User Guidance Training - Creating a Sandbox

Uses of Sandbox pages



 * A user's sandbox page can be used for notes, practice wikitext, develop new material, etc.
 * Nothing you create affects any page in the Wiki.
 * Users may create as many sandbox pages as they need.
 * You can download pages from the Wiki into your sandbox pages, make changes or experiment without affecting the original page.

Getting help

 * If you are having trouble with some of the coding, you can have others look at your sandbox page to see if they can spot the problem and help you. [[file:helping.jpg|right|200px]]

The real value of sandbox pages

 * Suppose you have been asked to look at a page and it is all messed-up and you can't immediately see what the problem is?
 * You can copy and paste the entire code of the page into a sandbox page and work with it without changing anything on the original page itself.
 * Another great use is to copy and paste material from other sources to make edits which you can then insert in pages in the Wiki.
 * Ideal place to practice coding, try out new ideas and experiment with different ways to code material.

Creating a sandbox "HOME" page

 * Make sure you are logged in to FamilySearch Wiki.
 * You should have only one sandbox HOME page.
 * The name of that page will be  User:yourusername/Sandbox .
 * Beware: the "S" in sandbox must be capitalized.
 * You can access this page in three ways:
 * (1) click on Sandbox at the top right side of the page under Sign in/Sign out.
 * (2) click on Personal Sandbox under the heading Edit the Wiki on the left sidebar.
 * (3) type User:yourusername/Sandbox in the search box on the top right side of the page, then press enter.


 * If the page does not exist, you will Create the sandbox HOME page, copy the following code into the coding area, replace "yourusername" with "your login ID", then Save the page:.
 * This coding will provide you with a list all your sandboxes, like a table of contents. Each sandbox listed is a link. You need only click on that link to get to the desired sandbox.

Creating sandbox "WORKAREA" pages

 * Make sure you are logged in to FamilySearch Wiki.
 * You can have as many WORKAREA pages as you need.
 * The name of these pages will be in the following format: User:yourusername/Sandbox/workarea name.

Select a workarea name
Lets say your user name is "Johnsmith" and you want to create a workarea page named "wiki missionary homework". These are the steps you would use:
 * A sandbox workarea name is user-defined, meaning you decide what you want to name the workarea.
 * FamilySearch Wiki does not allow multiple pages with the same name; however, names are "case sensitive" so you could find pages that "appear" to be duplicates, but are not.
 * Go to your sandbox HOME page.
 * Copy the page title into the search box. In this case, it should read: User:Johnsmith/Sandbox
 * After the word "Sandbox" type a forward slash (/), then type wiki missionary homework. This is what you should now see in the search box:  User:Johnsmith/Sandbox/wiki missionary homework.

Create the sandbox page

 * After you have typed in the workarea name you want for your sandbox, hit the enter key.
 * If a page already exists by that name, that existing page will be brought to your screen.
 * If a page does not yet exist by that name, a page will appear with the name of the sandbox page and the following words: "There is currently no text in this page. You can search for this page title in other pages, search the related logs, or create this page." (See below for a sample page screen shot.)
 * Click on "create this page" and a blank edit box will appear with the name of the sandbox page displayed at the top.

Save the sandbox page

 * Scroll to the bottom of the blank edit box until you find the Summary box.
 * Enter the phrase: "Create new sandbox", then press the Save page button.
 * Once saved, the page becomes permanent and can only be deleted by someone with the authority to delete pages.

Edit the sandbox page

 * Edit the newly created sandbox page by pressing the Edit source tab at the top of the page.
 * An edit box will again appear in which you can add or modify words, sentences, and images.
 * Add a category to the bottom of the page by entering:.
 * To preview your changes, click on the Show preview button to the right of the Save page button.
 * To cancel out of the page without changing anything, click on the word Cancel, then Leave.

What else should I know?

 * You can create as many sandbox pages as you want. However, if you get too many, you will probably forget what they were created for.
 * This will be the place to save your homework to refresh your memory when needed from time to time.


 * Just to reiterate, you can experiment in these sandbox pages without fear of messing up the Wiki in general. You can copy the coding from an existing page into your sandbox and edit it to your hearts content, then save it.  Your edits will NOT show up on the actual 'copy-from' page.  Sandbox pages are a common way to learn to edit and be creative without fear.


 * Get into the habit of adding a simple description of what you changed into the Summary box because it is a desirable practice when working on Wiki pages.


 * All sandboxes should contain the Category "Sandbox".


 * Beware of case-sensitive naming.