Help:Tracking changes: Difference between revisions

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(Splitting off the section "Elements of a wiki page" to http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php?title=Help:Main_navigation_elements&oldid=93254)
(+- Lead section. More to the point; + Explanation of the recent changes list; + Clarification that diff is for difference; + Mentioning Template:Unsigned in regard to finding a specific edit)
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{{WIP}}
{{tip|
Giving a comprehensive and concise edit summary will help other understand the revision history.


This '''tutorial''' is mainly aimed at people new to the [[Main Page|FlightGear wiki]], but might also be useful for the more experienced users from time to time.
'''Why''' the edit was done is more useful than '''what''' was edited — a diff will show '''what''' was edited but not '''why'''.}}
{{tip|
You can help fighting spam by checking [[Special:RecentChanges|recent changes]] when you log in on 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.
{{Wiki help navbar}}


== For readers new to a wiki ==
'''Tracking changes''' on the wiki is relatively easy.  One of the main characteristics of the MediaWiki software the FlightGear wiki is using is that the revision history of all pages are preserved and available to everyone.  This allows for very transparent collaboration.
{{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.
== Recent changes ==
The page [[Special:RecentChanges]] is a list of all the recent changes on the wiki.


=== Typical article layout ===
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.
==== 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.


Sometimes there are messageboxes in other places in article as well.
Some of the things visible there are:


==== First section ====
* Edits to pages
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.
* Creation of new pages
* File uploads, usually images
* Creation of new users
* Pages being protected
* Deletion of pages or files


==== Infobox ====
As it shows all the latest changes it is often the place where one will find any spam, vandalism or other unwanted edits.
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 ====
One days changes will for example look like below:
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.


==== Links to related FlightGear resources ====
[[File:FlightGear wiki recent changes.png|none|frame|Recent changes on the wiki.  Only some users have rights to block users.]]
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 ====
For each row you will see
Sometimes there is also links to pages external to the project.
* A mark indicating for example '''N''' for new pages and '''m''' for minor changes (if the user marked that checkbox when saving his edit of the page)
* The time of the revision (in the time zone set in your preferences (see [[Special:Preferences|Preferences]] link on the top right of every page)
* A link with the title of the page to the revision of the page
* A link "cur" linking to a [[#Diffs|diff]] comparing the revision with the current revision
* A link "prev" linking to a diff comparing the revision with the previous revision
* The number of characters added or removed in the edit
* A link with the name of the user who did the edit linking to his user page
* A link "talk" linking to the users discussion page
* A link "contrib" linking to to a list of the users contributions
* A link to the article section that was edited if the user edited a specific section (click the right arrow)
* The edit summary if the user wrote one


==== Category links ====
If there is several edits to one page on the same day they are grouped together.  They can be shown as separate lines if you click on the triangle.
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 ==
If there is a huge amount of minor edits you can hide them by clicking ''Hide minor edits'' in the ''Recent changes options'' box at the top of the page.
=== Main characteristics ===
The two main characteristics of a wiki that like the FlightGear are using the MediaWiki software are:


* Anyone can register and edit most pages
== Watchlist ==
* The edit history of all pages is ''preserved'' and is available to everyone
The ''watchlist'' will help you keep track of interesting pages if the recent changes page is too busy.


This allows for very transparent collaboration.
The watchlist presents changes the same way as the recent changes page.


=== Tracking changes ===
The watchlist is accessible from a link in the top right corner of every wiki pages when you have logged in.
As the ''revision history'' of pages is kept, changes can be tracked in various ways.


==== Recent changes ====
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.
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.
== 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.


Some of the things visible there is:
[[File:FlightGear wiki revision history.png|none|frame|The top of the revision history of a page]]


* Edits to pages
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.
* 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.
== 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.}}


==== Watchlist ====
A ''diff'' is comparison showing the differences between two revisions of a page, much like the <code>diff</code> utility in some operating systems. With them you can see what was changed, added or removed in a revision.
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.
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.


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


==== Page revision history ====
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 ''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.
[[File:FlightGear wiki diff.png|none|frame|The diff part of a diff page]]


=== Types of pages ===
{{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.}}
In addition there are several types of pages.  These different types of pages are usually separated in different ''namespaces'':


:; Articles
== Finding a specific edit ==
:: Pages in the main namespace, making up the most of the wikis content.
[[File:Finding an edit using successive approximation.png|left|thumb|200 px|Finding an edit through successive approximation.]]
;; Files
:: Generally images used to illustrate the wiki.
:; Categories
:: Grouping together pages with similar content in a somewhat hierarchical fashion.
:; Templates
:: That are used when the wiki editors either want content to be presented in a consistent manner or to lessen the amount of typing needed for common things like repository links etc.
:; User pages
:: Where users can present themselves, have to-do lists etc.
:; Discussion pages
:: These are used for discussions about the wiki, individual pages and with users.
:; Portals
:; Howto pages
:; Help pages
:: Like the one you are reading now.


It may not be obvious at first, but pages in these namespaces are used in different ways, many of them are for example linked to in very different ways.
If you are looking for when a particular section of text was edited, you can use ''binary search''/''successive approximation''.


=== Wiki markup ===
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.
To format the text of the wiki, adding images etc, ''wiki markup'' or ''wikitext'' is used.  For a summary see [[Help:Your first article]] and for details, see [[Help:Formatting]].


== Whats next? ==
This can come in handy for example if you want to discuss a confusing phrasing with the user who added it, if you want to sign an unsigned comment on a discussion page with {{tl|unsigned}}, or if you are an administrator and need to find a specific user due to spam etc.
* [[Portal:Wiki]]
* [[Help:Your first article]]


[[Category:Help]]
[[Category:Help]]

Revision as of 12:14, 24 May 2019

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.

Tip 

You can help fighting spam by checking recent changes when you log in on the wiki.

Wiki help
Reading
Editing
Advanced editing
Writing about specific topics


Tracking changes on the wiki is relatively easy. One of the main characteristics of the MediaWiki software the FlightGear wiki is using is that the revision history of all pages are preserved and available to everyone. This allows for very transparent collaboration.

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.

For each row you will see

  • A mark indicating for example N for new pages and m for minor changes (if the user marked that checkbox when saving his edit of the page)
  • The time of the revision (in the time zone set in your preferences (see Preferences link on the top right of every page)
  • A link with the title of the page to the revision of the page
  • A link "cur" linking to a diff comparing the revision with the current revision
  • A link "prev" linking to a diff comparing the revision with the previous revision
  • The number of characters added or removed in the edit
  • A link with the name of the user who did the edit linking to his user page
  • A link "talk" linking to the users discussion page
  • A link "contrib" linking to to a list of the users contributions
  • A link to the article section that was edited if the user edited a specific section (click the right arrow)
  • The edit summary if the user wrote one

If there is several edits to one page on the same day they are grouped together. They can be shown as separate lines if you click on the triangle.

If there is a huge amount of minor edits you can hide them by clicking Hide minor edits in the Recent changes options box at the top of the page.

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 showing the differences between two revisions of a page, much like the diff utility in some operating systems. 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, if you want to sign an unsigned comment on a discussion page with {{unsigned}}, or if you are an administrator and need to find a specific user due to spam etc.

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