User talk:Ee/Wiki for Dummies

This page is improperly placed, (it really should be Guild Wars 2 Wiki:Wiki for Dummies), but my main issue with this is that this is a paraphrase of Guild Wars 2 Wiki:How to help. Aqua (T|C) 10:42, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

Yes, but this one should develop into something much longer and much more practical; what's there now is just the base. The existing help page is simply too short, too condensed. And there are help pages and how-to pages scattered around the wiki, but they don't say "now this, now that". I use the jellyfish example because i made a mistake there, not knowing when something should be an ambiguation page or what template should be used, or even where i could find a template for this kind of page. Still don't know what i did wrong, i just know that i was told it was wrong. And i have no idea how to fix it. So how can you prevent nubs like me doing "don't do that"-stuff? How do you decide what goes where, how do i start, what do i put where, how do i add an image next (if there isn't a spot forseen in the template)? It's for dummies, not for people who see the existing help page and go "oh yea, simple". Because i saw that page, and it's really not about how to make text bold but about how do categories work, can you make a category just like that, how do i decide if i can put "stub" on a page or can i just go ahead and make a redirect, and where do i find how to do that. For instance, if you type "template" in the search box, you see pages that are based on templates, but there's no LIST of templates. That's the first thing i want to do (hence the "i want to add an npc" etc): point to the template for npcs. If there is one. - By the way, your first remark proves that it's needed. You tell me "this page is improperly placed". How should i know that? Where does it explain where to place a page before i make one? If i type "naming conventions" in the search box, nothing comes up. If that page exists, i'll link to it.Ee 11:24, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

Should i make this a project instead? - also, i just found the templates.Ee 11:51, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

(Edit conflict) There is no need to make two redundant pages. The "how to help" is relatively thorough when combined with Help:Editing, but if you could think of ways to expand it, do it there, not here.

A big thing about learning how to edit wikis is watching others or looking through the code. Sure, most new people won't know how to add an infobox to the npc article they started, but someone else will come along and add the infobox with proper syntax and now the new user has witnessed how its done and has learned and will be able to do it in the future. You can't just read a manual and become amazing; you need actual practice, just as with any other skill.

On the subject of templates, most templates have (or should have) explanations regarding their usage. As for the list of templates, no, there isn't a list, but there is Category:Templates which hypothetically should contain all templates.

For the mainspace vs other locations: things that are not "content-based" (i.e. articles) should not be in the main (pages without prefixes) space. And you figure things out from editors such as myself saying that.

Finally, there are very few absolutes in regards to how stuff should be done. I can't tell you definitively that you add stub to articles if and only if three or more sections are blank. Editing a wiki requires thought. Otherwise we could just program bots to do it.

And in regards to the "project" idea, maybe. I would have to see how it could be "projectified" before being able to say whether I thought it would work or not. Aqua (T|C) 11:58, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

I agree that this page feels redundant, but I do like the FAQ approach that this page uses. Since your primary aim appears to be making it easier for new users to navigate help material, perhaps trying to improve on how Help:Contents is organised and laid out would be a more beneficial end goal than attempting to write a single consolidated page on editing. -- ab.er.rant 09:52, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

Alright, i'll just add some extra pointers to the Help:Contents instead. I presume the Wiki for Dummies page should be put up for deletion then?--Ee 21:37, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

Perhaps you'd like to move it into your own user space instead? If you'd prefer to continue maintaining it, we could always point new users who also prefer the manual-like style of a help page to this page of yours. -- ab.er.rant 07:07, 8 April 2012 (UTC)

managed to move it into my own userspace after a series of blonde moments. I think.--Ee 08:14, 8 April 2012 (UTC)

Great :) Each time you move, you actually leave behind a redirect page - don't worry, I've removed them already :) You can mark an unwanted page using the {{delete}} template. -- ab.er.rant 13:21, 9 April 2012 (UTC)