A Guide To Wiki Editing

[everblue2er101 906]

The wiki of the Lord of the Craft is the largest collection of server lore, information and history all in one easily accessible and relatively organized place. Given all that occurs on LOTC, there is a lot on the wiki that can be read. However, the work is far from complete. This is where the players come in. Since there is no one person who knows everything about the server and what occurs all the time, it is up to those with knowledge to add to the wiki and keep it updated. So why don’t more players edit the wiki?

Some may feel that they don’t know enough. You need not be an expert in any subject to edit the wiki, though. If you have info to add, short tidbits to whole pages, you shouldn’t feel restrained. Likewise, others feel that they’ll add something incorrect, or they’ll mess it up. This is again nothing to worry about as any errors can be easily corrected if needed. For those who want to get started but need guidance, here are some general guidelines for editing the wiki. The first section details how to create a wiki account, second is how to create pages, the third is on page editing itself, and the last section deals with broader wiki editing tips and etiquette.

If you have any questions about registering a wiki account, editing pages or anything else related to the wiki, don’t hesitate to PM a wiki admin. There is also a skype group for collaborating on the wiki. Anyone can join if interested.

Creating a Wiki Account

Visit the front page of the wiki. At the top should be a message saying

You are not a member of this wiki. Join now Dismiss

Accounts are not needed for reading the wiki, only editing. Anyone who wants to read can do so without an account. To begin to create an account, click Join now. If you already have a Wikispaces account, you’ll be able to request membership of the LOTC wiki straightaway. Otherwise, fill out the box that asks for a username, password and e-mail. Doing so sends a notification to wiki admins that an account has requested membership.

There’s also a second option.

Contact a wiki admin with your e-mail and an invitation to join the wiki will be sent.

Either of these will result in an e-mail being sent from Wikispaces. It is extremely important to click the confirmation link in the e-mail or else you won’t be able to edit anything. 75% of all issues with the wiki come from those who don’t click the confirmation and can’t edit.

To recap, there are two steps. One, fill out the box with required information OR contact a wiki admin with the e-mail to be used. Two, click the confirmation link. If this doesn’t work you’ve probably broken something. Contact a wiki admin.

And voila, your very own LOTC wiki account. Now get to work.

Creating Pages

Creating pages for the wiki isn't difficult, but how to do so isn't obvious either. First, go to the wiki Home Page. The URL at the top will be

http://wiki.lordofthecraft.net/

At the end of this add what the title of the page will be. Be sure to use proper capitalization. If it contains apostrophes, hyphens or other punctuation add them as well. For spaces, use +. The page for ‘Samuel Jackson’ would appear as,

http://wiki.lordofthecraft.net/Samuel+Jackson

Entering the URL you create will give the following message:

‘This page doesn't exist yet. You can create it by clicking the edit button.’

Click the aforementioned edit button to begin editing the page. Click Save to trigger nuclear Armageddon save the page and any edits made. It’s just that simple.

How to Edit Pages

- The front page can only be edited by wiki admins. Any requested changes should be sent to them or added to the To-do list.

- To start editing pages go to the page and click the Edit button. When finished making changes click Save.

- The toolbar contains ways to alter text, create headings and add files. It’s all fairly straightforward and can be learned with experimenting and practice.

- Pages should have an introduction that gives an overview of the content. In very short articles an intro is not necessary.

- To create links, highlight the word to be made into a link and click the Link button. It’ll open up an editor. In the ‘Link Text’ box, enter what the text on the page will be. In the ‘Page Name’ box enter the page it links to. As an example,

‘In 1351 Aegis fell to the Undead’

For this, both boxes would say Undead as it is the page being linked as well as the text on the page. But here,

‘The Orcs and Humans fought with bows and swords in the town’

There is no page called ‘Bows and swords’, but there is one for Weapons. The first box would say ‘bows and swords’ and the bottom would link to the ‘Weapons’ page. Any time a page exists that’s related to something but not titled exactly what is on the page, this can be used to link to it.

- Only the first reference in a page will have a link. For example:

‘The cow provides hides for garments and beef for the stomach. Cows are usually brown with strange looking eyes. Popular in Anthos, they can be found in most nations. Their primary source of food is wheat, which means those who wish to keep a herd will also need to have access to fields to keep it thriving. Cows can be bred easily to create a sustainable source of leather and beef.’

The first mention of beef is linked,  the other does not. In some articles there are reasons to do otherwise, but not nearly as commonly. This is a fairly standard practice in most wikis.

 

- Do not add links to pages that don't exist unless they will be created. Doing so makes the wiki rather messy and confuses people without accounts.

- Use proper spelling, grammar, capitalization and punctuation. A common request, but extremely important.

- It’s always a good idea to preview edits before submitting them. You may notice formatting issues that you weren’t aware of, or spelling and grammar issues that were overlooked.

- These are just guidelines to what is most encountered when editing. Don’t feel too restricted.

General Tips and Etiquette

- Don’t be offended if a page you’ve worked on or created is edited. We all make mistakes, and sometimes others can fix spelling or grammar errors you’ve overlooked. Similarly, others may have more information they can add to the page. The wiki is a collaborative effort, and the best way to make it the best it can be is with cooperation.

- If you’re working on a page and can’t add all the edits you want at one time, put WIP on the page. If you see a page with this displayed, try not to edit it. Do not leave a page in progress for too long. Pages that are WIP for more than a week will be considered open for editing.

- In the same vein, try and focus on one page at a time. Don’t create several pages and then leave them empty.

 

- Do not create pages for characters, use the Character Profiles forum instead. The exception is for characters of note, such as kings, emperors or other major figures.

 

- Some pages such as Guilds can quickly become outdated if not edited regularly. Any pages that are created and not often updated may be removed.

- Large scale lore pages and works must be approved before they can be added.

- When editing existing pages, make sure to follow the established formatting. Don’t, for example, suddenly switch to using bold text if none of the rest are done that way.

- Although not used often, references can be helpful when editing. Link to forum threads, images or videos that backup what has been added. When doing so, add the referenced material in a link with the name of the link shortened.

- Although it should be obvious, do not link to anything harmful or not related to LOTC.

- Don’t be intimated! Looking at this guide I realize it looks like a lot of information that could very well put players off of editing the wiki for fear of making mistakes. That’s not the intention at all. Remember, the wiki is something that will thrive only if many players contribute to it, adding their own unique experiences and information others may not know. So go forth and edit!

[Snoop 365]

First!

[Fredfort (jens6851) 283]

Thanks. :)

[Lathros 377]

Mind if I make a Snow Elf page? :3

[everblue2er101 906]

Make any page you want, it just might not be around forever. Snow Elves are definitely fine as they're a culture and were on my personal To-do list.

[TheBareSheet 194]

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.