Wiki practice: Difference between revisions
From Salish Sea Wiki
Line 21: | Line 21: | ||
|style="width:50%;vertical-align:top;padding-left:20px;"| | |style="width:50%;vertical-align:top;padding-left:20px;"| | ||
===Wiki | ===Wiki writing practices=== | ||
The purpose of writing text into a shared wiki is different than writing for personal expression. The following guidelines may help your ideas survive editing, and give future editors good material to work with. In general wiki writing works best if you use the journalistic practice of writing short paragraphs with complete ideas that are heavy with citations and links. If you write a whole paragraph without a citation, perhaps you need to publish some of your own materials. | The purpose of writing text into a shared wiki is different than writing for personal expression. The following guidelines may help your ideas survive editing, and give future editors good material to work with. In general wiki writing works best if you use the journalistic practice of writing short paragraphs with complete ideas that are heavy with citations and links. If you write a whole paragraph without a citation, perhaps you need to publish some of your own materials. | ||
*'''Make each modular thought complete and simple'''--you are creating packets of information. Avoid mixing reports of evidence with speculation, or jumping between multiple topics in the same sentence, unless necessary to convey your idea. A majority of information packets should include a link, either within the wiki, to a [[document]]. | *'''Make each modular thought complete and simple'''--you are creating packets of information. Avoid mixing reports of evidence with speculation, or jumping between multiple topics in the same sentence, unless necessary to convey your idea. A majority of information packets should include a link, either to within the wiki, or to a [[document]]. | ||
*'''Use section headings to organize ideas''', separating distinct topics into sections using "=" signs. | *'''Use section headings to organize ideas''', separating distinct topics into sections using "=" signs. | ||
*'''Consider starting an article with a strong clear statement in bold and a 'notes' section''', and use bullet statements as the starting point for a future article. Bullets force the kind of compartmentalization that makes good wiki writing. | *'''Consider starting an article with a strong clear statement in bold and a 'notes' section''', and use bullet statements as the starting point for a future article. Bullets force the kind of compartmentalization that makes good wiki writing. | ||
*'''Focus on assembling and interpreting sources of evidence'''--the primary purpose of the wiki is | *'''Focus on assembling and interpreting sources of evidence'''--the primary purpose of the wiki is to share sources of evidence, per our [[social contract]]. If you have a complex and evolved idea, write a paper and post it. Cross-cutting speculation has value, but fits well in a notes section at the end of an article. | ||
*'''Make a note on the discussion page''' about what you saw, and why you did what you did, particularly when making strong edits to previous work. | *'''Make a note on the discussion page''' about what you saw, and why you did what you did, particularly when making strong edits to previous work. | ||
|} | |} |
Revision as of 03:22, 13 October 2018
Introduction Pages
To create a useful wiki pages requires some understanding of wiki-markup codes and the conventions used in this wiki. More extensive information can be found on the MediaWiki help pages.
Editing an existing page
Creating a new page
|
Wiki writing practicesThe purpose of writing text into a shared wiki is different than writing for personal expression. The following guidelines may help your ideas survive editing, and give future editors good material to work with. In general wiki writing works best if you use the journalistic practice of writing short paragraphs with complete ideas that are heavy with citations and links. If you write a whole paragraph without a citation, perhaps you need to publish some of your own materials.
|