Help:Getting started: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 09:02, 8 September 2019

Thank you for your interest in contributing to Project: Redcap. Please read our copyright policy before you begin. It's important.

Navigation

See Help:Finding information for instructions on navigating the site and tips on searching.

Creating an Account

You are encouraged to create an account if you plan to make substantial updates to Project: Redcap site pages. While it is not necessary to create an account; guests are allowed to edit anonymously. If you plan to make multiple contributions and would like to register, here's how.

Editing

Important: After editing a page, you must click the "Save page" button or your changes will be discarded!

See Help:Editing for instructions on how to edit pages.

Help:Basic formatting has some basic tips, including on how to place and label internal links (links to other pages, like Order of Hermes) and external links (like this one to the Atlas Games website).

Help:Style guide has some advice on organizing and laying out pages.

Creating New Pages

If you want to create a new page from scratch instead of editing one that already exists, please refer to Help:Creating a new page.

Further Help and Tutorials

First, we have a few Help pages, which explain the basics and should be everything you need to write or revise your first article.

Project: Redcap uses Mediawiki software -- a stripped-down version of the same engine that powers Wikipedia. There is plenty of good tutorial information for MediaWiki on the Web. In fact, most introductory material for MediaWiki is better than what the Project: Redcap maintainers could write themselves. So rather than do a poor job of re-writing documentation that other people have already written, we'll refer you to some starting sites:

MediaWiki Handbook
Wikipedia Help Contents is a great resource covering all aspects of the Mediawiki software, including aspects the Project: Redcap maintainers haven't even learned themselves. We especially recommend:
- The editing tutorial
- The formatting cheat sheet
MediaWiki.org, including:

If you are looking for something beyond the basics -- how to include an image, for example, or how to use templates -- and you don't find anything useful on our help pages, the next thing to try is to Google (or use any other search engine) for keywords like "mediawiki image" or "mediawiki template."

Also, the Project: Redcap maintainers are very eager to get some help, any help, updating and maintaining this site. You can always contact us if you have made a basic effort to find documentation, but are still lost. We'll be happy to help you get started!

Next Steps

Now that you know the basics of editing, go ahead and try it out on a few pages.

Project Redcap:Content guidelines explains how to create well-written pages.

Project Redcap:Sub-Projects describes some of the maintainers are doing, and how you can help.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Thank you for your interest in contributing to Project: Redcap.
+Thank you for your interest in contributing to Project: Redcap. Please read our [[Project Redcap:Copyrights|copyright]] policy before you begin. It's important.
-== User Registration ==
+== Navigation ==
-You do not need to register in order to contribute to Project: Redcap. Every page has an "Edit" link at the top and any user can click on that link to edit the page's text. Be sure to submit your changes when you are done!
+See [[Help:Finding information]] for instructions on navigating the site and tips on searching.
-If you are not logged in, the Wiki will challenge you to prove you are a human who knows something about [[Ars Magica]], not a spammer or a spambot. It will ask you an easy question about Ars Magica, and if you answer correctly, your edits will be accepted.
+== Creating an Account ==
+You are encouraged to create an account if you plan to make substantial updates to Project: Redcap site pages. While it is not necessary to create an account; guests are allowed to edit anonymously. If you plan to make multiple contributions and would like to register, [[Help:Registration|here's how]].
-You can also register as a user if you would like. The benefits of user registration are:
+== Editing ==
+'''Important:''' After editing a page, you '''must''' click the "Save page" button or your changes will be discarded!
-#You'll get acknowledgement for your contributions. Your user name will appear in the version history of each page, so the community will see what contributions you have made. (Visitors can also look up the edit history of an individual user if they are so inclined.)
+See [[Help:Editing]] for instructions on how to edit pages.
-#You won't have to answer the "are you a bot" quiz.
-#Only registered users can upload files to this site. This is necessary to keep the evil spammers away.
-So, if you want to create an account, that's easy. There is a link in the upper-right corner of every page on this site, like this:
+[[Help:Basic formatting]] has some basic tips, including on how to place and label internal links (links to other pages, like [[Order of Hermes]]) and external links (like this one to the [http://www.atlas-games.com Atlas Games website]).
-[[File:RedcapCreateAccount.png|border]]
+[[Help:Style guide]] has some advice on organizing and laying out pages.
-== Learning to Use the Wiki ==
+=== Creating New Pages ===
-First, we have a few (currently, very few) [http://www.redcap.org/index.php?title=Special%3AAllPages&from=&to=&namespace=12 Help pages].
+If you want to create a new page from scratch instead of editing one that already exists, please refer to [[Help:Creating a new page]].
-Project: Redcap uses the popular [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki MediaWiki] engine -- the same software that powers [http://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia]. So, if you know how to edit Wikipedia, you should be right at home on Project: Redcap.
+== Further Help and Tutorials ==
+First, we have a few [[:Category:Help|Help pages]], which explain the basics and should be everything you need to write or revise your first article.
-Let's suppose you ''don't'' know how to edit Wikipedia. There is plenty of good tutorial information on the Web. In fact, most introductory material for MediaWiki is better than what the Project: Redcap maintainers could write themselves. So rather than do a poor job of re-writing documentation that other people have already written, we'll refer you to some starting sites:
+Project: Redcap uses Mediawiki software -- a stripped-down version of the same engine that powers Wikipedia. There is plenty of good tutorial information for MediaWiki on the Web. In fact, most introductory material for MediaWiki is better than what the Project: Redcap maintainers could write themselves. So rather than do a poor job of re-writing documentation that other people have already written, we'll refer you to some starting sites:
-* [http://mwhelp.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page The MediaWiki Beginners' Wiki]
+* [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents MediaWiki Handbook]
-* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents Wikipedia Help Contents] including the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Plain_and_simple Plain and Simple Guide]
+* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents Wikipedia Help Contents] is a great resource covering all aspects of the Mediawiki software, including aspects the Project: Redcap maintainers haven't even learned themselves. We especially recommend:
+** The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tutorial/Editing editing tutorial]
+** The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Cheatsheet formatting cheat sheet]
+* [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki MediaWiki.org], including:
+** [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Navigation Navigation Help]
+** [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Editing_pages Editing Help]
+** [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User_hub MediaWiki User Hub]
+If you are looking for something beyond the basics -- how to include an image, for example, or how to use templates -- and you don't find anything useful on our [[:Category:Help|help pages]], the next thing to try is to Google (or use any other search engine) for keywords like "mediawiki image" or "mediawiki template."
+Also, the Project: Redcap maintainers are very eager to get some help, any help, updating and maintaining this site. You can always [[Special:Contact|contact]] us if you have made a basic effort to find documentation, but are still lost. We'll be happy to help you get started!
+== Next Steps ==
+Now that you know the basics of editing, go ahead and try it out on a few pages.
+[[Project Redcap:Content guidelines]] explains how to create well-written pages.
+[[Project Redcap:Sub-Projects]] describes some of the maintainers are doing, and how you can help.
+[[Category:Help]]
+[[Category:Project Redcap]]