Help:Talk pages

Contents

Frequently asked questions

What are talk pages?

  • Every page in WeRelate has an associated talk page on which you can add comments about the page
  • Talk pages are especially useful when you want to comment on another user's profile or user page, as you cannot edit those pages directly
  • To read or edit a talk page, click on the Talk link at the top of any page

What are Talk Page Features?

  • Easily ask questions, give feedback, and report problems
  • Quickly get answers and responses from WeRelate users and administrators
  • Watch a talk page to be notified when additional discussion is posted
  • Organize discussion by page-specific topics
  • Use your profile's talk page to receive personal messages
  • Contribute to, and receive assistance from, the WeRelate community

How can I leave a message for another user?

  • First, find the user's profile
  • You can click on their name to see their profile if:
    • they have signed their name (see below) to a page
    • you see their name in a page's history (click on the History link at the top of a page to see a page's history),
  • Otherwise, if you know the person's user name you can click the My Relate link in the blue bar at the top of the page and select Browse Pages
    • Select "User Talk" as the namespace
    • Enter the Username in the "Title" field and click "Go"
  • Once you are looking at the user's talk page, You can add a comment to the page as described below

How can I add a comment to a talk page?

  • To leave a comment on any page's talk page, click on the Talk link near the top of the screen. At this point you have two options:
    • Click on the Add topic link near the top of the screen.
      • This gives you a form where you can enter a new discussion topic and the text of your comment.
      • Your comment appears as a new section at the bottom of the talk page.
    • Click on the Edit link near the top of the screen.
      • You're now editing the talk page and you can add your comment anywhere you want to.

How can I sign my name to my comments?

  • It's helpful for others if you sign and date your comments. You can do this by typing: --~~~~ at the end of your comment
  • Alternatively, press the button on the editing panel, which inserts: --~~~~ for you
  • If you really want your name without a date, just type: ~~~
  • Examples:
    • You type: --~~~~ and the result is: --Walt 17:59, 16 February 2008 (EST)
    • You type: ~~~ and the result is: Walt

How can I respond to messages left on talk pages?

  • Edit the page and add your comment on a new line underneath the previous comment
    • Indent your response by starting each paragraph of your comment with a colon (:)
  • For example, on this page (and any other help page), the answers to all of the "frequently asked questions" are indented, by beginning the first line of each paragraph of the answer with a colon
    • If you are responding to an already-indented response on a talk page, add a colon for each additional, necessary indentation
  • See Indenting Help for more information

How can I find out when someone has left a message on my talk page?

  • Whenever you log on to WeRelate, make a habit of clicking on the My Relate tab in the blue bar at the top of the screen and select "Talk Page"
  • If someone has left a message for you on the talk page associated with your profile, you will see it listed at the bottom of the page
  • You will also be notified by email whenever someone leaves a message for you
  • You can change your email address in your preferences

How can I find out when someone has replied to the message I left another talk page?

  • When editing the talk page to leave your comment, make sure that the Watch this page checkbox near the bottom of the screen is checked before saving the page
    • If you forgot to do this, or if you want to be notified of changes to any page, even when you haven't edited it, you can add the page to your watchlist by clicking on the Watch link at the top of the screen when looking at the page
      • You will be notified whenever the page or its associated talk page changes
      • An email will be sent to you whenever any page in your watchlist (or its talk page) changes.
  • Alternatively, you can see which pages in your watchlist have changed since you last visited them by clicking on the My Relate link in the blue bar at the top of the page and selecting "Watchlist"

When will my changes start showing up in searches?

  • Your changes take effect Immediately
  • Your changes or additions will show up in Searches the following day
    • Pages are indexed every night, so if you created a new talk page, made changes to an existing talk page, or added new words on the existing page, they will start showing up in searches the following day

How can I tell what changes someone has made to the talk page?

  • Click on the History link near the top of the screen
    • This displays a list of all changes made to the page
    • For each change, you can see how the page appeared after it was edited, when it was edited, and by whom
    • To see exactly what was changed, click on the two versions of the page you want to compare, followed by Compare selected versions

Can I see an example talk page?

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