Translation(s): none

(!) [:DebianWiki/ConventionsDiscussion:Discussion]


This page provides instructions for people willing to edit the content of wiki.debian.org.

There's a [:DebianWiki/EditorQuickStart:?QuickStart] for new editors.

For generic help on formating under moinmoin wiki, read moinmoin's ["HelpContents"] pages (in the sidebar). ["?SyntaxReference"] is handy. You can experiment in ["WikiSandBox"])

If you disagree with any statement below, comment it out, then start a new discussion thread in the [:DebianWiki/ConventionsDiscussion:discussion] page

?Anchor(account)

Your Account

Your WikiHomePage

You can use the HomepageTemplate when you create your homepage. Here are ideas for your home page, grabbed from various existing home pages.

make sure you add CategoryHomepage at the bottom of your homepage.

Subscribe to pages

?Anchor(writing-style)

Writing Style / WikiEtiquette

There are at least five major styles of Wiki page

Elements of good style for each type are explained further on their individual pages.

Try to maintain balance when writing. This includes VisualBalance, but also an attempt to AvoidBias. If you find that your comments are controversial, sign them, so that others will feel more free to disagree publicly.

See also: this GoodStyle page.

?Anchor(formating)

Formating

?Anchor(article-header)

?Anchor(footer)

Format an FAQ sections

A typical FAQ section could be formated like :

Q. How do I do XXXX
A1) You can do XXXX by doing X.
A2) You can do XXXX by doing Y

sample: (notice the space at the beginning of the lines)

 Q. How do I do XXXX :: A1) You can do XXXX by doing X.
 :: A2) You can do XXXX by doing Y.

Table of Contents

If a page gets long, you might want to add a Table of contents. See a sample at the top of this page !

sample : (note how the table is indented with one space)

 [[TableOfContents(2)]]

?Anchor(disambiguation)

Disambiguation page header

Sometimes, a pages name can be ambiguous. If this can't be avoided, you could insert this at the top of the page :

disambiguation : This page is about Debian Conferences.?BR For Debian configuration management system, see ["debconf"].

?Anchor(tags)

Tagging 'Work needed'

Using categories:

{i} CategoryRedundant: [:ARedundantPage:A redundant page], [:AnotherRedundantPage:Another Redundant Page]

Using tags: ?Include(WikiTag)

What you can do directly:

?Anchor(official)

Debian Official stuff

Often, the content of a Debian wiki page is also covered by some "official" Debian Documentation (or other "reference" location). The wiki page can still be useful for collaboration. It's a good idea to add a link to the reference location at the top of the page.

Sample link presentation to some official page, related to current subject.

inline:Portal/IDB/official-doc.png

http://www.debian.org/somewhere - Sample topic

?Anchor(pages)

Pages

?Anchor(pages-name)

URL / page naming convention

?Anchor(create)

Create a Page

Before you create a page, ask your self some questions :

if you decide to proceed :

See also: moinmoin's ["HelpOnPageCreation"].

?Anchor(rename)

Rename a page

Sometimes, it's still a good idea when the page name don't accurately describe the page content.

Before you rename a page:

If you decide to actually rename the page :

note: If you feel like creating a "redirect" page, it might means that the page shouldn't be renamed !

?Anchor(delete)

Delete a page

Read the [#rename Rename a page] hints, since they apply here too.

?Anchor(merge-and-split)

Merging and Splitting pages

It's a good idea, Your are encouraged to :

?Anchor(redirect-page)

Redirect pages

On some occasion, you might want to create a "redirect" page (which automatically redirect the browser to the proper page).

sample :

#redirect DestinationPage
goto to ["DestinationPage"]

If the page was moved you can use :

#refresh 5 DestinationPage
This page moved. update your bookmark : ["DestinationPage"]

See also: moinmoin's ["HelpOnProcessingInstructions"].

?Anchor(portal)

Portal

Portals are hub pages containing links to articles. They propose a structural point of view. It's a complement with the relational structure offer by CategoryCategory and the [:FindPage:integrated search engine].

The main portal is the FrontPage. the next release of this page is ["FrontPage/Testing"]

?Anchor(portal-header)

Portals banners include:

?Anchor(portal-howto)

Define article as portal

If you want your article page becomes a portal page, follow instructions below:

?Anchor(portal-idb)

Image Data Base

You can centralize re-used icons and logos of portals to ["Portal/IDB"]. It's useful for translated portal and to have homogeneous artwork.

?Anchor(links)

Links

Don't overuse linking. The reader wouldn't know which links are useful if there are too many. You can move some of the links in the [#footer "See also"] section at the bottom of your page (but again, not too many).

Assuming that a page is properly named (as it should be), "link title" = "page name".

See also: moinmoin's ["HelpOnLinking"]

?Anchor(internal-links)

Internal Links (within this wiki)

  1. ["FooPage"] is usually the preferred syntax.

  2. [:SomeParentPagewith/FooPage:FooPage] is frequently used to shorten sub pages.

  3. [:EditorGuide:editor guide] can be used within a sentence to make it more readable.

In all case, make sure that the link label is meaningful to visitors, so he/she reaches what he/she expects (preferably, link label should be the same as the page title).

To link within a page, you should define the target anchor using [[Anchor(bar)]] (see ["HelpOnMacros"]), then use [#bar Bar Chapter] or [:Foo#bar:Bar Chapter].

?Anchor(links-to-www)

The preferred way to link to external resources is :

(avoid the notation  [http://www.foo.com link label]  because the target is obscure for visitors. However, it's ok to use it when the context make it clear, like :"John Doe provides a script named [http://www.johndoe.org/test.sh test.sh].")

Use ["InterWiki"] format to link to packages.debian.org, bugs.debian.org, RFC and ?WikiPedia.

?Anchor(links-from-www)

If an (important) page is linked from outside Debian, it's a good idea to tag it with CategoryPermalink. So nobody removes it inadvertently.

?Anchor(images)

Image and Media

See also: moinmoin's ["HelpOnLinking"].

Credits and Copyright consideration
It's a good idea to add Credits and Copyright information at the bottom of the page where you attach an image, typically :

## attachements :
##  openlogo-100.jpg  Copyright:1999 "Software in the Public Interest" from http://www.debian.org/logos/openlogo-100.jpg
Where should i attach an image ?
Sometime, it's a good idea to attach the image to the parent page (in case the image is reused in other sub pages).
For Translated pages, attach the image to the English version (internationalized/localized images should be attached to the internationalized/localized pages).

?Anchor(categories)

Categories

moinmoin wiki's help : [:HelpOnCategories:using categories].

The list of categories used on this wiki ["CategoryCategory"].

?Anchor(promote)

Promote the use of wiki.debian.org

The best and easier way to promote this wiki is to :

  1. Use it.
  2. Put useful content in it (keep the [:../Content#criteria:Content Criteria] in mind).

?Anchor(pages-changes)

Page Fragments

Not only code can be be reused, page content too ! If you notice that a given paragraph has to be repeated on many pages, you can reuse (include) a page fragment each time. (do not abuse this ! do not duplicate content everywhere !)

a sample is available at ["InstallingDebianOn"] and ["InstallingDebianOn/PageFragments/Philosophy"]. Also note how the page is included inside a table (but don't use this hack to bypass moinmoin formating limitation : see [#complex-formating Complex Formating]).

?Anchor(track-changes)

Keeping track of changes

ToDo: write this paragraph

?Anchor(technical)

Technical Information

This Wiki is running [http://moinmo.in/ moinmoin] software, version 1.5 (wiki [:SystemInfo:configuration information]). It currently runs on [http://db.debian.org/machines.cgi?host=ries ries].

?Anchor(complex-formating)

Advanced Formating / Complex Formating

AVOID using advanced formating using table, include, etc.

?Anchor(translation)

Translations

?Anchor(translation-page-name)

The principles:

?Anchor(translation-synchronize)

Synchronise contents

Some recommendations :

?Anchor(link-to-translations) remember: Links to the same page, in other language, are included at the top of the pages. see [#banner header] and DefaultTemplate as example.

?Anchor(translators)

Wiki translators

People involved in translating Debian Wiki pages can (should) add CategoryWikiTranslator at the end of their homepage.

?Anchor(helping)

Helping wiki.debian.org

Everyone can help improving wiki.debian.org :

Debian also need non-IT skills (legal ; marketing ; organising events ; press relation and much more ; fund raising)

?Anchor(faq)

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I help ?

Can I list all the pages on this wiki ?

["TitleIndex"]

I would like a more structured Debian wiki, without orphan articles

Structure is overrated. See [http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?LimitsOfHierarchies]

Is there a way to show just the orphan articles ?

["OrphanedPages"] (this is broken : links in the form [:PageName:Link Label] aren't counted).?BR BTW, there's nothing wrong with orphan page : visitors can/should use search !

?Anchor(wpas)

Wiki Policy Approbation System

For important subject and, if discussion can't stabilized, you can propose a [:?DebianWiki/WikiVote:wikivote] as resolution.