Difference between revisions of "How do I create an article?"

Revision as of 12:38, 8 September 2006

First: Research

You should always make sure before you create a new article that the information is not already available in an existing article or described in a similar way. It may make more sense in this case to extend the existing article.

To do this, choose search options to look for keywords in the new article being created.

If you still think it makes sense to create a new article on your topic despite the content being similar, create a link from the existing article to your new article, for example: "For further information, see new article's name".

How to create a new article

There are two typical methods for doing this:

1. You first edit an existing article or an appropriate overview page and then create an internal link from here to the article that you would like to create. Once you have saved the page, the link to the as yet unavailable article appears in red. If you now click this link, the page for editing the new article will be opened directly.
2. In the search field for articles, enter the title of an article you would like to create on the left hand side. If an article with this name does not yet exist, one of the options you will be offered on the hits page for the search is to create a new article. By clicking the relevant link, the page for editing the new article will be opened directly.

The first method is recommended because it ensures that a link is already created to the new article.

Article Titles

The following characters must not be used in titles:

" # $ * + < > = @ [ ] \ ^ ` { } | ~

The first character of the title must also not be an oblique "/".

Wikis is case sensitive, which means that it distinguishes between uppercase and lowercase letters. Two titles, such as optiPoint and OptiPoint, which only differ in terms of how the first letter is written, lead to different articles in this Wiki!

The article name should always be in the language in which the content of the article is also written. Where proper names or abbreviations are used as article names, for example optiPoint or SIP, use the suffix (de) to differentiate, therefore for example SIP (de) for the German article on SIP.

Structuring Content

Please refer to the following pages in this regard:

• How do I format my contents?
• How do I link to other contents or URLs?
• How do I add images and multimedia?

Linking Articles

Wiki is characterized not just by its contents but also by its link structure. When creating a new article, it should on one hand have links on a number of other pages and on the other hand it should contain cross-references if it lends itself to this. See also: How do I link to other contents or URLs?

Creating links to own articles on other pages

A new article should in any case be linked on appropriate overview pages. Such overview pages can be found below the entry-level navigation points Phones, Platforms, Your Assistance, FAQ, How To, White Papers and Glossary. Don't be afraid to edit these pages and insert the link to your new article in the appropriate place.

There are frequently other articles that refer to the topic dealt with in your own article. Take the trouble to edit the relevant article and insert a link to your new article at the appropriate position in the text. It may also be the case that your new article contains related or comparable information from the perspective of an existing article. In such a case, you can add a section for further information at the end of the other article, assuming the article does not already contain such a section. You can then position the link to your article here.

Creating Links to other Pages in your own Article

When editing your article text, remember that the article is not an isolated publication, rather must be looked at in the context of the Wiki. For example, you can link specialist terms or abbreviations that appear in the Glossary. Should it happen that a specialist term or abbreviation is missing in the glossary, then simply create an appropriate article based on the template of the other glossary entries.

You can also create links to other pages, which contain additional or comparable information from the perspective of your article. A How-to article for example can contain links to questions in the FAQ, which relate to your content. Articles that portray experience with phones should link to the product page of the respective device.

Users who are not altogether familiar with the information offering of this Wiki cannot use these links as confidently yet in their own articles. One of the tasks of our experienced editors is therefore to rework articles that contain weak links.

Tracking Changes and Discussions relating to the Article

If you have contributed an article, then you will no doubt also have an interest in checking whether the article is being edited by other users. It is therefore recommended to copy your own articles to your watchlist. The watchlist is available when you are logged in.

To add an article to the watchlist, open the article (not for editing, rather in the normal presentation view) and then click watch in the topline navigation.

To see which articles you currently have in your watchlist, click my watchlist at the top margin of the page. You can also edit the watchlist here and remove entries from it that you no longer need.

As the author of an article you should also track discussions on your articles. You can also comment on the discussion articles of other users. In order to access the discussion page for an article, call up the article in the normal presentation view and then click discussion in the topline navigation.