User:EdJogg/EditHelp

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Contents
   EdJogg's Wiki Project Work   
view • talk • edit
ToDo
Help		 WP:THOMAS
Project Work
Links		 S1, S2, T1
Projects
Workshop
Prefix search | BJAODN
Current Major Projects
Ilfracombe Branch Line
Steam Portal
Current Minor Projects
traction engine | steam tractor
steam roller | road roller


[edit] Wikipedia Help and Guidance

To look up help, type the (bold) shortcut into the search box.

NB - next three require moving lower down page...

  • WP:TM – top-level list of useful Template Messages - good starting point...
  • WP:TC – Cleanup message templates
  • WP:RFPP – Requests For Page Protection

[edit] Writing style

There are several articles that provide help and guidance for editors aiming to elevate an article to 'Featured status' (see WP:FAC). A particularly good one, concerning English writing style, may be found at: User:Tony1/How to satisfy Criterion 1a

[edit] Article format (MOS)

Starting point is always the Wikipedia's Manual Of Style (WP:MOS).

  • WP:LAYOUT or WP:GTL – Guide to layout
  • WP:DASH – Manual of Style (dashes)
  • Lead paragraph (or 'lede'): WP:LEDE
    • This is VERY important. WP 1.0 may well use ONLY the article Lede sections, and MANY articles fall short of the ideal. Re-read this occasionally to remind of the important considerations.
    • Also compare news style and Wikipedia:Summary Style (WP:SS)

[edit] Standard Appendix Headings

Use the following order, taken from WP:MOSHEAD:

  • See also
  • Notes
  • References
  • Further reading
  • External links

'Notes' and 'References' may be in the other order, or combined, according to ref style in use.

[edit] Tables

[edit] Categories

  • WP:CAT – Top-level guidelines for category use + details of sorting techniques
  • WP:CATS – Categorical index
  • WP:SUBCAT – gives guidance on when an article should be in both parent and subcat.
  • Wikipedia:Categorizing redirects – proposed guideline (EdJogg contributed to discussions)

[edit] Disambiguation

[edit] Redirection

Always add at least one template (see WP:TMR for list) by using the form:

#REDIRECT [[destination page]] {{R template}}
  • Redirects should also be categorised as {{R printworthy}} or {{R unprintworthy}}, as appropriate.
    Some of the other templates automatically add one or other of these cats.

[edit] Link anchors

At a destination heading, use {{Anchor}} (or {{Anchors}}).
These not only alert editors to the presence of a link, but also allow the anchor to be independent of the heading text.
For example:

===Heading {{Anchor|Anchor name}}===
===Heading {{Anchors|First anchor alias|Second anchor alias|etc}}===

[edit] References

See steam shovel for first citation added by EdJogg.
  • WP:REF    – Citing sources – good starting point
  • WP:CITET – Citation templates – useful, but not required

Example, from 'Footnotes' section of WP:REF:

  1. Place a <ref> ... </ref> where you want a footnote reference number to appear in an article—type the text of the note between the ref tags.
  2. Place the <references/> tag in a "Notes" or "References" section near the end of the article—the list of notes will be generated here.

Example:

According to scientists, the Sun is pretty big;<ref>Miller, E: "The Sun", page 23. Academic Press, 2005</ref>
however, the moon is not so big.<ref>Smith, R: "Size of the Moon", ''Scientific American'', 46(78):46</ref>

== Notes ==
<references/>


To create small text references, use the following...

==References==
{{reflist}}

which is neater than, but effectively the same as, adding:

==References==
<div class="references-small">
<references/>
</div>

[edit] Multiple References

See Angels Flight for example of multiple-entry reference (copied! by EdJogg)
See HM Railway Inspectorate for a good example of a brief implementation.
See Scotch gauge for an excellent example of succinctness for large numbers of references:
(49 references to 4 sources, split between 'Notes' and 'References' sections:
notes occupy 4 lines, references, another 5 or 6, rather than the 49 lines required if shown in full)
  • Use <ref name=XXXX>, where XXXX is an identifier for the reference, for each example of the same reference, in place of <ref>.
  • Use <ref name=XXXX/>, where the same reference has been used previously.
    NB, the '/' replaces the need for </ref>, and avoids the possibility of an empty ref (which is a syntax error).

[edit] Scrollable reference list

A scrollable window showing (approx) eleven refs at a time. The original example is at Hindu-German Conspiracy.
At one stage added to List of UK railfan jargon to see if anyone objected – unfortunately, they did. (It's against the MOS, apparently, so cannot be used for references, buut there mght be a way of using it for other things...)

To create the box, use the following code:

<div style="height: 220px; overflow: auto; padding: 3px; border:1px solid #AAAAAA; reflist4" >
{{Reflist|colwidth=25em}}
</div>

It is possible that this should only be used where 'Notes' (footnotes) and 'References' are listed separately, and then only for the Notes (as in the example given). Nevertheless, it is a neat solution.

[edit] Common reference sources

[edit] 'Notes'

See {{cref}} and {{cnote}} -- EdJogg's first usage at Steam engine

[edit] Page movement

  • WP:ARCHIVE – How to archive a talk page - also see Talk:Traction engine for an example of Archive box in use.
  • WP:MM – Merging and moving pages - includes 'merge', 'mergeto', 'mergefrom' templates


[edit] Deletion

  • WP:DP – Deletion policy - useful starting point...
  • WP:PROD – Proposed deletion - also see Category:Prod-related templates
  • WP:SPEEDY – Criteria for Speedy Delete


[edit] Miscellaneous

  • WP:BOX – Wikipedia:Userboxes – how to create, how to use, links to lists of existing user boxes
  • WP:CACHE – Wikipedia:Bypass your cache – bypass/clear/disable cache (instrux for various browsers), force server re-render, etc

[edit] Templates

 Please help improve this section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.
  • 'Section stub' indication (above) is produced by {{sectstub|date=May 2008}}
  • To show example template text, use {{tl|templatename}}, for example {{thomas}}.
  • To highlight an article that is too technical, use {{technical}}. Probably is intended to go on Talk page...?

[edit] 'Convert' tricks

Tricks for using {{convert}}:

  • {{convert|106.5|ft|m}} produces: 106.5 feet (32.5 m)
  • {{convert|106|ft|6|in|m}} produces: 106 feet 6 inches (32.5 m)

[edit] Fancy quotes

Use {{cquote}} to get fancy quote marks. For example:

{{cquote|Template showing small amount of text, spread...<BR><BR>...over several lines.}}

produces:

“ Template showing small amount of text, spread...

...over several lines.		 ”

[edit] Top-of-Page DABbing

See Template:Otheruses for a list of the various templates available for directing readers to alternative pages.


[edit] Naviboxes - Preceding Whitespace

It is common for a navibox to have no clear space above it, with the result that it almost collides with the preceding text. While the 'obvious' answer would be to modify the template, this is not appoved of by some editors, and has undesirable effects if naviboxes are stacked (especially when 'hidden').

Instead, add the following on affected pages:

<!--
Line-break added to separate navibox from preceding text --><BR>
  • The split line is used to make it much clearer what is going on.
  • The comment accompanies the line-break to try to avoid bot-deletion.

[edit] Miscellaneous

England Portal
Special Effects templates
Effect Required Wikicode
Flag of the United Kingdom {{flagicon|United Kingdom}}
Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom {{flagcountry|United Kingdom}}
Flag of England {{flagicon|England}}
Flag of England England {{flagcountry|England}}
England portal (see right) {{portalpar|England|Flag of England.svg}}
  • See: Template:Country data England for England country template data.


[edit] For External Links entries

These two examples from Crossness Pumping Station:

{{IoE|432966|(south west workshops, grade II)}}''' produces:
 Images of England — details from listed building database (432966) (south west workshops, grade II)

{{EHbar|4523}} produces:
This building is on the English Heritage - Buildings at Risk Register - link to entry... (etc)

[edit] Route Box: Railway Stations and Lines


[edit] Churches

[edit] Category sorting

  • Use, for example, {{DEFAULTSORT}} at the start of a set of categories to apply the same sort criteria to all cats, thus saving space.
    For example: {{DEFAULTSORT:Rastrick, John Urpeth}}

[edit] WP Admin

  • For complete set of User Talk Namespace Message Templates, see: WP:UTM
  • See WP:VAN for categories of vandalism
  • For spam reporting on talk pages, see Template:spam (as starting point)
  • For unsigned talk page comments, add:   {{subst:unsigned|user name|date}}
  • To greet a new user, add heading:  ==Welcome!==  and template:   {{subst:NewUser}} ~~~~
    See WP:WC for guidance and WP:WT for the myriad templates.
  • To refer to a user, can use {{user}}; for example, {{User|EdJogg}} produces:
        EdJogg (talk · contribs)

[edit] Syntax Help

  • Non-breaking space, use: &nbsp - followed by a semi-colon
  • Medium dash ('–'), use: &ndash followed by a semi-colon
  • Long dash ('—'), use: &mdash followed by a semi-colon
  • For invisible comments to editors use: <!-- xxxx -->

[edit] Multiple-column list

First seen used in Railfan; useful if there is a long list with short text entries, and MUCH easier than a table!
Templates exist for 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-column tables.
See {{Template:Col-begin}} as a starting point for the available component templates.

Syntax for a two-column list is as follows.

This wikicode:
 
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-1-of-2}}
;Heading 1
* List entry 1
* etc
 
{{Col-2-of-2}}
;Heading 4
* List entry 5
* etc
{{Col-end}}

...produces this result:

Heading 1
  • List entry 1
  • List entry 2
Heading 2
  • List entry 3
Heading 3
  • List entry 4
Heading 4
  • List entry 5
  • List entry 6
  • List entry 7
Heading 5
  • List entry 8
  • List entry 9


[edit] Image copyright

  • See Image:Porlockmap1937.jpg, for example of using an OS map over 50 years old.
  • See Image:Wimbledon station 02.jpg (from Commons) for good example of licensing stuff and link for more info (from Thryduulf)
  • See Image:Vj day kiss.jpg, for example of use of license {{tl:HistoricPhoto}} – may be able to use this as excuse for B&W pics of very old traction engines!
  • See Image:Miss Sedusa.JPG, for example of a Fair-Use Rationale for an animated TV screenshot
  • See Image:Underground.png for example of a template for Non-Free/Fair Use images

[edit] External Links + Link Spam

  • If faced with a spammer having edited multiple pages, suggest dropping a note to User talk:Bob Castle. Bob is passionately opposed to spam and would more than likely help out. (Haven't tried asking yet! - 02/07/07)

[edit] Page layout

  • Wadebridge is a good example of page layout for a UK place, with a sizeable info box, timeline, and pics all down the right-hand size.
    It is a very 'natural' layout.

[edit] Search Pages


[edit] Terminology


[edit] Content

[edit] Images

  • WP:LI – Wikipedia:List of images

[edit] Categories


[edit] Utilities

[edit] Link search

  • Search WP for External Links by URL using External Links from the Special Pages link in LH toolbox