User:BadCatMan/Quick Start Guide

The Quick Start Guide helps new editors get started on the Forgotten Realms Wiki. Try these recommendations for the easiest learning curve.

Getting Started
Start by making minor changes to existing articles: fixing typos and grammar, making links, and adding a little lore and references. This gets you used to the editing window, wiki code, article style, and our practices. With more experience, you can make a new page, but start with small topics so you can focus on formatting, citations, infoboxes, and categories. With lots of experience, you'll be a regular editor already and can consider major projects, long pages, groups of related pages, and additional features.

And take it steady. Many new editors do a lot of work then burn out as other editors struggle to clean up after them. Others take on ambitious projects they can't finish, then abandon them. Small steps and a slow pace are best. If you make a change, wait and come back the next day to see if it's been corrected or improved on.

Choosing Your Editor
Fandom has three different editing programs: If you have an account with Fandom, you can set your preferred/default editor through Preferences, which changes the function of the Edit button.
 * VisualEditor: The default. The page appears as normal, but can be typed in and has word-processing options and other features. Click a link to change its destination or click the infobox to fill in the entries. This is okay for basic corrections and additions, but it does not function well with templates (e.g., citations and infoboxes). It often trips new editors up, so take care and consider using another program for complex changes. See Help:VisualEditor for how to use it.
 * Classic/Source Editor: The original, as used by Wikipedia. This shows the wiki markup code used on the page. The code is simple and you'll see how a wiki article is formed. This is best for inserting templates. Many experienced wiki editors prefer it. See Help:Classic editor for how to use it.
 * Classic Rich-Text Editor: Only available through Preferences. Similar to VisualEditor, it lets you switch between Visual and Source views. However, this is even less useful for templates.

We strongly recommend using the Source Editor even for new users. It's easy to use and the best way to learn wiki code while making few errors.

Correcting or Expanding an Existing Article
Go to the Edit button in the top-right corner of the page. Clicking it opens the default editing program. The drop-down menu beside it gives other options:
 * Classic editor/VisualEditor: Choose the non-default editor.
 * History: The page's revision history (not covered here)
 * Rename: For moving/renaming a page (leave this for experienced editors).
 * Talk: The Talk page, for discussing issues with the page. The number in brackets is the number of messages. If you're unsure about something, discuss it here. This is edited just like a normal page.


 * Source Editor: In the editing window, make your changes. The buttons up the top will insert code and "more +" will display useful symbols, other code, and templates. Fill in the "Edit summary" on the upper-right side; say what you did and why so other editors can check your edit. Use Preview to see how the finished page will look on Mobile and Desktop screens; use this to see if your templates work before publishing. Finally, click "Publish" to save the changes.


 * VisualEditor: In the editing window, make your changes and click "Save page". The window will ask you to fill in the Summary; say what you did and why so other editors can check your edit. Click "Review your changes" to see the changes to the code. Finally, "Save page" will publish the edited page.

New Articles
Before making a new page, look at an existing page, preferably one in good shape and similar to what you want to create. Have a look at how it is arranged and examine the wiki code to see how it works. You might even use the code as a template for your new page.