Consumer Rights Wiki:Write your first article!: Difference between revisions

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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==
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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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:*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 editing===
You can safely ignore this section until you have some experience under your belt and are comfortable with the basics, but read on if interested!.
*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===