Editing GuildWiki:How to help

[[Category:Helping out]]
<div style="float:right;">__TOC__</div>
{{shortcut|GW:How To}}
There are many ways that you can help the GuildWiki community! This page tries to help new users understand what needs to be done and how they can help improve the wiki.

If you need immediate high level help, consider contacting one of the [[GuildWiki:Administrator information|administrators]] (by leaving a comment on their talk page).

== Welcome to GuildWiki! ==

Welcome to GuildWiki, the Guild Wars Wiki. The aim of this site is to comprehensively document everything in Guild Wars, both the details of playing the game and the contents and inhabitants of [[Tyria (continent)|Tyria]], [[Cantha]] and [[Elona]]. Not only this but we aim to do so in a professional manner, providing pleasant, standardized formats for each type of page.

=== New articles ===

Something important is missing from the wiki? [[GuildWiki:How_to_help/My_first_article|Create a new article about it]]! Don't be shy about putting new stuff up, even if it is not perfect, others will see and further improve the article. If you want to learn more about the standards we're defining for formatting the site have a look at [[GuildWiki:Style and formatting]].

=== Get credit ===

Before you dive into making changes to the site, consider [[Special:Userlogin|Creating an account]]. This will add you to the [[Special:Listusers|user list]] and will mean you get credit for any contributions that you make. If you don't create an account then you can still edit and create new pages, but you will be identified by your IP address.

=== Learn the wikicode ===

Wikis use code that is different (and much easier) than normal HTML. Check out [[GuildWiki:Editing guide|this page]] to see how the wikicode works.

=== The task list ===

See the [[GuildWiki:Community Portal|Task List]] for a list of current GuildWiki tasks to help with (or add to).

=== Wanted pages ===

See the [[Special:Wantedpages|wanted pages]] for a list of linked-to-but-not-yet-written pages (ordered from most-linked-to to least).

=== Filling out stubs ===

A good way to get started at GuildWiki is filling out some [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_stub_article stubs]. Stubs are articles that don't yet have enough information. Most stubs are grouped into a subcategory, such as [[:Category:Location stubs]] or [[:Category:Quest stubs]]. To view the complete list have a look at the [[:Category:Stubs|Stubs Master Category]].

=== Contribute to research ===
The [[:Category:Research needed|Research needed]] category lists issues that need in-game research.

=== Quality control ===

One of the strengths of wiki is its iterative design process. A stub will be written, and someone will come and add a paragraph, and someone else will add something more, and so on. A side effect of this can be somewhat inconsistent article quality. 

<!--Check out [[Guildwiki:Dos and Donts]] for a list of best practices when contributing to certain articles. The list is a compilation of decisions made by the wiki community as they discussed issues and decided to do things in a certain way. -->

Pages that are way "below the bar" are listed in the [[:Category:Cleanup|Cleanup]] category. These pages have useful information, but are grammatically incorrect, written from the first-person perspective, or violate the [[GuildWiki:Style and formatting|Style & Formatting]] guide in some other way. Acting as a copy editor and fixing these articles is a great way to meaningfully contribute to GuildWiki.

=== Watching the Wiki ===

The [[Special:Recentchanges|Recent changes]] page shows a list of all the changes that have been made to the site. Have a look at the list to see if anything interesting is going on. Alternatively, if you are logged in you can add pages to your [[Special:Watchlist|Watchlist]] by clicking the 'Watch' link at the top of an article. The Watchlist is like your own Recent Changes page, showing only those pages that interest you. This is useful for keeping up with certain sections of the wiki that you are interested in.

=== Get involved ===

There are discussions going on all the time about the Wiki, and your input is always of value. Clicking on the discussion link at the top of an article will take you to a discussion page for that article. For a lot of parts of the site there are already discussions taking place that you can contribute on, or you can start your own discussion on the relevant page and someone will hopefully notice it in the Recent Changes list.

Also, spread the word! This Wiki grows as a resource due to the contributions of users like you, and they have to find the site somehow. Post on the message boards you frequent (But please- no spamming of our URL. That doesn't just annoy people, it makes us all look bad), add our URL to your signature, or link to us from your website.

=== Guildwiki policies ===

To help all contributers get along well with each other, Guildwiki has introduced certain policies (for example, to [[GuildWiki:Only revert once|revert articles only once]]). Find all Guildwiki policies [[:Category:Policies|here]].

=== More? ===

For more information, visit the [[:Category:Helping out|Helping out]] category. It contains a list of useful pages for new contributers to this wiki.