Help:Editing

Belegarth Wiki is a Wiki, which means that anyone can easily edit any unprotected article and have those changes posted immediately to that page.

Editing a Wiki page is quite easy. Simply click on the "edit" tab at the top (or the edit link on the right or bottom) of a Wiki page. This will bring you to a page with a text box containing the editable text of that page. If you just want to experiment, please use the "Show preview" button instead of actually saving the page. You should write a short edit summary in the small field below the edit-box, and when you have finished, press preview to see how your changes will look. You can also see what changes you have made in comparison to the previous version by pressing the Show changes button. If you're happy with what you see, then press "Save" and your changes will be immediately applied to the article.

You can also click on the "Discussion" tab to see the corresponding talk page, which contains comments about the page from other Wikipedia users. Click on the "+" tab to add a new section, or edit the page in the same way as an article page.

Minor edits

When editing a page, a logged-in user can mark that edit as being "minor." Minor edits generally mean spelling corrections, formatting, and minor rearrangement of text. It is possible to hide minor edits when viewing Recent Changes. Marking a significant change as a minor edit is considered bad behavior, and even more so if it involves the deletion of some text. If one has accidentally marked an edit as minor, the person should edit the source once more, mark it major (or, rather, ensure that the check-box for "This is a minor edit" is not checked), and, in the summary, state that the previous change was a major one.

Major edits

All editors are encouraged to be bold, but there are several things that a user can do to ensure that major edits are performed smoothly. Before engaging in a major edit, consider discussing proposed changes on the article discussion/talk page. During the edit, if doing so over an extended period of time, the {{inuse}} tag can reduce the likelihood of an edit conflict. Once the edit has been completed, the inclusion of an edit summary will assist in documenting the changes. These steps will all help to ensure that major edits are well received by the Wikipedia community.