How to start a page

There are two basic ways to start a Wiki page:

1. As you're reading through already-existing articles, you'll see question marks that are clickable links. You can click on a "?" link that appears after an article title, and you'll arrive at a page that says "Describe the new page here." Just delete that text and replace it with the text of your article. When you're finished, click the "Save" button at the bottom of the page. (Use the "Preview" button if you want to see what the page will look like first.) -- Modifying arbitrary pages by adding/wikifying a new term and then adding a well-written entry linked from that page are a great way to continually add new topics to the site.
2. If you want to create a brand-new topic, probably the first thing to do is to use the "search" form (see the bottom of this page, for example) and see whether someone has not already created some very similar page. If not, you can find some related topic, edit that page, and (in an appropriate place) add the title of the article you want to create between double brackets, [[like this]]. Then press the "save" button at the bottom of the page. On the page you just edited, you should see a clickable "?"; click on that and go to work on your new page! --

Some thoughts:

• If you like, you can enter just a line or two of text for an entry. It's a start. Full-blown articles are not required. Adding any (accurate, helpful) information is welcome! Of course, if you can write more, that's all the better; some people do, as a matter of habit, usually write more than just a few lines when they start a new article.
• How you word your articles will determine, to some extent, how likely it is other people will work on it. Examples:
  • An article that leaves many intriguing-sounding links or leaves ellipses (...), etc., might invite other know-it-alls to fill in the blanks.
  • Straightforward requests for information in an article can lead to good articles. For example, one might supply a rough description of a thing or place and then ask about its history; some people who know the answer will find it difficult to pass up the opportunity to teach.

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This article is a slightly edited version of one by the same name from Wikipedia.com, reusable under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.