Help:Tracking changes: Difference between revisions

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More on recent changes, the watchlist and the history tab
(Extending; Removing the old content - Still WIP though)
(More on recent changes, the watchlist and the history tab)
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The main purpose here is to explain how to use the wiki software, how it is structured, where you can learn more about it, and not less important, how to interact with the part of the FlightGear community that is directly involved with the wiki.
The main purpose here is to explain how to use the wiki software, how it is structured, where you can learn more about it, and not less important, how to interact with the part of the FlightGear community that is directly involved with the wiki.


== The very basics ==
== For readers new to a wiki ==
=== For readers new to a wiki ===
{{tip|If you are very familiar with Wikipedia, you can just skim through this section or even skip it.}}
 
A wiki is a place for collaboration.  There are many like it but this is ours.  As with most wikis they allow readers to browse through the ''articles'' and other ''pages'' making up the content of the wiki.  Pages can also be found by using ''links'', traversing ''categories'' and ''searching''.  But lets start by describing what you can see on a typical wiki page.
A wiki is a place for collaboration.  There are many like it but this is ours.  As with most wikis they allow readers to browse through the ''articles'' and other ''pages'' making up the content of the wiki.  Pages can also be found by using ''links'', traversing ''categories'' and ''searching''.  But lets start by describing what you can see on a typical wiki page.


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=== Typical article layout ===
=== Typical article layout ===
{{tip|If you are familiar with Wikipedia, you can most probably skip this section.}}
==== Messageboxes ====
At top of some articles there can be ''messageboxes'' with general notices about the article.  These could for example state that an article could be out of date, contain factual errors or is to be deleted.


Article pages should have any general notices about the article on the very top of it.
Sometimes there are messageboxes in other places in article as well.


==== First section ====
The first section of the article, before the table of contents should contain a summary of the article.  Sometimes you might instead find this information further down in a section named something like ''Goal'', ''Background'', but this practice is discouraged.
The first section of the article, before the table of contents should contain a summary of the article.  Sometimes you might instead find this information further down in a section named something like ''Goal'', ''Background'', but this practice is discouraged.


==== Infobox ====
On the top left in many articles you can find an ''infobox'' with a summary of information relevant to articles about certain subjects, for example aircraft, airports and software.
On the top left in many articles you can find an ''infobox'' with a summary of information relevant to articles about certain subjects, for example aircraft, airports and software.


==== Navbox ====
Below the infobox or at the bottom of the page there is often a ''navbox'' with links to related articles in a series of articles.
Below the infobox or at the bottom of the page there is often a ''navbox'' with links to related articles in a series of articles.


At the bottom of the article you can find links to related wiki articles and FlightGear project web pages like forum topics, developer mailing list threads and source code. Sometimes there is also links to pages external to the project.
==== Links to related FlightGear resources ====
At the bottom of the article you can find links to related wiki articles and FlightGear project web pages like forum topics, developer mailing list threads and source code.
 
==== Links to external resources ====
Sometimes there is also links to pages external to the project.
 
==== Category links ====
At the very bottom of an article there should be ''category links'' to category pages which list all pages in a category with pages on the same subject.


== Wiki features ==
== Wiki features ==
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This allows for very transparent collaboration.
This allows for very transparent collaboration.


=== Page history ===
=== Tracking changes ===
* History tab
As the ''revision history'' of pages is kept, changes can be tracked in various ways.
* Diffs
 
* Permalinks
==== Recent changes ====
* Watchlist
The page [[Special:RecentChanges]] is a list of all the recent changes on the wiki.
 
If you want to have a feel about what is going on on the wiki you could start your wiki session by having a peek at that page.
 
Some of the things visible there is:
 
* Edits to pages
* Creation of new pages
* File uploads, usually images
* Creation of new users
* Pages being protected
* Deletion of pages or files
 
As it shows all the latest changes it is often the place where one will find any spam, vandalism or other unwanted edits.
 
==== Watchlist ====
The ''wathlist'' will help you keep track of interesting pages if the recent changes page is too busy.
 
The watchlist is accessible from a link in the top right corner of every wiki pages when you have logged in.
 
At first the watchlist will be empty, but pages can be added to it by clicking the ''watch tab'' (the star icon tab) or by clicking the "Watch this page" box below the edit summary text box when editing or creating a new page.
 
==== Page revision history ====
The ''revision history'' of a page, accessible from the history tab, holds all the changes to a page.  Some data regarding deleted revisions is only available to users with sufficient rights.
 
The revision history allows you to look at and compare selected revisions using ''page diffs'' (or often just ''diffs''), as well as link to a certain revision or comparison of revisions.


=== Types of pages ===
=== Types of pages ===

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