Teflpedia:Newcomer’s guide

This page is intended to answer frequently asked questions (FAQs). If your question is not answered below, try the help pages, or ask in the teachers' room.

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.

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 be aware that not everyone is here at teflpedia 24/7, so please make sure you assume good faith (AGF) and allow time for people to respond.

Remember that if you are trying to change a controversial article, your objective is to persuade people using reason and logic. Experience from many years of participating in wikis suggests that people who adopt a condescending or aggressive tone will significantly reduce their chances of persuading others to support their views.

Likewise, under no circumstances must you simply write a new article on top of an existing article or delete the article, as it will be considered vandalism.

What standards of behaviour are expected?

Please read our Community Standards.

What are Article Pages and Discussion (Talk) Pages?

Every article has an "Article" page ( Page ), and a "Talk" page ( Discussion - which, once you're there, actually says "Talk"). The encyclopaedic content of the article goes on the "article" page and any debate or comment on the article goes on the "Talk" page. Please do not put comments/opinions on the "article" page (if they address issues that can usefully improve the article, they will be moved to the talk page. Otherwise they will simply be deleted). See also Help:Namespaces.

What can I do with my user page?

With some obvious restrictions like obscenity, slander, racism or linkspam, you can put whatever you like on your User page, adding or deleting content as you wish.

Your User talk page, however, can be edited by anyone and you may not delete items from this page. The reason for this rule is to prevent the retrospective re-writing of history which has been known to happen at other Wiki projects. If you find your User talk page is getting uncontrollably long, you may archive it periodically by following the easy steps outlined in Help:Archiving your User talk page.

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 make your name appear in blue.

How do I put those cool userboxes on my page?

See teflpedia:Userboxes

How do I sign my posts to talk pages?

To sign normally, enter ~~~~.

How do I indent talk pages?

Talk page comment are threaded—replies indented to the right—with a colons (:, ::, :::). See Help:Indents

How can I see what's going on at the moment?

To see all recent edits to Teflpedia, click on Recent changes in the Navigation box at top left. To see edits to one particular page, go to the page in quesiton and click on "View history" at top.

Should articles follow any particular structure or order?

Please consult our Style guide.

How can I keep an eye on articles that interest me?

Your Watchlist can help you keep track of changes to whatever Teflpedia pages you choose to add to it. You can also add a "Pages of interest" section to your User page.

Is there a "Talk about Anything/Everything" page?

If you wish to raise a subject of general interest to the Wiki, the Teachers' room is where it's at. If you want to talk about something which mainly affects you, then putting something on your own talk page may generate interest.

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.

Point of view

While Teflpedia is open to all ideas it will tend to take the point of view that things need to be demonstrable and referenced from publications and other reliable sources. To give an example, teaching methodologies based on, for instance, students' horoscopes would tend to be addressed skeptically.

How is Teflpedia financed?

Teflpedia is presently financed by the site owner, however any donations to help offset costs would be most welcome.<paypal>3</paypal> Links to payment methods in euros and pounds may be found here.