Help:Editing a Page

__NORICHEDITOR__

Tutorials and demonstrations
All registered users of FamilySearch Wiki are invited to edit, or add to Wiki articles.

Before you edit an article
Before you edit your first article, you should:


 * 1) Register with the Wiki
 * 2) Review Wiki guiding principles
 * 3) Understand Wiki publishing policies
 * 4) Review the conditions of use
 * 5) Learn how to name a new article and read about naming conventions

How to edit an article
1. Sign in to the FamilySearch website.

2. Search for the article you want to edit. In the search box, type the name or title of the article you want to edit. Press the Search button. Otherwise, learn how to create a new article.

3. After clicking the Search button, you will see the search results page. Find the article you want to edit and click on the title to open the article.

4. Click Edit in the navigation bar page options. After clicking Edit, the editing box will open.

5. In the editing box, begin typing new text or editing existing text in the article. You may use the toolbar at the top of the editing window to format text, insert links to other pages, insert links to other websites, and add tables. For more details about how you can edit, learn more about the editing toolbar. You may also insert images or files into an article.

6. While editing, use the Show Preview button frequently. This allows you to review the edits and changes you've made and prevents your wiki session from timing out after twenty minutes of no activity. If your session times out, you will lose all the work you've done. We recommend you Save your work periodically, especially before you start reading reference material, after you enter a paragraph, or in stages while working on a time intensive task such as creating a table or list.

7. After making any changes, be sure to summarize your changes in the Summary field below the editor window, and then save your work. To save, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Save page button. ''WARNING: If you navigate away from your article without saving, your work will be lost. This includes clicking on links in the preview mode, and clicking the back button on your browser after saving. Remember, after saving the page, you may click the Edit link again to add or edit more material.''

Things you can do while editing articles

 * You can import text from other sources
 * You can add an internal link to a page within the Wiki
 * You can add an external link to a page at another Web site
 * You can create a new page linked from an existing page
 * You can copy and paste text into the Wiki
 * You can insert images into articles after images are approved
 * You can add tables to pages
 * You can add citations to pages

For more information on contributing to the FamilySearch Research Wiki, please visit the Edit and Contribute Page

FAQs

 * Why does my sign in session go away when I edit?

You need to save your edited content often to keep your edit session active. You may be viewing a page that has been saved in your Internet browser, showing that you are logged on when your editing session has timed out.


 * Why aren't the changes I made showing up?

If you clicked the Preview button instead of the Save page button, your changes may not have been saved. Also, you may have started editing a page that someone else already started editing. To avoid conflicting changes, the system may have rejected your changes to the page since you started editing it after it was already being edited.


 * Can you set the session timeout longer? I lost my edits.

At this point, no, however, if this is problematic for you, please send your comments through our feedback channels, requesting a change.

Related Content

 * Name a new article
 * Renaming pages