Help:Your first article: Difference between revisions
(A humble beginning based on the current text) |
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== Editing the wiki markup == | == Editing the wiki markup == | ||
{{main article|Help:editing}} | |||
Writing and editing with Mediawiki wiki markup (currently using MediaWiki v. {{CURRENTVERSION}}) can take some getting used depending on your background, because unlike most word processors you can see and type software code used for formatting and linking. | Writing and editing with Mediawiki wiki markup (currently using MediaWiki v. {{CURRENTVERSION}}) can take some getting used depending on your background, because unlike most word processors you can see and type software code used for formatting 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, as you can begin using the buttons above the edit box to format your text. | 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, as you can begin using the buttons above the edit box to format your text. | ||
== Linking your article to other articles == | |||
Linking your article to other articles will make your article more useful to the reader. There is mainly three way to do this, by adding one or more category, by adding wiki links and by adding navboxes. | |||
=== Categories === | |||
{{main article|Help:Categories}} | |||
The categories is connecting the articles, images, and templates in a partly tree-like partly web-like structure. By linking together similar content it will be easier to get a grasp on how your article is related to other articles. | |||
Have a look in the category structure and try find a suitable category or maybe one or two more. Adding a category that is as narrow as possible to your article will help find it for a reader browsing through the categories looking for something. | |||
Categories are added like this <code><nowiki>[[Category:Some category]]</nowiki></code> at the very bottom of the page. Sometimes it is desirable to add a category in a way that the article will be sorted differently than by it's name. This can be done like this <code><nowiki>[[Category:Some category|Sort key]]</nowiki></code>, where the sort key is what it should be sorted as instead of the article name. | |||
=== Wikilinks === | |||
{{main article|Help:Editing#Links to other wiki pages}} | |||
Wikilinks are links to other articles. You should preferably not link to other articles in the first section or in section headings and you should only link to other articles the first time a concept is used unless the article is very long. Filling the article with links will not make it easier to read it. | |||
Wikilinks can be used in a few different ways. | |||
<nowiki>Here is some example links: [[Aircraft speed]], [[altitude]]s and [[Modeling - Getting Started#Finding, Creating, or Using Textures|textures]].</nowiki> | |||
Here is some example links: [[Aircraft speed]], [[altitude]]s and [[Modeling - Getting Started#Finding, Creating, or Using Textures|textures]]. | |||
== Typical article disposition == | |||
<nowiki>{{Some messagebox}} | |||
{{Some infobox or navbox}} | |||
A '''generic article disposition''' would look something like this. | |||
== Heading == | |||
Some text... | |||
== | == Related content == | ||
* [[Some page]] | |||
== External links == | |||
* [Some link] Some description | |||
{{Some navbox}} | |||
[[en:Some language link]] | |||
[[Category:Some category]]</nowiki> | |||
;Messageboxes | |||
:One or more ''messageboxes'' could sometimes begin typical article page. The messageboxes would tell a reader or editor something about the article, like for example that it is outdated due to new developments. | |||
;Infobox or navbox | |||
:Often an ''infobox'' or ''navbox'' will follow. An ''infobox'' will contain more detailed information about a piece of software, an aircraft, an airport etc. that is the topic of the article and a ''navbox'' could help the reader find his way around a series of or similar articles. | |||
;First section | |||
:The ''first section'' of an article should be a ''short summary'' of the article or an ingress. Preferably the '''page title in bold''' should be within the first sentence or the first section. | |||
:This short summary of the article would help a reader to quickly figure out if he found the page he was looking for, as well as help a him grasp the main concepts of an article a bit faster. | |||
;Article text | |||
:The article text that follows is preferably broken up in not too long, but not too short ''sections''. Often it would help the reader if there are images and tables to help understand the article text. Sometimes it is a good thing to mark more some important words differently. | |||
;Links to related content | |||
:''Links'' to related content, like other articles forum topics etc. can be put in the end, though in general having the internal wikilinks within the article text is preferable. | |||
;Links to external resources | |||
:Links to external resources should be put at the very end of the article. | |||
;Navbox | |||
:Many pages end with a ''navbox'' with for example other aircraft by the same manufacturer. | |||
;Language links and categories | |||
:All articles should end with one or more ''categories''. They are preceded by ''language links'', if there is any translations of that page. | |||
Revision as of 22:25, 5 December 2013
Writing your first article, hopefully one of many contributions to the FlightGear project, could be a great way to share your experiences and perhaps also help some of us other FlightGear users.
As you probably already are aware of the FlightGear wiki is a collaborative written documentation related to FlightGear, the free and open source flight simulator. As FlightGear itself the wiki is licensed under the GNU GPL version 2 license.
Contributing to the FlightGear Wiki
The FlightGear Wiki is not an encyclopaedia or a search paper. There is no requirement to have primary and secondary sources, unless you are citing something. In fact, much of what is needed does not exist anywhere else at all!
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.
Articles tend to be about whatever someone sees as important, useful, or fun enough to write about!
Editing the wiki markup
|
|
Writing and editing with Mediawiki wiki markup (currently using MediaWiki v. 1.39.6) can take some getting used depending on your background, because unlike most word processors you can see and type software code used for formatting 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, as you can begin using the buttons above the edit box to format your text.
Linking your article to other articles
Linking your article to other articles will make your article more useful to the reader. There is mainly three way to do this, by adding one or more category, by adding wiki links and by adding navboxes.
Categories
|
|
The categories is connecting the articles, images, and templates in a partly tree-like partly web-like structure. By linking together similar content it will be easier to get a grasp on how your article is related to other articles.
Have a look in the category structure and try find a suitable category or maybe one or two more. Adding a category that is as narrow as possible to your article will help find it for a reader browsing through the categories looking for something.
Categories are added like this [[Category:Some category]] at the very bottom of the page. Sometimes it is desirable to add a category in a way that the article will be sorted differently than by it's name. This can be done like this [[Category:Some category|Sort key]], where the sort key is what it should be sorted as instead of the article name.
Wikilinks
|
|
Wikilinks are links to other articles. You should preferably not link to other articles in the first section or in section headings and you should only link to other articles the first time a concept is used unless the article is very long. Filling the article with links will not make it easier to read it.
Wikilinks can be used in a few different ways.
Here is some example links: [[Aircraft speed]], [[altitude]]s and [[Modeling - Getting Started#Finding, Creating, or Using Textures|textures]].
Here is some example links: Aircraft speed, altitudes and textures.
Typical article disposition
{{Some messagebox}}
{{Some infobox or navbox}}
A '''generic article disposition''' would look something like this.
== Heading ==
Some text...
== Related content ==
* [[Some page]]
== External links ==
* [Some link] Some description
{{Some navbox}}
[[en:Some language link]]
[[Category:Some category]]
- Messageboxes
- One or more messageboxes could sometimes begin typical article page. The messageboxes would tell a reader or editor something about the article, like for example that it is outdated due to new developments.
- Infobox or navbox
- Often an infobox or navbox will follow. An infobox will contain more detailed information about a piece of software, an aircraft, an airport etc. that is the topic of the article and a navbox could help the reader find his way around a series of or similar articles.
- First section
- The first section of an article should be a short summary of the article or an ingress. Preferably the page title in bold should be within the first sentence or the first section.
- This short summary of the article would help a reader to quickly figure out if he found the page he was looking for, as well as help a him grasp the main concepts of an article a bit faster.
- Article text
- The article text that follows is preferably broken up in not too long, but not too short sections. Often it would help the reader if there are images and tables to help understand the article text. Sometimes it is a good thing to mark more some important words differently.
- Links to related content
- Links to related content, like other articles forum topics etc. can be put in the end, though in general having the internal wikilinks within the article text is preferable.
- Links to external resources
- Links to external resources should be put at the very end of the article.
- Navbox
- Many pages end with a navbox with for example other aircraft by the same manufacturer.
- Language links and categories
- All articles should end with one or more categories. They are preceded by language links, if there is any translations of that page.
Welcome to the FlightGear 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 GNU GPL Version 2.
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!
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.
About the FlightGear wiki
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!
Using the software
Writing and editing with Mediawiki code (currently using version 1.39.6) 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.
- Help:Tutorial to learn how to format your article.
More on what to write
The FlightGear wiki has 3,487 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:
Currently the wiki has three main areas that need to be maintained.
- 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 Stubs, Considered for deletion and 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!
Other interesting pages include things like Real Life Experience, Linux software audio mixing with FlightGear, Current events, or Presentation Recipe!
Well that sounds exciting! Good luck!
Creating a new article
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:
- Create the page Title of your article on this wiki!.