Help:New page

From Cactus Wiki

[edit] General info on starting a new page

There are four easy ways to start a new page:

From an existing page, you can click a red link to the title of the new page. For example, to create an article called "This link", you could click This link (unless someone has created it already on this Wikia). You can also create a red link yourself, in a related page or index page or your user page. Links on related pages are convenient for navigation, and they also make people aware of the new page.
You can start a new page by typing the URL directly in your Address bar. (For example, if you are editing on example.wikia.com and you would like to create "This link", go to http://example.wikia.com/wiki/This_link.) An easy way to produce the URL is editing the last part of the URL of another page in the same project (using an underline instead of a space between words). To prevent your new page being an "orphan", you should link to it from other pages.
If you search for a page that is not yet on this wiki, you will see a red link above the search list. Clicking this is another way to get to the edit page for the new article.
The easiest way to create an article is with an inputbox. Typing the new title in the box, and clicking "Create article", will take you to the edit page for that article. To see how to add an inputbox, look at the code in the edit box of this page, or see the Central help page.

Before using one of those last methods, have a search to see whether there is already a page with a name very like the one you propose. Splitting pages later is easier than merging near-duplicates.

[edit] Cactopedia-specific instructions

If you are confused about all the guidelines on how to edit articles, don't worry, start creating articles and someone will correct them eventually. That's what wikis are for. However, if you do have the time to observe guidelines, here are some on creating new articles.

[edit] Kinds of pages

Here at Cactus Wiki we aim to be very consistent about the structure of the wiki, because, simply, this is what will make it different from other on-line cacti resources. Ideally all new pages should fall under one of the following categories.

If you have suggestions about this structure please use the talk page. If there are disputes on the structure we will vote.

Articles on individual Cacti
- These are named with their most common binomial name. They include a Template:Cactusbox which will be a cacti-specific version of the wikipedia taxobox.
  - For example, see Yavia cryptocarpa.
Categories
- We have several kinds of categories. The taxonomy is under Category:Cactaceae and all Subfamilies, Tribes and Genera are represented by their own category.
  - For example, see Category:Notocacteae.
Redirects
- Common names that refer to one particular cactus or group of cacti are redirects to that binomial name or category. Please put them in the Category:Common names for indexing.
  - For example, see Peyote.
- Common names that refer to more than one kind or group of cacti are disambiguation pages. Please put them in the Category:Common names and Category:Disambiguation for indexing.
  - For example, see barrel cactus.
- Names of Subfamilies, Tribes and Genera are currently redirects to their categories. If we want to include information on one of these groups, we can turn redirects into articles.
  - For example, see Notocacteae.

This text is stored on Wikia Help. Suggest changes here.

How do I create a new page?

Method 1: Click the "New page" icon

The sidebar of the wiki has a pencil icon labeled "New page" or "New article" leading to Special:CreatePage which allows you to add a title and text.

Method 2: Click a red link

A red link in a page's content tells you that the Wiki does not yet have an article with that title. This means that the person who created the link expected that a useful article could be created on that subject, and that you are welcome to create one.

Simply clicking the red link will take you to an edit page where you can begin typing your new article.

Method 3: Create a red link in an article

You can also edit any page to add a link to the page title you want to create, in a way that's useful to the wiki.

Example: if you are reading a page about asthma, and you want to add a page about inhalers, you could find a mention of the word "inhaler" in the existing text, and make it a link by surrounding it with double brackets, like this: [[inhaler]]. If there is no existing mention of the word, you could add a sentence such as "Doctors sometimes prescribe [[inhaler]] devices to help deliver medicine to the lungs."

Adding links this way gives you a red link to click on, and also ensures that future readers of the existing page will be able to find your new article.

To keep your new article from being an "orphan page" that cannot be found except by searching, you should also find and edit other related articles and lists, and add a link to your page from them.

Method 4: Use an input box

Create an article on this wiki:

Many Wikia have an article creation box on their main page. You can simply type the title into the form and you will be taken to the edit page for the new article, just as if you had clicked on a red link.

See Help:Inputbox for more information on adding article creation boxes to your main page, your user page, or any other page on your wiki.

There are a few more methods for creating pages, if you're curious.

Troubleshooting

I created a page, and now I can't find it!

Page titles are case sensitive: In the database, "My page" and "My Page" are considered different pages, so if you are searching for or linking to the wrong one, you might not be able to find it.

Check your user contributions: The "My contributions" link (under "MORE" in your personal toolbar, or at Special:Contributions) will allow you to see a list of every edit you have made on the Wikia -- this can help you find something you were working on yesterday, or last week. This can be especially helpful if you are misremembering or misspelling the page title.; Special:RecentChanges and Special:NewPages are other lists which can help you locate recently created articles. Both can always be accessed from any Wikia through the "Special pages" link in the toolbox.

Page may have been deleted: If the content of your page was against the polices of the Wikia, it's possible that an administrator has deleted it. If so, there will be a small notice at the top of the page mentioning "deleted edits". Check this link, or [[Special:Log/delete]], to learn which administrator performed the deletion. Discussing the issue politely on the admin's talk page is the best way to learn what the problem was, and possibly to get your work undeleted if there was a misunderstanding.

Page is not yet in the search index: Although Wikia is quicker about this than Wikipedia, it can still take some time for new pages to be added to the search index and become available through the search box. If you are sure you are spelling the title correctly (remember that page titles are case-sensitive), then you may need to use your contributions list or Recentchanges to find the article instead.

I created the article with the wrong title!

A page can be renamed by moving it, using the "move" tab. See Help:Moving pages for more information.