Tips For Beginners

This is a list of pages that are useful for beginners:

A Good Place to Test Things:

 WikiWikiSandbox. . .

Collections of Tips:

• After you've chosen one of the following links, come back and browse the links at OnlySayThingsThatCanBeHeard and HowToReactToaFlame.

 OneMinuteWiki  . . . . . . . .votes: 1122224
 TipsFromWardCunningham . . . .votes: 16
 TextFormattingRules. . . . . .votes: 16
 TipsFromPaulMcKenney . . . . .votes: 12
 WikiPatterns . . . . . . . . .votes: 3
 WikiEditingCustoms . . . . . .votes: 2
 BriefIntro/BriefTutorial . . .votes: 2
 GoodStyle  . . . . . . . . . .votes: 2
 WikiGettingStartedFaq. . . . .votes: 2
 PhilGoodwin  . . . . . . . . .votes: 3

Individual Tips:

 HowToVote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .votes: 49
 WhoRefersToThisPage . . . . . . . . . .votes: 12
 AddingNewPages  . . . . . . . . . . . .votes: 9
 SimulatingQuoteBlocks . . . . . . . . .votes: 6
 RollYourOwnServer . . . . . . . . . . .votes: 4
 QuickDiff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .votes: 3
 UsingWikiWithLynx . . . . . . . . . . .votes: 2
 UseSignatures . . . . . . . . . . . . .votes: 2
 WikiSocialNorms . . . . . . . . . . . .votes: 1
 HoppingAroundWiki . . . . . . . . . . .votes: 1
 UsingBoldAndItalic  . . . . . . . . . .votes: 1
 RenamingWikiPages . . . . . . . . . . .votes: 1
 PatternTemplate . . . . . . . . . . . .votes: 1
 WikiStyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .votes: 1
 TipForTypingTab . . . . . . . . . . . .votes: 1
 AnOutsidersReviewOfWiki . . . . . . . .votes: 1
 WikiNewbieToBeginners . . . . . . . . .votes: 1

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If you have a question and you want it to stand out so that page readers will notice it and answer it, do it like this:

Q: Is there a FAQ page?

A: Yes. See WikiWikiWebFaq and WikiGettingStartedFaq; WikiWikiWeb also has some common answers. If you can't find an answer to your question there, try adding a question to QuickQuestions.

Q: When I edit a page, save it and then reload, and I do not see that it wraps correctly, is the problem the carriage return vs carriage return/linefeed problem, or something else?

A: If you have fixed-format text, precede each line with spaces; then it will display <PRE>formatted (fixed width with no wrap). If you want automatic wrapping, then DO NOT lead with spaces.

Q2: Okay... but what if I want my single carriage returns respected but don't want the ugly fixed width font?

A: Sorry - that can't be done (except for indented text). Use a second carriage return instead.

Q: Is there a page for requests for new features?

A: Yes. It's WikiWikiSuggestions. However, be aware that this Wiki has existed since 1995, and many features have been recommended in that time. You're encouraged to investigate the Wiki to see if your feature has already been recommended.

Q: What's the result that is caused by destroying one page mistakenly?

A: Someone restores it.

Q: Can only one person edit a page at a time if you have a lot of people using Wiki at the same time?

A: Yes. Whoever submits his or her changes first wins; the others are informed that their changes were not saved. In practice, it is very rare that someone's changes are not saved; at any one time, all active Wiki participants are nearly always working on separate pages. Actually this happens a lot, but usually just to RecentChangesJunkies - who learn quickly to copy their text first in case they need to re-paste it again. See EditConflictResolution for details.

Q: What happens if someone posts spam?

A: Spam is deleted very promptly by WikiGnomes. The CategoryWikiSpam page leads to more information about combating WikiSpam.

Q: How do you upload a MicrosoftWord document or a PowerPoint presentation?

A: You can't directly. However, you can edit a page, then copy the text out of the document and paste it into the page, updating formatting as necessary. You can also make inline image links to slides you've exported as JPEGs or GIFs. See TextFormattingRules.

Q: But I don't understand. Do I get a wiki page of my own? or just add to other people's pages?

A: When you've browsed around here a while, feel free to create a WikiHomePage named after you: FirstnameLastname. Use RealNamesPlease, and remember that WikiIsNotYourBlog.

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CategoryWikiHelp