Help:Contents

From openSUSE

Wiki is simple. Which is good. Wiki can quickly become very complex, too. Which is also good.

Reading

Everyone is free to read any content in the wiki, even anonymously. All you need is a web browser that supports a minimal level of HTML. To find pages on specific subjects, use the search box in the top right corner.

Writing

Anyone can contribute, too. You can modify what other people have already written, or even add whole new pages. All modifications and differences can be read in the respective history page.

MediaWiki is easy to use. It uses a few simple markups that some find to be much easier than HTML or XML. It automatically formats all saved pages into HTML. You may enter headlines, links, tables, lists, figures and many more elements. An introduction to the use of these markup elements is found at Official MediaWiki Editing Help. For a quick start, you can also just look through some of the pages that are already present in the wiki.

Create an account

To get started, create create an account. The information that Novell requires for opening an account is very limited and subject to the Novell privacy policy.

After you log in, you will see a toolbar at the top of the page. The toolbar is visible on each page you open while you are logged in. You will see a link in the toolbar that is labeled with your username. This takes you to your "personal page". Use this page to introduce yourself, and don't be shy. Write a word or two about your interests, especially those related to openSUSE and Linux. If nothing else, tell us how you learned about openSUSE.

Editing an Existing Page

• To start editing a page, click on the Edit button at the end of a page. The current page will show up in an edit field and you may write as you want.
• Below the edit field, there are two buttons: Save page and Show preview. Use Show preview to check your changes before submitting with Save page.

Creating a New Page

There are two ways to create a new page:

• Follow a link to a nonexistent page (indicated as a "red link")
• Edit the last part of the URL of another page in the same project. To keep the new page from being isolated (unlinked from anywhere else), remember to create a link to the new page right after creating it.

Hints for Writers

• Keep articles as short as possible, but not shorter than that :-)
• Write as simply as possible.
• Read the Style Guide before you start. (It's short!)
• Please make sure that your writing:
  • is your original text, or
  • that you have permission from original author to use his/her work, or
  • complies to the licenses used in this project.
• Do not sign articles. Your login name will be added to the page history automatically.
• One exception to the previous rule is discussion page. Sign the comments that you add on discussion pages using "--~~~~" to sign. Wiki will replace that with your login name, time and data.

Adding Pictures

Use pictures to increase the clarity of an idea better than a plain text file can do alone. Any picture you use should clearly demonstrate an idea or concept, and should not be derogatory to anybody in any way.

• To add a picture, use the Upload file form, which is part of the "Toolbox" on left side of the browser window.
• Make sure to use file names that make possible to guess the content of the picture. Good file names often consist of 20 or more characters. Avoid generic names, as it often leads in problems. Please

If you upload the image first, you have to remember it's exact name (with case and extension). Better way to include a picture is to type the name of the image where it is desired. When you save article the image link will be red, and after you click on it, wiki will give you option to upload it.

For details see Wikipedia article Extended image syntax.

Using Templates

Templates are entities that can be used to insert standardized content into a page. This simplifies writing pages, and more importantly, it allows updates to propagate throughout the wiki with just one edit. See templates for a list of the most used templates.

See also

• The community discussions

External Links

Official Wikipedia editing help