Difference between revisions of "Help:Editing"

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(my every striving task to try and complete this section, signed Jacob. Will eventually summarize all the previous data into the new data that applies)
 
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{{protected}}
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{{Construction|reason=Currently undergoing revision with NeoDex specific rules included}}
==General==
==General==
To edit a page, click on the "'''Edit'''" link at one of its edges.  
To edit a page, click on the "'''Edit'''" tab at the top of an article, and you will be brought to the edit screen where you can change what is on the article. After adding to or changing the wikitext it is useful to press "'''Show Preview'''", which produces a preview of your progress in the browser. Errors in formatting, links, tables, etc. are easier to discover from the rendered page than from the raw wikitext. Continue to make changes until you are satisfied, and when you are finished press "'''Save'''", making your edit publicly available. Depending on your system, pressing the "'''Enter'''" key while the edit box is not active (i.e., there is no typing cursor in it) may have the same effect as pressing "Save".


After adding to or changing the wikitext it is useful to press "'''Show Preview'''", which produces the corresponding webpage in your browser but does not make it publicly available yet (not until you press "'''Save'''"). Errors in formatting, links, tables, etc., are often much easier to discover from the rendered page than from the raw wikitext.
===Edit summary===
Before clicking "Save", it's always proper to write a short edit summary in the small text field below the edit box. This allows future editors to quickly know what you editted into or out of the article. It can also be used as a form or messaging, asking questions to future editors.


If you are not satisfied you can make more changes and preview the page as many times as necessary. When finished, write a short edit summary in the small text field below the edit-box and press "Save". Depending on your system, pressing the "'''Enter'''" key while the edit box is not active (i.e., there is no typing cursor in it) may have the same effect as pressing "Save".
===Minor and major edits===
Whenever an editor saves an edit, it's viewed as a "'''major edit'''", which is an worthy overlooking by another editor, as a large change has occured in the article. A logged in editor has the option of flagging the edit as a "'''minor edit'''" when they don't want it to appear as a major edit. When to use this is a matter of personal preference, but it's a common rule to mark an edit as such when it's something small, such as spelling corrections, minimal formatting, and minor rearranging of text. This feature is important, because users can choose to ''hide'' minor edits from being seen on the [[Special:Recent Changes|recent changes]] page, reducing the volume of edits visable to a manageable level.


==Dummy edit==
Each wiki-community has different ideas about when an edit is no longer minor, but it's a general rule that quick spelling/mark-up fixes do not effect the content of the article as a whole, and should be marked as minor. This could also be called ''Wikifying'' an article, or making it more encyclopaedic in voice and matching the style of the rest of the Neodex.
If the wikitext is not changed while saving no edit will be recorded and the edit summary is discarded.


A dummy edit is a change in wikitext that has no effect on the rendered page. This allows an edit summary, and is useful for correcting a previous edit summary, or an accidental marking of a previous edit as "'''minor'''" (see below). Also it is sometimes needed to refresh the cache of some item in the database.
Editors who are not logged in to mark an edit as minor due to random IPs capable marking vandalism as minor, in which case it would stay unnoticed longer. This limitation is another reason to log in. Also, logged in users should never mark a major edit as minor, as it may confuse future editors.
 
===Other edits===
If the wikitext is not changed when an editor clicks "Save", a '''null edit''' occurs, which is useful for refreshing the cache. A null edit will not be recorded in the page history, [[Special:Recentchanges|recent changes]], and the edit summary is discarded. A '''dummy edit''' is a change in wikitext that has little or no effect on the rendered page, but can save an edit summary. It is useful for correcting a previous edit summary such as accidentally marking a previous edit as "minor" (see below). The dummy edit summary can also be used for text messaging as a way of communicating with other editors. Text messages may be seen by IP number editors who don't have a user talk page, or editors who haven't read the subject's talk page (if it exists). Each edit summary can hold 200 text characters. A dummy edit should be checkboxed "minor" by logged-in editors.
 
==Wiki formatting and markup==
This section concerns itself with the use (and application) of formating techniques within the NeoDex.


==Wiki markup==
===Links and URLs===
===Links and URLs===
{|border="1" cellpadding="2"
{|border="1" cellpadding="2"
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*Using three or four tildes provide a link to your [[NeoDex:Username|user page]].
*Using three or four tildes provide a link to your [[NeoDex:Username|user page]].
*A button on the toolbar of the edit page automatically adds a five tildes signature in your edit.
*A button on the toolbar of the edit page automatically adds a four tildes signature in your edit.
|<pre>
|<pre>
When adding a comment to a Talk  
When adding a comment to a Talk  
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a signature. Three tildes add  
a signature. Three tildes add  
your user name:
your user name:
:[[User:Jacob|Jacob]]
:~~~
Four tildes give your user name  
Four tildes give your user name  
plus date/time:
plus date/time:
:[[User:Jacob|Jacob]] 08:10, 19
:~~~~
December 2006 (UTC)
Five tildes give the date/time  
Five tildes give the date/time  
alone:
alone:
:08:10, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
:~~~~~
</pre>
</pre>
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|
Sometimes data in an article or the whole article itself needs to be redirected or moved to a page with a synonomous name (''Faerie Quests'' redirects to [[Faerie Quest]], ''Snow Faerie'' to [[Taelia]]).
*Redirect one article title to another by placing a directive like the one shown to the right on the ''first'' line of the article.
*Redirect one article title to another by placing a directive like the one shown to the right on the ''first'' line of the article.
*It is possible to redirect to a section. For example, Redirect [[Sophie#Trivia|Sophie Trivia]] will redirect to the [[Sophie]] article's "Trivia" section if it exists.
*It is possible to redirect to a section. For example, Redirect [[Sophie#Trivia|Sophie Trivia]] will redirect to the [[Sophie]] article's "Trivia" section if it exists.
*Before making a redirect, besure the article you are redirecting to is accurate by either reasearching the NeoDex or asking an [[NeoDex:Administrators|administrator]].
|
|
<pre><nowiki>
<pre><nowiki>
#REDIRECT[[Cooties]]
#REDIRECT[[Cooties]]
Redirect[[Sophie #Trivia|Sophie  
Redirect[[Sophie #Trivia|Sophie  
Trivia]] will redirect to the
Trivia]]  
[[Sophie]] page, to the
"Trivia"section if it exists
</nowiki></pre>
</nowiki></pre>
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[[:Category:Neopets]]
[[:Category:Neopets]]
</nowiki></pre>
</nowiki></pre>
|- id="link-external" valign="top"
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|
Three ways to link to external (non-NeoDex) sources:
Three ways to link to external (non-NeoDex) sources:
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!width="50%" style="background:silver"|What it looks like
!width="50%" style="background:silver"|What it looks like
!width="50%" style="background:silver"|What you type
!width="50%" style="background:silver"|What you type
|-
|- valign="top"
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Use italics to ''Emphasize text''.<br />Use bold to give '''Strong emphasis'''.<br />Use italics and bold for '''''Even stronger emphasis'''''.
 
*Italics should be used sparingly. They can be used to indicate when a word or letter is serving as a word or letter, rather than its meaning, e.g. "''[[NeoHome]]'' is an amalgamation of the words ''Neopets'' and ''home''. If something would usually be put in inverted commas ('''NB''': not quotation marks), italics should be used instead.
*Bold type is primarily used for repeating the articles title at its start. One should not put bold tags in headings, as the font weight of a heading is increased already.
|
<pre><nowiki>
Use italics to ''Emphasize text''
Use bold to give '''Strong
emphasis'''
Use italics and bold for '''''Even
stronger emphasis'''''
</nowiki></pre>
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You can use typewriter font by using <tt>monospace text</tt> or <code>computer code</code>
 
*For semantic reasons, using <code>&lt;code&gt;</code> where applicable is preferable to using <code>&lt;tt&gt;</code>.
|
<pre><nowiki>
You can use typewriter font by using
<tt>monospace text</tt> or <code>computer
code</code>
</nowiki></pre>
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You can use <small>small text</small> for captions.
 
Better stay away from <big>big text</big>, unless <small> it's <big>within</big> small</small> text.
|
<pre><nowiki>
You can use <small>small text</small> for captions.
 
Better stay away from <big>big text</big>, unless
<small> it's <big>within</big> small</small> text.
</nowiki></pre>
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You can <s>strike out deleted material</s>
and <u>underline new material</u>.
 
You can also mark <del>deleted material</del> and
<ins>inserted material</ins> using logical markup.
For backwards compatibility better combine this
potentially ignored new <del>logical</del> with
the old <s><del>physical</del></s> markup.
 
* When editing regular Wikipedia articles, just make your changes and do not mark them up in any special way.
* When editing your own previous remarks in talk pages, it is sometimes appropriate to mark up deleted or inserted material.
|
<pre><nowiki>
You can <s>strike out deleted material</s>
and <u>underline new material</u>.
 
You can also mark <del>deleted material</del> and
<ins>inserted material</ins> using logical markup.
For backwards compatibility better combine this
potentially ignored new <del>logical</del> with
the old <s><del>physical</del></s> markup.
</nowiki></pre>
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Leaving comment on a page source will not appear when when viewing the page.
*Used to leave comments in a page for future editors.
*Note that most comments should go on the appropriate talk page.
|
<pre><nowiki>
&lt;!-- comment here -->
</nowiki></pre>
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'''<span id="diacritics">Diacritical marks:</span>'''
 
À Á Â Ã Ä Å <br/>
Æ Ç È É Ê Ë <br/>
Ì Í
Î Ï Ñ Ò <br/>
Ó Ô Õ
Ö Ø Ù <br/>
Ú Û Ü ß
à á <br/>
â ã ä å æ
ç <br/>
è é ê ë ì í<br/>
î ï ñ ò ó ô <br/>
&oelig; õ
ö ø ù ú <br/>
û ü ÿ
 
'''Punctuation:'''
 
¿ ¡ § ¶<br/>
&dagger; &Dagger; &bull; &ndash; &mdash;<br/>
&lsaquo; &rsaquo; « »<br/>
&lsquo; &rsquo; &ldquo; &rdquo;
 
'''Commercial symbols:'''
 
&trade; © ® ¢ &euro; ¥<br/>
£ ¤
 
'''Greek characters:'''
 
&alpha; &beta; &gamma; &delta; &epsilon; &zeta;<br/>
&eta; &theta; &iota; &kappa; &lambda; &mu; &nu;<br/>
&xi; &omicron; &pi; &rho; &sigma; &sigmaf;<br/>
&tau; &upsilon; &phi; &chi; &psi; &omega;<br/>
&Gamma; &Delta; &Theta; &Lambda; &Xi; &Pi;<br/>
&Sigma; &Phi; &Psi; &Omega;
 
'''Mathematical characters:'''
 
&int; &sum; &prod; &radic; &minus; &plusmn; &infin;<br/>
&asymp; &prop; &equiv; &ne; &le; &ge;<br/>
&times; &middot; &divide; &part; &prime; &Prime;<br/>
&nabla; &permil; &deg; &there4; &alefsym; &oslash;<br/>
&isin; &notin; &cap; &cup; &sub; &sup; &sube; &supe;<br/>
&not; &and; &or; &exist; &forall;<br/>
&rArr; &lArr; &dArr; &uArr; &hArr;<br/>
&rarr; &darr; &uarr; &larr; &harr;
 
*See [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Special_characters Wikimedia Help - ''Special characters''] for more information.
|
<pre><nowiki>
&amp;Agrave; &amp;Aacute; &amp;Acirc; &amp;Atilde; &amp;Auml; &amp;Aring;
&amp;AElig; &amp;Ccedil; &amp;Egrave; &amp;Eacute; &amp;Ecirc; &amp;Euml;
&amp;Igrave; &amp;Iacute; &amp;Icirc; &amp;Iuml; &amp;Ntilde; &amp;Ograve;
&amp;Oacute; &amp;Ocirc; &amp;Otilde; &amp;Ouml; &amp;Oslash; &amp;Ugrave;
&amp;Uacute; &amp;Ucirc; &amp;Uuml; &amp;szlig; &amp;agrave; &amp;aacute;
&amp;acirc; &amp;atilde; &amp;auml; &amp;aring; &amp;aelig; &amp;ccedil;
&amp;egrave; &amp;eacute; &amp;ecirc; &amp;euml; &amp;igrave; &amp;iacute;
&amp;icirc; &amp;iuml; &amp;ntilde; &amp;ograve; &amp;oacute; &amp;ocirc;
&amp;oelig; &amp;otilde; &amp;ouml; &amp;oslash; &amp;ugrave; &amp;uacute;
&amp;ucirc; &amp;uuml; &amp;yuml;
 
&amp;iquest; &amp;iexcl; &amp;sect; &amp;para;
&amp;dagger; &amp;Dagger; &amp;bull; &amp;ndash; &amp;mdash;
&amp;lsaquo; &amp;rsaquo; &amp;laquo; &amp;raquo;
&amp;lsquo; &amp;rsquo; &amp;ldquo; &amp;rdquo;
 
&amp;trade; &amp;copy; &amp;reg; &amp;cent; &amp;euro; &amp;yen;
&amp;pound; &amp;curren;
 
&amp;alpha; &amp;beta; &amp;gamma; &amp;delta; &amp;epsilon; &amp;zeta;
&amp;eta; &amp;theta; &amp;iota; &amp;kappa; &amp;lambda; &amp;mu; &amp;nu;
&amp;xi; &amp;omicron; &amp;pi; &amp;rho; &amp;sigma; &amp;sigmaf;
&amp;tau; &amp;upsilon; &amp;phi; &amp;chi; &amp;psi; &amp;omega;
&amp;Gamma; &amp;Delta; &amp;Theta; &amp;Lambda; &amp;Xi; &amp;Pi;
&amp;Sigma; &amp;Phi; &amp;Psi; &amp;Omega;
 
&amp;int; &amp;sum; &amp;prod; &amp;radic; &amp;minus; &amp;plusmn; &amp;infin;
&amp;asymp; &amp;prop; &amp;equiv; &amp;ne; &amp;le; &amp;ge;
&amp;times; &amp;middot; &amp;divide; &amp;part; &amp;prime; &amp;Prime;
&amp;nabla; &amp;permil; &amp;deg; &amp;there4; &amp;alefsym; &amp;oslash;
&amp;isin; &amp;notin; &amp;cap; &amp;cup; &amp;sub; &amp;sup; &amp;sube; &amp;supe;
&amp;not; &amp;and; &amp;or; &amp;exist; &amp;forall;
&amp;rArr; &amp;lArr; &amp;dArr; &amp;uArr; &amp;hArr;
&amp;rarr; &amp;darr; &amp;uarr; &amp;larr; &amp;harr;
</nowiki></pre>
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'''Subscripts:'''
 
x<sub>1</sub> x<sub>2</sub> x<sub>3</sub> or
 
x&#8320; x&#8321; x&#8322; x&#8323; x&#8324;
 
x&#8325; x&#8326; x&#8327; x&#8328; x&#8329;
 
'''Superscripts:'''
 
x<sup>1</sup> x<sup>2</sup> x<sup>3</sup> or
 
x&#8304; x&sup1; x&sup2; x&sup3; x&#8308;
 
x&#8309; x&#8310; x&#8311; x&#8312; x&#8313;
 
*The latter methods of sub/superscripting cannot be used in the most general context, as they rely on Unicode support which may not be present on all users' machines. For the 1-2-3 superscripts, it is preferred when possible (as with units of measurement) because most browsers have an easier time formatting lines with it.
 
&epsilon;<sub>0</sub> =
8.85 &times; 10<sup>&minus;12</sup>
C&sup2; / J m.
 
1 [[Wikipedia:Hectare|hectare]] = [[Wikipedia:1 E4 m&sup2;|1 E4 m&sup2;]]
|
|
You can ''italicize text'' by putting 2  
<pre><nowiki>
apostrophes on each side.
x<sub>1</sub> x<sub>2</sub> x<sub>3</sub> or


3 apostrophes will embolden '''the text'''.
x&amp;#8320; x&amp;#8321; x&amp;#8322; x&amp;#8323; x&amp;#8324;


5 apostrophes will embolden and italicize
x&amp;#8325; x&amp;#8326; x&amp;#8327; x&amp;#8328; x&amp;#8329;
'''''the text'''''.
</nowiki></pre>


(4 apostrophes doesn't do anything special -- there's just ''''one left over''''.)
<pre><nowiki>
|<pre>
x<sup>1</sup> x<sup>2</sup> x<sup>3</sup> or
You can ''italicize text'' by putting 2  
 
apostrophes on each side.
x&amp;#8304; x&amp;sup1; x&amp;sup2; x&amp;sup3; x&amp;#8308;
 
x&amp;#8309; x&amp;#8310; x&amp;#8311; x&amp;#8312; x&amp;#8313;


3 apostrophes will embolden '''the text'''.  
&amp;epsilon;<sub>0</sub> =
8.85 &amp;times; 10<sup>&amp;minus;12</sup>
C&amp;sup2; / J m.


5 apostrophes will embolden and italicize
1 [[hectare]] = [[1 E4 m&amp;sup2;]]
'''''the text'''''.
</nowiki></pre>
|}


(4 apostrophes doesn't do anything
===Other wiki formating===
special -- there's just ''''one left
{|border="1" cellpadding="2"
over''''.)
!width="50%" style="background:silver"|What it looks like
</pre>
!width="50%" style="background:silver"|What you type
|-
|- valign="top"
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|
<div style="font-size:150%;border-bottom:1px solid #000000;">Section headings</div>
<div style="font-size:150%;border-bottom:1px solid #000000;">Section headings</div>
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Start with 2 equals signs not 1 because 1 creates H1 tags which should be reserved for page title.
Start with 2 equals signs not 1 because 1 creates H1 tags which should be reserved for page title.
|<pre>
|<pre>
== Section headings ==
==Section headings==
 
''Headings'' organize your writing into sections.
''Headings'' organize your writing into sections.
The Wiki software can automatically generate
The Wiki software can automatically generate
a table of contents from them.
a table of contents from them.


=== Subsection ===
===Subsection===
 
Using more equals signs creates a subsection.
Using more equals signs creates a subsection.


==== A smaller subsection ====
====A smaller subsection====
 
Don't skip levels,  
Don't skip levels,  
like from two to four equals signs.
like from two to four equals signs.
Line 340: Line 530:
which should be reserved for page title.
which should be reserved for page title.
</pre>
</pre>
|- id="lists"
|- valign="top"
|
To divide up sections, users can use a "dividing line"
----
to break up the the article. The coding will only be recognized when it's at the beginning of a line ----. This is good to use in large debates in talk pages in order to keep things organized.
|<pre><nowiki>
To divide up sections, users can use a "dividing
line"
----
to break up the the article. The coding will only
be recognized when it's at the beginning line of
text ----. This is good to use in large debates in
talk pages in order to keep things organized.
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
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* ''Unordered lists'' are easy to do:
* ''Unordered lists'' are easy to do:
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* Of course you can start again.
* Of course you can start again.
</pre>
</pre>
|-
|- valign="top"
|
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# ''Numbered lists'' are:
# ''Numbered lists'' are:
Line 375: Line 579:
# New numbering starts with 1.
# New numbering starts with 1.
</pre>
</pre>
|}
|- valign="top"
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<nowiki>
The nowiki tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''. It reformats text by removing newlines    and multiple spaces. It still interprets special characters: &rarr;
</nowiki>
|<pre><nowiki>
&lt;nowiki&gt;
The nowiki tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''.
It reformats text by removing newlines
and multiple spaces.
It still interprets special
characters: &amp;rarr;
&lt;/nowiki&gt;
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|<pre>
The pre tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''.
It also doesn't    reformat text.
It still interprets special characters: &rarr;
</pre>
|<pre>&lt;pre&gt;<nowiki>
The pre tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''.
It also doesn't    reformat text.
It still interprets special characters:
&amp;rarr;
</nowiki>&lt;/pre&gt;</pre>
|- valign="top"
|
Leading spaces are another way
to preserve formatting.


==Formating==
Putting a space at the beginning of each line
This section concerns itself with the use (and application) of formating techniques within the NeoDex.
stops the text  from being reformatted.
It still interprets ''Wiki markup'' and
special characters: &rarr;
|<pre><nowiki>
Leading spaces are another way
to preserve formatting.


===Headings===
Putting a space at the beginning of each line
*Headings - by carefull use of heading levels a page content list is built for you.
stops the text  from being reformatted.  
**<nowiki>= Headline text =</nowiki> - 1st level
It still interprets ''Wiki markup'' and
**<nowiki>== Headline text ==</nowiki> - 2nd level
special characters: &amp;rarr;
**<nowiki>=== Headline text ===</nowiki> - etc
</nowiki></pre>
**<nowiki>==== Headline text ====</nowiki>
|}
**<nowiki>===== Headline text =====</nowiki>


Headings divided a topic up into several sections. By using headings one forces oneself to be more creative and thus output more than just a few words or a few brief sentences (which while this may be good it is not yet as extensive as an encyclopaedia should be). There may be little to put under certain headings when one writes an article for the first time, but it will make it easy for other authors and oneself to return and continue each section.
==Proper editing style==
As a worldwide Neopets encyclopaedia, it is essential the NeoDex articles are easy to read, easy to edit and consistent in style to retain an encyclopaedic voice. Creating concise, unbiased writing is the most important part of the encyclopaedia, and while there are no rigid rules, there are some assumptions, conventions and considerations involved in writing NeoDex articles.


A good article should be structured with the following sections, which should be headed appropriately to the article's subject matter:
===Headings and sections===
Headings divide a topic up into different sections, allowing for presentation of a specific facet on the topic, rather than have all the data collected into bulk paragraphes. Sometimes there may be little to put under certain headings, but they should still be present to better present an article, and make it easy for future editors to return and expand each section.


*'''A brief introduction''' (usual ''without'' a heading) that briefly, yet concisely, gives, among other things where appropriate:
A good article should  begin with a brief introduction (or "lead")of the article that summarizes key points of the article (subject, dates of events, use of the articles subject if applicable), after which are followed by headings/sections which expand on those key points better. Common headings include:
**The definition of the article's subject (if applicable).
**Dates for when the event in the article commenced to its end (if applicable).
**The use of the article's subject (if applicable).
*'''Details''' of the topic.
*'''Other Thoughts''' on the topic.


Other common headings include:
*"Plot summary" or "Plot summaries" (where applicable)
 
*History
*Trivia
*Trivia
*External Links
*External Links


===Wikilinks===
For each page with more than three headings, a '''table of contents''' (a ''TOC'' for short) is automatically generated from the section headings, unless:
*<nowiki>[[Link title]]</nowiki>
**<nowiki>[[Link title|Link Text]]</nowiki>


'''Wikilinks''' are links to other articles within the NeoDex. Any word or phrase that relates to Neopets in your article should be wikilinked, for if there is not already an article on that topic someone may very likely write one. Words such as [[Krawk]] or [[Maraqua]] should be obvious for wikilinking, but other Neopets concepts like [[User lookup]]s should also be wikilinked.
*(for a user) preferences are set to turn it off
 
*(for an article) in the edit box the code <tt><nowiki>__NOTOC__</nowiki></tt> is added
Dead links, displayed in red on a page, are not a bad thing: it gives opportunity for entirely new articles to be created. In the event that the article you are trying to link to does exist, but under a different name, the page the wikilink heads to should redirect to it.
 
It is not recommended to link to a specific article more than once per article. Ideally, the first occurance of a word in the article should be the one wikilinked. A wikilink should not appear in a heading. If necessary, the first sentence under a heading should be written to contain the word or phrase in the heading that should be wikilinked, and this occurance of the word used as the link.
 
===Use of Emphasis===
Here there are a few brief descriptions of some of the uses of italics and bold. It is very much a matter of the author's discretion in many cases, this is not a definitive list of situations where these would be appropriate.
 
====Italics====
*<nowiki>''Italic text''</nowiki>
 
Italics should be used mainly of emphasis of certain words, although should be used sparingly. They can also be used to indicate when a word or letter is serving as a word or letter, rather than its meaning, e.g. "''[[NeoHome]]'' is an amalgamation of the words ''Neopets'' and ''home''.
 
If something would usually be put in inverted commas ('''NB''': not quotation marks), italics will usually be used instead.
 
====Bold====
*<nowiki>'''Bold text'''</nowiki>
 
Bold type is primarily used for repeating the articles title within the article. One should not put bold tags in headings, as the font weight of a heading is increased already.
 
===Other wiki formating===
*<nowiki><nowiki>ignore wiki format</nowiki></nowiki>
*<nowiki>[[Category:Some Fancy Category]]</nowiki> - Add a Category
*<nowiki>----</nowiki> - Dividing line
*<nowiki>--~~~~</nowiki> - signiture
*<nowiki>* Bullet point</nowiki>
**<nowiki>** Second level</nowiki>
***<nowiki>*** 3rd Level</nowiki>
*<nowiki>#</nowiki> add this to have numbered lists instead.
 
==Editing with Style==
The NeoDex is a Neopets Encyclopaedia, so it is essential that at all times the articles are easy to read, easy to edit, are consistent, and retain an encyclopaedic voice. There are no rigid rules here - after all, concise, unbiased writing is the most important part of the encyclopaedia - but there are some assumptions, conventions and considerations involved in writing NeoDex articles
 
This article is about these conventions. For anything that is not covered here, please refer to the [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Manual of Style|Wikipedia Manual of Style]].


This section concerns itself with the writing styles of an article (rather than formatting issues). As far as this is concerned, it is actually very hard to do any "wrong". It is, however, harder to be truly stylish.
With <nowiki>__FORCETOC__</nowiki> or <nowiki>__TOC__</nowiki> in the wikitext a TOC is added even if the page has less than four headings. The TOC is put before the first section header, right after the brief introduction. Although usually a header after the TOC is preferable, <nowiki>__TOC__</nowiki> can be used to avoid being forced to insert a meaningless header just to position the TOC correctly, i.e., not too low. Preferences can be set to number the sections automatically.


===Varying forms of English===
If a page has a template with sections, the sections in the template are numbered according to their position in the rendered page, i.e. if the template tag is in the third section, then the first section of the template is numbered four. Any text in the template before its first section shows up as part of the section with the template tag, and any text after the tag before a new header shows up as part of the last section of the template. This may be done deliberately, but can be avoided.
In the English-speaking world, there are several acceptable forms of English. As Neopets.com was founded in Britain, spellings and writing traditions on the official site are kept as British despite the fact that the Head Office was moved to California. Similarly, to maintain consistency with the official site, articles written for the NeoDex should use the British-English forms of the words.
 
If, as is the case on occasion, a form of a word has been used on the official Neopets.com site to describe something that is '''not''' the British form, then this form should be used instead.
 
The blanket rule used for determining English variations is to avoid reversion warring.
 
===Dates===
As a [http://www.neopets.com/calendar.phtml Neopian Calendar] exists and is used on Neopets.com in addition to the [[Wikipedia:Gregorian calendar|Gregorian calendar]], there is some dispute as to which calendar to use. For simplicity, the Gregorian calendar should be used, as when researching extremely old portions of the Neopets.com site, this is the calendar used in the [http://www.neopets.com/nf.phtml New Features], and is the most logical calendar to use when referring to sites involving [[Neopet]]s outside of Neopets.com.
 
There are also some dispute over how to write dates out in the NeoDex. The more short hand notation,  ''dd/mm/yyyy'' should not me used: instead, dates should be written out fully, e.g. 31st May 2006. The year does not need to be included if it has already been mentioned shortly before as the previous date in the article. The day here precludes the month to retain the British look.


===Use of Capital Letters===
===Use of Capital Letters===
Initial capital letters should be used for proper nouns and words at the beginning of sentences but not as a means of emphasis.
Initial capital letters should be used for proper nouns and words at the beginning of sentences but not as a means of emphasis. This also includes heading titles, which should have the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns in the heading capitalized, while the rest remain lower case.


Due to technical constraints, all article titles on the NeoDex must begin with a capital letter. When using a wikilink in the middle of a sentence, it may not be appropriate to use a capital letter. This can be overcome in several ways, either by setting up a redirect on the page without an initial capital letter and wikilinking to that article, or by putting the proper name of the article in the wikilink, followed by a vertical bar, followed by the text to be displayed, i.e.
Due to technical constraints, all article titles on the NeoDex must begin with a capital letter. When using a wikilink in the middle of a sentence, it may not be appropriate to use a capital letter. This can be overcome in several ways, either by setting up a redirect on the page without an initial capital letter and wikilinking to that article, or by putting the proper name of the article in the wikilink, followed by a vertical bar, followed by the text to be displayed, i.e.
Line 468: Line 655:
This technique can also be used to wikilink to a page without using its actual name.
This technique can also be used to wikilink to a page without using its actual name.


===Pace of writing===
===Wikilinks===
When writing a lot of text in a single sentence, it's important to make proper uses of commas (the "," symbol) and "full stops" (a moment while reading out loud in which you can take a breathe). If if sentence doesn't sound right to you while being read out load or is too long, it's best to arrange the pace of the writting with commas or make it a shorter sentence. These makes it read easier, and simplifies writing. As a "rule of thumb", a full stop can in most cases be used where a comma would go. New subjects can also be noted with spacing between paragraphs (using the "enter" key), making a bigger full stop than a normal end of a sentence.
Wikilinks connect properly titled articles together, allowing for easy connections between certain subjects. Almost all proper nouns from Neopets have their own article, and should be wikilinked if they appear in an article. Even if that article is not created yet and is a dead link, it should be wikilinked, for another editor may create it in the future. If in the event the text being wikilinked exists under a different article name, the wikilink can be created as a redirect.


===Use of Pictures===
It is not recommended to link to a specific article more than once per article. Ideally, the first occurance of a word in the article should be the one wikilinked. A wikilink should not appear in a heading. If necessary, the first sentence under a heading should be written to contain the word or phrase in the heading that should be wikilinked, and this occurance of the word used as the link.
Whenever possible, a picture of the article's topic should be included at the top section of a page, right aligned. With multiple pictures, they can either be staged across the page right and left, or kept all right aligned.


===Minor edit===
===Varying forms of English===
When editing a page, a logged in user has the option of flagging the edit as a "'''minor edit'''". When to use this is somewhat a matter of personal preference. The rule of thumb is that an edit of a page that is spelling corrections, formatting, and minor rearranging of text should be flagged as a "minor edit".  A major edit is basically something that makes the entry worth relooking at for somebody who wants to watch the article rather closely, so any "real" change, even if it is a single word. This feature is important, because users can choose to ''hide'' minor edits in their view of the [[Special:Recent Changes|recent changes]] to keep the volume of edits down to a manageable level.
In the english-speaking world, there are several acceptable forms of English. Due to [[Neopets (website)|Neopets]] being founded by citizens of [[Wikipedia:United Kingdom|United Kingdom]], spellings and writing traditions were kept British despite the fact the head office is based in the [[Wikipedia:United States|United States]]. To maintain consistency, articles written for the NeoDex should use the British-English forms of the words (where applicable). This rule is in place to avoid reversion warring. If, as is the case on occasion, a form of a word has been used on Neopets to describe something ''not'' the British form, then this form should be used instead. For a list of all collected proper spellings, see the [[NeoDex:List of common misspellings|misspellings list]].


The reason for not allowing a user who is not logged in to mark an edit as minor is that vandalism could then be marked as a minor edit, in which case it would stay unnoticed longer. This limitation is another reason to log in.
===Dates===
Neopets has their own [http://www.neopets.com/calendar.phtml calendar] which follows the [[Wikipedia:Gregorian calendar|Gregorian calendar]], although sometimes Neopets dates events from happening in "Year 5", which begun on November 15, 2003 and ended the following year. To avoid confusion and be more precise, exact dates from the Gregorian calendar should be used when speaking of a timed event. This also allows be for comparison of data when browsing the [http://www.neopets.com/nf.phtml New Features] page.When presenting the date on an article, it can be displayed in two fashions...


Each wiki-community has different ideas about when an edit is no longer minor, but a general rule of thumb should be a quick spelling/mark-up tweak that does not effect the content of the article should be marked as minor.
*May 31, 2006 - Americian variation
*31 May 2006 - British variation


''Wikifying'' an article, that is, making it more encyclopaedic in voice and matching the style of the rest of the Neodex is usually marked as minor.
The year does not need to be included if it has already been mentioned shortly beforehand.


==Spam==
===Use of pictures===
Inevitably, due to the nature of a Wiki and how easy it is to edit it, spam will undoubtedly crop up. In cases where it does, reversion is necessary. This involves removing the spam and replacing any valid text that may have been deleted (this can all be checked in the history of a page).
Whenever possible, a picture which better describes the article's topic should be included at the top section of a page aligned to the right. With multiple pictures, they can either be staged across the page right and left, or kept all right aligned. For more information, see [[Help:Images]].


==Table of contents (TOC)==
===Pace of writing===
For each page with more than three headings, a '''table of contents (TOC)''' is automatically generated from the section headings, unless:
When writing a long sentence, it's important to make proper uses of commas (the "," symbol) and "full stops" (a moment while reading out loud in which you can take a breathe). If if sentence sounds too long to you while being read out load, it's best to arrange the pace of the writting with commas or make it a shorter sentence. This makes it read easier, and simplifies writing. As a rule, a full stop can in most cases be used where a comma would go. New subjects can also be noted with making a new paragraph, or a more signifigant full stop than a normal end of a sentence.
*(for a user) preferences are set to turn it off
*(for an article) in the edit box the code <tt><nowiki>__NOTOC__</nowiki></tt> is added


With <nowiki>__FORCETOC__</nowiki> or <nowiki>__TOC__</nowiki> in the wikitext a TOC is added even if the page has less than four headings. The TOC is put before the first section header, or in the case of <nowiki>__TOC__</nowiki>, at the position of this code. Thus there may be some introductory text before it, known as the "lead". Although usually a header after the TOC is preferable, <nowiki>__TOC__</nowiki> can be used to avoid being forced to insert a meaningless header just to position the TOC correctly, i.e., not too low. Preferences can be set to number the sections automatically.
===Spam and vandalism===
Due  to the nature of a Wiki and how easy it is for anyone to edit, '''spam''' (refered to a meaningless and hurtful material) and '''vandalism''' (destruction or deletion of data) will sometimes be placed by editors. Spam includes random comments and gibberish which aren't proper on the article, but can also include spammed links to outside websites, which could most likely be dangerous to view. Vandalism sometimes involves spam, in which case it replaces wiki text of the article.


In a page calling a template with sections, the sections in the template are numbered according to their position in the rendered page, e.g. if the template tag is in the third section, then the first section of the template is numbered four. Any text in the template before its first section shows up as part of the section with the template tag, and any text after the tag before a new header shows up as part of the last section of the template. This may be done deliberately, but can usually better be avoided (see also below).
If you should find either of these in any aritlce, revision of the wikitext is nessesary. As all revisions are recorded in the page history and on [[Special:Recentchanges|recent changes]], a quick fix can be done by any editor. [[NeoDex:Administrators|Administrators]] of the NeoDex patrol the NeoDex as well, removing spam and correcting vandalism on a daily basis. Any editor who takes part of spam or vandalism can and will be blocked at the discretion of an administrator.


==Templates==
==Templates==
Some part of a page may correspond in the edit box to just a reference to another page, in the form <nowiki>{{</nowiki>''name''<nowiki>}}</nowiki>, referring to the page "Template:''name''" (or if the name starts with a namespace prefix, it refers to the page with that name; if it starts with a colon it refers to the page in the main namespace with that name without the colon). This is called a template. For changing that part of the page, edit that other page. Sometimes a separate edit link is provided for this purpose. Note that the change also affects other pages which use the same template. For all of the NeoDex's major templates, see [[NeoDex:Templates]].
Some parts of an article may correspond in the edit box to just a reference to another page, in the form <nowiki>{{</nowiki>''name''<nowiki>}}</nowiki>, referring to the page "Template:''name''" (or if the name starts with a namespace prefix, it refers to the page with that name; if it starts with a colon it refers to the page in the main namespace with that name without the colon). This is called a '''template'''. For changing that part of the page, edit that other page. Sometimes a separate edit link is provided for this purpose. Note that the change also affects other pages which use the same template. For all of the NeoDex's major templates, see [[NeoDex:Templates]].
 
===Variables===
A '''variable''' is a ''predefined template'', built into the coding of the NeoDex and brings up data which change by time, number of articles, etc.


===Built in templates===
The following are templates built into the wiki engine of the NeoDex, and cannot be editted.
*<nowiki>{{CURRENTDAYNAME}}</nowiki> - Shows the current name day (Monday, Tuesday, etc.)
*<nowiki>{{CURRENTDAYNAME}}</nowiki> - Shows the current name day (Monday, Tuesday, etc.)
*<nowiki>{{CURRENTDAY}}</nowiki> - Shows the current day of the month
*<nowiki>{{CURRENTDAY}}</nowiki> - Shows the current day of the month
Line 506: Line 694:
*<nowiki>{{CURRENTTIME}}</nowiki> - Shows the current time
*<nowiki>{{CURRENTTIME}}</nowiki> - Shows the current time
*<nowiki>{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}</nowiki> - Shows the current number of articles in the NeoDex
*<nowiki>{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}</nowiki> - Shows the current number of articles in the NeoDex
*<nowiki>{{NAMESPACE}}</nowiki> - Shows the namespace the article is under
*<nowiki>{{PAGENAME}}</nowiki> - Shows the name of the current article it's on
*<nowiki>{{SERVER}}</nowiki> - Shows the server the wiki is on
*<nowiki>{{SITENAME}}</nowiki> - Shows the name of the wiki


==Page protection==
==Page protection==
In a few cases the link labeled "'''Edit'''" is replaced by the text "'''View Source'''". This article is [[NeoDex:Protected_page|protected]] and can only be edited by means of an [[NeoDex:Administrators|Administrator]]. Should you find something which is not on the article, bring it up on the articles discussion board.
In a few cases the tab labeled "'''Edit'''" is replaced by the text "'''View Source'''". This article is [[NeoDex:Protected_page|protected]] and can only be edited by means of an [[NeoDex:Administrators|Administrator]]. Should you find something which is not on the article, bring it up on the articles discussion board, and an administrator may edit the artile accordingly.
 
==Redirecting articles==
Sometimes data in an article or the whole article itself needs to be redirected or moved to a page with a synonomous name, e.g. "Faerie Quests" redirects to Faerie Quest, "Snow Faerie" to "Taelia". To make a redirect, clear the article and only place this coding...


:<nowiki>#REDIRECT[[</nowiki>'''(Name of article being redirected to)''']]
==See also==
*[[NeoDex:Categorization|NeoDex - ''Categorization'']]
*[[NeoDex:Research resources|NeoDex - ''Research resources'']]
*[[NeoDex:Sandbox|NeoDex - ''Sandbox'']]
*[[NeoDex:Templates|NeoDex - ''Templates'']]
*[[Help:Images|Help - ''Images'']]
*[[:Category:Under Construction|Category - ''Under Construction'']]


==External links==
==External links==

Latest revision as of 23:41, 27 November 2010

Warning: Policy Policybook.gif
This page is, or relates closely to, NeoDex policy.
While not set in stone, changes to policy should be discussed on the relevant talk page.

General

To edit a page, click on the "Edit" tab at the top of an article, and you will be brought to the edit screen where you can change what is on the article. After adding to or changing the wikitext it is useful to press "Show Preview", which produces a preview of your progress in the browser. Errors in formatting, links, tables, etc. are easier to discover from the rendered page than from the raw wikitext. Continue to make changes until you are satisfied, and when you are finished press "Save", making your edit publicly available. Depending on your system, pressing the "Enter" key while the edit box is not active (i.e., there is no typing cursor in it) may have the same effect as pressing "Save".

Edit summary

Before clicking "Save", it's always proper to write a short edit summary in the small text field below the edit box. This allows future editors to quickly know what you editted into or out of the article. It can also be used as a form or messaging, asking questions to future editors.

Minor and major edits

Whenever an editor saves an edit, it's viewed as a "major edit", which is an worthy overlooking by another editor, as a large change has occured in the article. A logged in editor has the option of flagging the edit as a "minor edit" when they don't want it to appear as a major edit. When to use this is a matter of personal preference, but it's a common rule to mark an edit as such when it's something small, such as spelling corrections, minimal formatting, and minor rearranging of text. This feature is important, because users can choose to hide minor edits from being seen on the recent changes page, reducing the volume of edits visable to a manageable level.

Each wiki-community has different ideas about when an edit is no longer minor, but it's a general rule that quick spelling/mark-up fixes do not effect the content of the article as a whole, and should be marked as minor. This could also be called Wikifying an article, or making it more encyclopaedic in voice and matching the style of the rest of the Neodex.

Editors who are not logged in to mark an edit as minor due to random IPs capable marking vandalism as minor, in which case it would stay unnoticed longer. This limitation is another reason to log in. Also, logged in users should never mark a major edit as minor, as it may confuse future editors.

Other edits

If the wikitext is not changed when an editor clicks "Save", a null edit occurs, which is useful for refreshing the cache. A null edit will not be recorded in the page history, recent changes, and the edit summary is discarded. A dummy edit is a change in wikitext that has little or no effect on the rendered page, but can save an edit summary. It is useful for correcting a previous edit summary such as accidentally marking a previous edit as "minor" (see below). The dummy edit summary can also be used for text messaging as a way of communicating with other editors. Text messages may be seen by IP number editors who don't have a user talk page, or editors who haven't read the subject's talk page (if it exists). Each edit summary can hold 200 text characters. A dummy edit should be checkboxed "minor" by logged-in editors.

Wiki formatting and markup

This section concerns itself with the use (and application) of formating techniques within the NeoDex.

Links and URLs

What it looks like What you type

The NeoDex has a Moehog article.

  • A link to another Wiki article.
  • Internally, the first letter of the target page is automatically capitalized and spaces are represented as underscores (typing an underscore in the link has the same effect as typing a space, but is not recommended).
  • Thus the link above is to the URL http://www.pinkpt.com/neodex/index.php/Moehog, which is the NeoDex article with the name "Moehog".
The NeoDex has a [[Moehog]] 
article.

The NeoDex has many articles such as the one about Moehogs.

  • Same target, different name.
  • The "piped" text must be placed first, then the text which will be displayed second.
The NeoDex has many articles 
such as the one about 
[[Moehog|Moehogs]].

There are many Moehogs on Neopets.

  • Text at the end of a wiki link are blended into the link.
  • Preferred style is to use this instead of a piped link, if possible.
  • Blending can be suppressed by using <nowiki></nowiki> tags, which may be desirable in some instances. Example: The Kau is somewhat Moehogish.
There are many [[Moehog]]s on 
Neopets.

The [[Kau]] is somewhat 
[[Moehog]]<nowiki>ish.
</nowiki>

See the NeoDex:Community Portal.

  • A link to another namespace on the NeoDex.
See the [[NeoDex:Community 
Portal]].

Automatically hide text in parentheses: Neopets.

Automatically hide namespace: Community Portal.

  • The server fills in the part after the pipe character (|) when you save the page. The next time you open the edit box you will see the expanded piped link. When previewing your edits, you will not see the expanded form until you press Save and Edit again. The same applies to links to sections within the same page (see previous entry).
  • See Wikipedia:Pipe trick for details.
Automatically hide text in 
parentheses:
[[Neopets (website)|Neopets]].

Automatically hide namespace:
[[NeoDex:Community Portal|Community 
Portal]].

Jacob's secret Ninja Lair is a page that doesn't exist yet. (this is just an example. Do not create article)

  • You can create it by clicking on the link.
  • To create a new page:
    1. Create a link to it on some other (related) page.
    2. Save that page.
    3. Click on the link you just made. The new page will open for editing.
  • Please do not create a new article without linking to it from at least one other article.
[[Jacob's secret Ninja Lair]] is 
a page that doesn't exist yet.

Help:Editing is this page.

  • Self links appear as bold text when the article is viewed.
  • Do not use this technique to make the article name bold in the first paragraph.
[[Help:Editing]] is this page.

When adding a comment to a Talk page, you should "sign" it with a signature. Three tildes add your user name:

Jacob

Four tildes give your user name plus date/time:

Jacob 08:10, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

Five tildes give the date/time alone:

08:10, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
  • Using three or four tildes provide a link to your user page.
  • A button on the toolbar of the edit page automatically adds a four tildes signature in your edit.
When adding a comment to a Talk 
page, you should "sign" it with 
a signature. Three tildes add 
your user name:
:~~~
Four tildes give your user name 
plus date/time:
:~~~~
Five tildes give the date/time 
alone:
:~~~~~

Sometimes data in an article or the whole article itself needs to be redirected or moved to a page with a synonomous name (Faerie Quests redirects to Faerie Quest, Snow Faerie to Taelia).

  • Redirect one article title to another by placing a directive like the one shown to the right on the first line of the article.
  • It is possible to redirect to a section. For example, Redirect Sophie Trivia will redirect to the Sophie article's "Trivia" section if it exists.
  • Before making a redirect, besure the article you are redirecting to is accurate by either reasearching the NeoDex or asking an administrator.
#REDIRECT[[Cooties]]
Redirect[[Sophie #Trivia|Sophie 
Trivia]] 

What links here and Related changes pages can be linked as: Special:Whatlinkshere/Help:Editing and Special:Recentchangeslinked/Help:Editing

'''What links here''' and 
'''Related changes''' pages can 
be linked as: 
[[Special:Whatlinkshere/Help:Editing]] 
and [[Special:Recentchangeslinked/Help:Editing]]

A user's Contributions page can be linked as: Special:Contributions/Jacob or Special:Contributions/68.185.186.186

A user's '''Contributions''' page 
can be linked as: 
[[Special:Contributions/Jacob]] 
or [[Special:Contributions/68.185.186.186]]]
  • To put an article in a Category, place a link like the one to the right anywhere in the article. As with interlanguage links, it does not matter where you put these links while editing as they will always show up in the same place when you save the page, but placement at the end of the edit box is recommended.
  • To link to a Category page without putting the article into the category, use an initial colon (:) in the link.
  • For more information on this, see NeoDex:Categorization.
[[Category:Neopets]]

[[:Category:Neopets]]

Three ways to link to external (non-NeoDex) sources:

  1. Bare URL: http://www.pinkpt.com/neodex/index.php/Main_Page (bad style)
  2. Unnamed link: [1] (only used within article body for footnotes)
  3. Named link: NeoDex
  • Square brackets indicate an external link. Note the use of a space (not a pipe) to separate the URL from the link text in the "named" version.
  • In the URL, all symbols must be among:
    A-Z a-z 0-9 . _ \ / ~ % - + & # ? ! = ( ) @
  • If a URL contains a character not in this list, it should be encoded by using a percent sign (%) followed by the hex code of the character, which can be found in the table of ASCII printable characters. For example, the caret character (^) would be encoded in a URL as %5E.
  • If the "named" version contains a closing square bracket "]", then you must use the HTML special character syntax, i.e. &#93; otherwise the Wikipedia:MediaWiki software will prematurely interpret this as the end of the external link.
Three ways to link to external (non-NeoDex) 
sources:
#Bare URL: 
http://www.pinkpt.com/neodex/index.php/Main_Page 
(bad style)
#Unnamed link: 
[http://www.pinkpt.com/neodex/index.php/Main_Page] 
(only used within article body for footnotes)
#Named link: 
[http://www.pinkpt.com/neodex/index.php/Main_Page 
NeoDex]

Linking to other wikis:

  1. Interwiki link: Wiktionary:Hello
  2. Interwiki link without prefix: Hello
  3. Named interwiki link: Wiktionary definition of 'Hello'

Linking to another language's wiktionary:

  1. Wiktionary:fr:bonjour
  2. bonjour
  3. fr:bonjour
Linking to other wikis:
# Interwiki link:
[[Wiktionary:Hello]]
# Interwiki link without prefix:
[[Wiktionary:Hello|]]
# Named interwiki link:
[[Wiktionary:Hello|
Wiktionary definition 
of 'Hello']]

Linking to another
language's wiktionary:
# [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour]]
# [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour|bonjour]]
# [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour|]]

Character formatting

What it looks like What you type

Use italics to Emphasize text.
Use bold to give Strong emphasis.
Use italics and bold for Even stronger emphasis.

  • Italics should be used sparingly. They can be used to indicate when a word or letter is serving as a word or letter, rather than its meaning, e.g. "NeoHome is an amalgamation of the words Neopets and home. If something would usually be put in inverted commas (NB: not quotation marks), italics should be used instead.
  • Bold type is primarily used for repeating the articles title at its start. One should not put bold tags in headings, as the font weight of a heading is increased already.
Use italics to ''Emphasize text''
Use bold to give '''Strong 
emphasis'''
Use italics and bold for '''''Even 
stronger emphasis'''''

You can use typewriter font by using monospace text or computer code

  • For semantic reasons, using <code> where applicable is preferable to using <tt>.
You can use typewriter font by using 
<tt>monospace text</tt> or <code>computer 
code</code>

You can use small text for captions.

Better stay away from big text, unless it's within small text.

You can use <small>small text</small> for captions.

Better stay away from <big>big text</big>, unless
<small> it's <big>within</big> small</small> text.

You can strike out deleted material and underline new material.

You can also mark deleted material and inserted material using logical markup. For backwards compatibility better combine this potentially ignored new logical with the old physical markup.

  • When editing regular Wikipedia articles, just make your changes and do not mark them up in any special way.
  • When editing your own previous remarks in talk pages, it is sometimes appropriate to mark up deleted or inserted material.
You can <s>strike out deleted material</s>
and <u>underline new material</u>.

You can also mark <del>deleted material</del> and
<ins>inserted material</ins> using logical markup.
For backwards compatibility better combine this
potentially ignored new <del>logical</del> with
the old <s><del>physical</del></s> markup.

Leaving comment on a page source will not appear when when viewing the page.

  • Used to leave comments in a page for future editors.
  • Note that most comments should go on the appropriate talk page.
<!-- comment here -->

Diacritical marks:

À Á Â Ã Ä Å
Æ Ç È É Ê Ë 
Ì Í Î Ï Ñ Ò
Ó Ô Õ Ö Ø Ù
Ú Û Ü ß à á
â ã ä å æ ç
è é ê ë Ã¬ í
î ï ñ ò ó ô
œ õ ö ø ù ú
û ü ÿ

Punctuation:

¿ ¡ § ¶
† ‡ • – —
‹ › « Â»
‘ ’ “ ”

Commercial symbols:

™ © ® ¢ € Â¥
£ ¤

Greek characters:

α β γ δ ε ζ
η θ ι κ λ μ ν
ξ ο π ρ σ ς
τ υ φ χ ψ ω
Γ Δ Θ Λ Ξ Π
Σ Φ Ψ Ω

Mathematical characters:

∫ ∑ ∏ √ − ± ∞
≈ ∝ ≡ ≠ ≤ ≥
× · ÷ ∂ ′ ″
∇ ‰ ° ∴ ℵ ø
∈ ∉ ∩ ∪ ⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇
¬ ∧ ∨ ∃ ∀
⇒ ⇐ ⇓ ⇑ ⇔
→ ↓ ↑ ← ↔

&Agrave; &Aacute; &Acirc; &Atilde; &Auml; &Aring; 
&AElig; &Ccedil; &Egrave; &Eacute; &Ecirc; &Euml; 
&Igrave; &Iacute; &Icirc; &Iuml; &Ntilde; &Ograve; 
&Oacute; &Ocirc; &Otilde; &Ouml; &Oslash; &Ugrave; 
&Uacute; &Ucirc; &Uuml; &szlig; &agrave; &aacute; 
&acirc; &atilde; &auml; &aring; &aelig; &ccedil; 
&egrave; &eacute; &ecirc; &euml; &igrave; &iacute;
&icirc; &iuml; &ntilde; &ograve; &oacute; &ocirc; 
&oelig; &otilde; &ouml; &oslash; &ugrave; &uacute; 
&ucirc; &uuml; &yuml;

&iquest; &iexcl; &sect; &para;
&dagger; &Dagger; &bull; &ndash; &mdash;
&lsaquo; &rsaquo; &laquo; &raquo;
&lsquo; &rsquo; &ldquo; &rdquo;

&trade; &copy; &reg; &cent; &euro; &yen; 
&pound; &curren;

&alpha; &beta; &gamma; &delta; &epsilon; &zeta; 
&eta; &theta; &iota; &kappa; &lambda; &mu; &nu; 
&xi; &omicron; &pi; &rho; &sigma; &sigmaf;
&tau; &upsilon; &phi; &chi; &psi; &omega;
&Gamma; &Delta; &Theta; &Lambda; &Xi; &Pi; 
&Sigma; &Phi; &Psi; &Omega;

&int; &sum; &prod; &radic; &minus; &plusmn; &infin;
&asymp; &prop; &equiv; &ne; &le; &ge;
&times; &middot; &divide; &part; &prime; &Prime;
&nabla; &permil; &deg; &there4; &alefsym; &oslash;
&isin; &notin; &cap; &cup; &sub; &sup; &sube; &supe;
&not; &and; &or; &exist; &forall;
&rArr; &lArr; &dArr; &uArr; &hArr;
&rarr; &darr; &uarr; &larr; &harr;

Subscripts:

x1 x2 x3 or

x₀ x₁ x₂ x₃ x₄

x₅ x₆ x₇ x₈ x₉

Superscripts:

x1 x2 x3 or

x⁰ x¹ x² x³ x⁴

x⁵ x⁶ x⁷ x⁸ x⁹

  • The latter methods of sub/superscripting cannot be used in the most general context, as they rely on Unicode support which may not be present on all users' machines. For the 1-2-3 superscripts, it is preferred when possible (as with units of measurement) because most browsers have an easier time formatting lines with it.

ε0 = 8.85 × 10−12 C² / J m.

1 hectare = 1 E4 m²

x<sub>1</sub> x<sub>2</sub> x<sub>3</sub> or

x&#8320; x&#8321; x&#8322; x&#8323; x&#8324;

x&#8325; x&#8326; x&#8327; x&#8328; x&#8329;
x<sup>1</sup> x<sup>2</sup> x<sup>3</sup> or

x&#8304; x&sup1; x&sup2; x&sup3; x&#8308;

x&#8309; x&#8310; x&#8311; x&#8312; x&#8313;

&epsilon;<sub>0</sub> =
8.85 &times; 10<sup>&minus;12</sup>
C&sup2; / J m.

1 [[hectare]] = [[1 E4 m&sup2;]]

Other wiki formating

What it looks like What you type
Section headings

Headings organize 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'' organize 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.

To divide up sections, users can use a "dividing line"


to break up the the article. The coding will only be recognized when it's at the beginning of a line ----. This is good to use in large debates in talk pages in order to keep things organized.

To divide up sections, users can use a "dividing 
line"
----
to break up the the article. The coding will only 
be recognized when it's at the beginning line of 
text ----. This is good to use in large debates in 
talk pages in order to keep things organized.
  • Unordered lists are easy to do:
    • Start every line with a star.
      • More stars indicate a deeper level.
    Previous item continues.
    • A newline
  • 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.
  1. Numbered lists are:
    1. Very organized
    2. Easy to follow

A new line marks the end of the list.

  1. New numbering starts with 1.
# ''Numbered lists'' are:
## Very organized
## Easy to follow
A new line marks the end of the list.
# New numbering starts with 1.

The nowiki tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''. It reformats text by removing newlines and multiple spaces. It still interprets special characters: →

<nowiki>
The nowiki tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''.
It reformats text by removing newlines 
and multiple spaces.
It still interprets special
characters: &rarr;
</nowiki>
The pre tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''.
It also doesn't     reformat text.
It still interprets special characters: →
<pre>
The pre tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''.
It also doesn't     reformat text.
It still interprets special characters:
 &rarr;
</pre>

Leading spaces are another way to preserve formatting.

Putting a space at the beginning of each line
stops the text   from being reformatted. 
It still interprets Wiki markup and
special characters: →
Leading spaces are another way 
to preserve formatting.

 Putting a space at the beginning of each line
 stops the text   from being reformatted. 
 It still interprets ''Wiki markup'' and
 special characters: &rarr;

Proper editing style

As a worldwide Neopets encyclopaedia, it is essential the NeoDex articles are easy to read, easy to edit and consistent in style to retain an encyclopaedic voice. Creating concise, unbiased writing is the most important part of the encyclopaedia, and while there are no rigid rules, there are some assumptions, conventions and considerations involved in writing NeoDex articles.

Headings and sections

Headings divide a topic up into different sections, allowing for presentation of a specific facet on the topic, rather than have all the data collected into bulk paragraphes. Sometimes there may be little to put under certain headings, but they should still be present to better present an article, and make it easy for future editors to return and expand each section.

A good article should begin with a brief introduction (or "lead")of the article that summarizes key points of the article (subject, dates of events, use of the articles subject if applicable), after which are followed by headings/sections which expand on those key points better. Common headings include:

  • "Plot summary" or "Plot summaries" (where applicable)
  • Trivia
  • External Links

For each page with more than three headings, a table of contents (a TOC for short) is automatically generated from the section headings, unless:

  • (for a user) preferences are set to turn it off
  • (for an article) in the edit box the code __NOTOC__ is added

With __FORCETOC__ or __TOC__ in the wikitext a TOC is added even if the page has less than four headings. The TOC is put before the first section header, right after the brief introduction. Although usually a header after the TOC is preferable, __TOC__ can be used to avoid being forced to insert a meaningless header just to position the TOC correctly, i.e., not too low. Preferences can be set to number the sections automatically.

If a page has a template with sections, the sections in the template are numbered according to their position in the rendered page, i.e. if the template tag is in the third section, then the first section of the template is numbered four. Any text in the template before its first section shows up as part of the section with the template tag, and any text after the tag before a new header shows up as part of the last section of the template. This may be done deliberately, but can be avoided.

Use of Capital Letters

Initial capital letters should be used for proper nouns and words at the beginning of sentences but not as a means of emphasis. This also includes heading titles, which should have the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns in the heading capitalized, while the rest remain lower case.

Due to technical constraints, all article titles on the NeoDex must begin with a capital letter. When using a wikilink in the middle of a sentence, it may not be appropriate to use a capital letter. This can be overcome in several ways, either by setting up a redirect on the page without an initial capital letter and wikilinking to that article, or by putting the proper name of the article in the wikilink, followed by a vertical bar, followed by the text to be displayed, i.e.

[[Proper article name|name without capitalisation]]

This technique can also be used to wikilink to a page without using its actual name.

Wikilinks

Wikilinks connect properly titled articles together, allowing for easy connections between certain subjects. Almost all proper nouns from Neopets have their own article, and should be wikilinked if they appear in an article. Even if that article is not created yet and is a dead link, it should be wikilinked, for another editor may create it in the future. If in the event the text being wikilinked exists under a different article name, the wikilink can be created as a redirect.

It is not recommended to link to a specific article more than once per article. Ideally, the first occurance of a word in the article should be the one wikilinked. A wikilink should not appear in a heading. If necessary, the first sentence under a heading should be written to contain the word or phrase in the heading that should be wikilinked, and this occurance of the word used as the link.

Varying forms of English

In the english-speaking world, there are several acceptable forms of English. Due to Neopets being founded by citizens of United Kingdom, spellings and writing traditions were kept British despite the fact the head office is based in the United States. To maintain consistency, articles written for the NeoDex should use the British-English forms of the words (where applicable). This rule is in place to avoid reversion warring. If, as is the case on occasion, a form of a word has been used on Neopets to describe something not the British form, then this form should be used instead. For a list of all collected proper spellings, see the misspellings list.

Dates

Neopets has their own calendar which follows the Gregorian calendar, although sometimes Neopets dates events from happening in "Year 5", which begun on November 15, 2003 and ended the following year. To avoid confusion and be more precise, exact dates from the Gregorian calendar should be used when speaking of a timed event. This also allows be for comparison of data when browsing the New Features page.When presenting the date on an article, it can be displayed in two fashions...

  • May 31, 2006 - Americian variation
  • 31 May 2006 - British variation

The year does not need to be included if it has already been mentioned shortly beforehand.

Use of pictures

Whenever possible, a picture which better describes the article's topic should be included at the top section of a page aligned to the right. With multiple pictures, they can either be staged across the page right and left, or kept all right aligned. For more information, see Help:Images.

Pace of writing

When writing a long sentence, it's important to make proper uses of commas (the "," symbol) and "full stops" (a moment while reading out loud in which you can take a breathe). If if sentence sounds too long to you while being read out load, it's best to arrange the pace of the writting with commas or make it a shorter sentence. This makes it read easier, and simplifies writing. As a rule, a full stop can in most cases be used where a comma would go. New subjects can also be noted with making a new paragraph, or a more signifigant full stop than a normal end of a sentence.

Spam and vandalism

Due to the nature of a Wiki and how easy it is for anyone to edit, spam (refered to a meaningless and hurtful material) and vandalism (destruction or deletion of data) will sometimes be placed by editors. Spam includes random comments and gibberish which aren't proper on the article, but can also include spammed links to outside websites, which could most likely be dangerous to view. Vandalism sometimes involves spam, in which case it replaces wiki text of the article.

If you should find either of these in any aritlce, revision of the wikitext is nessesary. As all revisions are recorded in the page history and on recent changes, a quick fix can be done by any editor. Administrators of the NeoDex patrol the NeoDex as well, removing spam and correcting vandalism on a daily basis. Any editor who takes part of spam or vandalism can and will be blocked at the discretion of an administrator.

Templates

Some parts of an article may correspond in the edit box to just a reference to another page, in the form {{name}}, referring to the page "Template:name" (or if the name starts with a namespace prefix, it refers to the page with that name; if it starts with a colon it refers to the page in the main namespace with that name without the colon). This is called a template. For changing that part of the page, edit that other page. Sometimes a separate edit link is provided for this purpose. Note that the change also affects other pages which use the same template. For all of the NeoDex's major templates, see NeoDex:Templates.

Variables

A variable is a predefined template, built into the coding of the NeoDex and brings up data which change by time, number of articles, etc.

  • {{CURRENTDAYNAME}} - Shows the current name day (Monday, Tuesday, etc.)
  • {{CURRENTDAY}} - Shows the current day of the month
  • {{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}} - Shows the current month
  • {{CURRENTYEAR}} - Shows the current year
  • {{CURRENTTIME}} - Shows the current time
  • {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} - Shows the current number of articles in the NeoDex
  • {{NAMESPACE}} - Shows the namespace the article is under
  • {{PAGENAME}} - Shows the name of the current article it's on
  • {{SERVER}} - Shows the server the wiki is on
  • {{SITENAME}} - Shows the name of the wiki

Page protection

In a few cases the tab labeled "Edit" is replaced by the text "View Source". This article is protected and can only be edited by means of an Administrator. Should you find something which is not on the article, bring it up on the articles discussion board, and an administrator may edit the artile accordingly.

See also

External links