Help:Tracking changes: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:50, 10 June 2018

Tip

Giving a comprehensive and concise edit summary will help other understand the revision history.

Why the edit was done is more useful than what was edited — a diff will show what was edited but not why.

One of the main characteristics of a wiki that like the FlightGear are using the MediaWiki software is that the edit history of all pages is preserved and is available to everyone. This allows for very transparent collaboration.

As the revision history of pages is kept, changes can be tracked in various ways.

Recent changes

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 are:

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.

One days changes will for example look like below:

Recent changes on the wiki. Only some users have rights to block users.

Watchlist

The watchlist will help you keep track of interesting pages if the recent changes page is too busy.

The watchlist presents changes the same way as the recent changes page.

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 at first be empty, but pages can be added to it either 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 top of the revision history of a page

The revision history allow 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.

Diffs

Tip If you need to compare two separate pages you can do so with Special:ComparePages.

Tip By pressing the Show changes button when you edit a page you can see your changes as a diff. It can be useful when writing the edit summary.

A diff is comparison between two revisions of a page. With them you can see what was changed, added or removed in a revision.

A diff page is typically shown with the actual diff at the top of the page and the rendered page as of the latter revision at the bottom of the page.

The diff itself is split into two columns: Typically the old one to the left and new one to the right.

On top you have the dates and usernames as well as the edit summaries added before saving the revisions. Below that are the changed chunks of lines and a few lines surrounding them.

The diff part of a diff page

Tip If Johan G above had used the Show preview button more he might have remembered to add the other changes as well.

Finding a specific edit

Finding an edit through successive approximation.

If you are looking for when a particular section of text was edited, you can use binary search/successive approximation.

Start by comparing the revision between the oldest and newest possible revision with its previous revision. Then in halfway steps compare revisions with their previous ones till you find the edit.

This can come in handy for example if you want to discuss a confusing phrasing with the user who added it, or if you are an administrator and need to find a specific user due to spam etc.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Welcome to the FlightGear Wiki!''' This is a guide to some things you should know before creating your first wiki article. We'll explain some of the DOs and DON'Ts of writing an article, then we'll tell you how to create your article.  Before you create your first new article, here are some tips that may help you along:
+{{tip|
+Giving a comprehensive and concise edit summary will help other understand the revision history.
-#'''Try editing existing articles''' to get a feel for writing and for using the mark-up language in use at the Wiki.  Also, try reading some of our better articles.
+'''Why''' the edit was done is more useful than '''what''' was edited — a diff will show '''what''' was edited but not '''why'''.}}
-#'''Search this wiki first''' to make sure that an article does not ''already exist'' on the subject, perhaps under a different title.  If you find an existing article on your subject, it is best to redirect the name you were thinking of onto the existing article.
-#'''Gather references''' to the source(s) of your information. Articles that do not cite reliable published sources are likely to be deleted.
-#Please '''don't create''' pages about '''yourself or your friends''' (ofcourse you may post info about yourself on your user-page), pages that '''advertise''', or '''personal essays'''.
-#'''Be careful''' about the following: '''copying things''', '''controversial''' material, extremely '''short articles''', and '''local-interest articles'''.
-#Gather references to '''reliable published sources'''. (Did we mention this one already?)
-#Create a '''new page'''.
-#'''List references''' to your sources. ('''We''' '''''really''''' '''mean it.''')
-==Search for an existing article==
+{{Wiki help navbar}}
-The Wiki already has a lot of articles. Before creating an article, try to make sure there isn't already an article, perhaps under a [[Special:Search|slightly different name; you can search for it here;]]. If an article on your topic '''is''' there, but you think people are likely to look for it under some different name or spelling, learn how to add a redirect with that name; adding needed redirects is a good way to help the Wiki. Also, remember to check the article's deletion log in order to avoid creating an article that has already been deleted.
-If a search does not find your article, consider broadening your search to find existing articles that might include the subject of your article. For example, if you want to write an article about a band member, you might search for the band and then add information about your subject to that broader article.
+One of the main characteristics of a wiki that like the FlightGear are using the MediaWiki software is that the edit history of all pages is preserved and is available to everyone.  This allows for very transparent collaboration.
-==Gathering references==
+As the ''revision history'' of pages is kept, changes can be tracked in various ways.
-TODO
-==Things to avoid ==
-TODO
-== And be careful about...==
+== Recent changes ==
-*'''Organization.''' Make sure there are incoming links to the new article from other Wiki articles (click "References" in the toolbox) and that the new article is included in at least one appropriate category. Otherwise it will be difficult for readers to find the article.
+The page [[Special:RecentChanges]] is a list of all the recent changes on the wiki.
-==How to create a page==
+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.
-In the search box left ot this text, type the title of your article, then click Go. If the Search page reports "No page with that title exists" then you can start a new article by going to this link: http://wiki.flightgear.org/flightgear_wiki/index.php?title=your title. Click the Edit button in the menu to start the new article.
-After you have entered your article, click Show preview to check for errors, then click Save page.
+Some of the things visible there are:
-==And then what?==
+* Edits to pages
-To format your article correctly (and expand it) see the links below.
+* Creation of new pages
+* File uploads, usually images
+* Creation of new users
+* Pages being protected
+* Deletion of pages or files
-*[[Help:Tutorial]] to learn how to format your article.
+As it shows all the latest changes it is often the place where one will find any spam, vandalism or other unwanted edits.
+One days changes will for example look like below:
+[[File:FlightGear wiki recent changes.png|none|frame|Recent changes on the wiki.  Only some users have rights to block users.]]
+== Watchlist ==
+The ''watchlist'' will help you keep track of interesting pages if the recent changes page is too busy.
+The watchlist presents changes the same way as the recent changes page.
+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 at first be empty, but pages can be added to it either 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.
+[[File:FlightGear wiki revision history.png|none|frame|The top of the revision history of a page]]
+The revision history allow 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.
+== Diffs ==
+{{tip|If you need to compare two separate pages you can do so with [[Special:ComparePages]].}}
+{{tip|By pressing the ''Show changes'' button when you edit a page you can see your changes as a diff. It can be useful when writing the edit summary.}}
+A ''diff'' is comparison between two revisions of a page. With them you can see what was changed, added or removed in a revision.
+A diff page is typically shown with the actual diff at the top of the page and the rendered page as of the latter revision at the bottom of the page.
+The diff itself is split into two columns: Typically the old one to the left and new one to the right.
+On top you have the dates and usernames as well as the edit summaries added before saving the revisions.  Below that are the changed chunks of lines and a few lines surrounding them.
+[[File:FlightGear wiki diff.png|none|frame|The diff part of a diff page]]
+{{tip|If [[User:Johan G|Johan G]] above had used the ''Show preview'' button more he might have remembered to add the other changes as well.}}
+== Finding a specific edit ==
+[[File:Finding an edit using successive approximation.png|left|thumb|200 px|Finding an edit through successive approximation.]]
+If you are looking for when a particular section of text was edited, you can use ''binary search''/''successive approximation''.
+Start by comparing the revision ''between'' the oldest and newest possible revision with ''its previous'' revision.  Then in ''halfway steps'' compare revisions with their previous ones till you find the edit.
+This can come in handy for example if you want to discuss a confusing phrasing with the user who added it, or if you are an administrator and need to find a specific user due to spam etc.
+[[Category:Help]]