Like Wikipedia, Sprocket School was made using software called MediaWiki. MediaWiki has extensive instructions on editing and formatting on their website.
General pointers
- Request a real or otherwise recognizable login name (if you are comfortable doing so) so your colleagues will know who you are.
- The current user list is here.
- You can see recent contributions to the site on the Recent changes page.
- Look at an article's editing history by clicking the "history" tab at the top of any page.
- Each page has a "discussion" tab at the top. This is a good place to ask questions and make suggestions about a given topic.
- You can "sign" your contributions to the discussion page (or any other page) by typing "-- ~ ~ ~ ~" - without the spaces! - or by just hitting the little button that looks like a signature at the top of the editing box. It looks like this: -- Rfhall (talk) 00:44, 3 August 2013 (PDT)
- You can upload images here. Follow the instructions on that page to use the image in any of the articles.
Starting a new page
- A list of pages that need to be written: http://www.sprocketschool.org/w/index.php?title=Special:WantedPages
- Instructions for starting a new page from scratch: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Starting_a_new_page
Editing an existing page
- Click the "edit" link at the top of an article to edit it.
- A list of pages that exist already (which you may wish to edit): http://www.sprocketschool.org/w/index.php?title=Special:AllPages
- Mediawiki's guide to basic editing: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Editing
Editorial Guidelines
Use neutral language
Avoid absolutes, like "this is the worst/best practice or piece of equipment", or any other language that veers into the territory of personal opinion.