Working Wikis: A Howto
Paul Bonamy

Like a traditional encyclopedia, a wiki is only as good as the articles it contains. Unlike a tradition encyclopedia, those articles need to be supplied by a wikis users. To really make the Lakerpedia shine, the students, staff, faculty, and administration of Lake State will need to apply their collective expertise to craft new and ever-improving articles for the 'Pedia. Let's get started.
Creating an Account
In order to create or edit pages on the Lakerpedia, you first need to create an account. Having an account on the Lakerpedia means that you get credit for any changes you make, which makes it possible to recognize outstanding contributors, and find people who decide to vandalize the Pedia.
To create an account, click the Log in / create account link on the upper right-hand corner of any page. Then click create an account on the login page. Fill in your information, and youre ready to start contributing. (Try it, it works and I am computer illiterate~ News Editor)
Creating an Article
By way of an example, lets assume we want to create an article about the dining on campus.  
The first step to creating a new article for the Lakerpedia is to do a search to make sure the article doesnt already exist. To do this, type your article title (Dining on Campus in this case) into the search box on the left side of the screen and click Go.  
If an article with that title you entered already exists, youll be taken to it. Otherwise, youll be shown a list of articles that have either similar titles or similar phrases in the body of the article. If none of those are what youre looking for, click the create this page link to begin creating the article. Once the article has been created, editing it works exactly the same as editing any other article.  
Editing an Article
The first step to editing an article is telling the Pedia you want to make changes. If you just created the article, this happens automatically. Otherwise, click the edit link at the top of the page.
The Edit page consists of a title telling you which article you are editing, a collection of shortcut buttons, and a large area for typing. The buttons provide templates for the commands used for inserting links, pictures, and so forth into an article. Click one to see the form to use when inserting things.  
Most of the actual business of editing is done in the large text box. Type the text that should appear in the article into the box, and it will appear there. Adding links or photos is as easy as using a simple command. For example, to link to the article on Dining on Campus, put [[Dining on Campus]] in your article. All of the actual work of setting up the link is handled automatically. 
Once youre ready to see how the article will look, click the Show preview button. This will show you how the article will appear once your changes are written to the Pedia, and gives you a chance to catch typos or fix formatting issues.
Once youre happy with the look of the article, type a brief summary of your changes into the Summary box (just above the Show preview button). This summary gives other editors an idea of what changes you made. Something as simple as created article or fixed typos will work nicely.  To indicate that your changes to the article were minor  fixing a single typo or something  check This is a minor edit.  
Click Save page and youre done. Your changes have been written to the Lakerpedia for the whole world to see.
Getting Help
The easiest way to learn about editing wiki pages is to play with them. Try editing an existing page, and take a look at how its laid out. Using the show preview option also provides a great way to find out what different options do.
Clicking the Editing help link at the bottom of the edit page will also pull up an article detailing just about everything you might want to know about editing articles.
General Wiki Etiquette
Its important to remember that anyone with an account on the Lakerpedia can edit any article. Expect your articles to be added to, subtracted from, proofread, and otherwise manipulated. If youd click to be notified when a page you care about changes, check the Watch this page option when you edit pages. This way, youll always know when updates are made.
When editing, its also important to keep your edits clean. Avoid profanity and other forms of crude or offensive language. Anyone can read articles youve worked on, and being known as the guy (or girl) with the potty mouth is not a worthwhile reputation, especially if a future employer takes an interest in articles you edited. Maintain a neutral, respectful tone in everything you write and stay away from personal attacks.
Following from the previous point, remember that its impossible to guess tone of voice from written text. Irony and satire dont always carry well on the Internet, so give people the benefit of the doubt.
Dont get into edit wars. If you find yourself repeatedly correcting the same mistake, especially on a point of opinion, back off and give the issue some time to cool off. Were going for high-quality, informative articles here, not flame wars, and no one benefits from articles so caught in edit warring that they become useless.
Dont post copy written material. The Pedia is not a convenient dumping ground for illegal copies of the latest music, movies, or software.
Finally, and most importantly, contribute to anything you care about. Keep an open mind, share your expertise with others, and make work to improve the Lakerpedia for everyone. This is the Wiki Way.
