User:Ee/Wiki for Dummies

There are many helpful pages scattered around this wiki, but when i first started on here i didn't find a useful manual that took me by the hand and explained this wiki's design rules, naming conventions and use of templates in a clear, step-by-step manner. And that's how it usually goes: you try and error, and try again. I think learning to do things could go a bit faster with a bit more explanation, hence this personal project that i'll be working on every now and then. By all means, don't use it or link to it yet, it'll likely be changed a million times before it's user-friendly enough, especially because i only have a limited amount of daily time.

So you want to help?

1. First, find the existing help pages on this wiki, and see if they get you on your way already.

2. Make your own user account on this wiki. It's not really needed, but it's handy, because you'll be able to track what you've done, and track what other people add or change about your contributions. You see, the fact that you made a contribution doesn't mean it is your page. It is everyone's, that's what makes this a wiki. Yes, it's like communism! Look up to the top right of this page. See 'Log in / create account'? That's where you start.

From now on, you can sign your comments. You don't have to sign what you type, but it's politer to do so. Just click the blue signature button after your text or simply type four tildes (~): ~~~~. Tadaa! See how it magically turns into something like this: Ee 10:22, 6 April 2012 (UTC).

3. Next, go read the page Guild Wars 2 Wiki:How to help. It tells you what you can do on this wiki, and that's plenty! If you find your way right away, go ahead, don't be shy!

• Click on a random page if you're merely looking for those little things you can improve any page on
• Check the list of wanted pages and start a brand new page
• Category:Stubs: pages that are incomplete and need additional info
• Category:Cleanup: pages that are messy or not according to the formatting guide
• Guild Wars 2 Wiki:Projects

4. Need somewhat more guidance from here on? Then read on.

How wiki pages are set up

Each page consists in fact of several pages that are linked together. Let's look at the most important pages first.

• First, there's the page with the actual content, like wat you're reading right now. You can always find the content page by clicking on the 'page' tab on the top left of each page.
• You can change the content on a page by clicking on the 'edit' tab. On the 'edit' page you can see how the actual content is made to look how it looks, but more about that later.
• If you click on the 'discussion' tab you can see what other people have been writing about this page. These are comments either about the content itself, or on how the content is structured, or maybe on things that should be changed.
• If you click on the 'edit' tab while being on the discussion page, you can add your own comments to the discussion. If you want to edit the page content itself, you first need to go back to the 'page' tab and click on the 'edit' tab there.
• if you want to follow what happens to a page that interests you because of its content or because you have edited something, just click the 'watch' tab. The wiki will now list this page in your watchlist (which you can find through the link at the top right of each page, after you logged in).

There are other tabs and pages that link to each page that can be helpful for editing, some for more advanced use than others. For instance, the 'move' tab, about which you can read here.

On every page you can find a handy list of other pages and lists that are about this page, conveniently gathered under 'toolbox', at the left of every page. You can check them out now, but as for their practical use, we'll get to that later.

Let's get practical, shall we?

I want to make a change to an existing page

So you found this page about jellyfish, and it's not quite right. It might be a stupid typo, or it might be something that has changed in a patch and noone came around to adapt this page. Or you find that something hasn't been explained well enough, or you have additional info. What to do next?

Maybe you just need to make a redirect page

Sometimes you find a page through a search word that didn't entirely match with the existing page's title (maybe you made a typo or used an abbreviation or plural), and this means someone made a redirect page. This is very useful for a user-friendly wiki, hence it's very much encouraged to make them. Here's how you can do that, and on which occasions.

You're not that sure about what you'd like to see changed

Maybe you don't want to change a page just like that - you want other people's opinions first. There are a few options.

• The first option is to put your question on the discussion page of the jellyfish-page.

If you click the 'discussion' tab on the jellyfish page, you can see what other people have been writing about this page. It might be that they simply discuss seven ways to kill a jellyfish, but basically you can put up any question you have about jellyfish and their pages on it. To do that, click on the 'edit' tab of the discussion page. Scroll down, and type your question. Don't forget to sign it!

• The second option is to ask a helper for help.

Yes, if you thought Guild Wars 2 doesn't have elves, you're wrong. The helpers are users who are more than happy to answer any questions you may have about the wiki.

• Ask your question on the Ask a wiki question page, at the Community Portal or Requests for comment page.
• The fastest way to get an answer might be to get on this wiki's own #gw2w irc channel.

I want to make a new page

You typed your search words in the search box, and oh horror! Nothing came up about it. So this information you have needs to be added.

Before you dive in, something about templates

• overview of [existing templates]

Adding a new page

• i want to add a place
• i want to add an npc
• i want to add a dynamic event
• i want to add a heart
• i want to add lore

Existing help pages for this wiki

• A list on what you have to do to make words show as bold and italic, links, titles, paragraphs or lists.

...and there are always the Guild Wars 2 Wiki:Helpers if you need more help.