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{{#seo:
|title=Write Your First Article - Consumer Rights Wiki
|description=Step-by-step guide for new Consumer Rights Wiki contributors. Covers minimum requirements, article structure, verifiable claims, and editorial standards.
|og:title=Write Your First Article - Consumer Rights Wiki
|og:description=Step-by-step guide for new Consumer Rights Wiki contributors. Covers minimum requirements, article structure, verifiable claims, and editorial standards.
|og:type=article
|keywords=consumer rights wiki, write article, contribute, getting started, new contributor, guide
}}
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Before getting started, you need to know some of the requirements for a new article on this wiki. The [[Consumer Rights Wiki:Wiki policy index|wiki policy]] covers all the guidelines that mature articles need to follow, but reading these guidelines from start to finish may be a daunting task for new contributors. The next section describes the minimum requirements in order to write an article that can be molded into complying with these guidelines in a reasonable amount of time. The last section describes how to edit and create articles.
Before getting started, you need to know some of the requirements for a new article on this wiki. The [[Consumer Rights Wiki:Wiki policy index|wiki policy]] covers all the guidelines that mature articles need to follow, but reading these guidelines from start to finish may be a daunting task for new contributors. The next section describes the minimum requirements in order to write an article that can be molded into complying with these guidelines in a reasonable amount of time. The last section describes how to edit and create articles.


Don't have a topic to write about? Visit [[Consumer Rights Wiki:How to help|How to help]] to see what the wiki needs!
Don't have a topic to write about? Visit [[Article suggestions]] to see what the wiki needs!


==Video guide==
==Video guide==
{{#ev:mediawiki
<br />
| CRW article creation video guide 07-2025.webm
{{#ev:youtube|KlcXvKTWLY4|720|center|How to create a new article on ConsumerRights.wiki}}
| 720
| center
| Step-by-step guide to creating an article on CRW (July 2025)
}}
 


==Minimum requirements==
==Minimum requirements==
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===Claims must be easily verifiable===
===Claims must be easily verifiable===
 
{{Main|Consumer Rights Wiki:Verifiability}}
A claim is verifiable if:
A claim is verifiable if:
*A verifiable source can easily be found by means of an internet search, or
*A verifiable source can easily be found by means of an internet search, or
*A verifiable source has been referenced using the instructions in [[Adding references]]
*A verifiable source has been referenced using the instructions in [[Consumer Rights Wiki:Verifiability#How to make an inline citation|adding references]]


Articles should only consist of verifiable claims. Claims that make assumptions or are based on personal experiences or isolated incidents are not valid. For example, "Motorola is pushing updates to their older phones that intentionally slow them down" would only be considered valid if a verifiable source proves it.
Articles should only consist of verifiable claims. Claims that make assumptions or are based on personal experiences or isolated incidents are not valid. For example, "Motorola is pushing updates to their older phones that intentionally slow them down" would only be considered valid if a verifiable source proves it.
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==Creating an article==
==Creating an article==
Ready to make an new article? Click the [[Consumer_Rights_Wiki:Create_page|Create page]] link on the sidebar. Make sure that the name of the article is singular and in lowercase except for when it's a proper noun like a name. If you are new around here and not sure how to get started, you should follow the guide down below.
Ready to make an new article? Click the [[Consumer_Rights_Wiki:Create_page|Create page]] link on the sidebar. Make sure that the name of the article is singular and in sentence case (only the first word and proper nouns should be capitalized). If you are new around here and not sure how to get started, you can find some tips below.
===Article info form===
Most of the time, upon entering a name for your article, you'll be taken to a form where you can add in some basic info about the subject of your article. Just fill in as much of it as you can, and don't worry about leaving any fields blank, as they can be filled in by yourself or someone else later. The information will be used to auto-populate a table in the article, and provides the wiki with some useful machine-readable data.


===Basic Info===
===Basic editing===
*You can make edits using the '''visual editor''' by clicking the "edit" button at the top of an article, or using the '''source editor''' by clicking "edit source" instead.
*You can make edits using the '''visual editor''' by clicking the "edit" button at the top of an article, or using the '''source editor''' by clicking "edit source" instead.
**The '''visual editor''' is easier to use. It's '''recommended''' to start with this. It's more intuitive in multiple ways, but doesn't allow for complete control like the source editor.
**The '''visual editor''' is easier to use. It's '''recommended''' to start with this. It's more intuitive in multiple ways, but doesn't allow for complete control like the source editor.
**The '''source editor''' is the advanced editor. You should ignore it for your first few edits, then check it out when you're comfortable with the visual editor. It allows for direct access to the markup language, and generally has more features and control. One downside is that you have to click '''Preview''' to see how it'll look. ''You might find yourself using this more often as you gain experience.''
**The '''source editor''' is the advanced editor. Certain things are much easier in it, but it's safe to ignore for your first few edits and check it out when you're comfortable with the visual editor. It allows for direct access to the markup language, and generally has more features and control. One downside is that you have to click '''Preview''' to see how it'll look.
**''Source editor is forced on some namespaces (Talk: and Soyjak_Wiki: for example). This is okay. Proceed as normal, and do add a signature when you write on talk pages.''
*The wiki uses a markup language called [[mediawikiwiki:Help:Formatting|wikitext]] for formatting. For example, <code><nowiki>'''bold'''</nowiki></code> for '''bold''' text and <code><nowiki>[[link|text to display for the link]]</nowiki></code> for a [[Consumer_Rights_Wiki:Style_guide|link]]. The visual editor can handle most of this.
*The wiki uses a markup language called [[mediawikiwiki:Help:Formatting|wikitext]] for formatting. For example, <code><nowiki>'''bold'''</nowiki></code> for '''bold''' text and <code><nowiki>[[link|text to display for the link]]</nowiki></code> for a [[Consumer_Rights_Wiki:Style_guide|link]]. The visual editor can handle most of this.


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:*You can experiment in the [[Sandbox|sandbox]] if you want to try editing without affecting any real pages.
:*You can experiment in the [[Sandbox|sandbox]] if you want to try editing without affecting any real pages.
===Advanced section===
You can ignore this section until you have some experience under your belt and are comfortable with the basics.
*If you want to add colored text, backgrounds, and borders, then the wiki also supports HTML and CSS styling, mainly through the source editor. To use this, first surround the text you want to style in html tags like <code><nowiki><span>this</span></nowiki></code> or <code><nowiki><div>this</div></nowiki></code>, and then in the first tag, add style="property1;property;2;property3; where each property has a semicolon after it, for example <code><nowiki><span style="font-size:10px;color:red;font-weight:bold;>test</span></nowiki></code> becomes <span style="font-size:10px;color:red;font-weight:bold;">test</span>.
Speaking of colored text and backgrounds, you can use '''templates''' to reuse common elements (like infoboxes, alerts, and formatting):
[[Help:Templates|Templates]] work using a feature called '''transclusion'''. This just means one page can automatically include the contents of another. When the original page is updated, every page that includes it will show the updated version too.
There are a few ways to use templates:
*In the visual editor, click '''Insert > Template''' to bring up the template wizard.
*Or, in source mode, type the code yourself:
**<code><nowiki>{{Template:Template name}}</nowiki></code> — when the page starts with <code>Template:</code>
**<code><nowiki>{{:Page name}}</nowiki></code> — when it's a regular page (like a subpage or shortcut)
For example:
*<code><nowiki>{{Main Page/In The News}}</nowiki></code> brings in the "In The News" section from that subpage.
*<code><nowiki>{{InfoboxCompany}}</nowiki></code> includes a company style infobox.
You can combine this with HTML and styling to make really useful and reusable page elements. If you're curious, go look at the source of one of the templates on the wiki!
''This stuff is optional, but powerful — it's worth playing around with once you've gotten the hang of basic editing.''


===Adding references===
===Adding references===
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