Help:Contents

Getting Started
Anybody can read the wiki, but you will need to apply for an account if you'd like to add pages to or edit the wiki. Anybody with a valid e-mail address, a real name and a desire to contribute is welcome to to help keep the wiki up to date.

Creating an account
Approval to edit the wiki must be approved by the site owner/administrator.

Requirements to become a registered user (site editor):
 * Applicants must provide their real name
 * Applicants must provide their real e-mail address
 * Your home address (optional)

The wiki is provided as a source for credible accurate information. Allowing anonymous users to modify the wiki in the past has lead to spam and vandalism of some of the pages. As a registered user, your edits will become a matter of public record because each page keep a history of who edited it and when. Your e-mail address will remain secret as well as your home address if you choose to provide it.

Please send your request to be made a wiki editor to:
 * Jim Lamb
 * [mailto:winedude@gmail.com winedude@gmail.com]

Your user profile
Once you've created an account and logged in you will see you username in red at the top of the page. Any edits you make in the wiki will be recorded and attributed to that username. If you click on your red user name at the top you will have the opportunity to provide some information about yourself. It's not a bad idea to let people know who you are and how you might be qualified to edit the wiki.

Example: User:Jim_Lamb You can put anything you want into your user that identifies you in some way. Certainly people marketing their business or would like more exposure in the community should consider updating their user page. they should also consider making a new page with information about the business.
 * User pages with no information will show as a red link
 * User pages with information will show as a blue link

Editing a Page
Once you are registered and logged in you'll be able to edit any page in the wiki (except those that are protected by the administrator). When logged in, there will be an edit tab at the top of each article. Click on that tab to modify the pages. The wiki has a sophisticated tracking system that allows everybody to see what's been edited and by who. If you make a mistake, just re-edit the page. Any page can be restored so don't worry too much about messing anything up.

Adding a link
There are two primary tipes of links:

Internal links
When you want to make a link to another wiki page you have to put it in double square brackets, like this:
 *  Maps  = Maps

If you want the display text of the link to have a different title, you can do so by adding the pipe "|" divider (SHIFT + BACKSLASH on English-layout and other keyboards) followed by the alternative name. For example:
 *  display text  = display text

You can make a link to a specific section of a page like so:
 *  display text  = display text

If you want the display text of the link to appear in italics or bold, nest the double square brackets for the link within the multiple apostrophes that delimit the italicized or bold text, like this:
 *  Maps  = Maps

Please check your links to ensure they point to the correct article.

Adding categories
Some pages will need to be categorized. Getting you page categorized is as simple as copying the category tag out of an existing page in the same category.

Adding a New Page
Wiki's are a collection of web pages called articles. There are three easy ways to create an article.

1. Search
The easiest way to create a new page is to use the search box: If you search for a string of words, the wiki will try to give the the best match. If the exact phrase is found, then you'll be delivered to that article. If not, the wiki will give you a list of related pages or the ability to create a new article with that name. For instance, if you search the word "Park" you'll get a list of pages related to the word, or at the top, the ability to create a new article with the title "Park"

2. New page from an existing article
Surround any word group inside an existing article with double brackets. Whatever words are surrounded will show on the saved page as a link to the new article. Assuming nobody has ever created an article with that group of words, clicking the link will deliver you to a new page text box.

3. New page from URL
Go to any existing article and change the Article name at the end of the string to something new. Once again, if the article does not exist then you will be presented with a new page dialog.

For instance, starting with the Article on Real Estate Depot:

http://wiki.mhvillages.com/index.php?title=Real_Estate_Depot

Just change the last part of the Sting to something new like

http://wiki.mhvillages.com/index.php?title=new_page

The wiki won't find the new article, and so will assume you want to create a new article called New page.

Reference
Wikipedia has an excellent resource to help you learn the wiki language:
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tutorial

Permissions and abuse
Wiki vandals will have their accounts disabled, and their e-mail address banned.