Changes
From Vendetta Online Wiki
Massive cleanup of broken links. I'm not done with this one though.
==General==
To edit a [[MediaWiki]] page, click on the "'''Edit this page'''" (or just "'''edit'''") link at one of its edges. This will bring you to a page with a text box containing the ''[['wikitext]]''': the editable source code from which the server produces the webpage. For the special codes, see below.
After adding to or changing the wikitext it is useful to press "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.
If you are not satisfied you can make more changes and preview the page as many times as necessary. Then write a short [[Help:Edit summary|edit summary]] in the small text field below the edit-box and when finished 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".
You may find it more convenient to copy and paste the text first into your favorite [[en:text editor|text editor]], edit and spell check it there, and then paste it back into your [[en:web browser|web browser]] to preview. This way, you can also keep a local backup copy of the pages you have edited. It also allows you to make changes offline, but before you submit your changes, ''please make sure nobody else has edited the page'' since you saved your local copy (by checking the [[Help:page history|page history]]), otherwise you may accidently revert someone else's edits. If someone ''has'' edited it since you copied the page, you'll have to merge their edits into your new version (you can find their specific edits by using the "[[Help:diff|diff]]" feature of the page history). These issues are handled automatically by the Mediawiki software if you edit the page online, retrieving and submitting the wikicode in the same text box. See also [[MediaWiki architecture]].
== Dummy edit and null edit==
If the wikitext is not changed 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, such as changing the number of [[w:'''newline|newline]]'''s at some position from 0 to 1 or from 2 to 3 or conversely (changing from 1 to 2 makes a difference, see below). 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).
To refresh the cache of some item in the database a lesser kind of dummy edit, called a '''null edit''', may be sufficient: one that does not cause any change in the wikitext, and no entry in the history, in Recent Changes, etc.: this can be done by opening the edit window and saving; a section edit is sufficient. See also [[Help:Category#A_category_tag_in_a_template.3B_caching_problem|A category tag in a template; caching problem]].
== Minor edits ==
When editing a page, a [[MediaWiki User's Guide: Logging-in|logged-in]] user has the option of flagging the edit as a "minor edit". This feature is important, because users can choose to ''hide'' minor edits in their view of the [[MediaWiki User's Guide: The Recent Changes page | Recent Changes pageSpecial:Recentchanges]]page, to keep the volume of edits down to a manageable level.
When to use this is somewhat a matter of personal preference. The rule of thumb is that an edit of a page that consists of 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 revisiting for somebody who wants to watch the article rather closely. So any "real" change, even if it is a single word, should be flagged as a "major edit".
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A single
:A colon indents a line or paragraph.
A manual newline starts a new paragraph.
* This is primarily for displayed material, but is also used for discussion on [[Help:Talk page|Talk page]]spages.
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<td><pre><nowiki>: A colon indents a line or paragraph.
WARNING If you make it wide,
you [[en:page widening|force the whole page to be wide]] and
hence less readable. Never start ordinary lines with spaces.<br>
<center>(see also below)</center>
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<td>A [[en:horizontal dividing line|horizontal dividing line]]: above
----
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Summarizing the effect of a single newline: no effect in general, but it ends a list item or indented part; thus changing some text into a list item, or indenting it, is more cumbersome if it contains newlines, they have to be removed; see also [[w:Wikipedia:Don't use line breaks]].
=== Links, URLs ===
<th>What you type</th>
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<tr valign="top"><td>Sue is reading the [[video policycollector_drones]]page.
*First letter of target is automatically capitalized.
*Internally spaces are automatically represented as underscores (typing an underscore has the same effect as typing a space, but is not recommended).
Thus the [[link]] above is to <nowiki>http://metawww.wikipediavo-wiki.orgcom/wiki/Video_policyindex.php?title=Collector_drones</nowiki>, which is the page with the name "Video policyCollector drones".
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<td><pre><nowiki>Sue is reading the [[video policycollector_drones]]page.</nowiki></pre>
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<pre><nowiki>[[List_of_cities_by_country#Morocco]].</nowiki></pre></td>
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<tr valign="top"><td>Link target and link label are different: [[User:Larry SangerGaladrix|answers]].
(This is called a [[''piped link]]'').
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<td><pre><nowiki>Same target, different name:
[[User:Larry SangerGaladrix|answers]]</nowiki></pre>
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<td>Endings are blended into the link: [[official positionMechanic/Medic]]s, [[geneHUD]]s</td>
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<pre><nowiki>Endings are blended
into the link: [[official positionMechanic/Medic]]s, [[geneHUD]]s</nowiki></pre>
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Automatically hide stuff in parentheses: [[kingdom TPG (biologyfaction)|kingdomTPG]].<p>Automatically hide namespace: [[WikipediaSpecial:Village pumpRandom|Village pumpRandom]].</p>
<p>The server fills in the part after the | when you save the page. Next time you open the edit box you will see the expanded piped link. A preview interprets the abbreviated form correctly, but does not expand it yet in the edit box. Press Save and again Edit, and you will see the expanded version. The same applies for the following feature.</p>
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<pre><nowiki>Automatically hide stuff in parentheses:
[[kingdom TPG (biologyfaction)|]]. </nowiki></pre>
<pre><nowiki>Automatically hide namespace:
[[WikipediaSpecial:Village pumpRandom|]].</nowiki></pre>
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you should sign it. You can do this by
adding three tildes for your user name:
: [[User:Karl WickGaladrix|Karl WickAtan Yomane]]
or four for user name plus date/time:
: [[User:Karl WickGaladrix|Karl WickAtan Yomane]] 0821:10 Oct 543, 2002 18 August 2006 (UTCEDT)
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<td><pre><nowiki>When adding a comment to a Talk page,
*#Save that page.
*#Click on the link you just made. The new page will open for editing.
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<td><pre><nowiki>[[The weather in London]] is a page
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<td><pre><nowiki>#REDIRECT [[United States]]</nowiki></pre>
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<td>"What links here" and "Related changes" can be linked as:<br/>
[[Special:Whatlinkshere/WikipediaHelp:How to edit a pageEditing]] and[[Special:Recentchangeslinked/WikipediaHelp:How to edit a pageEditing]]
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<td><pre><nowiki>
[[Special:Whatlinkshere/WikipediaHelp:How to edit a pageEditing]] and[[Special:Recentchangeslinked/WikipediaHelp:How to edit a pageEditing]]</nowiki></pre>
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Link to [[w:Request for Comments|Request for Comments]]: RFC 123 (URL specified in [[mediawiki:Rfcurl]])
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<pre><nowiki>RFC 123</nowiki></pre>
</td><tr><td>To include links to non-image uploads such as sounds, use a "media" link.<br/>[[media:Sg_mrob.ogg|Sound]]</td><td><pre><nowiki>[[media:Sg_mrob.ogg|Sound]]</nowiki></pre></td></tr><tr valign=top>
<td>Use links for dates, so everyone can set their own display order. Use [[Special:Preferences]] to change your own date display setting.
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