Powerbase:How to Start a Page
This is a help article on how to start a new page in SpinProfiles. It covers both the technical procedure and guidelines for dealing with new articles.
Contents
Before you create a new page
Familiarise yourself with SpinProfiles policies and guidelines
Before you create a new page, make sure you are familiar with SpinProfiles policies and guidelines in relation to:
- How to edit a page
- Tips on contributing to SpinProfiles
- Layout conventions at the Manual of Style
- Naming Conventions for articles themselves
- A Guide to Referencing
- A Guide to Sourcing
- A Guide to the use of Tone
- Copyrights
- Some important things to consider in relation to Libel
- Some pointers on Etiquette
Check to see if a similar page already exists
If you want to create a new page on a topic, the first thing to do is to use the "search" form (on the left hand side of the window or at this link) and plug in the tentative title of your new page to see whether someone has already created a page on that topic or something very similar.
A similar page may show up under "Article title matches" or "Page text matches" on the search results screen. It's obviously better that we combine pages (and efforts) on very similar or identical topics. For example, you may be trying to create a page on 'Thomas Dine,' but a search for 'Thomas Dine' shows that there is already an page on 'Thomas A. Dine', the same guy (BUT just because someone has a similar name, don't automatically assume they're the same. Sometimes a little investigation may be needed). Similarly, you may want to create a page on "Doctors Influenced by Pharmaceutical Reps," which would be about how Pharma reps market a company's drugs and influence decisions made by doctors through working to make sure it is their drugs that are prescribed. However, typing the key words 'Pharmaceuticals Doctors' into the search box brings up an article How the Pharmaceutical Industry Influences Doctors, an article that already contains information on the subject. To keep SpinProfiles tidy and make things easier to locate, if appropriate add the information you have found into this page. If you feel that the page would have been easier to find if it was under a different title, then create a new page with that title as a redirect so that anyone else searching in that way will be easily rerouted to the already existing page. When searching for an article such as the Pharma example just given, it may not always be the case that the key words we choose relate to the title of a similar article on your topic. If this seems the case it's a good idea to have a look under the Category for your subject to see if there is anything there (this may also be easier than trawling through lots of search results).
See the help page "how to redirect a page" for instructions on how to create a redirect.
Naming conventions for page titles
Make sure to abide by SpinProfiles naming conventions when titling your new article. This helps keep the encyclopedia tidy and makes adding links to articles easier.
Procedure: How to create a new page
There are three ways to create a new page:
- Using an internal link on a page/article to a non-existent page (using the Red links).
- From the search results page.
- Using the standard layout from the Article Submission page.
Tip: Internal links in SpinProfiles generally point to an article of the same name. For example, this link - Transnational power networks - points to an article named "Transnational power networks". You can create a link anywhere on SpinProfiles by simply putting two brackets around a word or phrase [[like this]]. If the link has the same name as an existing article it will show up in blue (with Transnational power networks, for example), where links that do not correspond to an existing article show up in red like this.
Creating a new page using an internal link to a non-existent page
If you're creating a new page because you saw one of those red links somewhere, just click on the red link. If you've registered with SpinProfiles (which is required in order to edit) and are logged-in, you'll usually get a page that says:
"You've followed a link to a page that doesn't exist yet. To create the page, start typing in the box below"
It really is that simple! Simply type some text into the box and click "save." (Remember to jot a note in the smaller "Summary" box below the big box - this helps other editors keep track of what's happening on SpinProfiles. In this case something like "starting a new page" will suffice.)
If you want to create a new page but haven't seen a red link, you simply need to create one. Following SpinProfiles naming conventions, the simplest way is to type the title you wish to use into the search box as described in the 'Creating a new page from the search results page' section below.
Before you save your new page, remember that all new pages/articles on SpinProfiles should be given a category.
Creating a new page from the search results page
A simple way to create a new page is to simply input the name of the page you want to create into the search box (following SpinProfiles naming conventions). If no such article exists, you'll get a page saying:
There is no page titled "[the name of your page]". You can create this page.
When you get there, click that red create this page link and it will open an editing window on the new blank page. Simply type in your text, click save and you're done.
Using Article Submission standard layout
The page relating to Article Submission enables you to quickly and easily start a new page. This is the prefered method for starting a new page on people or organisations as it contains a standard layout which keeps SpinProfiles articles tidy (as well as aiding the decisions of what the content of the page should be).
Tips and guidelines for creating good new articles
Introduce your subject
When starting a new article, remember to establish context at the start of a new page. Each article should begin with a brief (one- or two-sentence) general description of the individual, organization or topic. If possible, tell the reader why this person or group is in SpinProfiles. The reader should be able to tell from your introduction whether this article is relevant to their interests.
e.g. The Joe Bloggs Institute is a London-based think tank that has come under criticism for its lobbying activities on behalf of polluting industries.
OR
Jane Smith is a British Member of the European Parliament (MEP) who was at the centre of an expenses scandal in 2002.
You will notice that the first mention of the person, organization or topic (which should match the article title) uses bold text. Only the first mention should be in bold – for subsequent mentions, use plain text.
Give the new page a category
Before you save your new page, remember that all new pages/articles on SpinProfiles should be included in a category. This makes using Spinprofiles easier, makes it possible to find all pages on a topic from one place and helps to avoid problems with duplicate pages being created.
Remember to add a summary when saving
When you're ready to save your new page, remember to jot a note in the small "Summary" box below the larger editing box to help other editors keep track of what's happening on SpinProfiles. In this case something like "starting a new page" will suffice.
Stub pages
Stub pages are articles with little content, but that through the ongoing work of their creator and the collaboration process grow over time into longer articles. Stub pages are noticed and picked up by search engines, and thus attract new readers and thus new contributors. Please show tolerance for stub page creation and feel free to add to, edit and generally enrich the stub page. Today's stub page acorn is tomorrow's big oak.
Remember that all content added to SpinProfiles may be used by others
Bear in mind that SpinProfiles is an open content encyclopedia. You are contributing to a free, publicly-usable database of information. You automatically license everything you contribute under the GNU Free Documentation License; you can only do that if you own the copyright to the material (which you do if you created it), or if the material is in the public domain. See Spinprofiles:Copyrights for details.
