Help talk:Getting started/Archive 1: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:49, 8 July 2016

Revision as of 04:01, 28 November 2016

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:: Nope. Protection log is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Log?action=view&page=Help_talk%3AGetting_started&type=protect — [[User:Jeraphine Gryphon|Jeraphine Gryphon]] ^{([[User talk:Jeraphine Gryphon|talk]])} 08:04, 18 March 2016 (UTC)

:Now it is.:). As promised, and by overwhelming consensus, the need for semiprotection is acknowledged (although it still feels wrong for me).[[User:Lectonar|Lectonar]] ([[User talk:Lectonar|talk]]) 09:10, 18 March 2016 (UTC)

== Suggest adding some earlier clarity on templates ==

I've been a Wikipedia editor here and there for many years. But one thing I never quite understood was templates. Without knowing what they were called, it's quite complex to find out more about them, and that is partly because there's no mention of them on basic help pages such as this page (or as far as I can tell, even early on in any link given on this page). They're in basically every Wikipedia page (and particularly stand out as confusing in the Wiki Markup Editor) and are used to accomplish very many important tasks. I would suggest better inclusion of this topic... perhaps as a 6th link under Editing with Wiki Markup, though open to a better ___location. Perhaps many don't struggle with the concept as much as I did, but I've even got a bit of a programming background (HTML, C++, PHP), and it wasn't straightforward what they were or how to use them. I imagine it is that way for many new users. Just some very basic text on what they are (a way to setup a standardized section across many pages?) and basic links on where to get more information might well make a world of difference to many newer users.

Thanks! [[User:JeopardyTempest|JeopardyTempest]] ([[User talk:JeopardyTempest|talk]]) 07:36, 23 August 2016 (UTC)

:{{reply|JeopardyTempest|}} They are not very well taken as a 'programming' thing, unless you are coming from the perspective of something like Lisp. Templates (or other pages) are 'transcluded' into other pages, and the help pages on mediawiki.org are the best place to start. Essentially, they are 'unrolled' into a version that reflects the actual page being viewed without transclusion, and then evaluated inside out. [[User:Revent|<span style="color:#151B54;font-family:comic sans ms">Revent</span>]]^{[[User talk:Revent|<b style="font-family:comic sans ms;color:#006400">talk</b>]]} 20:29, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

::{{reply|Revent|}} Oh, it's no worries here, I worked on through it, and sorted out enough of them to make headway on the template that wasn't working properly... it's more for the next guy who comes along confused. And indeed while they're different enough from typical programming that skills don't help a ton... I think they'd be even more mysterious to an everyday Joe trying to come and help with a typical wikipedia article. Just wish to improve the info available... I've always found Wikipedia help a bit disjointed and tough to approach, and just want to help try to make it better (I'd already added some text to some of the help you directed me towards to try to clarify some things I had trouble understanding). But do you have any thoughts on adding something to the more central help here, even adding something as simple as being along the lines of: 'What's the deal with the things in {}? -- These are [[templates]], one of the more complex tools... they're fairly complex, so you may want to wait to learn about them until later, but here's a link for when you want to learn more.' I see this page as kind of a key starting point for help (unless there's another spot??), and so vital to bring as comprehensively directive as possible :-) Thanks for your response! [[User:JeopardyTempest|JeopardyTempest]] ([[User talk:JeopardyTempest|talk]]) 22:10, 24 August 2016 (UTC)