Help:Contents
From MEPIS Documentation Wiki
This is a page about using this Wiki. If you would like help with MEPIS software please consult the Community page.
Contents |
Create an Account
To add info to the Wiki you need to create an account at mepis.org and log in using the account created. Note that you can not simply use your MepisLovers user name, though you can use that by registering it on mepis.org.
How to find what you're looking for
Follow the structure
- Use the basic structure of the Main Page to start, then drill down in a manner that seems most logical to you.
- Getting Started: intended to provide new MEPIS users with the basic tools to get their system up and running
- General Knowledge Database: intended to provide users with more advanced tools to understand and use their MEPIS system
- Help and Guides: self-explanatory title, there is great stuff here for MEPIS users
- Wiki Issues: topics pertaining to the Wiki itself
Use special pages
- Go to the Categories page and click the link that pertains to your topic of interest.
- If you are looking for something added recently, go to the Recent Changes page
- To see everything, go to the listing of all pages
- Other special pages may also be useful, depending on what you are looking for.
Search
There are two means of searching for an item in the MEPIS Wiki.
- Basic search: use the search box in the left panel (see Wikimedia help on searching.
- Type in what you are looking for, and hit Return (= clicking on Go button) for a general search. For more on the function of this button, see here
- Use "Search" button if "Go" button returns a wrong page.
- Detailed search: use the "Custom search" link in the navigation section of the left panel. This will take you to page powered by a custom Google search that will search the entire Wiki for whatever you enter.
Editing
Everybody willing to help is welcome to contribute to this documentation project. This is a short overview of the most common editing functions of this wiki. For more information please read the Wikimedia Help: Editing. A one-page reference card on the most common editing conventions can be found here.
Rules
- No illegal material.
- No obscene material.
- No advertising, politics, religion related posts.
- in one sentence: keep it relevant to MEPIS and Linux.
Requests
- Start small, no major edits unless you know what you are doing. Don't move pages or change page names without good reason.
- Document changes (example: "corrected spelling", "added forgotten step", "remove irrelevant info", etc.)
- Use "discussion" pages to talk about a specific wiki page (click on its "discussion" tab). Don't forget to sign your post, just add 4 tildes: ~~~~
- Search the Wiki to see what exists on your topic before you post anything.
- Keep the content consistent and relevant.
- No fancy formating -- there's no need, it just makes the content harder to edit. Use Media Wiki formating (see below and [here instead of HTML.
Getting started
- Once you have an account and are logged in, you will see tabs at the top of the page: discussion, edit, history, etc, depending on the page. Start by reviewing content areas where you feel comfortable. Click the edit tab, and fix bad links, correct spelling errors, resolve formatting problems, update references, etc.
- Add HOW-TOs and other info. In general this is beneficial and harmless as long as the info is accurate. If you screw something up, someone can fix it... that's what is nice about a Wiki.
- For other ways to help, check out articles that are incomplete or need updating.
Editing an existing page
- To edit a page either click "edit" link on top of the page or double-click on the page if you have that option enabled.
- We are arranging stuff in clear categories. Add the appropriate link, e.g.
[[Categories:Hardware]], at the bottom of pages you edit (if not already there).
Adding a new page
- You can create a link to a new page name by writing its name like this:
[[page name]]. Then follow the link to add info to the new page. - Another way: edit the last part of the URL of another page in the same section, adding the desired name of the new page.
- Remember to place new articles in a predefined Category by adding a link
[[Category:Category name]]at the end of the page. - The Wiki is case sensitive. A page named "User Guides" is different from a page named "User guides". As a general rule, try to keep all the words in the titles and categories in lower case except for the beginning of the first word, which the Wiki software capitalizes by default, and the word MEPIS.
Linking
- Linking to a wiki page: write the desired page name inside two pairs of square brackets:
[[page name]]. To show a different name use[[page name | new name]] - Linking to a web page: write the URL inside a pair of square brackets:
[URL]. To display a description instead of the URL, use this format:[URL description]
Formatting
- Bullets: use the asterisk * sign.
- Numbering: use the # sign.
- Indentation: use the column sign ":" (without the quotes) at the start of the row
- Code or other boxed text: start line with a space
- Italics: use two pairs of apostrophes: ''text''
- Bold: use three pairs of apostrophes: '''text'''
- Sign your post in discussion pages, use: ~~~~
- Test Wiki formatting here without consequences...
Wiki Review
- Purpose: to periodically make sure Wiki is up-to-date and compliant with the latest version
- Please try to begin with these:
- "Getting Started" section, because newbies have the least capacity for dealing with error or confusion
- Pages listed as needing updating
- Pages listed as stub, which need completion
- Pages listed as orphan pages, which need to be inserted into the Wiki structure with links and categories
- Pages listed as uncategorized, please add them to the appropriate category
- Pages where you have special knowledge or experience
- Test directions against latest version, checking for changes in areas such as
- Method (e.g., WPA)
- Name (e.g., MEPIS Network Assistant)
- Command (e.g., mutilities vs. mnetwork)
- Test for dead links
- Link technical terms (e.g., mount) and application names (e.g., Guarddog) that might be obscure to Linux-newbies or non-programmers to internal or external explanation
- If you recognize that a page needs revision for a new version but are unable to do it yourself, please add this category label at the bottom of the page:
[[Category:Needs updating]]
