Help talk:Contributor Help

Changes to this page
I'd like to see this page turn into more of a central starting point for those who would like to Edit and Contribute to the wiki. Right now it's a collection of links that could use some "re-categorization" and some additional guidance for helping new contributors know where to start. I think some of the following could help with that:


 * Remove Search helps - this is not as important for contributors, these links should go on the Tour page
 * Break down into a few main categories on the page:
 * Getting Started - this would include the main links that new contributors need
 * Community projects - this would talk about getting started in a project and link to the Projects Seeking Contributors page plus any other page on the Wiki where we discuss things that need to "get done" and need volunteers
 * Advanced topics - this would have the more advanced editing topics such as Wikitext, Templates, etc.
 * Additional guidance - this would refer to the Forums and other items as well - maybe the Teaching Aids, etc.

Thoughts? Other ideas? (All of the links currently on the page would get a home in this new structure except for those links that teach how to search. We could still link to the "Tour" page but move all the how to search links over there.)

janellv 23:35, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

Great ideas, Janell! RitcheyMT 14:44, 8 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Sounds like a good idea. Would be good to separate advanced information from basic information.--Candy Steinhorst 22:27, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Recent changes
Just wanted to say that I like the recent changes that Evancol has made to this page. I think the additional information will be very helpful for those who edit and author new content in the wiki. One suggestion for additional content on this page is related to the summary box. All authors/editors should be encouraged to add a comment to the summary box to briefly explain the type of edits they made to the page. The reason for the summary is to communicate clearly. When I receive an email that a page has changed, the "Editor's comments" line is the first line I look at in the email. If the author has typed something in the summary box, this text is included in the email on the "editor's comments" line. It's so helpful to know ahead of time what changes were made to the page and why. I believe there is a help article somewhere that explains the usage of the summary box. Could this item be added to this page?

Another idea for additional changes (if needed) is an explanation of the discussion page. I don't remember if this subject is on this page or not. But all authors and editors should become very familiar with the usage of the discussion page and the reasons why the discussion page is so important. If this help page does not have a section related to the discussion page, it needs one. I've heard from many who want to edit or add new content but are reluctant to do so. When I explain how they can add their ideas to the discussion page instead of editing the page itself, they are more comfortable with participating in the wiki.

Thanks again for all the recent changes! Your help and support in all aspects of developing a community of contributors in the wiki are very appreciated. --Fran 04:51, 23 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Good ideas. Maybe we can have under "Join the Community" a section about "Communicating with others" and add some things like the above. janellv 21:21, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

Adding Video Links
We are creating several video demos on how to do tasks. It might be nice to link to them not only on this page, but also within each page that talks about that task.

More changes
As we've worked on this page and compared things to what Wikipedia is doing, we have talked about how much we like Wikipedia's Help page. In that vein we are working on a new version of this page to use the design principles found there - simplicity, the major sections broken out, and being able to see it all on one screen. Here is the preliminary idea - let us know what you think! -- janellv (talk&thinsp;|&thinsp;contribs) 16:47, 28 July 2011 (UTC)