Lets talk about the different types of Pages in Wikipedia. you will be graded on the questions you ask.
Mainspace Articles
- Viewable to everyone, most commonly known.
- Can have attributes to limit who can edit(I.E. Protection)
Mainspace Talk
- Attached to every mainspace article.
- Editors of that page use it to coordinate work on said article.
User Pages
- The owner of the page uses this page to introduce themselves to other editors.
- It may only be edited by others in limited circumstances.
User talk Page
- Used to contact the owner.
- Where the user can be presented with awards, warnings, and anything else related to them.
WP Pages
- Official wikipedia pages that include policies and guidelines.
- Cannot be edited by everybody.
Templates
- Users may link other pages to these pages, and these pages will substitute that link for text.
- Allows users to quickly add notices or warnings on other pages without having to manually edit it in.
Wikicode areas
- Every User has a wikicode area where gadgets and other code is stored.
- Mostly used for enabling automation, just a storage space to refer to, cache where data is stored.
Questions?
- Is there any particular approach to editing Mainspace articles if they are not protected? I usually just hop in and start editing. Then I'll leave a message on the talk page introducing myself.
Nope, you can take any direction you'd like when editing them, as long as you follow the policies. It's all about how you can contribute to Wikipedia, and if that's how you can, then do it.
- Mainspace talk pages are so chaotic. What can one do about the random complaints and questions from anonymous users?
Help them, In most cases where pages are protected then it is best to talk to them and view their argument for including(or deleting) portions of articles. If you assist the newcomers, it entices them to make an account and contribute to WP in a positive way.
- People seem to get into arguments a lot. It's great for spectating, but, uh, less so for getting real work done. Any tips for avoiding needless arguments?
Present facts and sources, if you have an argument that is credible and has hard evidence, then you can avoid them. Try your best to understand others POV, look at their sources, sometimes they may actually be correct. Do not get hung up on the idea that you are correct.
- Is there a way to prevent others from editing my User page?
No, Protection is only for mainspace articles. Even Jimmy Wales's page is free to edit. If someone were to vandalize it then you may take action, we'll talk about that more in the future.
- There are a billion templates. Which ones do you find most useful?
It all depends on what you are doing on WP, when I'm doing Anti-Vandalism work, I use the warning templates. When reviewing articles you can tag them for things like grammar and sources so other editors can know what needs to happen on that page.
- What makes for a clean, helpful user page?
Something that clearly states your motives, what you specialize in(doesn't need to be specific), and anything an admin made need to see to make sure you are a good rule-following wikipedian.
- I love templates. How do I create my own?
They aren't hard to create, the longest part is understanding the different parameters and how to integrate data from the destination page. There are several helpful tutorials on how to create them, but if you would like to then please let me know
- Is there an open source Wikipedia GitHub for volunteers to push code?
Editors publish a Github page on their user page for other editors to view, however there is no "Official" Github for wikipedia.
- Is there etiquette for using/deploying bots for automated tasks?
Yes, Because of the speed and possibilities of bots, they are highly regulated. If you would like to make one it must be approved by the Bot Approval Group. Aside from that there are restrictions on speed and activity which you can find Here. There are also rules on naming and alerting the public to the deployment of a new bot.
- Would I need to register bots anywhere in particular?
I will now ask that you make at least 1 edit in each of the namespaces below. Please make the edit, view the difference between the original and your edit, get the link and post it here, This will be part of the grade, The quality and necessity will be the deciding factor.
| Namespace | Diff | Response |
|---|---|---|
| Mainspace | Added link to first battle of Eastern Front and supporting citation | Very well done, I like that you included a citation to provide truth to your statement. |
| Mainspace talk | Added comment on corresponding talk page explaining my intentions with the article. | Good job. |
| User page | Updated my user page so it is a bit cleaner. | Good job familiarizing yourself with wikitext, That will definitely help you in the long run. |
| User talk | Finally responded to TheVirginiaHistorian. | Good work, You remained civil and helpful throughout. |
Talk pages are where people discuss how to make content on Wikipedia the best that it can be. You can use this page to start a discussion with others about how to improve the "User:ToastGuard/Orcanami/Archive 3" page.
