Wikipedia:WikiProject Cameroon/Wikivillages of Cameroon/Simple Wikipedia

Wikipedia Made Easy !

As a complement to the detailed help pages, here is a short reference-guide to quickly get to the point.

General Information

Creating an account

Everybody can contribute to Wikipedia, without being registered, but within the framework of the contest, it is necessary to create an account (on the upper right-hand corner of the page). The choice for a pseudonym is free, however - as a means of guaranteeing neutrality- it is recommended to avoid using either your true name or the village’s name.

Modifying an article

An existing article can be modified in two different ways (Edit source or Edit), for the whole page as well as for each section. You can switch from one interface to the other.

Tab Edit source

This Wikipedia specific « code » doesn’t require any IT skill. It enables to understand the underlying logic and to solve some difficulties through imitation. Most of the Wikipedians have trained themselves by observing other articles of the same kind. For example, if I don’t know how to create an infobox (sidebox) at the right side of the article, I check the code for another village and I just copy and paste the structure by replacing the existing data by mine. A similar approach can be applied to create a climatic or demographic chart.

It is recommended to always preview the changes before saving them (Preview button in the change area).

Tab Edit

It is the most recent and most intuitive visual editor. All the basic features are proposed in the toolbar at the top of the screen. It is advised to explore these various possibilities before starting, and maybe to try them with minor modifications on some other articles (for example, correcting a spelling mistake or inserting a reference).

Citing sources

It should be possible for any reader to check the reliability of each piece of information published on Wikipedia. It is one of the basic rules of this encyclopedia: the validity of its contents depends on it.

Even if one is particularly competent on a given topic (for example, one’s own village), this personal knowledge is not to be used directly to write an article, because under these circumstances, the readers won’t be able to verify the information.

A synthesis of the available information should be carried out, by connecting all assertions with high-quality sources (books, press articles, official websites). Facebook pages, blogs or forums are not accepted.

Inserting references

A neutral point of view

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, it is neither a social media nor a travel brochure. The articles must adopt a neutral tone, avoid self-promotion and statements such as « the most beautiful village in the world ». Nor is it the place to express judgments, either negative or positive, on the villagers or the local policy. Facts must be presented, with references. If two different sources provide different information, both can be simultaneously cited, for example the number of inhabitants according to both the 2005 census and the communal source.

Respecting copyrights

Enhancing the existing pages will always be encouraged, but the contest only focuses on the creation of a new article for a village that, prior to the contest, didn’t have any. The participants first register on a platform, then wait for 48 hours for their choice to be validated in order to avoid duplication.

All localities being attached to the 360 existing communes, it is sufficient to go to the common corresponding page, then click on the name of the village (in red) to create the article.

2. #Wikivillages Contest

Starting with a draft document

It is recommended to start by gathering information before preparing a draft document.

The registered users have access to a draft page enriched with all Wikipedia features (layout, internal links…). The article can also be initiated on a separate file (standard word processing).

It is not necessary to publish it all at once. You can proceed step by step to get familiar with the tool, but each paragraph to be published online must provide his sources.

Designing a plan

There is no compulsory plan, but the presentation of the village must be as comprehensive as possible. Inspiration can be found in the existing articles for localities of equivalent size, for example Tayap (Cameroon, 254h.) or Clairegoutte (France, 394 h.), however all topics do not necessarily allow to go that far. The introduction has to locate the village, its administrative attachment (country, region, department, commune) and its environment (nearby town, mountain range, coastline, possible border). The appendices at the end of the articles comprise of the bibliography, the external and internal links, as well as the footnotes that connect the facts with their sources throughout the text and are automatically displayed.

Adding illustrations

There are few images linked to the villages in Cameroon. They are often taken by tourists, reporters, humanitarian or military personnel who all have other priorities. The contest gives the opportunity for all villagers to document their village themselves, on all its various aspects.

A very high quality of images is of course preferable, but satisfactory results can be obtained with some smart phones as well.

As all images must be license free, pictures found on the Internet or elsewhere cannot be used: they have to be taken by the participants themselves and be downloaded on Commons before being inserted in the article. They can thus be used for all Wikimedia projects, in all languages.

Since the contest lasts six months, the pictures can be integrated in the article at any time or be replaced by some others.

On the same principle, other media can be imported: map, sketch, audio, video.

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Checking everything

To be valid and rewarded within the framework of the contest, any article must respect Wikipedia rules. It is necessary to check, at each step, that they are actually being respected. Especially: are all assertions linked to a reliable reference? Has the source been copied and pasted? Is the tone neutral and non-promotional? Are all pictures license free?

Don’t hesitate!

Wikipedia is a remarkable tool that new contributors sometimes find (too) complex. Just like when learning to drive a car, one cannot hope to master everything over the course of one hour: only experience will make the good driver.

Yet, Wikipedia is far less dangerous :-)
Mistakes can always be rectified, by oneself or by other contributors who can take over. All previous versions are saved (see tab View History) and can be restored.

Contributing to a global encyclopedia is a source of personal enrichment and shared pleasure.

So, let’s start!