Kannada and Tulu Language Workshop/Resources-Wikimedia-Editing
General Guide on Layout of Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Its layout is designed to ensure ease of use for both readers and editors. Below are the key elements:
- Main Article Space: Articles are the core of Wikipedia. Each article consists of a title, body text, and often includes images, tables, and infoboxes.
- Navigation Bar: Located on the left side, it provides links to various sections of Wikipedia such as "Main Page", "Contents", "Random article", etc.
- Edit Button: Most pages contain an "edit" button at the top, which allows you to modify the content of the page.
- Discussion Tab: Positioned next to the "edit" button, this leads to the Talk Page where editors discuss potential improvements to the article.
- Page History: View previous versions of the page and check who made changes over time.
- Watchlist: Lets users track changes made to specific articles they are interested in.
- User Menu: mediawikiwiki:Desktop_Improvements/Features/User_menu#Prototype
Editors on Wikipedia
Visual Editor
The Visual Editor is a user-friendly, WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface for editing. Here's how to use it:
- Toolbar: The toolbar at the top provides tools to format text (bold, italic, links, etc.), insert images, and more.
- Add Sections: Add new sections with the "Add Section" button.
- Linking: To add a hyperlink, select the text you want to link and click the link button in the toolbar.
- Citations: Use the "Cite" button to add references to the article.
- Saving: Always preview your changes before saving them to avoid errors.
Source Editor
The Source Editor allows you to edit raw wiki markup, which is useful for more complex edits:
- Syntax: Wiki markup syntax enables you to format text, create links, add references, and more. For example:
- Bold: '''text''' displayed as text
- Italic: ''text'' displayed as text
- Link:
- External link: [https://example.com Example Link] displayed as Example Link
- Internal link: [[User:~aanzx]] displayed as User:~aanzx
- Edit Toolbar: The toolbar in the source editor provides basic markup tools like lists, adding links, etc.
Edit Toolbar (Visual and Source Editor)
Both editors share a similar toolbar:
- Bold, Italics, Underline: Format text for emphasis.
- Link: Add hyperlinks to other articles or external websites.
- References: Insert citation references into the article.
- Lists: Create ordered or unordered lists.
- Images: Add media files such as images to enhance the article.
User Pages and Talk Pages
User Pages
Every registered user on Wikipedia has a personal user page (e.g., User:YourUsername), where you can:
- Introduce yourself to the Wikipedia community.
- List your interests and contributions.
- Add a personal sandbox to test edits before making them live.
Talk Pages
The Talk Page (e.g., Talk:ArticleName) is where editors discuss the content and quality of articles. To respond:
- Click the "Add topic" button to start a new discussion.
- Use == to create section headers.
- Use
{{ping|username}}or[[User:username]]to notify specific users.
Notifications
There are two types of notifications which are available on top of the wiki page:
- New messages: You will be notified when someone replies to your Talk Page or mentions you in a discussion,
- Editing Alerts: Notifications about articles you are watching.
