Help:Starting a new page
From Underground Gamer
Anyone, including you, can write for Underground Gamer! Just type a title in the box below (make sure that you use a concise, descriptive title), click "Create article", and start writing:
'Create article' takes you to an edit page to enter the new text. Of course, names are important, meaning the title of the page, and un-doing mistakes can take time, so it's always a good idea to do a little homework first. (See General principles below.)
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General principles
- Please dont just cut/paste from Wikipedia!! If you want to add exactly what wikipedia have then just link to their page. This Wiki is for fans of retro gaming consoles, manufacturers, magazines, etc... it is your space to describe what it means to you. If you want to take small parts from Wikipedia, then that's fine... but dont create an identical article!
- Search to see whether someone has written a similar page before you start one yourself. Choose the title carefully.
- Review conventions of the project you are working in regarding e.g.:
- naming conventions; see also Help:Page name.
- whether a separate page is justified; perhaps it is better to add the text to a related page (especially if the text is not very long); that page can always be split later, after it has grown.
- how-to guidance for writing regarding style, content and formatting. E.g. for the Wikipedia project see How to write a great article.
- While creating the page and before saving it, check the What links here link on the creation page. Align the new content with existing links, or change the new title, or fix the other links.
- If nothing points here, the page is isolated. Links to it will need to be added on other pages.
- For help with the wiki commands and markup language, it's worth reading this guide for editors
Starting a page from an existing link, after creating one, or after a search
To start a new page, you can click a link to the new page. This takes you to edit mode of the non-existing blank page, which allows creation.
Another way to start a new page is to perform a search for the new title with the Go button (as you should have done before). When the search finds nothing, click the "this exact title" link.
Links to non-existing pages are common. They are typically created in preparation of creating the page, and/or to encourage other people to do so. Links are not only convenient for navigation, but also make people aware of the new page (those who read a related page and also those who the related page). New page links are not really broken, as long as the name correctly identifies the intended content. (A new page link with a "wrong" or misspelled name, or that duplicates content found under another name is "broken". but in a different sense.)
New page links typically look different from links to existing pages. Depending on your skin settings, a different color or a question mark is used. (Sometimes links to new pages are called "red links", the default display option of of the settings). Links to non-existent pages are created with [[New page name]] from the wiki editor. (In this case, the empty page "New page name" would be created).
Of course, you can also create the link yourself, in a related page, index page or your user page. However, it may be better to wait with creating links until after creating the new page, especially if the new link replaces one to an existing page. In this case, create the link but press Preview, instead of Save. From preview area, clicking the new link will create the new page (without updating the referring page).
Starting a page through the URL
Using the browser address bar to enter a URL to a new page is an easy way to start the new page process. Easier still is editing the pagename part of a URL for an existing page. Using the URL for the new page displays the default 'no article' message. The default page has the usual Edit this page link, which can be used to begin adding content.
An interwiki link to a non-existent page gives the same result, but is not recommended.
To get access to a MediaWiki project page, with the links at the edges but without the superfluous loading of a page, use a bookmark to a non-existing page. The default 'no article' page will display the edge links.
Using the sandbox and user sub-pages
The sandbox can be used for temporary experimentation, but is emptied on a regular basis. For persistent draft material, you can use your user account sub-pages, and move the sub-page to the main article namespace when ready. (Requires a user account). To create a user sub-page, use a reference (title) like: 'User:UserName/New sub page'. User sub-pages can be also be used for testing new template material with the syntax {{User:UserName/Sub page name}}.
