PaulSank's Step-By-Step Guide to Wikidelphia Editing: Difference between revisions
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(To make a link in the Visual Editor, look up and see the button that has an icon like a chain link. You see two tabs. 1. Under "Search pages", you can type in the name of an existing Wikidelphia page you want to link to. 2. Under "External Link", you can make a link to a site outside Wikidelphia. For specific instructions on link making in the Visual Editor take side trip to MediaWiki's [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:VisualEditor/User_guide#Editing_links Editing links].) | (To make a link in the Visual Editor, look up and see the button that has an icon like a chain link. You see two tabs. 1. Under "Search pages", you can type in the name of an existing Wikidelphia page you want to link to. 2. Under "External Link", you can make a link to a site outside Wikidelphia. For specific instructions on link making in the Visual Editor, take a side trip to MediaWiki's [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:VisualEditor/User_guide#Editing_links Editing links]. After the link, leave a blank line of space, and skip down to the next section of this guide.) | ||
This is the way to make a link at the top of the page. What the reader will actually see is just the "glassplategame.com" part, which they can click on. Now I'll explain the parts of what you see in the example: | This is the way to make a link at the top of the page. What the reader will actually see is just the "glassplategame.com" part, which they can click on. Now I'll explain the parts of what you see in the example: | ||
Revision as of 10:34, 20 July 2016
Hi, all! I'm Paul! When I first tried to edit, I was intimidated and stymied for a long time. I couldn't fully imagine what a Wikidelphia page of mine would look like, much less how to make one in any sort of procedural sequence. What to do? I couldn't feel confidence and motivation.
You, however, have a much better start right here! This step-by-step guide to Wikidelphia editing is written to guide you, step-by-step, in making or improving pages.
A First Look
First, it is recommended that you click or tap on Random Page, over on the left of your screen, in Wikidelphia's sidebar. That's the column of options below the WikiDelphia logo. Clicking Random Page will bring up a Wikidelphia page chosen at random. Look at the page's various parts for a few seconds, and then hit Random Page again. Do this again, and again, clicking Random Page, looking at each page's "look".
Soon you start to see that there's a variety of page formats, but many of the pages do look alike. You see that there is a common format.
Take a closer look at any page that fits this format. See the page title on top and the link under that. Maybe on the right of the page there's a picture. Below the link, you see the title again in boldface in the first little sentence or paragraph. There's a body of descriptive information, quoted from the website that the top link refers to. Maybe there's an Info section below that, or a See Also section. Maybe there's an In The News section or an Editor's Note. Then at the bottom, there's a little bit of space, usually about three blank lines. Finally there are the Categories.
Now that you have previewed the general layout, take another link at the Table of Contents of this page, above. See how some of the section titles match up with the format you've just seen.
It's time to get into the business of making pages.
A Reassuring Note
Wikidelphia is always being built, grown and improved anyways, so it's okay to stop in the middle of editing and leave your page "under construction" briefly. If you only get a section or two done, and you want to take a break for a few minutes or an hour or a day, go ahead, save the page and log out!
Now, aren't you glad that you definitely do not have to follow this whole guide all at once?
To Begin Editing
Assuming that you have already logged in, there are two main possibilities as to what you're doing:
Make a New Page
First, use the left-column, sidebar search box to poke around Wikidelphia. Look around for any entry that already exists on your subject. Try the exact spelling first. If that doesn't bring up a match, try other spellings. Try other wordings.
If you find such a page, maybe you want to update it (see next subsection). If you get to feeling sure that the subject isn't already covered, then it's time to make a new page:
- Think of an exact title--exact--and enter it into the search box (that every Wikidelphia page has in the left column of your screen). Hit Go.
- As we expect, the search comes up empty. "There were no results matching the query."
- Under that, you see "Create the page '(what you typed, but in red letters)' on this wiki!" This is where Wikidelphia is giving you the option to create a page with the exact title you entered.
- (If the red part is incorrect, just go back over to the search box and type in the correct title this time.)
- Click the red link in the "Create" line.
- Your display now shows you a compose window.
- Look up at the tabs going across the top, above the big page heading. In bold face on one of the tabs, you see "Create Source". This tells you that you're in the Source Editor, which is a plain-text kind of mode where you'll do more typing than mousing.
- To its left you see "Create", which takes you to what's called the Visual Editor.
Throughout these instructions, I'll assume you're using the Source Editor ("Create Source"), but I'll add some notes about how to do things in the Visual Editor ("Create"), too. Either way, we're going for the same result, a well-organized Wikidelphia page in a standardized format that makes it easy and convenient for readers to take advantage of all that a Wikidelphia page has to offer.
Update an Existing Page
You are looking at an existing Wikidelphia page. You shift your gaze up to the top where it has tabs that say things like "Page", "Discussion", "Edit", "History", etc. You have two options:
- You can choose the "Edit" tab if you'd rather use the Visual Editor.
- Or you can choose the "Edit Source" tab to get to the Source Editor.
- Your display now shows you a compose window.
Note
These instructions are written as if you're making a new page. But whether you're making a new one or updating an existing one, the resulting format we want is the same. So if you're making a new page, you're probably starting with the next section, below, and working your way down in sequence. If you're doing an update, you can skip around to whichever part of these instructions is relevant to what part of the page you're working on.
About the Visual Editor
Also please note that if you're using the Visual Editor, there is a separate set of instructions you may wish to look at. The Visual Editor is supposed to be more user-friendly, so most of it is pretty self-explanatory. But just in case, for reference, here's the Visual Editor user guide.
Line 1: The Main Link
At the top of every standardly formatted page, below the tabs and the page title, is the main link. Whatever the title of the page refers to, the main link takes the reader there.
On the page as displayed for the reader, there's a simplified link, for example, "glassplategame.com". As seen in the Source Editor, it looks like this:
{{toplink|url=http://www.glassplategame.com/|name=glassplategame.com}}
(To make a link in the Visual Editor, look up and see the button that has an icon like a chain link. You see two tabs. 1. Under "Search pages", you can type in the name of an existing Wikidelphia page you want to link to. 2. Under "External Link", you can make a link to a site outside Wikidelphia. For specific instructions on link making in the Visual Editor, take a side trip to MediaWiki's Editing links. After the link, leave a blank line of space, and skip down to the next section of this guide.)
This is the way to make a link at the top of the page. What the reader will actually see is just the "glassplategame.com" part, which they can click on. Now I'll explain the parts of what you see in the example:
- First, at the very top of your page, a pair of left curly brackets "{{".
- Next, the word "toplink".
- Then, a vertical bar ("|"). I think it's called a pipe. Anyways, it's usually what you get when you hold Shift and hit the backward slash ("\") key. On my keyboard, the key is directly above "Enter".
- Then, "url=", followed by the actual URL. It's the full address of the website, including all the "http" gobbledygook, and in this case, a slash at the end. This is the full address where the reader actually goes when they hit the link.
- Next, another vertical bar.
- Then, "name=", followed by the simplified URL. This name is what the reader will actually see, being easier to read and easier to remember. So in this example, the reader sees only "glassplate.com", and when they click it, they get taken to "http://www.glassplategame.com".
- Finally, a pair of right curly brackets "}}".
Here are some other examples:
{{toplink|url=http://www.facebook.com/JewishTimesSJ|name=facebook.com/JewishTimesSJ}}
{{toplink|url=http://philadelphia.score.org/|name=philadelphia.score.org}}
{{toplink|url=http://www.sspeterpaulcathedral
.catholicweb.com|name=sspeterpaulcathedral.catholicweb.com}}
{{toplink|url=http://www.scsc.pa.gov|name=scsc.pa.gov}}
{{toplink|url=http://www.esperanza.us/understanding-esperanza/community-economic-development/work-force/|name=esperanza.us
/understanding-esperanza/community-economic-development/work-force}}
{{toplink|url=http://www.reddit.com/r/philadelphia|name=reddit.com/r/philadelphia}}
{{toplink|url=http://www.studylove.org/18agape.html|name=studylove.org}}
Notice how we're always trying to make things easier for the reader by keeping the "name" part simple. Sometimes, though, as in the "esperanza" example, there's not much cutting you can do, because it really does take the whole long URL to get to the site's home page.
In the "studylove" example, I show another example of giving the reader direct access: If I had just put "http://studylove.org" as the full URL, the visitor would have gotten a descriptive landing page. But our Wikidelphia page is itself a good descriptive intro to the website, so the "url" part points to the actual main index of the site. If the reader likes the site, they would probably bookmark the main index, not the landing page.
Now that you have completed the toplink line, put nothing. No space. No carriage return. Whatever comes next on the page will start immediately after the right curly brackets, without anything in between.
Picture
Not every page has a picture, but if you want to add one, the first thing to do is probably to hit the Save Page button so you don't lose your work while you go find a picture.
As to the type of picture, my suggestion is to use a picture that actually pertains to your page's subject. A lot of organizations use stock photos on their sites. There are also copyright issues to consider, so the safest bet is to make sure it's a local picture. The page Ladies In Transit Holistic CDC (LITCDC) has a picture of some of LITCDC's personnel posing with their table at a local festival. The Philadelphia Jazz Project (PJP) doesn't just have a generic picture of a jazz player, it has a picture of a concert that was actually presented by PJP.
Once you've found a picture, download it to your computer, give the picture a name that matches the organization--for example, LITCDC.jpg or PhilaJazz.jpg--and save it.
Next, use the "Upload file" link under "tools" in the Wikidelphia sidebar, the left column of your screen. On the screen that comes up, the Browse button will help you select the picture on your computer. Below that, there's another filename blank. This time, it's asking what you want to re-name your picture to, for the purposes of linking to it in Wikidelphia. If you've already named it well, use the same name here. Below that, there's a bigger blank for you to fill in a full caption. This is the caption the reader will see after they click the thumbnail and see the full picture, so here is the place to put all the details. Finally, scroll down to the bottom and hit the Upload File button.
Now you'll go back to the page you're editing. (Visual Editor: [Instructions under construction.]) Go to the exact spot right immediately after the main link. On pages with no pictures, this spot would be where the description section begins. A picture is the one thing that can come between the main link and the description.
The picture link takes this form:
[[File:PhilaJazz.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Orkestra Rumpilezz presented by the Philadelphia Jazz Project.]]
Breaking it down, in sequence:
- Two left square brackets, then "File", then a colon.
- The file name of the picture you uploaded.
- A vertical bar ("|") and "200px". This means, make it 200 pixels wide on the page. The usual width of a Wikidelphia thumbnail is 200px.
- "|thumb". This means you're making a thumbnail.
- "|right". This means that the picture will appear on the right side of the page.
- Another vertical bar followed by the caption you want the reader to see under the thumbnail. Include a period at the end, and then the two right square brackets. Don't add any spaces or carriage returns.
After the brackets, immediately will come the description section of the page.
Description
First: The name of the subject of the entry. For example, if the page is titled, "Glass Plate Game", then Line 3 should begin:
The '''Glass Plate Game'''
The three single quotes (or apostrophes) mean "bold". (In the Visual Editor, select the name, then hit the "A" button and pick Bold from the dropdown menu. Shortcut: Ctrl-B.) What's between these groups of marks must match the title of the page very exactly. Exception: If the page title has an acronym in parentheses at the end, e.g., "Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS)", then put the acronym outside the bolded part.
The '''Pennsylvania Horticultural Society''' (PHS)
Second: A phrase that introduces the description. This is part of a "point of view frame". When you use such a phrase, you're shifting the point of view to someone else, usually to the point of view expressed on your subject organization's or person's website.
Examples:
The '''Glass Plate Game''' gives the following descriptive information: '''Nonprofit Technology Resources''' (NTR) describes itself this way: '''Invisible River''', which uses the tagline, "Celebrating our local rivers through live public performance and river advocacy", gives the following description:
Third: The descriptive information. First, put
<blockquote> </blockquote>
These two angle-bracketed words ("tags") will tell Wikidelphia to make a long quotation in a more indented format from the other text. (In the Visual Editor, you'll do the blockquote marking after you add the information.)
Now you want to go find some descriptive information. Open another browser window and go to the subject's website. Sometimes a good paragraph or two can be found on the subject site's home page. Maybe a good paragraph or two can be found under:
- "About Us",
- "Mission",
- "Vision",
- "Who We Are",
- "What We Do".
When you find some good descriptive words, copy them and paste them in between the "blockquote" tags. (Visual Editor: Now that you've added the descriptive information, select it. Then hit the Paragraph button and pick "Block quote" from the dropdown menu. Shortcut: Ctrl-8.)
If the text you found has more than one paragraph, add two "<br>" (carriage return) tags in each of the spaces between paragraphs. (Visual Editor: Make sure there's a blank line between paragraphs. You're now done with the description section.)
See the tags in this full example:
'''Niche Recycling''' gives the following description:<blockquote>Niche Waste Reduction & Recycling Systems, Inc. or Niche Recycling, Inc. was previously known as Maurice M. Sampson Associates, sole proprietorship founded in 1988. The company was built on the considerable experience of its founder, Maurice M. Sampson II, one of America’s first urban, municipal recycling coordinators for the Cities of Newark, New Jersey (1982) and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1985).<br><br>Niche Recycling was incorporated in May 1995 in conjunction with a Bar and Tavern Glass Bottle Recycling Pilot Project spearheaded by Anheuser-Busch Recycling Corporation. Well-received by 50 establishments, the effort generated a baseline of information critical to commercial expansion. Commercialization was not achieved due to an unexpected corporate decision by Anheuser-Busch to divest of its recycling operations nationwide. Subsequent efforts by Niche Recycling to secure start-up financing from other sources were unsuccessful.<br><br>Since then, Niche Recycling has completed numerous projects on a city, state and national level. The company has an established record of success that has led to client savings in multiples of initial project investment. Niche Recycling is certified as a minority business enterprise by the City of Philadelphia.</blockquote>
As you can also see from the example, everything between the "blockquote" tags is run together. After I made my first big run-on-and-on block quote like this one, I stopped having weird problems with how the spacing comes out when the whole thing is displayed. My guess is, running it all together gives you more control. However you handle it, the main thing is to end up with good paragraph spacing.
Sections
You may wish to add one or two additional sections. Each section should have a Level 2 heading, meaning you add two equals signs before and after, like this:
==History== The museum gives the following history:<blockquote>[The historical info you find.]</blockquote>
(In the Visual Editor, you get a Level 2 heading by selecting the text, then hitting the Paragraph button and picking Headline from the dropdown menu. Shortcut: Ctrl-2.)
Additional Descriptive Sections
Some additional section headings might be:
==Mission Statement== ==Customer Reviews== ==Vision Statement== ==Permanent Exhibits== ==Programs== ==Projects== ==Product Lines== ==Philosophy== ==How It Works==
In all sections, it's important to keep Wikidelphia's point of view separate from others'. So, after a section heading, you write a little point of view frame, for example:
The organization states its philosophy:<blockquote>[The stuff you found on the subject site's Philosophy page.]</blockquote> PHS lists the following programs:<blockquote> *Gardening Program *Flower Show *Other Program </blockquote> ABC gives its mission and vision:<blockquote>''Mission:'' [their statement] <br><br>''Vision:'' [their Vision stuff]</blockquote>
In the "ABC" example, note the use of double single quotes, which means "Italics". And then the part with the ampersand and "nbsp" and semicolon makes a standard amount of space after the italicized heading. (Visual Editor: To get italics, select the text, then hit the "A" button and pick Italic. Shortcut: Ctrl-I. Make sure there's a space after the colon.) Italicized headings are the main way to mark minor sections in a Wikidelphia entry.
In the "PHS" example, note the asterisks. These items will appear as a bulleted list. (Visual Editor: Select the text, then hit the button that looks like a bulleted list. From the menu you can pick either Bullet list or Numbered list.)
Editor's Notes
When you want to add a comment or something else from your own point of view as a person or as a Wikidelphia editor, add an Editor's Note section. Another use of an Editor's Note is to request a bit of assistance from the next editor that works on this page.
Side Note: Note also that the Discussion tab at the top of almost every Wikidelphia page takes you to a "talk page", which is the ideal place for you to express your informal thoughts about the subject or the page or how it's going for you making it, or perhaps to offer your intention as to the value and purpose of the page. Multiple editors could use this tab to forge consensus about a page's purpose and the way that the material is presented.
Examples of an editor's note:
==Editor's Note== I went to this event myself and had a great time. Try the funnel cakes! The parking is a bit pricey, though. ~~~~ ==Editor's Note== This organization is not showing any signs of recent activity and, as far as I can tell, may have shut down. I ask the next editor who sees this, please search the Net again for signs of current activity, and then of course update this page accordingly. ~~~~
When you put the blank line and then the four tildes ("~") at the end, it will do something very handy! After you save the page, and when Wikidelphia displays it, the tildes will be gone, replaced by a complete signature, including your user name, the date, and the time.
Info Section
One type of section you'll include sometimes is "Info". This example gives ideas of the sort of items that can be included:
==Info== *Event Calendar: [http://joebloe.com/events Joe Bloe's Upcoming Events] *Twitter: [http://www.twitter.com/JoeBloe @JoeBloe] *Facebook: [http://www.facebook.com/JoeTheBloeMeister JoeTheBloeMeister] *Hours: [http://joebloe.com/hours Joe's Hours Of Operation] *Volunteer: [http://joebloe.org/volunteer Make A Difference Today!] *Volunteer Match profile: [http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/org98248.jsp Ignatian Volunteer Corps]
In the "Event Calendar", "Hours", and "Volunteer" examples, note that the title after the link is whatever actually appears at the top of the linked page. It should be a close match so that your reader will know the link took them to the page they were expecting.
The "Twitter" format is very specific. Follow it exactly. The link, and then a space, then the "at" sign with the username.
The "Facebook" format is also specific. First the link, and then a space followed by a repeat of whatever appears after the link's slash.
In all the examples, note that there is no "https://". If you see this, kill the "s" unless the link actually takes the reader to a site where security is especially important. An "https" site is the kind you get when you're about to log in into your credit card account, for example.
In The News
For example:
==In The News== *[http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/03/26/fans-mesh-love-of-baseball-with-love-of-running-at-annual-phillies-charities-5k/ Fans Mesh Love Of Baseball With Love Of Running At Annual Phillies Charities 5K], CBS-3, March 26, 2016.
So that's the link, then the title, then the news source, then the completely spelled out date.
An "In The News" section is a great way to quickly add a whole 'nother point of view. Just by adding this link, your visitor gets a different vantage point on the subject. Use any news article that sheds light on your subject.
If there is more than one item, list them in reverse chronological order, the most recent item on top.
Categories
Now we're about to fill out the very bottom of the page.
First of all, save your work so far by clicking the "Save page" button. Perhaps you'd like to hit the "Show preview" button first, which will show you what the page looks like without saving it yet. Then you "Save page", and you see the page as published. Hit the "Edit" tab to get back into an editor.
Using Rich Editor
If you can get into the Rich Editor, the top line of buttons begins with the word "Wikitext" after an icon that looks like a document. (If you can't get into Rich Editor, then skip the rest of this section and go to the next.) Look to the right end of this row of buttons. See the one that looks sort of like a Chinese character in black and blue? Just to be sure, run your mouse over it, and if it's the right one, it'll say "Insert/Edit categories". Click it.
This brings up the Categories tool. Type a few letters into the middle blank space called "Search category". For example, I think of the subject's location, let's say Center City East, so I put "center c", and then in the window below, a list of options pops up that includes "Where-Center City", which I double-click on to include it, and I also see "Where-Center City East", which I also click on to include it.
Then I hit the OK button to see what I've done, and there they are, both categories showing at the bottom of the Rich Editor window. (It doesn't look so good, though, right? It'll look better after you "Save page".)
So that's Categories. You hit the Chinese-character-like icon, find categories, double-click to include them, and hit OK to actually add them to the page. Think of all categories that apply and include them. When all is done with categories, the next big step is to save the page.
Using the Plain-Text Window
In this case, the first issue in your Categories section is spacing. Before the first Category, you'll probably need to put one or more angle-bracketed "br" tags. The number depends on trial and error. After you save the page, you want to see approximately three blank lines between the body of the entry and the first line of Categories. For example, "blockquote" end tags (with the slash) make a lot of blank space by themselves, so you may only need one "br". If the body ends with a bulleted list, you may find that adding two "br" tags is what achieves the desired three-blank result.
Next you add the Categories manually, each one in this format:
[[Category:Name-Subname]]
So each category you add starts with two left square brackets. Then the word "Category". Then a colon. Then the name of the category, for example "Where" or "Is" or "Does". Then the two right square brackets. Sometimes there's a sub-name. Examples of Category formatting:
[[Category:Is-Restaurant]] [[Category:Is-Restaurant-Japanese]] [[Category:Using-Volunteers]] [[Category:Is-Church-Presbyterian_Church_in_America_(PCA)]] [[Category:Where-Camden_County]] [[Category:Serves-Children]]
Here's a real example, for Gallery Eleven One:
[[Category:Is-Tourist_Attraction]] [[Category:Is-Art_Gallery]] [[Category:Where-Camden_NJ]] [[Category:Issue-The_Arts]]
Another real example, the categories for Collaborative Impact:
[[Category:Is-Social_Enterprise_Partnership]][[Category:Does-Management_Training]] [[Category:Is-Nonprofit_Organization]][[Category:Does-Idea_Sharing]] [[Category:Does-Program_Collaboration]][[Category:Where-Washington (state)]]
And one more example, the cats for Audio Post | Maja Media:
[[Category:Does-Post_Production]] [[Category:Is-Enterprise]][[Category:Where-Rittenhouse_Square]] [[Category:Is-Business]][[Category:Using-Audio_Equipment]][[Category:Is-Audio_Post_Production_Studio]] [[Category:Serves-Advertising_Agencies]][[Category:Serves-Independent_Video_Producers]]
For a final check, hit the "Categories WCS" link, in the Wikidelphia sidebar, to see all the top categories. Spend a minute staring at them, and maybe you'll explore some of their various sub-pages, ... Try and think of any more categories that should be included.
When all is done with categories, the next big step is to save the page.
Adding a New Category
To add a totally new Category, just add it to your entry as if it already existed. After you hit "Save page" and look at the page, you'll see the category in red. To actully make a proper Category, just hit the red link. Next you'll see a compose window, into which you'll usually just put the name of the parent Category. E.g., if you're making "Category:Where-Thumbville", then put
[[Category:Where]]
"Where" is the parent category of "Where-Thumbville".
For another example, if you're making "Category:Does-Massage", you put "Category:Does" between the double brackets. If you're making "Category:Is-Restaurant-Laplandish", you put "Category:Is".
Before you "Save page" to save your Category, please add a note, for example, "New category", or "New category needed in creating an entry".
More About Categories
Category:Is
Most organizations will include a general type, for example, "Is-Business" or "Is-Nonprofit Organization". In addition to the general type, you may include something more specific, for example, a page that has "Is-Business" and "Is-Restaurant", or for another example, an entry that has "Is-Nonprofit Organization" and "Is-Advocacy Organization". If your subject "Is-Church", you'll also want to include the denomination, e.g. "Is-Church-Roman_Catholic".
Issue versus About
An "Issue" category is usually, not always, used by an advocacy organization, for example, "Issue:Sustainability" might be included on an environmental group's entry, or "Issue:The_Arts" would appear for a group that pushes for public policy favorable to the arts.
An "About" category doesn't involve advocacy. For example, a museum of journalism that just aims to educate people about journalism would have "About-Journalism". A magazine can simply have writers writing about higher education, so you put "About-Higher_Education".
Other Categories
Don't forget to consider whether your subject "Does" something, for example, A gym "Does-Fitness_Classes". An evening school "Does-Noncredit_Courses".
Maybe your page is about a regularly occurring event, so you'll be sure to add "Is-Recurring_Event" and its frequency, for example, "Frequency:Monthly" or "Frequency:Annual". (On annual events, I like to add "Is-Annual_Event" because I want a simple way of getting a list of annual events.)
Consider using a newer category "Sells". Anything that your subject sells a significant amount or proportion of should be listed. For example, the nonprofit group Nonprofit Technology Resources "Sells-Computers" in its thrift store. Simple Cycle "Sells-Bicycles". Equal Dollars Food Market "Sells-Food".
"Serves" is important to remember. Imagine you're a low-income person, and you want to know every place that "Serves-Low_Income_People". Maybe your subject organization "Serves-Senior_Citizens". Many organizations serve several types of people, so their entries will have several "Serves" categories. Sometimes a person, who "Is-Individual", may also need a "Serves" category on their page.
"Teaches" is pretty straightforward. For example, Career Onestop "Teaches-Job_Readiness". Penn State Extension "Teaches-Culinary_Arts". User:Stan's wife Sally McCabe "Teaches-Gardening".
"Using" shouldn't be overused. Every organization uses technology, for example, so there's no need to include "Using-Technology" unless the subject uses technology in some special way.
A good example of how to use "Using" is "Using-Volunteers", because if we editors mark every volunteer-using organization with this category, then when a reader wants to find a place to volunteer at, they can just pull up the "Using-Volunteers" page to see a big list of organizations to consider reaching out to.
Paired Categories
Certain categories have special pairings:
When you include Category:Using-Volunteers at the bottom of the page, please always include a "Volunteer" item in the Info section. When somebody looks for organizations "Using-Volunteers", we want them to have an easy, fast time signing up, so when they visit each item of the results they find, they always have a "Volunteer" link they can click right away.
When you include an Event Calendar item in the Info section, always include Category:Does-Event_Calendar in the categories at the bottom of the page. Again, it's a matter of giving the visitor quicker access to what they're looking for when they browse using the Category.
Save the Page
Before you hit "Save page" to save your new, full Wikidelphia subject entry, do these:
- Look over the whole page once more to check for errors and other places where a bit of the page may possibly not be displayed to your liking.
- Please add a descriptive note in the blank box near the save button. For examples, "New page inspired by a news story", or "Routine update of a page chosen via Random Page", or "New page about an organization found on Volunteer Match", etc.
Then go ahead and hit the save button! The computer will now show you your finished page. Look it over very closely for errors and other needs of improvement. To correct them, of course, look upward and choose the Edit tab. Otherwise, enjoy the fruit of your labor for a moment, and then perhaps you'd like to help us promote Wikidelphia by telling a few other people to come see your new page! :-)
Help Keep Wikidelphia Up-To-Date!
Here are some suggestions on how to pick a page to update or improve:
- Use Random Page: See the "Random page" link all the way to the left of this page? In the Wikidelphia sidebar. Click it, and a randomly selected page will come up. If it's old enough that the info in it probably needs a check, or if it needs changes to correct or improve its format, do a routine update of the page. Sometimes, as you might expect, an update turns into what I note as a "page overhaul".
- Use Popular Pages: Click the "Special pages" link in the Wikidelphia sidebar, then look under "Wiki data and tools" for the "Popular Pages" link. Click that and look at some of the more popular pages until you find one that could use an update or modification.
- Use Other Special Pages: Just for examples, under the "Maintenance" heading of Special Pages, we find:
- "Broken redirects" gave me a chance to delete some, fix some, and turn some broken redirects into See pages.
- "Short pages" gave me a lot of See pages to fix, so now a visitor won't get misdirected by those.
- "Unused categories" gives me an idea for volunteers! The top 19 of the unused categories (today 3/30/16) are Philadelphia neighborhoods, so ... use Google Maps or your fave map app to zoom in on those neighborhoods to find places, orgs, and recurring events to make entries about!
- "Uncategorized pages" reveal an important task, because uncategorized pages need to have Categories added to them in order for the pages to be made searchable by the WCS (Wikidelphia Category System).
OK! So now you have a page in front of you. What to do:
- Generally, look the page over to check and correct parts that don't conform to the uniform Wikidelphia format.
- Make sure the top-of-page URL works. If it doesn't, try to search for and find a newer link to the same site. If you can't find a link at all, then change the first line of the page to:
''No Current URL''
and add a suitable Editor's Note section in the body text of the page, for example:
==Editor's Note== I was unable to find a current URL for this organization. Please check again sometime, and then maybe we'll need to delete this page. Or maybe we'll need to re-orient the page to change it to a historical page describing something that formerly existed. ~~~~
- Check the body text against the subject's website to make sure everything's the latest.
- Check every link on the whole page. Repair or delete the ones that don't work. Make sure that what the link points to is still being updated. For example, in an Info section, if the subject site's event calendar hasn't been updated in many months or a year, then this Wikidelphia page shouldn't link to it anymore. If the subject hasn't put out a tweet in six months, then the Info section shouldn't have a Twitter link anymore.
- Look at the Categories. A routine update is seldom done without finding that one or more Categories needs to be added, changed, or deleted. Of all we editors, our collective ability to categorize is a skill that can always use improvement, so the Categories are always worth a close inspection in any full update.