As a measure to prevent loss of helpful instruction to this user, this user is currently using this page for both talk and as a storage location for the results of his/her Help Desk inquiries. Some of the sections on this page contain former help desk discussions in which this user was involved. For safe keeping, they are copied here in their entirety by the user. This is not a help desk. They are facts which this user finds helpful in order to learn how to properly edit Wikipedia. If you can suggest a better way for this user to store this type of information so that he/she can conveniently access it, please do so at the bottom of this page.
StephenDJenkins, you are invited to the Teahouse[edit]
Hi StephenDJenkins! Thanks for contributing to Wikipedia. Please join other people who edit Wikipedia at the Teahouse! The Teahouse is a friendly space on Wikipedia where new editors can ask questions about contributing to Wikipedia and get help from peers and experienced editors. We hope to see you there!
Please sign your messages on talk pages with four tildes (~~~~). This will automatically insert your "signature" (your username and a date stamp). The or button, on the tool bar above Wikipedia's text editing window, also does this.
If you would like to play around with your new Wiki skills the Sandbox is for you.
How to add the information column similar to what you find at the right of many Wikipedia pages describing the main features of a product or organization? Do these exist as templates? Or can they be custom made?
S. Jenkins (talk) 23:54, 21 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Those are called infoboxes. You can find out more information about how to use them at Help:Infobox. Let me know if you have any more questions. LegoKontribsTalkM 00:14, 22 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]
How do you add a a picture with caption onto a page AND make so this when it is clicked on, you will be taken to the page discussing the image where a larger resolution is available. I have have already uploaded the image, but have not figured out how to link to it or make a scaled down size version of it appear on the page I am editing. It has been uploaded to Wikipedia, not Commons. For example the following link only gives me a "Bad title" error. How do I solve it?
See more at Wikipedia:Picture tutorial. You shouldn't write the url at all when you add pictures but let me just mention anyway that when you do make an external link with [url displayname] there should be no pipe character '|' in the middle. Pipes are for internal wikilinks. See more at Help:Link. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:31, 22 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Getting Established at Wikipedia. Leaning the ropes of safe Wikipedianism[edit]
This may be a very abstract silly question, but silly questions make a difference... so here it goes...
I'm a new user. Instead of jumping to edit an article, I have chosen to go about this a safer way. First, I built my user and talk pages and THEN proceeded to edit only the talk page of the article. I tried to point out on that talk page what I thought needs to be improved about the article. I also joined the workgroup and asked for adoption by a more experienced editor. Am I going about this the right way? As a new user, I am scared to death to try to make an edit on an article for fear of rejection, and the whole thing collapses and whole thing goes wrong. Am I being too cautious? I have not made any edits on an article yet, but I want to ensure that I know enough in advance that my experience at Wikipedia will never go wrong.
Maybe a little on the cautious side, but then that's not a bad thing compared to some who take the opposite approach! Most editors will not "bite the newbie", and Wikipedia encourages ALL contributors to be BOLD (meaning if you find a mistake, you don't have to ask permission to fix what's wrong). The trouble generally comes in when people find what they believe to be a mistake...! Right at the top of your page you'll see a link to "My Sandbox": that's your experimental area, where you can do just about anything you like, and test anything, and it will be recognised as experimentation. It's the best place to learn what happens when I.... whatever.
Start reading the help pages, the policy guides (for a better understanding of how Wikipedia works). Visit the Tea House and read the questions and answers. Feel free to ask anyone anything, anytime. Some won't answer, some are too busy. So what, you lost nothing by trying! And most - almost all - WP editors are very friendly and helpful. When you do edit an article, just remember this key element: a fact is not a fact unless it is backed up by a reliable, widely published and independent reference. Jump in and paddle, the water's fine! David_FLXD(Talk) 15:30, 5 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
On this project membership page, Wikipedia:WikiProject Christianity/Methodism work group/Members, the active ones are highlighted in green. Does this mean they are currently online at this very moment? Or, does it only just mean they have made an edit in the last 30 days?
It means somebody added highlighted text to the page that says that they are still involved in it. It could have been them, or someone else. - Purplewowies (talk) 17:22, 27 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Having embarked on it, I will update it every so often. Perhaps it would help if I made a note there of the criteria! David_FLXD(Talk) 15:12, 5 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Ok, thanks. Will do. S. Jenkins (talk) 17:36, 27 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Stephen, thanks for your message/s. Regarding this thread and the Methodism WG members, I noticed a couple of months ago that some listed members appeared to have ceased activity or had never been actively involved (apart from putting their names down on the list). I highlighted everyone who had made any contribution to WP during the past 12 months (as at July 2012), to make it easier to see who was or had been relatively recently active.
Re adoption, I am currently on a Wikibreak (and therefore checking messages only occasionally), due to busyness in real life. In principle, I would be willing to adopt you, but would not be able to do so before the end of October. After that, I should be able to give you the necessary attention for about three months, which should really be long enough. If you should find someone else who is willing to adopt you before then, my advice would be to grab the opportunity!
If you reply here, please place another Talkback on my Talk page, so that I will be sure to see it when I next check in. Regards, David_FLXD(Talk) 15:12, 5 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Stephen. I notice that you've put yourself up for adoption via the adopt-a-user program. I would be happy to take you on as an adoptee if you wish. Take a look at my edit history, my userpage and my talkpage to get an idea of the sort of work I do here, and tell me if you'd be interested. If not, no problem, just drop me a line on my talkpage and let me know.
Oh, as regards your query at the top of this page - I'd suggest creating a user subpage for your helpdesk queries, to save confusion on this talkpage. You can do this by starting a page at User:StephenDJenkins/Helpdesk responses and copying everything there. Cheers, Yunshui雲水 09:21, 4 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]
