Help:Your first article: Difference between revisions

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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.
Writing '''your first article''' could be a great way to share your experiences and perhaps also help some of us other FlightGear users.  Hopefully your first wiki article will be only one of many contributions to the FlightGear project.


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 [[GPL|GNU GPL version 2]] license.
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 [[GPL|GNU GPL version 2]] license.
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Articles tend to be about whatever someone sees as important, useful, or fun enough to write about!
Articles tend to be about whatever someone sees as important, useful, or fun enough to write about!


== Editing the wiki markup ==
== Typical article disposition ==
{{main article|Help:editing}}
{{main article|User:Johan G/Help:Style guide#Typical article disposition}}
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.
<nowiki>{{Some messagebox}}
{{Some other messagebox}}


== Linking your article to other articles ==
{{Some infobox or navbox}}
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 ===
[[File:Some image.jpg|thumb|Some caption.]]
{{main article|Help:Editing#Links to other wiki pages}}
[[File:Some other image.jpg|thumb|Some other caption]]
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.
A '''generic article disposition''' would look something like this.
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[[Category:Some category]]</nowiki>
[[Category:Some category]]</nowiki>


;Messageboxes
== Editing the wiki markup ==
: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.
{{main article|Help:editing}}


;Infobox or navbox
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. The wiki markup is rather easy to remember though.  A few examples of what can be done is shown below:
: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
<nowiki>* The most common markup is very easy, here also demonstrating unordered and ordered lists:
: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.
*# ''Italic text'' is done within two apostrophes
: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.
*# '''Bold text''' is done within three apostrophes
*# '''''Bold italic text''''' is done with five apostrophes
*#* Thus '''Bold and ''bold italic''''' text can be mixed
: Indented text is done with one or more colon at the beginning of each indented paragraph</nowiki>


;Article text
* The most common markup is very easy, here also demonstrating unordered and ordered lists:
: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.
*# ''Italic text'' is done within two apostrophes
*# '''Bold text''' is done within three apostrophes
*# '''''Bold italic text''''' is done with five apostrophes
*#* Thus '''Bold and ''bold italic''''' text can be mixed
: Indented text is done with one or more colon at the beginning of each indented paragraph


;Links to related content
== Linking your article to other articles ==
:''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.
Linking your article to other articles will make your article more useful to the reader. There is mainly three ways to do this:
# By adding wiki links
# By adding one or more category
# By adding a navbox.


;Links to external resources
=== Wikilinks ===
:Links to external resources should be put at the very end of the article.
{{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.


;Navbox
Wikilinks can be used in a few different ways.  
:Many pages end with a ''navbox'' with for example other aircraft by the same manufacturer.


;Language links and categories
<nowiki>Here is some example links:  [[Aircraft speed]], [[altitude]]s and [[Modeling - Getting Started#Finding, Creating, or Using Textures|textures]].</nowiki>
:All articles should end with one or more ''categories''. They are preceded by ''language links'', if there is any translations of that page.
Here is some example links: [[Aircraft speed]], [[altitude]]s and [[Modeling - Getting Started#Finding, Creating, or Using Textures|textures]].
 
=== 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.


=== Navboxes ===
Navboxes, or navigation templates, are boxes helping navigating a series of related articles.  They come in two flavours, one kind that is found to the top right of the article, often linking together a series of articles on a certain topic, and a kind that is found at the bottom of the article linking together related articles, for example aircraft by the same manufacturer or different articles related to building FlightGear from source files.


<!-- New Help:Your first article -->
<!-- New Help:Your first article -->
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----


<!-- Old Help:Your first article -->
<!-- Not yet added parts of the old Help:Your first article -->
 
[[Image:F-14_cockpit.jpg|thumb|right|Grumman F-14B Tomcat cockpit]]
[[Image:Zeppelin NT.jpg|thumb|right|Zeppelin NT at dusk]]
 
'''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 [[GPL|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 {{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.
 
*[[Help:Tutorial]] to learn how to format your article.


==More on what to write==
==More on what to write==

Revision as of 14:41, 7 December 2013

Writing your first article could be a great way to share your experiences and perhaps also help some of us other FlightGear users. Hopefully your first wiki article will be only one of many contributions to the FlightGear project.

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!

Typical article disposition

1rightarrow.png See User:Johan G/Help:Style guide#Typical article disposition for the main article about this subject.

{{Some messagebox}}
{{Some other messagebox}}

{{Some infobox or navbox}}

[[File:Some image.jpg|thumb|Some caption.]]
[[File:Some other image.jpg|thumb|Some other caption]]

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]]

Editing the wiki markup

1rightarrow.png See Help:editing for the main article about this subject.

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. The wiki markup is rather easy to remember though. A few examples of what can be done is shown below:

* The most common markup is very easy, here also demonstrating unordered and ordered lists:
*# ''Italic text'' is done within two apostrophes
*# '''Bold text''' is done within three apostrophes
*# '''''Bold italic text''''' is done with five apostrophes
*#* Thus '''Bold and ''bold italic''''' text can be mixed
: Indented text is done with one or more colon at the beginning of each indented paragraph
  • The most common markup is very easy, here also demonstrating unordered and ordered lists:
    1. Italic text is done within two apostrophes
    2. Bold text is done within three apostrophes
    3. Bold italic text is done with five apostrophes
      • Thus Bold and bold italic text can be mixed
Indented text is done with one or more colon at the beginning of each indented paragraph

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 ways to do this:

  1. By adding wiki links
  2. By adding one or more category
  3. By adding a navbox.

Wikilinks

1rightarrow.png See Help:Editing#Links to other wiki pages for the main article about this subject.

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.

Categories

1rightarrow.png See Help:Categories for the main article about this subject.

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.

Navboxes

Navboxes, or navigation templates, are boxes helping navigating a series of related articles. They come in two flavours, one kind that is found to the top right of the article, often linking together a series of articles on a certain topic, and a kind that is found at the bottom of the article linking together related articles, for example aircraft by the same manufacturer or different articles related to building FlightGear from source files.




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!.