A blue wikilink will take you to another page covering whatever topic the linked words are about. A red wikilink means that the corresponding page hasn't yet been created. Authors will sometimes link to a nonexistant page when they feel it needs to be created and plan to create it themselves later, or leave it for someone else to create.
[edit] Editing
[edit] Creating an account
You do not need an account to participate in MechWikia or make changes to the site. However, if you wish to, you can create an account so that when you make changes, you can sign then with your account name instead of an IP address. Creating an account also allows you to watch pages and have your own user page. To create an account, use the button in the very top right of the page.
[edit] Editing pages
You can start editing a page by clicking on the edit button at the top of the page. Most pages have edit buttons, though a few are always locked to prevent vandalism (such as the Main Page).
Once you click the edit button you'll be taking to the editing window, where you can add, remove, or change information on the page. You can change the look of your text with the various buttons at the top of the window or by using the appropriate wikitags.
You can also edit only a section of a page by clicking the small edit link to the right of that section's title.
Once you are finished, click Show preview to make sure you are happy with your changes and then Save page once you are satisfied. For more in-depth information on editing, see Help:Editing.
If you think there is something wrong with a page that may need fixing or removing, but aren't sure, see Help:Cleanup.
[edit] Creating pages
If you click on a red wikilink, you will be taken directly to the edit window for that currently nonexistant page. Once you add content and click Save page, the page will be created with your content. You or anyone else can go back and edit it more at any time.
If you want to make a page you don't see a link to, go to the search bar and type the page title in exactly how you want to make it. In the results page, at the top your search text will appear as a red wikilink and you can use this to create the page.
Remember, you don't own pages you create. Others may make changes to them, and unless these changes are inaccurate or violate MechWikia guidelines, you must respect and leave these changes. If you are not happy with this arrangement, a wiki might not be the right place for you.
[edit] Deleting pages
Normal users do not have the power to delete pages. However, you may mark a page for deletion. For more help, see Help:Deletion.
[edit] Discussion pages
Each page or article also has a Talk/Discussion page where you can communicate with other users regarding the topic of the page or article. You can respond to other users' comments or questions or add your own. Please remain on topic about the article and do not use the discussion page for personal commentary or questions (you may say, for example, "what clan developed the Timber Wolf?", but not "What's the best configuration for a Timber Wolf?" or "I hate the Timber Wolf"). Please make sure you sign comments on discussion pages with three or four tildes (~~~ or ~~~~).
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Contrary to popular belief, you don't need to be a tech wizard to edit a wiki. If you can use a word processor, you can probably edit a wiki.
Just follow these instructions and you'll be editing in no time!
- Before you begin...
- You may wish to visit our online demos page for videos demonstrating all of the Wikia basics and much much more - see Help:Video demos!
About Wikis
What is a wiki?
A wiki is a website that you can edit. The word comes from "wikiwiki", a Hawaiian word for "fast". Wikis are designed to be collaborative so people can work together on a wiki project, so it's possible to build up a lot of content very quickly.
Find out more about the background of wikis on Wikipedia.
Getting started
Creating Your Wikia Account
While most Wikia wikis can be edited anonymously, creating an account allows you to keep track of your edits and only takes a moment.
- Click the "create an account" link in the upper right hand corner of the page.
- Choose a username and a password in the newly opened box.
- Provide your birthdate. This is both a safety precaution and as a means of preserving the integrity of the site while complying with federal regulations.
- Type in the word you see in the "captcha" image shown. This shows us you are a real person!
- Choose whether to provide an email address - it's optional, but if you don't give a valid email address you will not be able to recover your account if you forget your password.
Using the wiki
Finding Articles
All pages (on the Monaco skin) have a search box at the top left. Just enter your search term here, and click the search arrow. An alternative is search suggest, simply start typing in the search box and it will try to guess articles based on what you're typing.
Recent Changes
Recent changes is one of the most important pages on a wiki. It lists every edit that's made, tells you who made the change, and shows you what edit summary they added. So, it's a great way to get an idea of what's going on in your wiki and what pages are most active.
You can get to the recent changes page by clicking on the "Recent changes" page in the toolbox on the left or by going to Special:RecentChanges. You can get to Recent Changes on any Wikia wiki by typing Special:RecentChanges after the /wiki/ part of a Wikia URL. For example, to get to the Recent Changes page for Recipes Wiki, you would type http:/recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Special:RecentChanges.
Keeping Track of Changes to an Article
Every page has a "history" page to go with it. This lists the usernames of everyone who has edited the page, and tells you when it was edited. It also gives you links to old versions... nothing is lost when a page is changed, you can always recover previous versions. To see the history of a page, look for the "history" link above each article.
Knowing when a Page is Changed
You can "watch" any page, by adding it to a list of pages kept for your username. To do this, click the "watch" link at the top of the article you want to watch. If you want, you can set your preferences to have an email sent to you each time a page on your watchlist is edited.
Logging In
Click the "log in" link at the top of any page. This will open a box where you can enter your username and password.
Tip: You might want to leave "Remember me" unchecked if using a public computer.
Note: You must have cookies enabled to log in to Wikia (for more information please see the link below).
Changing Your Email, Password Etc.
Almost everything you might want to change about the way Wikia sites display and function can be found in your preferences. To get there:
- Click the "MORE" button in the upper right (between the "Watch list" and "Logout" links).
- Choose "My preferences" from the drop-down menu that appears. You can also visit Special:Preferences.
If password reset does not work, please Contact Wikia for help.
Editing
Changing a Wiki Page
Editing a page is easy:
- Click the "Edit this page" link above any article. Doing so will open a window that looks like a word processor document.
- Type your changes in the text box. Tip: It's a good idea to preview your edit to be sure the changes look the way they're supposed to. This allows you to see and fix mistakes before they get saved onto the wiki. If the article looks, good, click the "save" button at the bottom of the text box.
There's no way to break a wiki, so feel free to dive in and start making changes right away!
Undoing an edit
Keeping bad content off the wiki is just as important as adding good content. That's why it's important to know how to revert back to a previous version of an article.
Every edit made is stored on a Wiki, that means it's easy to go back to an old version if an edit is a mistake or vandalism. To change an edit for an article, go to the article's "history" page. Each date/time listed on the history page is a link to a different version of that article. Just click the version you want, then click edit, followed by the save button. Wiki admins have a shortcut link for this, and can "rollback" the most recent edits with one click.
Formatting text
The rich text editor makes bolding and italicizing as easy as selecting text and clicking a button. There's also wikitext code that will work as a shortcut if you prefer to keep your fingers on the keys:
- Bolding: Surround a word with three single quotation marks (''').
- Italicizing use two quotation marks ('').
- Putting it together: You can make text bold and italic with five quotation marks (''''').
Linking to another page on a wiki
As with formatting, there's more than one way to link to another page. In the rich text editor, select the text you want to turn into a link, then click the "Link" button (with the chain links) to pop up a dialog box which makes it simple to link internally to other pages on the wiki, or externally to sites elsewhere on the web.
The wikitext shortcut for internal page linking works in either the rich text or source editing box. To link to a another page, you put the page title in double square brackets. So to link to the page "Example", you would type [[Example]].
Once you know how to link to other wiki pages, you're ready to learn the pipe trick.
Starting a New Page
To start a new page you can use three basic methods:
- Click the "New page" link next to the pencil icon in the sidebar.
- Click a red (broken) link. A broken link is a link to a page that doesn't (yet) exist on the wiki.
- Use an inputbox -- an article creation box that can be place on the wiki's main page.
Remember to do a search for your topic before creating a new page. This is especially true of large wikis where there is a high probability that the subject you want to write about has already been added to the wiki by someone else.
Renaming (moving) Pages
Any logged in user can move pages. To do so, use the "move" link above the article:
- Click "move".
- Enter the correct title
- Click "Move page".
Note: It's a good idea to explain your move in the box provided.
Using Templates
A template is a page with text ready to be used on many pages without having to type it in each time. It looks like a normal page, but the title starts with "Template:". Templates are good for content that has to be added to many pages on the wiki, since they save you the time and effort of having to write the same text and wiki code over and over again.
To use a template, you just need to type its title inside curly brackets. So {{name}} will add the text from the page Template:Name.
Templates can get very complex, but at their simplest they are just pages that can be used many times using a simple form.
Adding an Image
There are three ways of adding an image:
- Upload it to the wiki using the Add image link, next to the painting icon, in the toolbox. You will be able to choose an image from your computer, and save it on the wiki. Then you can add it to an article by editing a page to add the image name in the form
[[File:Name.jpg]].
- Add an image while you are editing a page. Just click on the upload button
and you will see a form to upload and insert your image. See Help:Add Images for more on this method.
- The Import Free Images Button: Import free images allows you to upload freely licensed Flickr images without leaving your wiki! All you need to do is go to Special:Importfreeimages and type what you are looking for in the search box. Click search and thumbnails of Creative Commons licensed Flickr images matching your search terms will appear. Click on the (import this) link below an image to upload it to the wiki.
Categorizing Pages
The gray "Add category" button at the bottom of the text box makes it easy to search among existing categories or type in new ones.
To add categories in wikitext, add [[Category:Name]] to the article. This will add the category to the bottom of the page. If you want to link to a category, rather than add a page to it, you need to add a colon inside the brackets: [[:Category:Name]].
Where next?
There are many places to get help on Wikia. If you have not seen our video demos yet, check them out at Help:Video demos. Also, many wikis have a forum where you can ask questions of admins and other regular contributors. Alternatively you can contact the wider Wikia community at the Central Wikia forums. If you need more help, see Contacting Wikia.
