Help:Editing

This page is designed to help with general issues of page editing. For help with the editing of specific types of wiki pages, go to the Help index and find the help page for that specific kind of wiki page.

Contents

Frequently asked questions

How do I edit an existing page?

Note: In order to edit a page on WeRelate, you must log in. This is intended to make it easier for us all to connect and collaborate with each other, and to reduce spam.
Just click on the Edit link near the top of the screen. If you see a View Source link instead, it means that the page is protected and you can't edit it. (Only a few pages are protected.)
When you're finished editing the page, click on the Show preview button (or press alt-p) to show how your page will look when it is displayed.
When you're happy with how it will look, enter a summary explaining your edit in the Summary field below the text box. This helps people watching this page gauge whether they should check out the change.
Deselect "Watch this page" if you do not wish to be notified of future changes to the page.
When you are done, click on the Save page button (or press alt-s) to save your edit.

When do I select "This is a minor edit"?

Mark this box (below the narrative box) when making such changes as changing capitalization, correcting spelling (unless it's a change to the spelling of a proper name).
Note: Users can choose whether to be notified of all edits, no edits, or just edits that are not "minor edits." By checking "This is a minor edit" you don't force users to view the non-substantive changes in order to continue seeing changes. Minor edits can also be screened out of lists of contributions easily."

Can I post copyrighted material?

Only if you have permission! See the copyrights page for more details.

How do I create a new page?

There are two ways to create a page:
  1. From the Add menu in the upper left menu bar, click on the type of page you want to create, then enter the title of the page you want to create and click on the Add button. See the help on page titles for information on how to title your page.
  2. Create a link to the page from an existing page, save the existing page, click on the link you added, then click on the Edit link near the top of the screen.

How do I delete a page?

If you want to delete one of your MySource or User pages, or you are the only person watching a Person or Family page, click the More link in the left side bar. Select Delete, enter a reason for the deletion and click Delete Page.
If you want to delete a page in one of the other namespaces, such as a Place or a Source, add
{{Speedy Delete|state your reason}}
to the text of the page.

How do I rename a page?

Click the Rename link near the top of the screen under the blue bar and enter the new title for the page. Supply a reason and click Rename Page.

How do I add an alternative title for a page?

  • Suppose you want to create an alternative title for an existing page. For example, the LDS Church's Family History Library Catalog is often abbreviated as FHLC, so (in order to save future typing or for other reasons) you may want to create a source entitled FHLC that automatically redirects people to the Source:Family History Library Catalog page.
  • To do this, create the Source:FHLC page, edit it, and in the edit box where you would normally enter the text of the page, enter #redirect followed by a link to the page that people should be redirected to.
    • #redirect [[Source:Family History Library Catalog]]
  • Ensure that no boxes above the "redirect" text contain anything - or it won't work. You can add anything AFTER the redirect, but the software ignores or even deletes it.
  • You don't even need the "namespace" prefix: try FHLC. That's really a shortcut, which may appeal to people who expect to want to create many links to the properly-named page.
  • You could also use this approach to create alternative titles for place pages. For example, you could create a page entitled Place:Daressalaam, Tanzania that redirected people to Place:Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

What if I make a mistake when editing a page?

Errors on wiki pages are easily corrected. Simply editing the page again and correcting the errors works in most cases. If you made a significant change and you want to revert to an earlier version of the page, click on the History link at the top of the page under the blue banner. Find the version to which you wish the page to be reverted. Open that version of the page, click on "Edit" at the top and then on "Save page" at the bottom of the page.

Editing Toolbar

Above the main text box on every edit page, there is a row of icons that assist you in page editing. Here are the functions for each key, from left to right. Clicking these icons will result in pre-formatted tags being inserted into the text box for you as shown below. The text between the tag components will be highlighted and ready for you to enter your own text.

Makes selected text bold

  • Clicking the icon places: '''Bold text''' in the text editing area
  • Result: Bold text

Italicizes selected text

  • Clicking the icon places: ''Italic text'' in the text editing area
  • Result: Italic text

Internal link: allows a selected page name to function as a link to another WeRelate page.

External link: allows a selected URL to function as a link to an exterior website

  • Clicking the icon places: [[http://www.wikipedia.org wikipedia]] in the text editing area
  • Result: wikipedia

Level 2 headline: allows selected text to function as a main heading

  • Clicking the icon places: ==Related pages== in the text editing area
  • Result: See the words "Related Pages" below for an example

Embedded image: allows a selected image's filename to be replaced by the actual image on the page being edited

  • Clicking the icon places: [[Image:Example.jpg]] in the text editing area
  • Replacing the Image file name with [[Image:WeRelate.gif]]
  • Result: Image:WeRelate.gif

Media file link: an editing function of wiki software not particularly relevant to WeRelate

Mathematical formula: an editing function of wiki software not particularly relevant to WeRelate

Ignores wiki formatting tags (equals signs, apostrophes, etc.) within a selected text

  • Clicking the icon places: <nowiki>"<nowiki>"</nowiki> in the text editing area

Signs your username at the end of a comment, along with the date and time at which the edit was completed

  • Clicking the icon places: --~~~~ in the text editing area
  • Result: --Walt 14:29, 8 February 2008 (EST)

Places a horizontal line/bar across the screen

  • To be used sparingly, if at all
  • Clicking the icon places: ---- in the text editing area
  • Result:


These and other formatting techniques including how to add references in paragraphs are discussed in more depth at Help:Formatting

Related pages