Help:Contents

From WikiRun

Welcome to the WikiRun help system. Remember, you must first obtain an user name and password before you can edit articles. To request a user name, please email ryan AT wikirun.com . Once you get a user name, please consider telling us a little bit about yourself on your user page. For example, if your user name is Fred, your user page is User:Fred

You can find a tutorial about editing pages here and here.

Remember that templates will make your formatting of articles easier. A template can be included in an article by typing the template name surrounded by {{ and }}. Use {{*}} to type a bullet symbol. Use {{-}} to even up the text and any tables or pictures included up to that point. Please place {{infobox runner}} at the top of each runner biography, and {{infobox race}} at the top of each race article. You can use {{cite book}} to help you format references to books.

Key elements to a good article

Think about the scope of your article before you write it. Assume an international audience and that the article may be read in future years.
Put an appropriate infobox template at the top.
Write a concise lead paragraph defining the subject of the article in clearly understandable terms. If a biography, include the subject's nationality and years of birth and death. Avoid defining things in terms of themeselves: Say "The '''Chicago Marathon''' is a 26.2 mile [[road race]]." rather than "The Chicago Marathon is a marathon."
Footnote factual assertions using <ref></ref>.
List relevant websites under ==External links==
Tag the article with one or more relevant categories. Look at another article in that category to serve as a model for your work.

Naming articles

Select a name that will identify the subject without ambiguity. Use the proper, full name of a person or institution. However, consider what a reader wanting to look up that subject would type in the search box. (For example, "Indiana University records" rather than "UI records."
Capitalize the first word of the name and any word(s) that are proper nouns. For example, "University of Texas at Austin" or "United States runner."
For technical reasons, do not use the ampersand symbol (&) in the name of an article.
If a person is best known under her maiden name, use that name rather than her married name.
When naming a category, use the singular rather than the plural, [[Category:Organization]] rather than [[Category:Organizations]].

You can start an article by typing the title in the Search window and clicking on the "Go" button. The next page will show you a result of the search on that name. Please check to see if the article already exists, but under a slightly different title. Sometimes two different athletes have the same name. In that case, choose a unique title for each (by using the middle initial or a parenthetical with athlete's event). The new article is created by clicking on the link "create this page." If the search showed links to a slightly different article title, go back and fix each one (perhaps by using a "pipe") so that they will link to the correct article title.

If two or more athletes have the same name, create a disambiguation page with the common name and then list each of the separate articles with a description of each. You can use as an example: Wiliam Miller or Gordon McKenzie.

Templates

A template is a piece of an article that can be reused many times. The two advantages of using templates are eliminating a lot of repetitive typing and allowing editors to make format changes once in a centralized location instead of repeatedly in each article. To include a template in an article, just type the template name enclosed with {{ and }} Templates can be programmed for complex behavior, and can accept values called parameters. Some values are passed based on their position. For example, {{flagIOC|USA}} has USA as the first positional parameter. Other values are passed by name, in any order, by typing a "|" followed by the parameter's name followed by = and then the value. For example, {{infobox nation |name=United States|image=flagUSA.png}} You can define a new template by starting a new article with a name that begins with "Template:"

Documentation for each template can be found on the talk/discussion page of that template. For example, type "Template talk:Infobox runner" in the search box to go to the documentation for that template.

Wikilinks

Enclose the first mention of a phrase or name that is the title of another article with [[ and ]]. You can also do this to a portion of a word. For example [[marathon]]s will display as marathons. If you want to establish a link on a phrase that is not the exact title of the article, you can use a "pipe:" [[target article|displayed phrase]]. For example,[[2008 Summer Olympics|Beijing Olympics]] will display as Beijing Olympics with the user being directed to the "2008 Summer Olympics" article when the user clicks on it.

You can mark a link even if the article does not yet exist. We look at Special:Wantedpages to give priority to adding articles on topics have been referenced a number of times.

Maps

Maps are a great way to present information, and the Google Maps Extension brings the coolness of interactive, annotated maps to your wiki. With Google Maps Extension, you can:

Spice up articles with maps of anywhere in the world
Marvel at detailed street maps and stunning satellite imagery
Use the interactive editor's map to add markers and colored paths with wiki-fied captions
Look up cities, addresses, and businesses with the built-in search engine

What does it do?

The normal wiki software has been extended to define a <googlemap> tag that translates a special syntax' into a map with captioned markers. As the name implies, the extension is powered by the miraculous Google Maps API. The extension's syntax is easy; here's an example that will create a map with two captioned points:

<googlemap lat="32.82422" lon="48.481141">
32.81134, 48.498341, One of many [[gas stations]] in town
32.82448, 48.504848, The [[town hall]]
</googlemap>

To help you make maps, the extension also adds a link on each Edit page that says "make a map" (click on the last icon on the far right.) This will bring up an editor's map that you can click on to add points, and it will show you corresponding map syntax to paste into your article. You must paste the generated code into the edit box for the map to become a permanent part of the wiki article. To mark a path between points, click on the "Start a path" link below the map in the editor.

If you're interested, try out the demo (click "make a map" on that page).

Watch the Editor's Map in action:

My First Map, 3 minutes (10 MB)
My First Path, 3 minutes 36 seconds (16 MB)

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