Adding New Pages

Note to all wiki spammers: As of January 02, 2005, all changes to this wiki, either by editing or AddingNewPages, will not be picked up by SearchEngines until 10 hours have passed (a page must remain unchanged during that time). All spam on this site is usually deleted in minutes, an hour at the most, so it is pointless to try to add spam of any type to this wiki. See DelayedIndexing.

In a wiki, any two or more capitalized multi-letter words jammed together appear as a link. If there is no wiki page with that name, a question mark link appears at the end of the name: clicking on it allows you to type in the contents of the new page.

To add a new page to this wiki:

  1. Choose a new page name, in WikiCase (see ChoosingWikiNames).
  2. Click EditText at the bottom of any existing Wiki page.
  3. In a place you want to link to your new page, type the new page's name and click Save.
  4. On the thank you page, click the name of the existing page (then refresh if your browser has trouble getting fresh pages).
  5. Click on the question mark '?' that has appeared after the new page name.
  6. Replace "Describe [new page name] here" with whatever you want and click Save.

If there is no blue question mark, the page already exists! (We call this AccidentalLinking, and it's one of the things that makes wiki great.)

The tutorial doesn't give an example - whenever one is left, someone clicks on the question mark and fills in the page. Which is testimony to Wiki's good design - that's exactly how Wiki works. The problem is that the link will then no longer appear with a question mark! See WantedPages for examples of pages that want to be filled in, or make up a new page name (maybe for a HomePage) in the URL box of your browser, right after the "?": http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?[new page name]

See also HowToDeletePages.

WikiSocialNorms about WhenToCreatePages

Before creating pages, it's recommended you read OneMinuteWiki and WelcomeVisitors, especially if you're new to wiki. Browse many existing pages to get a feel for their styles, formats, and tone.

You may write new pages on any subject you want. Other wikis, such as our SisterSites, may be more suitable for subjects such as music, philosophy, or religion. Your WikiHomePage is the place for personal details, private [or at least, not main-stream] conversations and the like, which are otherwise OffTopic. For further guidance as to what's relevant here, see OnTopic, ThingsOnWikisMind, and http:quickChanges.

Please do not add redundant pages. If an existing page already covers the topic that interests you, please use that page; don't add a new page with a slightly different title. Before creating a new page, try the FindPage link to search for similar pages. There are many blue question marks in this wiki, there to attract people into writing something on that subject. Please don't click on every question mark you see and add nearly empty new pages just to get rid of all the blue question marks.

Also see WikiNamePluralProblem.

What to write on a new page

Nowadays, I often start new pages with an unsigned PositionStatement, draw a line (four dashes), and then add a signed comment which contains more personal, subjective discussion.

It's often good to use patterns in your pages, like those you see in other pages, when you first create them.

-- KevinWunderlich?

More general stuff about writing wiki pages (there must be a page on this we can move this to)

The body of your page can say anything you want it to say. GoodStyle has some fine suggestions on editing. PatternTemplate contains a skeletal pattern.

As a point of style, the host of this site prefers (but does not insist) that ...

See also UsingSignatures.

Moved from FearOfAddingPages?

In analogy to FearOfAddingClasses, there is a tendency in Wiki towards overcrowded, 'do it all' pages.

Smaller well-factored and often-refactored WikiPages reduce the reorganization overhead.

See also CreateNewPage, OrganizingArtifact

CategoryWikiHelp

EditText of this page (last edited May 9, 2014) or FindPage with title or text search
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