Teflpedia:Newcomer's guide
From Teflpedia
These are responses to questions frequently asked by very new users. They may be useful to you if you are either:
- Very new to Wikis in general
or
- New to Teflpedia
If you can't find what you are looking for here you should also try the help pages, or just ask somebody or try the teachers' room.
[edit] Who writes the articles?
They are written by the community. No single author "owns" any Teflpedia article although some may have (or have had) primary authors. A primary author has no more say in an article once it is in the community than any other member of the community. As member of this community you have as much right to edit an article as anybody else.
[edit] I disagree with one of the articles. What should I do?
If you have objections then you should first raise them on the article discussion (talk) page. It is better to point out specific errors in the article than it is to post something like, "This is all wrong!!!!" Please remember that if you are trying to change a controversial article, then your objective is to persuade people using reason and logic. If you adopt a condescending or aggressive tone then you are significantly reducing your chances of persuading others.
Under no circumstances simply write a new article on top of an existing article or delete the article. This will probably be reversed as vandalism and you will have reduced your opportunities to make a reasoned case.
[edit] What standards of behaviour are expected?
Please read our Community Standards.
[edit] What are Article Pages and Discussion (Talk) Pages?
Every article has an "Article Page" and a "Talk Page". The content of the article goes on the Article page and debate and comment on the article should go on the Talk Page. Please do not put commentaries on the Article Page. They will simply be deleted and (possibly) moved to the talk page.
[edit] What can I do with my user page?
You can put whatever you like on your user page. (With some obvious restrictions like obscenity, slander, racism or linkspam.) Only you can edit your user page. Full details here: Teflpedia:User page
Your user talk:page, however, can be edited by anyone and you may not delete items from this page. (Although you may archive them periodically.) The reason for this rule is to prevent the retrospective re-writing of history which has been known to happen at other Wiki projects.
[edit] Why does my name always come up in red?
Your name will continue to come up in red until you put something on your user page. Writing anything on that page will stop your name being shown in red.
[edit] How do I put those cool userboxes on my page?
Full instructions can be found here: teflpedia:Userboxes
[edit] How do I sign my posts to talk pages?
To sign normally, enter ~~~~.
[edit] How do I indent talk pages?
You will notice that, on talk pages, each comment is indented to the right from the previous comment. This is not an automatic function but users make it happen by inserting colons before their comments. The first person replying inserts one colon, the second person two colons, and so on. It makes things a lot easier to read, especially when several users are contributing with their views.
[edit] How can I see what's going on at the moment?
Clicking on Special:Recentchanges in the Navigation box in the top left will take you there.
[edit] Should articles follow any particular structure or order?
Please consult our Style guide.
[edit] How can I keep an eye on articles that interest me?
Select them by clicking the "watch" tab at the top of the page. Changes to these pages will show up in bold in " Recent Changes". Alternatively, you can see what changes have been made to only those articles by clicking on "My Watchlist". You can also edit your Preferences to automatically add any article/talk page you edit to your Watchlist.
[edit] Is there a "Talk about Anything/Everything" page?
If you wish to raise a subject of general interest to the Wiki then Teflpedia:Teachers' room is the place to go. If you want to talk about something which mainly affects you, then putting something on your own talk page may generate interest.
[edit] What can I do with the stuff I find on Teflpedia?
You are free to use any Teflpedia material in your classes. You are free to link to any page in Teflpedia. For other copyright restrictions see our article Teflpedia Copyright.
