How to use this Wiki

From Mandriva Community Wiki

The user account

On your first visit, it is recommended that you create a user account. This will help you know who has modified what in articles, allow you to edit and improve articles, and help you in the future.

• If you already have a user account, it is useless to recreate one ; you just have to identify yourself. To do this click on the Create an account or login at the top right corner of the page, and enter your e-mail address and password. When you are logged in, other links are displayed in the top right corner, including your very own personal page. It is also recommended to create a user page, the procedure is described below.

• If you do not have a user account, click on Create an account : you will be redirected to the Mandriva account registration page where you will be able to create an account for free.

Tip !
If you already have registered for the forums, or created an account just after having installed Mandriva, you do not need to register. You already have your own Mandriva account allowing you to access every Mandriva website.

The user page

Presentation

For every registered member of the Wiki, you can have your very own personal page to present yourself, create links to pages you like, or to use it as a personal sandbox to do try-outs, etc.

This page can be accessed by clicking on your name, at the top of every wiki page, next to a green little guy when you are logged in.

The first time, your page will be empty, and you will be directed to the editing mode. Fill it in with what you want, for example, with details about you. Then click on the Save page button that is located just down the page.

You have just edited your very first wiki page!

Now, you must redirect your user page.

How to redirect a user page ?

When you login in the Wiki, we have seen the username appears at the top. If you click on this user name, you get to your personal page. Observe that the address toolbar in your web browser, you will see something like:

http://wiki.mandriva.com/en/User:D86e97bb57885b9dded29ba24d4f8aab

Actually, the Wiki does not identify you by your name; it identifies you by your user name. This particularity can have some bad sides. So what we usually do after having created our user page, is a redirection to the « user page using numbers ».

This is not clear? Okay, so we will create a personalized user page step by step:

• Position yourself in the « user page using numbers » :

http://wiki.mandriva.com/en/User:D86e97bb57885b9dded29ba24d4f8aab

• In the address bar, copy the text « User:your_number » :

User:D86e97bb57885b9dded29ba24d4f8aab

• Still in the address bar of your browser, delete the number and instead, write the user name that you want to be identified with (in this example, we have chosen « Paul »), and then press Enter on your keyboard to apply.

http://wiki.mandriva.com/en/User:Paul

• You now have a « non existing page », and this is totally normal, since the page using your user name is not yet created. You have the option to create the page, and this is what we will do. Click on the link allowing you to edit the page.

• You arrive on an editing mode page, in which you will insert a redirection to your user page. Paste the number corresponding to your user (the exact one we have just copied), by adding a redirection just before, like below :

#REDIRECT [[User:C279fbdafd481998ae2dfe7faae8b3de]]

• Save your changes, and its done! You can check your work by going into the Redirections list which will be displayed at the end. Eventually, you might need to refresh your web browser.

Customize your own user preferences!

When you are logged in, you will find a link on top of the page to edit your preferences. There are many possible options.

A few of them should be explained :

• Misc :
  • Justify paragraphs : this option aligns the text as in a text processor like OpenOffice. It is surely more aesthetic.
  • Auto-number headings : by activating this option, you will see numbers among the headings in the article itself, and not only in the summary at the top. This can help you, especially in a very long article.
• Files : you specify the default size of the images and of the thumbnails.
• User profiles > Email : it is recommended that you activate all the options in the email section, all except the last one. this will allow you to receive notifications of any modifications made to one of the article you have created and/or edited.

How to sign in quckly to a Wiki discussion page ?

If you intervene in a discussion in a talk page, please sign after each intervention. It is more easy to follow who says what.

To sign quickly (you must be logged in), you just have to put 4 ~..

~~~~ shows Skiper 17 march 2009 at 19:10 (CEST)

Tip !
In the editing window, you can also click on the icon representing a signature, that will insert your signature with the date.

How to be notified of changes on a Wiki page?

To watch a page, you need to click on the watch tab next to the edit tab (note that the presentation can change depending on the theme you have selected). In order to see this option, you must be logged in.

In the default theme, it looks like this:

Watching a page gives you the possibility to receive an e-mail notification each time there is a modification on a page you watch.

How to browse in the Wiki ?

Conventions

The browsing in the wiki is identical to any other website. It however, does have a few pecularities:

• Red links: are links leading to an empty page (or a page that as not been created)
• Edition: every page or paragraph can be modified, if you have a user account
• Discussions: each page has a discussion page associated in which you can comment and discuss about the articles
• Sandbox: this is a space where you can do all the trial pages and modifications you want (requires an account)
• Related pages: on each page, you have access to related pages that are all the pages which contain a link directing to the page you are reading

Browsing through portals, categories and subcategories

Description of the structure of the Wiki

This Wiki offers the option to navigate in a structured manner within Topics of Categories of Subcategories and Portals. What is it?

All you need to know about the Wiki, is one single thing: categories. The Wiki has theoretically no tree structure. It has a common core that leads to organized sub-categories.

In an attempt to organize it all, we have chosen to nest categories within these, giving them a structure resembling a tree to facilitate navigation.

The tree is as follows:

• At the top, 'Thematic'
• Underneath that, 'Categories'
• At the base, 'Sub-categories'

The Thematic leads to categories, which lead to articles stored in sub-categories. The themes offer you a purely vertical reading of the Wiki, in the most general to the most accurate.

An example is Applications. This gives you access to various types of software that you can search: burning, browser, boot manager, etc. These are the sub-categories of Applications as you can see.

• Finally, another vision that is not tree, offers a cross-reading of the wiki, a common idea in several articles in which nothing seems to link in appearance, but have in fact common portals. The best example is the Audio-Video sub-category, which includes items that have something in common with other categories such as video.

Other portals and sub-categories will emerge, such as the Audio-Video sub-category that will include all articles related to audio and video, including software, hardware, basic on the audio or the video.

How do I add a category for an article?

Links that are in the navigation panel on the left: the List of articles or categories list.

To "categorize" an article, you must give the most accurate category as is possible, closest to its description, and not a general category. The most telling example is made by the Applications category. When you write an article about the K3b program, you know it's an application, and it will be stored "almost automatically" (the maintenance crew is in charge, in effect, because it knows the structure of the wiki) in the generic category (the theme) of Applications. You do not need to give the category closest to its operation by its sub-category.

I hope these explanations will help you, otherwise please contact me (Fredxx)

How do I search in the wiki?

Please see the article on Search in this Wiki.

Further reading

Throw yourself into it, and do not hesitate to share your knowledge by editing the pages of the Wiki! For this, a small guide has been prepared: write in this wiki.

In addition, you have the Documentation forum to obtain help from.

A vous de jouer!