View source for Help:Creating a new page

{{118Wikiheader}}
{{Help page}}

You can '''create a new article''' once you have your 118Wiki account and have learnt how to [[Help:Editing|edit]]. Creating a new article is easy, but you need to consider a few points before and while creating the article. This help page has step-by-step instructions on how to create a new article successfully.

{{LCARS-bar-heading|Before creating a new article|COLOR={{Color|red}}}}

=== Step 1: Search for the article ===
Before you start creating a new article, it is important that to verify there doesn't exist an article about the same subject already. There are thousands of articles in 118Wiki, so it’s possible there’s an article for it already.

Try the search bar, or see [[Special:Search]] for advanced search options. Remember to also try different synonyms for the topic. Sometimes certain topics are covered by articles about a wider or related topic. For example, certain cities might not have their own articles in 118Wiki, but the article about the planet the city is located might have a lot of information about the city.

If you’re a new ensign and are introducing your character to the game, your commanding officer or another ship staff member might have created a page for your character already. Search for your character’s name or ask your mentor if you can’t find it.

=== Step 2: Plan your article ===
Having a vague idea of what the new article is about is enough to create it, but the more you plan it out before starting, the easer the writing will be. Planning properly will help avoid problems and mistakes when you start creating the article.

Because the article you create will be public from the moment you save it, you must also be sure that your article doesn’t break any rules 118Wiki has. Ask yourself a few questions before creating a new article. Is this something that should be in 118Wiki? Is this suitable for younger players to read? Would this better fit somewhere else?

If you’re uncertain if your article fits 118Wiki, remember that you can always ask help. See 118Wiki Help’s “[[Help:Contents#Help|Finding help]]” section and contact someone with your idea.

=== Step 3: Choose a name for your article ===
Once you’ve decided what to write about, it’s time to choose the name for the article. The name is very important, because other users will use the name to find your article. '''[[Naming pages properly]]''' is an official guideline in naming pages, so before creating your article, read it and follow the instructions there.

{{LCARS-bar-heading|Creating a new article|COLOR={{Color|gold}}}}

=== Step 4: Access your new article ===
Before you can start writing your new article, you must access it. There are multiple methods in doing that, and you need to choose one.

==== Option 1: Red link ====
If you see a red link in 118Wiki, that means the link leads you to a page that has not been created yet. If you find a red link about a subject you’d like to write about, you can click on it. You will be taken to an empty page in edit mode, either in Visual editor or source editor.

If you can’t find a red link with the exact title you want to create, you can add one yourself! Edit a page that covers a related topic and add a link to your new page.

==== Option 2: Search ====
Write your article to the search bar and hit enter. If you’ve selected a title that isn’t used yet, you will be taken to a search results page. There you will find text that invites you to create a new page with the title you searched for. Click the red link.

==== Option 3: URL ====
If you look at your browser’s address bar while reading this page, you’ll notice that it reads {{fullurl:{{FULLPAGENAME}}}}. As you can notice, the last portion of the URL is the name of the page, {{FULLPAGENAME}}. You can change that portion with the title of your new page and hit enter. You’ll find a page with your title, but with a warning that such page does not exist. You can click “Create” or “Create source” tabs where “Edit” would normally be.

=== Step 5: Write your article ===

You can now start writing your new article! Before saving your work, remember to check that the page’s title is correct. Sometimes you might have accidentally included something that shouldn’t be in your article’s title, such as typos, extra symbols or code. Once you’re satisfied with your article, you can save and publish your work to the community!

Remember to create links to your new article. See [[118Wiki:Orphan pages]] for why that’s important. Don’t forget to include categories, as instructed in [[Using Categories]]! Read other help pages and guidelines as well to see what you should include to your article.

{{LCARS-bar-heading|Learn more|COLOR={{Color|blue}}}}

=== Other namespaces ===

This help page has mostly dealt with articles, i.e. main namespace pages. Most other namespaces act similarly as the main namespace, but you have to include the namespace prefix to your page name. For example, you can create a new help page using the methods taught here, but when you’re finding your page, you must include the prefix “Help:” to the title. A new user might be creating a user page for themselves, if not provided by a ship staff member. In that case, the prefix is “User:”.

Some namespaces are different. Most notably files must be uploaded and cannot be created otherwise. Categories might also have pages and other categories added to them before they are being created, which you will see when you access the page creation page.

=== Page models ===
There are a number of “page models”, which you can use as a basis of your new page. They are often in form of templates that are substituted to your page. For example, you can create an easy character page by accessing your new page, writing <nowiki>{{Subst:StarterBio}}</nowiki> and saving. When you now access the page, it has been automatically filled with a suitable starter character page you can now edit.

You can learn more about substituting in [[Help:Templates]]. Learn more about using the starter bio in [[Creation and Upkeep of a Character Page]].

=== More on the topic ===
{{Start Columns}}
* [[Redirect]], which you can create if the article should be found using different titles relating to it
* [[118Wiki:Disambiguation|Disambiguation]], for when there are multiple topics with similar name
{{Column|50%}}
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Your_first_article Your first article], Wikipedia help page about creating your first article
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Starting_a_new_page Starting a new page], MediaWiki help page about creating a new page
{{End Columns}}

[[Category:Help]]