Help:Contents
From MH Wiki
Contents |
Getting Started
Anybody can read the wiki, but you will need to create an account if you'd like to add pages to or edit the wiki. anybody with a valid e-mail address and a desire to contribute is welcome to to help keep the wiki up to date.
Creating an account
At the top right is a log on/create new account link. You'll need to provide a user-name, password and valid e-mail to start editing.
- We strongly recommend using you real name as the user name so that you get proper credits for the pages you edit. A wiki is based on trust of the users, so registering with an anonymous user name can be counterproductive.
An e-mail will be sent to the address provided to verify its authenticity. Click on the link in that e-mail to authenticate your account. You should now be able to log in with your new username and password.
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
- User pages with no information will show as a red link
- User pages with information will show as a blue link
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.
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 administrators). 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:
- [[Target page|display text]] = display text
You can make a link to a specific section of a page like so:
- [[Target page#Target section|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.
External links
External links are for adding links you web pages outside the wiki. Souround a websites URL with single sqaure brackets [....]
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:
Permissions and abuse
Anybody can create a user account, but in order to get editing rights, you must provide a valid e-mail address when you sign up. Wiki vandals will have their accounts disabled, and their e-mail address banned.
