Wikipedia: The Missing Manual
Wikipedia: The Missing Manual By John Broughton
January 2008
Pages: 502

| Table of Contents | Index | Sample Chapter | Colophon

Table of Contents

  1. Editing, Creating, and Maintaining Articles

    1. Chapter 1 Editing for the First Time

      1. The Wikipedia Way of Editing
      2. Practicing in the Sandbox
      3. Starting, Previewing, and Saving Your Edit
      4. Dealing with an Edit Conflict
      5. Wiki Markup: From Edit Box to Screen
      6. Editing Article Sections
      7. Editing the Lead Section
      8. Editing for Real

    2. Chapter 2 Documenting Your Sources

      1. Documentation Guidelines
      2. Adding an External Link
      3. Citing Sources
      4. Creating Footnotes
      5. Advanced Citation Techniques

    3. Chapter 3 Setting Up Your Account and Personal Workspace

      1. Why Register?
      2. Picking a User Name
      3. Registering
      4. Setting Up Your User Page
      5. Personal Subpages

    4. Chapter 4 Creating a New Article

      1. What Makes a Good Article
      2. What Articles Don’t Belong on Wikipedia
      3. Tutorial: Creating a New Article
      4. Ideas for New Articles
      5. Resources for Writing Articles

    5. Chapter 5 Who Did What: Page Histories and Reverting

      1. Understanding Page Histories
      2. Reverting Edits
      3. Advanced Techniques

    6. Chapter 6 Monitoring Changes

      1. The User Contributions Page
      2. Wikipedia’s Standard Watchlist
      3. Multiple Watchlists
      4. Real-Time Monitoring Alternatives

    7. Chapter 7 Dealing with Vandalism and Spam

      1. Lines of Defense
      2. Reverting Vandalism and Spam
      3. Issuing Warnings
      4. Requesting Assistance of Administrators
      5. Don’t Get into a Revert War

  2. Collaborating with Other Editors

    1. Chapter 8 Communicating with Your Fellow Editors

      1. Identifying Yourself
      2. Article Talk (Discussion) Pages
      3. User Talk Page Postings
      4. Communicating via Email and IRC

    2. Chapter 9 WikiProjects and Other Group Efforts

      1. WikiProjects
      2. Collaborations
      3. Less Formal Working Groups

    3. Chapter 10 Resolving Content Disputes

      1. Why Editors Disagree
      2. Avoiding Content Disputes
      3. Reviewing Content Changes: A General Plan of Action
      4. Resolving Content Disputes Informally
      5. Resolving Disputes with Assistance

    4. Chapter 11 Handling Incivility and Personal Attacks

      1. Enforcing Norms of Conduct
      2. Dealing with Incivility and Personal Attacks
      3. When You Get Irritated (or Worse)

    5. Chapter 12 Lending Other Editors a Hand

      1. Answering Questions
      2. Showing Appreciation for Other Editors
      3. Reviewing Articles and Images
      4. Coaching Other Editors
      5. Helping Resolve Disputes
      6. For Experienced Editors
      7. Choosing Where You Want to Help

  3. Formatting and Illustrating Articles

    1. Chapter 13 Article Sections and Tables of Contents

      1. Getting Sections Right
      2. Getting Headings Right
      3. Improving the Table of Contents

    2. Chapter 14 Creating Lists and Tables

      1. Creating and Editing Lists
      2. Editing and Creating Tables

    3. Chapter 15 Adding Images

      1. Uploading Images
      2. Finding Images
      3. Placing an Image in an Article
      4. Questions or Problems with Images
      5. Uploading a Non-free Image

  4. Building a Stronger Encyclopedia

    1. Chapter 16 Getting Readers to the Right Article: Naming, Redirects, and Disambiguation

      1. Naming and Renaming
      2. For Old Names and Bad Spellers: Redirects
      3. For Multiple Meanings: Disambiguation

    2. Chapter 17 Categorizing Articles

      1. Fundamentals of Categorization
      2. Category Links in Articles
      3. Category Pages
      4. Building Out Categories
      5. Discussing Categories
      6. Categories, Lists, and Navigation Templates

    3. Chapter 18 Better Articles: A Systematic Approach

      1. Avoid Surprises
      2. Don’t Suppress or Separate Controversy
      3. Reorganize and Edit Existing Content
      4. Don’t Take Article Scope as a Given
      5. Improve the Citation of Sources
      6. Build the Web
      7. Look for Guidance and Examples
      8. Add Sourced Content
      9. Remove Cruft and Duplication
      10. Get the Wording Right
      11. Make the Article Look Appealing

    4. Chapter 19 Deleting Existing Articles

      1. Responding to Problem Articles
      2. Alternatives to Deletion
      3. Three Ways to Delete an Article
      4. After an Article is Deleted

  5. Customizing Wikipedia

    1. Chapter 20 Customizing with Preferences

      1. User Profile
      2. Skin
      3. Math
      4. Files
      5. Date and Time
      6. Editing
      7. Recent Changes
      8. Watchlist
      9. Search
      10. Misc
      11. Gadgets

    2. Chapter 21 Easier Editing with JavaScript

      1. Setting Up Your Browser
      2. Adding and Deleting Scripts
      3. Fixing Problems
      4. Resources

  6. Appendixes

    1. Appendix A Tour of the Wikipedia Page

      1. The Six Upper-Right Links
      2. The Top Tabs
      3. Left Boxes and Links
      4. Links in the Body of the Page
      5. Bottom Links
      6. Additional Features in Edit Mode
      7. Additional Options on User Pages
      8. Keyboard Shortcuts

    2. Appendix Reader’s Guide to Wikipedia

      1. Some Basics
      2. What Wikipedia is Not
      3. How Good is Wikipedia?
      4. Navigating Within Wikipedia
      5. Images
      6. You Can Help

    3. Appendix Learning More

      1. Information Pages
      2. Directories and Indexes
      3. Places to Ask Questions
      4. Coaching and Classes
      5. Wikipedia News and Gossip

  1. Colophon

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