Help:Tracking changes: Difference between revisions

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m (→‎Using the software: Using a "magic word" to always show the current MediaWiki version)
(+section: Users will be notified if their discussion pages have been edited. Optionally preferences can be configured to also send an email; +-headings: More spelled out; +-Some more bold important keywords)
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[[Image:F-14_cockpit.jpg|thumb|right|Grumman F-14B Tomcat cockpit]]
{{tip|
[[Image:Zeppelin NT.jpg|thumb|right|Zeppelin NT at dusk]]
Giving a comprehensive and concise '''edit summary''' will help other understand the revision history.


'''Welcome to the FlightGear Wiki!'''  
'''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.}}


There are two main considerations for contributing here, one is using the [[Mediawiki]] software and the other is the nature  ofthe FlightGear wiki. The FlightGear wiki is collaborative volunteer written documentation relating to [[FlightGear]], licensed under the [[GPL|GNU GPL Version 2]].
{{Wiki help navbar}}


FlightGear wiki is not the same as an encyclopedia or research paper, so there is no requirement to have primary and secondary sources to publish content, unless you are citing something. In fact, much of what needs to be written does not exist anywhere at all!
'''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.


Original research, opinions, and first hand accounts are the majority of the content here, but please do not plagiarize. If you are going to copy or cite something then provide a reference (like you might for a school paper). Other than that, the standards and specific goals of the FlightGear are still in flux and development.  
== Notification of edits to your discussion page ==
You will be notified if someone else edit your discussion page. The next time you log in on the wiki or load a page you will see a notification that there are new messages on your discussion page.


==About the FlightGear wiki==
You can also optionally change your preferences so that you will receive an email if your discussion page have been edited.
The FlightGear wiki is currently small, technically oriented, and international. In addition to all sorts of people, regular volunteers include pilots, 3D modelers, professors, and programmers from around the world sharing an interest in FlightGear documentation.  


Articles tend to be about whatever someone sees as important, useful, or fun enough to write about!
== Recent changes to the wiki ==
The page [[Special:RecentChanges]] is a list of all the recent changes on the wiki.


==Using the software==
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.


Writing and editing with Mediawiki code (currently using version {{CURRENTVERSION}}) can take some getting used depending on your background, because unlike most word processors you can see and type software code used for formating and linking. If you already know HTML or a programming language then what are you doing reading this! If you have just used [[Open Office]], then it is still easy to get started. Try using the formating buttons at the top of the edit window to format your text.
Some of the things visible there are:


*[[Help:Tutorial]] to learn how to format your article.
* Edits to pages
* Creation of new pages
* File uploads, usually images
* Creation of new users
* Pages being protected
* Deletion of pages or files


==More on what to write==
As it shows all the latest changes it is often the place where one will find any spam, vandalism or other unwanted edits.
The FlightGear wiki has {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} articles (although only a few dozen of these are well developed) and only a handful of active contributors, with most days only a dozen or so edits being made.


If you are interested in working or building on what has already been done:
One days changes will for example look like below:


Currently the wiki has three main areas that need to be maintained.
[[File:FlightGear wiki recent changes.png|none|frame|Recent changes on the wiki. Only some users have rights to block users.]]
*[[Portal:Developer]] related- these are mostly technical articles aimed at people working on FlightGear.
*Help documentation related- on the User side, articles about how to get started, how to use features, FAQ, etc..(like [[FAQ]])
*Official aircraft- keeping the aircraft up to date with those on CVS. (like [[Table of models]])


Also, there are the [[:Category:Stubs|Stubs]], [[:Category:Afd|Considered for deletion]] and [[:Category:Cleanup|Cleanup]] categories. These articles have been noted as needing more information, a cleanup and/or other additions. Great to start your wiki-career or if you don't like to start a completely new article!
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 [[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


Other interesting pages include things like [[Real Life Experience]], [[Linux software audio mixing with FlightGear]], [[Current events]], or [[Presentation Recipe]]!
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.


Well that sounds exciting! Good luck!
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.


==Creating a new article==
== Your watchlist ==
Fill your new articles name in the search box and press '''Go'''. If the article doesn't exist yet, you can click the red link in the sentence that appears like:  
The ''watchlist'' will help you keep track of interesting pages if the recent changes page is too busy.
:'''Create the page [[Title of your article]] on this wiki!'''.
 
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.
 
== Page 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 <code>diff</code> 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.
 
[[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 to a page ==
[[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, 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.


[[Category:Help]]
[[Category:Help]]
[[de:Help:Ihren ersten Artikel]]
[[fa:Help]]

Revision as of 23:53, 25 November 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.


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.

Notification of edits to your discussion page

You will be notified if someone else edit your discussion page. The next time you log in on the wiki or load a page you will see a notification that there are new messages on your discussion page.

You can also optionally change your preferences so that you will receive an email if your discussion page have been edited.

Recent changes to the wiki

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.

Your 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.

Page 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 to a page

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.