When editing pages just keep the following rules in mind:

General#

• Be nice - don't be rude or offensive.
• Write in a way that is easy to understand and avoid local slang or phrases. Many of those who will read your text may not have English as their first language.
• Don't delete other people's contributions (unless you know what you are doing)
• Don't use too many acronyms (or at least, have a page explaining them)
• Avoid the "click here" phrase!! Don't say: "More info about etiquette can be found here" but use "More info about etiquette can be found at WikiEtiquette". I'd suggest avoiding it for external links as well.
• Contribute only original stuff. Links are fine, but don't cut-and-paste from copyrighted things.
• Correcting typos is quite okay - in fact, it's a very good habit, since it makes the web page more readable.

About comments#

• You are free to contribute anonymously, but it is preferred that you sign your comments with your name (or handle). It is common to prepend the signature with '--' like this: -- Janne Jalkanen (While you're at it, you are free to create your own wikipage and tell us about yourself.)
• A good way is also to put your name first, like this: Janne Jalkanen : I'd like to say that...
• Think before you comment. WikiWiki is not a high-speed conversation board. It's not a news server either. What you say will stay here forever (yeah, we do take backups) for everyone to see and comment.

Creating WikiNames#

• A good WikiName is short and descriptive. If the name is logical and easy many more people will link to it.
• Although you can take a whole sentence and crunch it up to make a WikiName, it is better style to restrain it to at most 5 words.
• Instead, try to use WikiNames like you would use as chapter titles in a book.
• This Wiki allows you to create pages with a single word as a name, but try to use at least two words - we don't want to exhaust the name space :-).
• Double-check WikiNames for typos - otherwise someone will create a misnamed page! Misnamed pages are bad, since linking to them requires more effort than to a logical, correct WikiName.

Refactoring pages#

Refactoring is the process where you sum up a page, shortening it, making it more accessible. Anyone who feels up to it may go ahead, but we suggest that you leave it up to frequent (experienced) visitors.

• Be objective - both pros and cons have to be represented correctly.
• Be careful with signed contributions - don't change their meaning.
• Give credit where credit is due.
• Use 3rd person or plural instead 1st person singular in your summary.

(Thanks to Sensei's library for this initial text.)

Here's a short reminder on the most common formatting rules you have at your disposal. A complete list is available in TextFormattingRules.

(empty line)     Make a paragraph break.
----             Horizontal ruler
[link]           Create hyperlink to "link", where "link" can be either an internal 
                 WikiName or an external link (http://)
[text|link]      Create a hyperlink where the link text is different from the actual 
                 hyperlink link.
[text|wiki:link] Create a hyperlink where the link text is different from the 
                 actual hyperlink link, and the hyperlink points to a named Wiki. 
                 This supports interWiki linking.

*                Make a bulleted list (must be in first column). Use more (**) 
                 for deeper indentations.
#                Make a numbered list (must be in first column). Use more (##, ###) 
                 for deeper indentations.

!, !!, !!!       Start a line with an exclamation mark (!) to make a heading. 
                 More exclamation marks mean bigger headings.

__text__         Makes text bold.
''text''         Makes text in italics (notice that these are single quotes ('))
{{text}}         Makes text in monospaced font.
;term:def        Defines 'term' with 'def'.  Use this with empty 'term' to make short comments.
\\               Forced line break (please use sparingly).

|text|more text| Makes a table. Double bars for a table heading.

Don't try to use HTML, since it just won't work.

To embed images just put them available on the web using one of the approved formats, and they will get inlined automatically. To see the list of approved formats, go check SystemInfo.

To make a code block, use triple {'s to open, and triple }'s to close.

(Wondering where this text comes from? It's on a page called Edit Page Help, which you can edit too!)