Help:Editing
From OpenSimulator
(New page: No help here really. For the official MediaWiki 'formatting help', go [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Formatting#Other_formatting link here].) |
(Adding some actual good (hopefully) advice) |
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| − | + | All you need to know about editing a wiki. Well, maybe not all, perhaps not even a lot. But a little bit at least. | |
| − | + | == Formatting == | |
| + | See the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Formatting MediaWiki] documentation. | ||
| + | |||
| + | == Style and Page Structure == | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Use simple words! === | ||
| + | Remember that the reader does not know what you know and is not likely to understand fancy "tech talk". An ideal wiki article is easily understood by a ninety year old bloke who has never used his computer for anything but checking his bank account balance and watching pictures of his great-grandchildren and by a six year old school child who has barely learned how to read. That ideal is impossible of course but try your best! | ||
| + | |||
| + | There are some cases when this advice doesn't really apply, such as detailed software documentation, but even in those cases it's important to keep the info as accessible as possible. | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Start with a summary === | ||
| + | Take a look at any wikipedia article. They always start with a short paragpraph, maybe only a sentence or two, suming up the most important info on the topic. | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Focus on one topic === | ||
| + | Different topics need separate pages. It's obvious but easy to forget. | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Use paragraphs and hiearchial headers === | ||
| + | Nobody is ever going to read that huge chunk of unformatted text you just dumped onto a page. | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Consider page length === | ||
| + | There is no hard rule here but no matter how well a page is structured, the longer the text is, the harder the info is to find and comprehend. Maybe it's better to split the content into several pages? | ||
| + | |||
| + | === Try to avoid duplicate content === | ||
| + | This is mainly for the benefit of other editors. If the same info is posted on several pages, there is a good chance one or more of the pages are overlooked if/when the info needs to be updated. Better to interlink. | ||
Latest revision as of 01:30, 28 May 2023
All you need to know about editing a wiki. Well, maybe not all, perhaps not even a lot. But a little bit at least.
Contents |
[edit] Formatting
See the MediaWiki documentation.
[edit] Style and Page Structure
[edit] Use simple words!
Remember that the reader does not know what you know and is not likely to understand fancy "tech talk". An ideal wiki article is easily understood by a ninety year old bloke who has never used his computer for anything but checking his bank account balance and watching pictures of his great-grandchildren and by a six year old school child who has barely learned how to read. That ideal is impossible of course but try your best!
There are some cases when this advice doesn't really apply, such as detailed software documentation, but even in those cases it's important to keep the info as accessible as possible.
[edit] Start with a summary
Take a look at any wikipedia article. They always start with a short paragpraph, maybe only a sentence or two, suming up the most important info on the topic.
[edit] Focus on one topic
Different topics need separate pages. It's obvious but easy to forget.
[edit] Use paragraphs and hiearchial headers
Nobody is ever going to read that huge chunk of unformatted text you just dumped onto a page.
[edit] Consider page length
There is no hard rule here but no matter how well a page is structured, the longer the text is, the harder the info is to find and comprehend. Maybe it's better to split the content into several pages?
[edit] Try to avoid duplicate content
This is mainly for the benefit of other editors. If the same info is posted on several pages, there is a good chance one or more of the pages are overlooked if/when the info needs to be updated. Better to interlink.
