VOCWiki:How does one edit a page

This page will help you learn how to use the wiki! It's quite straightforward, so try not to be intimidated. Read on to learn more.

Create an Account

To edit a page on this wiki, you need to create an account and log in (see top right corner). This is to prevent wiki spam robots from defacing the site. Anyone can create an account and new accounts can be used as soon as they are created. On the create account page, The text box with the special question is an anti spam measure to block automated wiki spam-bots from creating accounts. To pass the test, follow the instructions above the box to find the correct answer in the glossary.

Note: Your account with the message board doesn't work with the wiki (i.e. your email address and password). You need to make a new account with the wiki in order to access it. If wanted, you can use the same username and password for both.

Editing Pages

Editing pages is generally very easy. You can either click on the "edit" link on the top of the page you want to modify, or you can click on the "edit" link on the right side of the page above the section you want to modify. Once you do this, you will be brought to an editing page with a box where you enter your changes. Generally, you just enter the text you want to appear into the box! You can make your text look nicer and more organized by using some "markup language." This is special code you enter to create links, make headings etc. A great resource for learning the simple markup language and more information about page editing in general can be found at this resource.

A wiki only works if people contribute to it! Don't be afraid, it's easy. Just click on the bottom of a page to edit it.

You can learn a great deal by clicking the "edit" link and looking at how the page is set up. You don't have to change anything, you can just look at the code and use what you learn when you edit other pages.

You can play around with editing in the VOCWiki:Sandbox. It's a page that exists just for trying out your skills!

Guidelines

Here are a couple of guidelines for making contributions :

• Write articles with a neutral point of view (NPOV). Since articles will be edited over and over, they need to be written in a neutral style so that consensus on the content can eventually be reached.
• Do not use the first-person ("I think this is a bad idea"), unless absolutely necessary do not refer to people ("Dave said that there is a route...") unless the article is a trip report;
• Try to make your article as structured as possible. For example, when talking about a trail you might start with a short introduction, then talk about access and fees, then go on to give a detailed route description and perhaps have a history section.
• Try to avoid putting jokes on the pages. Humour is good on websites managed by a single person, but on a Wiki if everyone adds a joke, soon the real content will be lost.
• Avoid creating very short stub articles that have no useful content.
• Do create links to pages that don't yet exist but that should be written.
• Have a look around the site and look at how the good articles are put together. Try to use a similar style.
• Try to pick appropriate titles for pages. Capitalize only the first word of the title unless it is a proper noun.
• Practice your skills in the VOCWiki:Sandbox.
• If you are creating a Hut page, use the VOCWiki:Hut Pages Template and the Template:Hutbox.
• If you are creating a Trail page, use the VOCWiki:Trail Pages Template and the Template:Trailbox.
• If you are creating a Mountain page, use the Template:Mountainbox at the top.
• Feel free to include bulletins on the VOC Hut Registration board. Make sure to include your name and the date of the bulletin. Try to keep bulletins brief (2-3 sentences max).

For wiki pages used to organize trips:

• Include the date of your trip in the wiki page name, for instance 2010 Jan 11 Brew Hut
• Include the name of the person organizing the trip.
• Post a link to the message board so questions and answers can be shared.
• Use template:trip date or template:trip signup to keep people from signing up for you trip after it has already happened.

Conclusion

Go ahead and create a new page or edit an existing one. Don't worry about it not being perfect the first time around, that's the beauty of the Wiki, someone else will come along and improve it. A complete history of every page is kept, so don't worry and be bold, pages can always be reverted to a previous version.

External Links

If you need inspiration, have a look at the very successful Wikipedia

If you need help with the "markup" language, look at Wikipedia's Editing Instructions.