PESWiki:Contributing FAQ
From PESWiki
| FAQ | Overview | Readers | Education |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contributing | Editing | Administration | Technical |
| Problems | Miscellaneous | Copyright | Help Contents |
|
Q. How can I contribute?
There are lots of ways!
Creating a new article is often a very useful thing to do, especially if there are lots of articles linking to an empty page. Sign in or Sign up. PESWiki articles contain lots of links to other articles. Blue (or purple, if you have already visited them) links represent pages that do exist. Red links (or tan, if you have already visited them) point to pages that don't yet exist. Presumably, whoever created the link thought that an article on the topic should exist. It's possible this was a bad idea, and the link should be removed. It's also possible they made a spelling error or didn't know the correct name for a page on the same (or a more general topic) that does exist. In this case, you could fix the link, and/or create a redirect. If you decide there should be an article at the other end of the link, by all means start writing it'! In addition to looking for red links, you can look at a list of requested articles, and pick one you know something about.
Please do read PESWiki:Your first article for additional advice about how and when not to create a new article.
There are many things that need doing that don't necessarily involve creatively editing article content. Janitorial tasks always need help with or article maintenance or the section "Start with a list of things that need doing", below. Sometimes all your work may even be deleted by some other editor. Just relax. That's just part of life.
You can also publicize PESWiki. Solicit links from:
| a traffic | free energy discussions (http://www.alexa.com/search?q=free+energy+discussion) via alexa.com |
| a traffic | renewable energy discussion (http://www.alexa.com/search?q=renewable+energy+discussion) via alexa.com |
- Websites with substantial traffic
- People with lists of reources
- People with "free energy"-type websites
- Best-of websites and similar resources
For individual articles, solicit links from:
- related resources (particularly if we mention them in external links)
- directories such as LookSmart, Open Directory Project and Yahoo!
- Approach websites that might want free content, and help them to get their hands on PESWiki's.
- Post announcements on mailing lists. But of what sort? Obviously, we want to avoid spam.
- Start and continue discussions about PESWiki articles (for this, the help of PESWikins will be necessary)
- Simply announce the existence of PESWiki, soliciting help.
- Recruit fans for specific areas of PESWiki.
- Drop by Free Energy newsgroups and mention that our pages need work.
- Possible solicitation letters:
| G groups | Newsgroups with Free Energy (http://groups.google.com/groups?svnum=50&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&sa=N&tab=wi&q=Free+Energy) via Google Groups |
- Post announcements on newsgroups. But try to be careful to go slowly through them--make sure the post is specially-tailored to whatever group you post to. A good strategy is to pick a PESWiki article, point out a few problems with it, and post a link to the article, inviting people to make changes. If you have posted an announcement to a newsgroup, will you please list it at PESWiki:Newsgroups. If you don't know much about newsgroups, go to http://groups.google.com.
- Contact webmasters who have content-rich sites. Get them excited about PESWiki, and invite them to make their content part of something great.
- Get slashdotted once in a while.
Q. Why would I want to contribute to this?
There are many good reasons to be involved in PESWiki:
- It is a self-governing mechanism that creates positive externalities
- It's fun.
- It's educational.
- It's social.
- You are part of an exciting development making use of the open source idea.
- You can correct other people on the spot without asking their permission!
- It's dynamic.
- It's interesting to share your knowledge with other people, particularly knowing that others can instantly edit or react to what you've written.
- To contribute is to gain.
- Ultimately it's yours.
- See also why PESWiki is so great.
Q. Do I have to register to edit pages?
Yes. Logged in users can only edit, except disruptive users who have been banned.
Q. What is the point of getting a user ID?
There are many reasons, but see PESWiki:Accountability for more informaition.
Q. Do I have to use my real name?
Real names are not required; some PESWikins use real names, some don't.
