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Help Manuals for Writers and Editors

Page history last edited by Jens Graikowski 12 years, 10 months ago

[this articles language needs tightening]

 

So maybe you've looked around the Wiki now for some time, enjoyed the well of information it has to offer and now you think: "I can do that too". Please believe us when we say: "You most certainly can!" Writing articles for a wiki is no rocket science, especially not if the team looking after the wiki makes it so easy. We provide you with a complete manual about how to use the editor and upload files, you get guidelines to what an article should or should not contain, our native English speaking editors will even streamline your articles language for you, so if English is not your mother tongue, don't worry about a thing. Just put your knowledge to paper (er ... screen) and let us do the rest!

 


 

Become a member of the WikiFin author team  

The first thing you'll have to do to become a part of WikiFin is, to request access. The wiki is readable by anybody without having to register or commit themselves in any way, but to actively influence the flow of information in our database you have to be a registered member. On the right hand sight you will find a text field with the title Request Access. Just type in your email address and a message will automatically be send to the admin informing him, that you would like to join the WikiFin Team. Once the admin approved the request (usually within 1-2 working days) an email will be send to the address you provided. Confirm the address! Now you are an author at WikiFin and have the right to write and edit articles.

 

Find more information about how to create and manage your PBworks Account!

 

Navigation

Your account comes with some extra features compared to the normal "reader" account. One of them is the "Starred Pages" feature. This enables you to "star" a page which basically means to add it to your favourites. Find out more about Starred Pages!

 

The Navigator

Find more information about the Navigator!

 

The Search 

Find more information about the Search!

 

Creating and editing articles 

We will give you as much help as we can to make this challenge as undemanding as possible. With the basics we provide here you'll be able to create informative and professional articles.

 

Guidelines

To make WikiFin as informative and easy to use as possible, some guidelines need to be followed.

 

Creating a new article or editing an existing one?

Once you've decided that you'd like to contribute to our wiki you should find out first if there is already an article addressing your chosen subject. If there is, please don't write on the same subject again but edit the already existing article. If your subject hasn't been addressed yet, it's time to get out the thinking cap and start writing.

 

Editing an existing article

To edit an existing article you should now the rules. In almost all other wikis, you can edit any article as you see fit. Here it's a bit different. We all want to work together on the wiki of course, so our wiki also allows the editing of articles. That's the only way to bring all the knowledge about finswimming in the world together in one databank. But if you have created a new article you'll be rightfully proud of your work and will probably resent anybody messing around with it without being consulted. For that reason the original author has the right to complain about changes made to his article and request a revision by the WikiFin Team. If the team finds the changes wanting the person who executed the changes will be consulted and if necessary the article will be reversed to its former state.  We welcome any new information added to our databank. After all, this is what a wiki is all about. Because multiple people can work on the same document, the article becomes the sum of all of their knowledge. This turns wikis into an excellent source of information. There is no article in our wiki (or ever will be), that can't be improved, but editing should be done with care, knowledge and respect for the work of the original author! (Note: When executing changes to an already existing article, please leave a short note under "Describe your changes", specifying the nature of your alterations!)

 

You should also look out for these notes inside the articles, to find out where some serious editing needs to be done:

 

[reference needed]

Provide a resource for this particular piece of information!

[needs more detail]

This part of the article needs elaborating. Research the subject and add information!

[this article needs more information]

This article might be a "stub", meaning that it was created by the author with the intention to do more work on it, or it just is too short and needs more data. If you are an expert in the area, don't hesitate to edit it!

[this articles language needs tightening]

This article was probably created by somebody whose mother tongue is not English. The language needs streamlining, meaning that you could clean up the grammar, and make sure the entries are well written and easy to read.

[this article needs translating into English]

If you speak the language this article is written in sufficiently, consider translating it into English! (Note: Please create a new page for the translated article!)

 

Creating a new article

To create a new article you can choose an already existing category or, if no category exists that would accomodate your subject, create one. We will give you some advise on how to create a wiki article below.

 

Content

Up to now, because WikiFin was founded by a volunteer group of finswimmers, the wiki is mainly based on this exiting sport. Ultimately we want to be THE wiki for all underwater sports though, so any sport that uses fins like apnea or underwater photography will always have a home at WikiFin. So, if you are an expert in any sport exercised with fins you should contemplate to write an article for our wiki. We here at WikiFin intend to make this wiki the one stop place for all information on underwater sports. To achieve that we need your help.

 

You know your way around scubadiving? Are you a underwater rugby trainer? Is your head a human data bank of spearfishing? Become an author for the wiki! The one important condition is that you really know what you are talking about. This wiki won't and doesn't want to be as big as its big cousin Wikipedia, but its quality should be at least as good or better. You should know your stuff if you are considering writing an article. Do your research! State your resources! Do everything in your power to make your article as professional as possible.

 

(Note: Do NOT copy and paste from other wikis or websites! Apart from the fact that it might be illegal due to Copyright issues, we want our own content here in this wiki. If you do have to quote from another website, make sure you are allowed to do so and always state the source (maybe even with a link pointing to it under "External Links" at the bottom of your article) as a thank-you!

 

Language

The wiki's language is English. If you are not perfect in this language, don't worry! We have staff that will check your articles for spelling mistakes and other issues if you so desire. Once you've posted your article, a member of our language editing team will revise the article. He/she won't change the content. Their job is only to check for language related issues. They'll tighten the language, clean up the grammar, and make sure the entries are well written and easy to read.

 

Summary

 

  1. Articles have to be based on facts!
  2. Add plenty of resources!
  3. Add links to other articles inside the wiki! (Find more information about Links in WikiFin articles in our Tips and Tricks section!)
  4. Articles have to be composed in English!
  5. Do NOT copy and paste from other wikis or websites! If you use quotes, make sure you are allowed to do so and always state the source! (For more detail on our copyright policies, please visit Contributors' rights and obligations!)
  6. If editing an existing article, please respect the work of the original author!
  7. Never edit the title of the article because that would render any link to it inactive!

 

 

Editor

Every PBworks page has an edit tab, so users with writer or editor privileges can easily edit workspace pages. The WikiFin editor only requires a functional browser, and is as easy to use as most online editors. If you already have some experience with text- or HTML editors you will find your way around in no time. Here are some basic tips, but ultimately nobody can explain the editor better than the guys who built it. In this paragraph we will therefore direct you often to the respective articles in the PBworks Help. Let's start with the toolbar.

 

Toolbar 

On the toolbar you'll find just the same tool icons as on any other text editor. It should be easy to find you way around. There are the tools for:

 

Standard Text Formatting

Bullets and Numbering

Indentation

Alignment of Text

Clipboard Functions

Tables

Insert (Plugins)

Text Coloring

Formatting Fonts

Spell Check

Remove Formatting

Source Editing Mode

Add Link (Note: Leave all links inside the wiki to show in the current window (Default). For external links please create a new paragraph at the bottom of your article and set the links to open in a New Window!

 

Find some Useful Tools in our Tips and Tricks section!

 

Uploading Files

You can upload all kind of files to WikiFin, that can then be used in your articles. Find out How To Upload Files in WikiFin! (Note: The maximum file size per file upload is one gigabyte.)

 

Files can quickly get out of control and become hard to find. Use folders to organize workspace files and then give files relevant names to be quickly found once again. Try not to upload files with generic names like Photo1.jpg, because they can be easily replaced by another user uploading that same file name. Unique, identifiable names will ensure success on document collaboration.

 

Note: These help manuals are in no way complete! They are meant to give you a general idea of how to use WikiFin and making it the one-stop information source for finswimming and all underwater sports. If you have any questions or maybe some ideas of what should be added to the manual, please don't hesitate to Contact Us!

 


Related Articles

 


External Links

 


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