Guide:Wiki Maintenance

Step Wiki Users Guide

Standards and tips for editing the Step wiki

by: Step Modifications  | Forum Topic

Definition of a wiki:

"...a website or database developed collaboratively that allows users to add, delete, or revise content by using a web browser."

The Step Modifications wiki is intended to be a community-driven project; although, most contributions to date have originated from only a handful of contributors. Our goal is to make it easy for all community members to contribute by helping us maintain existing content and developing new content. We created this reference to help our userbase get more comfortable working within a wiki environment.

Maintenance Sections

Best Practices

Page Management

Formatting Basics

Wiki Templates

Moderated Content

References

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General

• The search bar is located at the right side of the navigation bar and can be useful for finding pages.
• From the navigation bar at top, click on [Navigation] and click [Recent Changes]. This gives a list of the most recent edits on the Wiki. This is often the most convenient way to find a project of interest (and to see who may be fiddling around).
• Editing and other general preferences can be set by user ... click on the icon in the navigation bar and click [Preferences].
• Please don't use header tags ( <h2></h2> ) to make text bigger or bolder.
  • Instead use wiki markup and/or the Fs template. Header tags are for...headers.
• When editing a page, remember to fill in the summary box below the editor with what changes that were made before saving. This summary will be logged on the Recent Changes page and helps everyone to know what exactly was added/changed with a given edit.
• Discussions of major changes to content should occur on the page's 'Discussion' forum (if linked) or 'Talk' page. It's also appropriate to contact the page's creator/editor and/or a staff member and point them to the discussion when proposing content or stylistic changes.
  • Simple corrections to grammar do not require any special notification or mentions on the forum or Talk page.

It's expected that any information added to the wiki is clearly cited, where applicable, as many users do not appreciate unverifiable speculation, unless it is plainly stated as such. That is to say, feel free to write what might or might not be factual, but qualify what is intended to be factual with verifiable information by posting a link where appropriate. However, we want to facilitate community contributions to the wiki, so we encourage all users to get involved. The Cite extension is available on this wiki and makes adding inline citations and references easy.

• More to come ...

User Namespace

The simplest way to get started on the Wiki is to begin by playing around under the User namespace: ../wiki/User:Username

This is the user's "main page" or "entry-way" into the user's personal sandbox. Each user can do just about anything they want within their User namespace, as long as it's in accordance with the guidelines dictated within the Community Citizenship Guide. Users are asked to...

...avoid editing another user's page without permission (not applicable to wiki administrators), doing so is a breach of etiquette.

...at least edit the page adding some information about themselves for others ... even a link to another website or their forum profile is a good start.

Categories

Categories are used to topically associate wiki pages. They also provide a simple means to navigate and view associated pages. Simply scroll to the bottom of any page and follow the category links to view more pages within that same category. Assigning a page to a category is as simple as adding [[Category:<CatName>]] when editing the page. Categories can be referenced on a page without adding that page to the referenced category by adding a colon to the beginning of the code as such: [[:Category:<CatName>]]. Users are asked to:

• Read about how to use categories.
• Assign pages to the proper existing categories.
• Avoid creating new categories --leave that to the site admin. Just let one of the administrators know.
• Place the category code at the TOP of the page for consistency and to make it easy for other users to find.

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General Management

How to create, delete, edit and manage a wiki page...

A wiki is simply an integrated assemblage of pages containing information that usually links to other wiki pages. Every internal wiki link points to another page. If the link is blue, the page exists, and if it is orange, the page is referenced, but has not been created. Feel free to click on orange links and create the page by adding something relevant and saving.

• Wanted Pages is a special page that houses a list of links that have been created within content, however, the linked pages not not exist.

Create/Edit/Delete

Create a Page

If one has never used a wiki before, creating a new page is not immediately intuitive; however, it's very simple once the method is known. Regardless where on the Wiki a new page is being created, the method is the same. Since User namespaces were just discussed, the example below will show how to create a page in a User namespace:

1. Log into the Wiki, if not already.
2. In the URL type https://stepmodifications.org/wiki/<namespace>:<pagename>/<subpagename>

   Example: https://stepmodifications.org/wiki/User:TheCompiler

   • The <namespace> field is replaced by the namespace in which the content belongs to. Note that it's always followed by a colon ( : ).

     For the User namespace, this would be: User:

   • The <pagename> field is replaced by the name of the page being created.

     For the User namespace, this would be username that matches the login.

   • The <subpagename> field is replaced by the name of the subpage being created. This is optional and is only show as an example.

     For the User namespace, this would be: User:TheCompiler/Sandbox

3. Hit Enter to load the page.
4. To create the page, either click the "create this page" link in the displayed text or click the icon on the navigation bar.
   • To save, there must be content in the editor box.
   • Some writers have found that typing "Hi" or == Introduction == is good enough to get the page started.

PageTitle Template

This template is used to create a standardize title at the top of the page.

Editing a Page

Editing an existing page easy. Simply navigate to the page and click the button on the wiki navigation bar.

Deleting a Page

X

Use of HeaderTabs

Use of HeaderTabs should be limited and the majority of content should use the TOC method. HeaderTabs are still great some applicable content, however, they should be used sparingly.

Using Forms

Placeholder.

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General Formatting Tips

This will hold the do's, don'ts and good habits with formatting but be focused on where to look for the info.
Like the cheat-sheet...

Writing Style

When writing content outside of the userspace, the third-person writing style should be used. Other writing styles are acceptable, depending upon the particular context of the article; however, any factual content created to serve as an informative article (e.g., guides and references) should be written in the third person. This is more clear and professional and not as prone to degenerating into a mess of first-second person reversions. Any content that exist outside userspaces and is also not written in the third person should be corrected accordingly. Examples:

• First person: "I first must click on the 'edit' button ..."
• Second person: "You first must click on the 'edit' button ..."
• Third person: "First, click on the 'edit' button ..."

Magic Words

Magic words are special 'text strings' that are used by the wiki software to return values or functions. A full description of them can be found on the MediaWiki website.

Common Magic Words

__NOTOC__	Hides the table of contents (TOC).
{{FULLPAGENAME}}	Prints the Namespace and full page Title (including all subpage levels). Result: Guide:DDSopt/DDSopt_INI
{{PAGENAME}}	Prints the full page Title (including all subpage levels) without the namespace. Result: DDSopt/DDSopt_INI
{{SUBPAGENAME}}	Prints the subpage Title of the current page. If not a subpage, defaults to {{PAGENAME}} behavior. Result: DDSopt_INI

Specific Formatting Situations

Instruction Sets

Follow these guidelines when writing instructions:

• When instructing a user to 'click' or 'select' any UI element: use the Ui template, as in the following example:
  • Click {{ui|Edit}}, then right click {{ui|some UI element}} ...
  • Click [Edit], then right click [some UI element] ...
• When referring to messages in the UI: Italicize the UI message, and do not highlight it in any other way.
• In-line headings: If you have several bullets or paragraphs in a row which each refer to a certain topic, you may use bold, peach-colored formatting to highlight the topic of each bullet or paragraph, as in the following example:
  • {{fc|important|'''First Topic Name.'''}} This paragraph explains the first topic. Other paragraphs will have their own in-line headers and explanations.
  • First Topic Name. This paragraph explains the first topic. Other paragraphs will have their own in-line headers and explanations.
  • Working Example

Symbols

Basic symbols can be displayed by inserting its hex code into the text. Users can search for symbols and use its hex code to produce the symbol on the page,

like so: →

Font Awesome

The Wiki supports Font Awesome and users can insert any of the free icons from this awesome source directly into the wiki page,

like so: 

Text Size & Coloring

For readability and consistency, use the Fc to modify font color and/or Fs to modify font size. These work well with the wiki themes.

Inline Styling

HTML

Inline HTML is perfectly fine to use. Users should keep in mind that HTML is restricted and parsed by the Wiki. This means the Wiki will automatically remove HTML that is not found on their permitted list. It's always preferable to use wiki markup.

CSS

Inline styling is available, but should be used sparingly (and rarely)! Step has taken great care to enjoy the styling on the Wiki is clean, consistent, and up-to-date with modern standards. This is seen in the responsive design of the wiki, so users can enjoy the Wiki wherever they are and on whatever device they may have. The use of inline styling can easily break Step's intended design, thus, users are discouraged for utilizing it on a regular basis. If any user finds they are consistently using inline styling for a specific reason, we ask that they contact a member of staff (see bottom of the page) to inquire about changes being made globally.

With the above said, if some customization is necessary, the Wiki is mostly compatible with Bootstrap 4. Users should use their list of classes as a first reference for any necessary inline styling deviation before moving on to completely custom edits.

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Templates Explained

Templates can be found from the top "Tools" menu at Special Pages → Templates
Here is a direct link

Some of the more common Templates that are used on the STEP wiki are:

NOTE

The code for this is: {{alert|type=notice|text=text for the notice

WARNING

The code for this is: {{alert|type=warning|text=text for the warning

Some are used for links, either to other pages in the current wiki or to outside pages. The following is a link to a chapter in the current document that also has a 'tabbed' header, such as the Mod Organizer wiki:

{{#switchtablink:Profiles|Profiles}}

YouTube videos can also be linked to with code like this:

{{Video|j4ZQpzf_iAE|Mod Organizer: Introduction (by Gopher)|Gopher Explains Mod Organizer}}

Here the Template name, Video, is read as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= and j4ZQpzf_iAE, the YouTube address for that specific video, is appended to the YouTube code to provide a valid address. Clicking that link will display a popup window of that video file.

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Guides

This wiki has many guides, and they should all have the same general look and feel. Following are some basics ...

Guide Standard Header

Our guides (aside from the main STEP Guide) maintain a consistent look in part by following a specified formula. Please use the following format (placed just after TRANSCLUSIONS & CATEGORIES header format):

<!-- ########### STANDARD GUIDES HEADER FORMAT ############ -->
''Brief guide description here -- by Author(s) here''

[<forum thread URL> '''GUIDE FORUM THREAD''']
----
Add any relevant Notification Templates here
<br />

<!-- ######### END standard guide header format ########## -->

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Wiki Resources

• The Wiki's forum topic.

Mediawiki

Home Page - Entry point to lots of relevant info, including reference and help as well as latest development and news

Help - MediaWiki's Help directory

Cheat Sheet - List of the most commonly used mediawiki markup

Tables - Wikitext syntax for tables

Magic Words - Behavior switches and variables

Parser Functions - Functions meant to provide more advanced logic

Semantic Mediawiki

Semantic Mediawiki - Documentation about Semantic MediaWiki ()see lower portion of middle frame).

Semantic Forms - Documentation about Semantic Forms, which provide a form-based interface for maintaining relevant SMW pages and content.

Semantic Forms Inputs - An extension for Semantic Forms

The Step Modifications Wiki

(top bar) TOOLBOX > SPECIAL PAGES - Links to all kinds of information about The Wiki.

(top bar) WIKI > RECENT CHANGES - Links to all of the most recent edits on The Wiki.

Software used on this wiki - Software and versions with links to documentation.

HTML and CSS Resources

CSS Resource - Not all info on this page is relevant but it contains various keywords that can be used

HTML Resource - Not all info on this page is relevant but it contains various keywords that can be used

Need Help?

Private message one of these guys if you need some sort of help with The Wiki.

Primary Wiki Editors/Maintainers

Always looking for others!

• z929669
• DoubleYou (MO & STEP Guides primarily)
• TechAngel85

Recently active wiki editors

• https://stepmodifications.org/wiki/Special:ActiveUsers