Help:Using the wiki

See also: Help:Contents

Want to update the Wiki but don't know where to start? This is the page for you!

What is a Wiki?

A wiki is a website that invites anyone to edit and create new pages using a web browser. It is a quick way to collaborate when you need to gather and share information or write documents. The video below shows an example of using a wiki to communicate in a group.

How to follow wiki changes

The Recent changes page lists all of the most recent contributions to the Nottinghack wiki. To be notified of changes, you can subscribe to the Atom feed using a feed reader.

How to contribute

Note: Until we decide how to deal with spam, you must register (by contacting an administrator) and log in before you can make changes to Nottinghack Wiki.

Once you have logged in, you can edit the pages simply by clicking the edit tab on a page and changing the text. Formatting is achieved using wikitext. Some basic examples of wikitext are shown below, and more help is available through the Help:Quick reference.

What shall I update?

Anything! Be bold, because you cannot break the wiki. Everything is saved, so we can always change it back or correct mistakes later.

A very small number of pages (such as the front page) are protected and can only be edited by an administrator. If you think one of these pages should change, write on the Discussion section of that page. Feel free to update any other page, but remember that this wiki is publicly accessible so don't post anything we might not want to be seen (door codes, passwords, etc) or anything that you wouldn't want to be seen by a child!

Wikitext

Editing a page is simple - click the Edit tab at the top and simply write the text you want to appear on the page. You can start a new paragraph by pressing enter on your keyboard twice.

If you want to format the text you are entering, or insert more complicated items like tables or images, you must use wikitext. In the next few sections we'll show the most frequently used types of wiki markup.

Basic Formatting
What it looks like	What you type
You can italicise text by putting 2 apostrophes on each side. 3 apostrophes will embolden the text. 5 apostrophes will embolden and italicise the text. (4 apostrophes don't do anything special -- there's just 'one left over'.)	You can ''italicise text'' by putting 2 apostrophes on each side. 3 apostrophes will embolden '''the text'''. 5 apostrophes will embolden and italicise '''''the text'''''. (4 apostrophes don't do anything special -- there's just ''''one left over''''.)
You should "sign" your comments on talk pages: Three tildes give your user name: Example (talk) Four tildes give your user name plus date/time: Example (talk) 07:46, 27 November 2005 (UTC) Five tildes give the date/time alone: 07:46, 27 November 2005 (UTC)	You should "sign" your comments on talk pages: * Three tildes give your user name: ~~~ * Four tildes give your user name plus date/time: ~~~~ * Five tildes give the date/time alone: ~~~~~
Section headings
What it looks like	What you type
Section headings Headings organise your writing into sections. The Wiki software can automatically generate a table of contents from them. Subsection Using more equals signs creates a subsection. A smaller subsection Don't skip levels, like from two to four equals signs. Start with 2 equals signs not 1 because 1 creates H1 tags which should be reserved for page title.	== Section headings == ''Headings'' organise your writing into sections. The Wiki software can automatically generate a table of contents from them. === Subsection === Using more equals signs creates a subsection. ==== A smaller subsection ==== Don't skip levels, like from two to four equals signs. Start with 2 equals signs not 1 because 1 creates H1 tags which should be reserved for page title.
Lists and indents
What it looks like	What you type
Unordered lists are easy to do: Start every line with a star. More stars indicate a deeper level. Previous item continues. A new line in a list marks the end of the list. Of course you can start again.	* ''Unordered lists'' are easy to do: ** Start every line with a star. *** More stars indicate a deeper level. * Previous item continues. ** A new line * in a list marks the end of the list. * Of course you can start again.
Numbered lists are: Very organised Easy to follow Previous item continues A new line marks the end of the list. New numbering starts with 1.	# ''Numbered lists'' are: ## Very organised ## Easy to follow # Previous item continues A new line marks the end of the list. # New numbering starts with 1.
A colon (:) indents a line or paragraph. A newline starts a new paragraph. Often used for discussion on talk pages. We use 1 colon to indent once. We use 2 colons to indent twice. 3 colons to indent 3 times, and so on.	: A colon (:) indents a line or paragraph. A newline starts a new paragraph. <br> Often used for discussion on talk pages. : We use 1 colon to indent once. :: We use 2 colons to indent twice. ::: 3 colons to indent 3 times, and so on.
Links
What it looks like	What you type
Here's a link to the Main page. But be careful - capitalisation counts!	Here's a link to the [[Main page]].
Intentionally permanent red link is a page that doesn't exist yet. You could create it by clicking on the link.	[[Intentionally permanent red link]] is a page that doesn't exist yet. You could create it by clicking on the link.
You can link to a page section by placing a "#" before its title: Help:Contents#Videos. If multiple sections have the same title, add a number. #Example section 3 goes to the third section named "Example section".	You can link to a page section by its title: * [[Help:Contents#Videos]]. If multiple sections have the same title, add a number. [[#Example section 3]] goes to the third section named "Example section".

See more examples in our Quick reference guide.

Creating a new page

See also: Reference guide - Starting a new page

When a wiki link points to an article that doesn't exist yet, the link will be coloured red. You can click on the red link to edit the new page. This is the best way to add pages, because it means that right from the start the they will be linked from at least one other place on the wiki.

Categories

See also: Reference guide - Categories

Wiki pages can be grouped into Categories to simplify navigation. If you would like to help categorise pages, see the work in progress at WikiCleanup.

See also

• Help:Contents - help pages on this wiki and other sources of documentation and video tutorials.
• Help:Reference guide - guide for Nottinghack Wiki.
• metawiki:Help:Editing - search MetaWiki for 'Help:Editing'
• Help:Contents (MediaWiki)
• WikiCleanup - project to update information on the wiki