Help:Editing FAQ

This page is meant to accompany Help:Editing.

This page discussed editing wiki pages. it does not discuss editing the ISFDB database itself.

Some of these questions and answers have been culled from some of the talk pages of the various editing-related Help: pages. If you see a useful answer there or anywhere else, please add it here.

Q: How do I sign the content I edit?
Four consecutive tildes ( ~ ) will insert a link to your user page and the save time and date. Five ( ) insert just the time and date.

Q: Can I link to a specific section header if there are multiple section headers of the same name? If so, how?
A: Yes, you can. Each section header, regardless of size or depth, has a number corresponding to how many times that header's name has already appeared on the page. The number is "1" for the very first instance, "2" for the next, "3" for the next, and so on. You can link to each header just like a normal header, but using that number after the header's name (i.e. if there are three headers named "Foo," then the first can be linked to like so:, the second. , and the third, ). Using the number "1" for the first header is generally superfluous, as the software will automatically link to the first header without using the number (i.e. Foo ). If you don't want the number to show, then you have to use a piped link (e.g. Foo ).

If you don't know how many times a given header has already appeared on a page (and thus the number to use), there are two ways to find out.
 * 1) Use the table of contents.
 * If a table of contents appears on the page, click on the header whom you wish to link to. The page will jump to that header. Now, look at the URL. At the end, it will show the ID of the header in question. An example of a URL who has just been linked to a header, whose name has already appeared twice (and so is the third instance), and whose name is "Foo:"
 *  http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Example_article#Foo_3 
 * The header link at the end of the URL shows that to link to this header, you would use.
 * 1) Look at the source.
 * While looking at the source, first find the section you're looking for, and then look at its ID tags. It will show the number in that tag. An example for a header, whose name has already appeared once (and so is the second instance), and whose name is "Foo:"
 *    
 *  Foo 
 * The ID and name tags (the ones that say "a name=" and "id=") show that this header can be linked to with.

Q: What are the conventions on this wiki?
See Help:Wiki Conventions

Q: How do I get a page deleted?
For example, if I'm done fooling around with some sandbox pages created as sub-pages of my Wikimedia user page, how do I get them deleted? The Help mentions "contacting an administrator", but if there is a list of admins somewhere, I was unable to find it.

A: Post on the Moderator noticeboard.

A: The list of admins is here: Special:Listadmins

Q: How do I archive my User Page?
A: Some possibilities are:
 * 1) move talk page to page like User:a/b (history is now in this archive)
 * 2) move page contents to such a page (history is still in the regular talk page)
 * 3) on some wikis one can delete content, because it is still in the history. However, the ISFDB Wiki deletes older versions of pages to save space.
 * 4) Use a link to an earlier version of the page in its history. (This also fails if the earlier version is deleted)

See Help:Archiving for a more detailed description of method 2, which is the reccomended method on the ISFDB wiki.

Q: Can I generate a frame-like structure on a Wiki page?
(I have a chart generated dynamically in Bugzilla and I would like to display it within my Wiki page.)

A: ???

"Technically, you can do this with html div's and inline css styles, i.e. use a div with height and width set and overflow set to scroll" --68.170.246.50 01:11, 9 March 2006 (UTC)


 * A good suggestion, but that won't work for the originally requested use case. You can't make your DIV pull external content from Bugzilla, like frames do. You can only lay out the wiki page content in a frame-like design. Alexey Feldgendler 09:39, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

Q: Can I display only so many lines of text?
I want to set up a template that pipes in 'n' lines of text to a page, and then provides a link to the rest of the article. Can I do this?


 * Not in the current version of MediaWiki, as far as I know. -- Alexey Feldgendler 09:43, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

Q: What happens if two people edit the same page at the same time?
A: See Help:Edit conflict for how the wiki software detects and reports an edit conflict, and what to do about it.

Q: Can I make transparent borders and rules on a table?
A: Yes.
 * That's a tough one because there is no "cellborder" directive for the table style. You can play with the BORDER and RULE attributes of table, but it seems that you cannot rely upon your browser to interpret that stuff the way you want it.


 * I think the easiest way to write this is using wiki table notation with a different background for the table and for each row.

Q: How do I make a wiki link?
A: A basic wiki link is simply.
 * For example, to link to DESiegel60's user page, you type, which gives the following link: User:DESiegel60. To link to the Baen publisher page, you type   which gives the following link: Publisher:Baen. The title of a page is always in large type at the very top of the wiki-page. Note that wiki links go only to wiki pages, not to ISFDB data records, such as author, title, or publication records.

A: A piped link is simply a way of displaying a different text for a link. It looks like. For example, the link, gives the following link Dave's user page and   gives Baen. This can be used to shorten the name of the page in the displayed link, or to use any descriptive name that may seem useful.
 * Using the pipe character without any description defaults the link text to the page title without any namespace, so  gives the link Baen and   gives A.

Q: How can I link to an ISFDB Author record?
A: By using the A template. (This is a linking template.)


 * For example, to link to the ISFDB author page for Robert A. Heinlein, you type:  whice gives the link: . Notice that any spaces in the author name must be replaced with underscors (_ characterss). Notice also that the name must be exact.
 * To make the same link, but display diferent text, use the "name=" parameter. For example, if you type  you get the link . This goes to the same place, but looks different on the wiki page.

Q: How can I link to an ISFDB Title record?
A: By using the T template. (This is a linking template.)


 * For example, to link to the ISFDB Title page for Space Cadet, you type:  whice gives the link: 30701.
 * To make the same link, but display diferent text, use the "name=" parameter. For example, if you type  you get the link 30701. This goes to the same place, but looks different on the wiki page.

Q: How can I link to an ISFDB Publication record?
A: By using the P template. (This is a linking template.)


 * For example, to link to the ISFDB Title page for the 1971 NEL edition of Space Cadet, you type:  whice gives the link:.
 * To make the same link, but display different text, use the "name=" parameter. For example, if you type  you get the link . This goes to the same place, but looks different on the wiki page. You can, instead of using 'name, put the name in a second unnamed parameter. For example   gives.

Q: How can I link to an ISFDB Series record?
A: By using the Series template. (This is a linking template.)


 * For example, to link to the ISFDB Series page for the series Miles Vorkosigan, you type:  which gives the link:.
 * To make the same link, but display different text, use the "name=" parameter. For example, if you type  you get the link . This goes to the same place, but looks different on the wiki page. You can, instead of using 'name, put the name in a second unnamed parameter. For example   gives.

Q: How can I link to an ISFDB Publication Series record?
A: By using the PubSeries or PS template. (This is a linking template.)


 * For example, to link to the ISFDB Series page for the series Millennium / Gollancz SF Masterworks, you type:  which gives the link:.
 * To make the same link, but display different text, use the "name=" parameter. For example, if you type  you get the link . This goes to the same place, but looks different on the wiki page. You can, instead of using 'name, put the name in a second unnamed parameter. For example   gives.

Q. How do I make a page redirect to another page?
A: use the #REDIRECT directive. This must be at the start of the first line of the page, and should be typed as:


 * 1) REDIRECT link target

"link target" should be the page being linked to, including a namespace prefix if needed.

Any lines after the first will be dropped when the redirect is saved. A category link can be added after the link, on the same line. This will but the redirect page in the category.

It is possible to redirect to a specific section, by putting a section name in the link, but since section links work by name, and section names can change, this is not always stable. Such a redirect looks like:


 * 1) REDIRECT page name

on preview, a redirect may be displayed as if it were a one-item numbered list. This is normal, the redirect will work properly when saved.