Chester Wiki Guide

A wiki is a linked set of pages which anyone can edit and expand. This freedom allows for unique expression and helps foster interesting and new ideas in an organic and very dynamic way. The emphasis here is on "anyone". You do not need to be a PhD.

It's also an example of so-called "creative-commons", where people spend some time to make something and then share and share it alike without worrying too much about ownership.

So, if you see something you think is inaccurate or incorrect, you have the power to change it. If you see that something is incomplete, you can add more information. You can also create completely new content and tie it into the rest of the site. Likewise, others have the power to veto your changes. It is a delicate balance but one which ultimately leaves the users with the content they most want.

Never be afraid to change something or try something new! All changes can be "rolled back" if you make a mistake.

IMPORTANT: In order to edit pages, you must first create an account. This is a very painless process and the only hurdle to contributing content.

"Commercial" posts
It would be great if this was a commercial website where businesses in Chester paid hundreds of pounds for a mention, but that is not the case. This is a free site set on "Shoutwiki", so it is not the place for businesses to be getting a free ride. If you want to advertise on the web try ChesterWalls.info or ChesterTourist.com, and pay their very reasonable costs.

Facts and Opinions
The aim of a wiki is to present objective facts, rather than personal opinions. We recognize the importance of healthy and lively debate. If you wish to express your personal views on, for example, aspects of development plans in Chester or other controversial local topics, please use the Forum (when we get it working).

That being said, Chesterwiki is a lot more relaxed than Wikipedia. So if you have a useful bit of knowledge about Chester that was passed on by your Grandfather, you can put it here and (maybe) no-one will complain that it is not backed up by a reference.

Editing
Editing a page is as simple as clicking on the "Edit" tab at the top of the screen. There are, however, many possible options for markup (i.e. making the page look pretty.) For your convenience, there is a formatting toolbar, which works very much like a toolbar in a word processor. By highlighting text and clicking one of the buttons, such as Bold, the text will be surrounded by the appropriate markup to make it appear bold. More information on editing can be found over at Help On Editing. In general, just looking at how existing pages do things (by clicking on Edit and looking at the "raw" content) should let you figure out the markup — which is very simple! (Always make sure you "Preview" before you "Save Changes", otherwise you might end up editing a page several times).

Linking
Linking is the most important concept. The idea is to have all pages linked together in a logical and intuitive way. To make a link to a page, type the exact name of the page you wish to link to, surrounded by 2 brackets. This means to link to the page Front Page I type Main Page. All I did there was. It's that simple. To make a link to a page that displays differently, such as a link to Front Page that displays as Hello World! you just write Hello World. Capitalisation doesn't matter for links. If you create a page and do not link it then it will become invisible unless people look in the list of all pages.

Also, try to be descriptive in your linking. Try not to use the "click here!" phrase: "For more info check here" is bad! "See Hermitage for more info" is good!

Remember — use 2 brackets for things inside the wiki, and one pair of brackets for things outside (external websites).

Categories
These are a little more complicated, but are the "index" system. Do not worry if you add a page without "categories", because someone will come along and add them. However, if you can get your head round categories then it will make your contribution more visible.

"Loose End" editing
Some people write their content offline and then copy it to the wiki. Others prefer to work "live" so that their half-finished works are visible. Chesterwiki has quite a few half-finished pages and there are several reasons for this:


 * someone got bored/stuck and gave up;
 * its a half-restored page from the original site picked up off the "Wayback Machine";
 * someone was called away...

IF you see a half-finished page then it's up to you to try and complete it, leave it alone or delete it. Deletion is not a good idea if you know the author is very busy. If you try and complete it and someone else is trying to do the same the server can get confused - so use "discussion" to come to an agreement.