Wiki introduction
From NetGore Wiki
This page provides an overview on getting started with the wiki.
Contents |
Introduction
What is the wiki?
The word wiki has quickly become quite well-known. It refers to a website who's contents can be edited by users, typically with some sort of syntax other than HTML. The most popular wiki is Wikipedia, but there are wikis out there for a huge number of different things since it allows people to help out instead of everyone relying on a single author.
The NetGore wiki was set up for just this reason - so everyone who wants to help out can do so very easily. Anyone who has a NetGore account can edit most any page on the wiki or even create new pages.
What kind of content belongs on this wiki?
Just about anything related to NetGore is fine. It can be tutorials on using existing features, guides for implementing new custom features, or even information about your own NetGore project!
What if I make a mistake?
Each revision for each page is stored. If you change something, the previous version still exists - its just not displayed by default. So even if you were to try and delete every page on the site, someone can revert all of your changes and bring the site back to normal. Of course, blatant malicious behavior will result in punishment. While quality is important, not everything needs to be perfect. Future readers may fix minor grammatical and spelling errors for you, or provide better details. As long as you are trying to write good quality content, you'll be helping out.
Editing content
Wiki syntax
The easiest way to learn the wiki syntax is to look at the source of existing pages. A quick Google search also provides a great way to find what you need. Just search for mediawiki, followed by what you are looking for. For example, if you wanted to search for how to make text italicized, you would search for mediawiki italics. The MediaWiki Cheatsheet on Wikipedia is also a good reference.
A lot of the time, you will be able to get away just using the buttons provided at the top of the edit page.
Adding images
When possible, it is recommended you upload images directly to the wiki instead of linking to external images. This way, as long as the site is up, the image will be available. To do so, simply go to the Special:Upload page to upload the file. Information on how to use these files in pages can be found on that page, too.
Creating new pages
To create a new page, all you have to do is navigate to the page you want to create. This can be done either by clicking on a link to a page that does not exist, or by manually entering the URL to the page in your address bar. For example: http://www.netgore.com/wiki/(PageNameHere).
Categories
Categories are important to add to pages since categorization is vital for making a wiki that is easy to navigate. To add a category to a page, you simply enter the text: [[Category:CategoryNameHere]]. This can be placed anywhere on the page, but its best if you place it at the bottom of the page just to make it easier for other people editing the page to find. Every category on a page is listed at the bottom of the page (see the bottom of this page for an example).
A complete listing of all categories can be found by using the Special:CategoryTree page and entering Content as the category. It is recommended you get a bit familiar with the categories available so you can categorize pages appropriately.
Templates
Templates are a very, very useful tool. It is easiest to think of them as being like methods in programming languages (like C#), or even like advanced C/C++ style precompiler macros. Basically, you write the name of the template, and optionally one or more parameters. Sometimes parameters are named, but sometimes they are not.
We made sure to make templates as easy to use as possible by providing a page containing a summary, parameter listing, and example outputs of each template. A complete listing of templates can be found in Category:Wiki templates. It is highly recommended you look at each one to get a feel of what templates are available. Note that this category does not contain all templates, just the most important custom ones.
