Editing Help:How to edit a page

Much of the challenge of editing a page is learning the syntax that the software uses. If you have edited Wikipedia, you shouldn't have much trouble, since it's the same software. If you have not, these links (to Wikipedia's help pages) may help:

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_edit Wikipedia: How to edit]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Cheatsheet Wikipedia: Cheatsheet]

== Editing basics ==
[[File:Jackson-page-20090923.png|300px|thumb|right|Reggie Jackson's page with the edit link highlighted]] If you're interested mostly in editing the text of articles, adding facts, and creating narratives, there are only a few things you need to know.

All editing in the Encyclopedia is done in wiki markup. This means that you create styling in text differently than in a word processor, by adding extra characters to the text. For example, to emphasize a word by making it appear in italics, you would type this: <code><nowiki>''italics''</nowiki></code>, surrounding the word in two apostrophes.

=== Getting started ===
To edit the text about a player, click on the "edit" link near the top of the page, just to the right of the player's vital statistics. You can see where this link is on the image to the right (a screenshot of Reggie Jackson's page). Editing this section will let you add facts or text about a player, and add references as needed. 

There are other sections of the page that you can edit, but those are more involved and technical, and are covered in different articles.

=== Preview and save ===
While you're editing, or when you think you're done, you can click the "Show preview" button at the bottom of the page to see what your article would look like if you saved it right now. The save button is right next to the preview button, and will write your changes to the database.

If you change a page, you will see the changes immediately, but other viewers of the Encyclopedia will not see them until they are approved by an administrator, unless they specifically click on a link to view the "draft version". Reviewing changes is the SABR Encyclopedia's way of controlling the quality of research while allowing everyone to contribute.

== Syntax ==
This will give you enough basic syntax to work with text in the Encyclopedia. There is plenty more information available on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_edit Wikipedia's how to edit help page].

=== Paragraphs ===
You can create a new paragraph by simply hitting enter twice, leaving an empty line between the two paragraphs.
<pre>
This is paragraph one.

This is paragraph two.
</pre>

=== Lists ===
You can create a bulleted list using asterisks, or a numbered list using pound signs, like this:
<pre><nowiki>
* Bullet one
* Bullet two
* Bullet three

# Number one
# Number two
# Number three
</nowiki></pre>
Which makes this:
* Bullet one
* Bullet two
* Bullet three

# Number one
# Number two
# Number three
=== Linking ===
==== Linking to other articles ====
You can link to any other article in the Encyclopedia by putting its name inside two sets of brackets. If I want to link to [[Reggie Jackson]], I would type <code><nowiki>[[Reggie Jackson]]</nowiki></code>. If you're not sure you got the name right, there is a "preview" function that you can use before saving an article - if the name you type is an existing page, the link will be blue, otherwise it will be red.

==== Linking to external sites ====
Usually if you are linking to an external site, it will be when you're [[Help:Citing sources|citing a source]] - see that article for more information.

However, you may wish to add a link to a page on another site with more information about the subject of the article. This is an excellent use of the encyclopedia, since it's intended to be a starting point for research. The standard way to do this is to add a section at the bottom of the article and put links there in a bulleted list. Links to other websites go inside one set of brackets, and the description just goes right after the address with a space in between. This would look like the code below:
<pre><nowiki>
== External Links ==
* [http://bill37mccurdy.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/hal-smith-catcher-a-tale-of-two-smittys/ A Tale of Two Smittys] - Blog post about Hal Smiths
</nowiki></pre>
And the link in the example would look like this:
* [http://bill37mccurdy.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/hal-smith-catcher-a-tale-of-two-smittys/ A Tale of Two Smittys] - Blog post about Hal Smiths

=== Headings ===
Headings follow this format:
<pre><nowiki>
== Major heading ==
Text of the section
=== Minor heading ===
Text of the subsection
==== Very minor heading ====
More text.
</nowiki></pre>
The heading just above this section ("Headings") is a minor heading. The one at the top of the article ("Editing basics") is a major heading.
==== Very minor heading ====
The heading just above this text is very minor.

=== Citing sources ===
There is a full article on [[Help:Citing sources | citing sources]]. It's mostly a cut and paste process.

=== More info ===
These are the most basic of functions, but should get you through most edit involving adding facts or writing. If you are interested in making exacting style adjustments and getting into more technical editing, the links to Wikipedia's resources may be helpful.

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_edit Wikipedia: How to edit]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Cheatsheet Wikipedia: Cheatsheet]

If you have any questions, either email them to pgarver@sabr.org or post them in the [[Help talk:Contents | Talk page of the main help page]].