Powerbase:Help Contents

What is "wiki"?

A Wiki is a collection of interlinked web pages.

What if someone tries to vandalize or insert disinformation into Nuclear Spin?

Currrently all people who want editorial access to Nuclear Spin must register with SpinWatch. This is our first level of security. The Nuclear Spin software also includes a number of features that make it possible to detect and manage vandalism.

• As editors to the site are registered, it is easy to track the editing activities of registered user.
• In the case of someone still managing to write malicious material, the software keeps an archive of all past versions of each article, making it easy to undo by reverting to a previous version.

Do I have to register to edit pages?

Yes.

Do I have to use my real name?

Yes.

What is an orphan?

An orphan is an article that no other article links to. These can still be found by searching the SourceWatch, but it is preferable to find another article where a link can be added. You can find a list of orphan articles here.

What is a stub?

A stub on SourceWatch is a very short article, generally of one paragraph or less. Most people hate stubs, even though they are a probably a necessary evil. Many excellent articles started out as short stubs. Existing stubs should be expanded into proper articles: there is a hand-made list at SourceWatch:Find or fix a stub, and a generated list at Shortpages.

What is disambiguation?

See SourceWatch:Disambiguation.

What is a minor edit? When should I use it?

When editing a page, one has the option of flagging the edit as a "minor edit". When to use this is somewhat a matter of personal preference. The rule of thumb is that an edit of a page that is spelling corrections, formatting, and simple rearranging of text should be flagged as a "minor edit". A major edit is basically something that makes the entry worth relooking at--either through substantial additions or reorganisation--or fixes a major error.

This feature is important, because users can choose to hide minor edits in their view of the Recent Changes page, to keep the volume of edits down to a manageable level.

What is "Recent Changes", and what do the abbreviations used there mean?

The notations on "Recent Changes" are "N" for new page (new pages often attract a bunch of copyedits); the "M" stands for "Minor edit" or "minor change", which you can set by checking the check box labelled "This is a minor edit" when you edit a page. If you check your "Preferences", you can suppress minor changes in the Recent Changes List. Checking this box is a courtesy to people who suppress seeing minor changes -- check the box if the change is a simple spelling or grammar change.

Are there any standard formats, for things like dates for example?

See the SourceWatch:Manual of Style

What do I do if I find two articles on the same subject?

Well, you could merge them yourself if you are feeling bold. Pick the most suitable page name (which may not necessarily be one of the existing ones!). If you're not sure which name to use, or whether the two articles should really be merged, mention it on the talk page of one of them (and put a quick note with a link on the talk page of the other), and see what other people think. You can also make a mention of the problem on the list of SourceWatch:Duplicate articles.

What is the ideal/maximum length of an article? When should an article be split into smaller pieces?

Separate stub sub-articles for each area of a topic can be very inconvenient for the reader to be chasing stubs that don't say very much. Articles seem to have clearly diminished technical performance when they exceed 32K in length. A rule of thumb: >30K must be divided; 20K-30K probably should be divided; 10K-20K consider dividing if the subject conveniently warrants; <10K don't bother. Size is only one factor; a 30K article with no likelihood for increased size is probably fine the way it is.

Can we debate or talk about the subjects here?

This is an encyclopedia that strives to present subjects fairly and accurately. Discussion intended to improve articles is welcome here, however; it takes place in the Talk: pages attached to every article.

I've found vandalism, or I've damaged a page by mistake! How can I restore it?

Click on the "Older versions" link. Find the last good version of the page (it helps to use a browser with multiple tabs). Edit this old version (you'll get a warning that you're editing an old version at the top of the edit box). Save this text -- it will become the new current version.

Which languages can I use?

On the English SourceWatch, English! If you would like to set up a SourceWatch in another language, be our guest.

American English, I presume, not British English?

Why presume that? People are writing in all sorts of English. This isn't necessarily a bad situation, either. Of course, the Americans aren't going to adjust their usage for the British, and God knows the British won't adjust theirs for the Americans. :-)

However, it is good form to keep usage consistent within a given article.

Use of one English variation in article titles can cause a Search in another variant to fail. In this case, it is recommended that you create a new article using the alternative spelling which is a redirect to the main article. Then, in order to prevent this redirect being an orphan, create a link to the redirect from the top of the Talk page of the main article.

How do I spell-check a page?

A spell checker has been requested for SourceWatch, but has not been implemented yet. When editing a larger article, it is in any event much more convenient to paste the text into your favorite text editor or word processor first, edit and spell check there, and then paste back into your browser to preview.

There is a list of common misspellings, which you can use to check if a listed misspelling is on any page in the database. Unlike a spell checker, an unrecognized word is considered correct.

Why are some links red? What are the ? links?

They both indicate that a page with that name has not yet been started. Which one you see depends on your Special:Preferences. If you have "Highlight links to empty topics" checked, you'll see red links. Otherwise, you get the little blue question marks.

Either way, you can click on that link and start a page with that name. But be careful -- there may already be articles on similar topics, or an article on the same topic under a different name. It's pretty important to hunt around for similar topics first. See SourceWatch:Naming conventions for information on naming pages.

Ok, what about the green links?

Those are external links; i.e. those that link to pages outside SourceWatch.

What happens when two users edit a page at the same time?

This is called an "edit conflict". You'll get a conflict screen that displays both versions in separate windows, along with a summary highlighting the differences, and instructions on how you should proceed. It's virtually impossible to lose any data.

How do I learn about changes to certain topics without having to go there from time to time?

If you are a logged-in user, on every page you will see a link that says "Watch this article". If you click on it, the article will be added to your personal watchlist. You watchlist will show you the latest changes on your watched articles.

What file formats should I use for pictures/sounds/videos?

For images, use JPEG for photographs, and PNG for drawings, logos and the like. GIF can be used instead of PNG, but it is discouraged because of patent reasons. Ogg Vorbis is prefered for sound; MP3 is tolerated but also discouraged for the same reason as GIF. As for video, good question; it hasn't come up yet. See SourceWatch:Image use policy for more.

One of the contributors is being unreasonable. Help!

See SourceWatch:Staying cool when the editing gets hot.

Can I change the default number of contributions displayed in the "My contributions" list?

Currently not. You can, however, change the setting on the page and bookmark the resulting page.

Links: External and International

Is translating pages from other SourceWatch that have more information than ours a good way to add to the project in general?

Yes, it's a good idea to cross-pollinate.

Is it OK to link to other sites, as long as the material is not copied onto SourceWatch?

External links are just fine. Arguably, they increase the usability of SourceWatch. Keep in mind, however, that SourceWatch is not a web directory; external links should support the content of the article, not replace it. The current convention is to place external links in a separate section at the bottom of the article. However, sometimes they are placed within the article as a footnote. See SourceWatch:How does one edit a page for different ways to create external links.

Copyrights

I have, or can get, special permission to copy an image or article to SourceWatch. Is it OK to do that?

The text and images of SourceWatch are covered by the GNU Free Documentation License. Unless an item is covered by the same or a similar license, or is in the public domain, it cannot be used on SourceWatch. So you have to ask the copyright holder of the material to license it under GFDL.

I have an out-of-copyright image (or text) that is reproduced in an in-copyright book. Can I scan / type it into SourceWatch?

Providing they haven't altered the image then they can't claim a copyright on it. If it was in the public domain before they used it, it's still in the public domain afterward.

Does using a GIF image in SourceWatch violate the GFDL because of its patent?

The LZW compression algorithm used with the GIF format is patented. It is nevertheless legally permissable to produce gif's and release them under GFDL, just like it is legal to produce a CD-ROM with GFDL material even though the CD-ROM format is patented. People who write or use gif creation programs are bound by the patent. That is why free software generally does not support the format anymore. That being said, we encourage SourceWatchns to use the technically superior and patent-free PNG format instead of GIF.

Under the copyright law in Japan, copyright holders cannot make their works public domain, therefore there is no public domain in materials covered by Japanese copyright law. What can I do?

Technically, there is still expiration in Japan too. So if the works exceeded expiration term, they are considered public domain. Otherwise, they cannot be public domain.

Miscellaneous

SourceWatch is great but I no longer have a life. I feel the urge to spread this affliction to my fellow human beings. How do I spread the word?

See SourceWatch:Building SourceWatch membership for some ideas.

How do I edit a page?

It's quite simple. Simply click "Edit this page" on the bottom or the side of the page, and type away. See SourceWatch:How to edit a page to learn about making links, using bold and italics, linking to images, and many other things...

How do I make links?

A link is just the name of the page surrounded by double square brackets. It's also possible to make the link display text that is different to the link:

[[page name]]

[[page name]]s -- suffix text will display as part of the link

[[page name|display name]] -- hide the page name and display something else (but use this sparingly, and never "click here"!)

[[page name (disambiguation)|]] -- the "pipe trick": the part in parentheses will not be displayed.

How do I delete a page?

Consideration for others demands that you exercise extreme caution in doing so. Think about what you are trying to accomplish. SourceWatchns generally discourage deleting information from the encyclopedia unless there is a good reason for it. Please review SourceWatch:Policy on permanent deletion of pages before taking action.

It is trivial to delete the text from a page. You can click the edit link, erase all of the text, and click save. However, this is rarely helpful, as the page's history is still available, and anyone can restore the text again.

Usually (but not always), rather than deleting a page, the page should be redirected somewhere useful. If someone writes a nice article on 'JFK' it should be moved to 'John F Kennedy' (or similar) and a redirect put in place. See SourceWatch:How does one edit a page to learn about redirects.

To request that a page be permanently deleted, put the page title on SourceWatch:Votes for deletion, with the reason why you think it should be deleted. At some point an administrator will come by the page and decide to remove it for you. Unless someone else comes by and decides not to agree with you, of course.

How do I rename a page?

Registered users can move a page; this moves the page content and edit history to a new title, and creates a redirecting page at the old title. This method is better than just copying the content by hand, as it preserves the article's history. Use the "Move this page" link. If you want to move a page, please click the "What links here" and fix the links to the page in question. See SourceWatch:How to rename (move) a page.

How do I edit a redirect page?

The easiest way to edit the redirected page is to click on the link you see at the top of the page after being redirected: "redirected from ...". For example, if you try to go to the Tobacco Industry Research Council page, you are redirected to the Council for Tobacco Research page. At the very top of that page, you will see a message: "(redirected from Tobacco Industry Research Council)", Click on the Tobacco Industry Research Council link, and you will edit the redirect page page.

What is "Recent Changes", and what do the abbreviations used there mean?

The notations on "Recent Changes" are "N" for new page (new pages often attract a bunch of copyedits); the "M" stands for "Minor edit" or "minor change", which you can set by checking the check box labelled "This is a minor edit" when you edit a page. If you check your "Preferences", you can suppress minor changes in the Recent Changes List. Checking this box is a courtesy to people who suppress seeing minor changes -- check the box if the change is a simple spelling or grammar change.

What is the ideal/maximum length of an article? When should an article be split into smaller pieces?

Separate stub sub-articles for each area of a topic can be very inconvenient for the reader to be chasing stubs that don't say very much. Articles seem to have clearly diminished technical performance when they exceed 32K in length. A rule of thumb: >30K must be divided; 20K-30K probably should be divided; 10K-20K consider dividing if the subject conveniently warrants; <10K don't bother. Size is only one factor; a 30K article with no likelihood for increased size is probably fine the way it is.

See also: SourceWatch:Administrators

What is an administrator? What is a sysop?

Two words for the same thing. An administrator is simply a SourceWatch user who can access the few restricted SourceWatch software functions: deleting articles and uploaded files, protecting and unprotecting pages, blocking and unblocking IP addresses, and running certain direct database queries.

How can I become an administrator?

It's easy. First, you need a user account. Then, make useful edits over a period of time. In this way, you prove to the community that you are here in good faith. Then, send a message to editor@prwatch.org and request sysop status. Voila! Be sure to read SourceWatch:Administrators and SourceWatch:Policy on permanent deletion of pages, and use your new "powers" with caution.

Administrative Tasks

How can I unban an IP?

Select "Blocked IP addresses" from the drop-down box at the top of each page (Special:Ipblocklist), and click on "unblock" as required. Developers can unblock multiple IPs at once.