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{{HelpToC}}
This page will help you better understand how Coppermind works and how you can contribute.
 
== Your Account ==
 
The first thing you should do is '''create an account'''. The button to do this is in the top right corner, and it's very easy to do! Then visit the [[:Special:Preferences|Preferences]] link (top right corner) and make changes to your account settings if you'd like.
 
NextIf you want to upload images or create new articles, please contact the [[:Coppermind: About|wiki staff]] on the [http://www.17thshard.com/forum/forum/10-the-coppermind-wiki/ 17th Shard] and '''request editor rights'''. If you skip this step, you won't be able to create new pages and you will have to fill out a CAPTCHA for every edit you make.
 
== The Number One Rule ==
Then visit the [[:Special:Preferences|Preferences]] link (top right corner) and make changes to your account if you'd like.
The most important thing for you to hear: '''You can't mess anything up!'''
 
Don't worry about making a mistake or doing something wrong. Every revision you make is recorded and can be reverted with a few fast clicks of the mouse. It's okay if you have bad spelling, don't cite sources, get your facts wrong, or ruin an entire page. There are plenty of other editors who will sweep in to fix or improve upon your work.
 
Anything you can provide is helpful: whether that's writing new articles from scratch or just fixing a punctuation error. Don't let fear of mistakes turn you away from editing, and don't feel like you need to read EVERY help page before you start contributing.
 
== Editing ==
 
=== Edit Tab ===
Navigate to a page you want to edit and choose this tab to make changes. Editing uses a basic [[:Help:Markup|markup]] language for formatting, which you'll want to get familiar with. We'll talk about this more on the [[:Help:Markup]] page. It's not hard! At the bottom of the page you can choose to see a preview, compare your changes with the existing version of the page, or save your work. Provide a brief summary of your edits before saving, and check the box if the changes are relatively minor--these steps will help other editors keep track of changes easier.
 
Note that you can also edit a specific section of an article by clicking the <code>[edit]</code> button next to a section title.
 
=== History Tab ===
 
== Discussion Pages ==
Every page on the wiki has an associated discussion page, and it's accessible via a tab in the top left corner of the page. It's there to talk about changes, make recommendations, and so on. If you have a more immediate question about an article, you can alternatively post on the [http://www.17thshard.com/forum/forum/10-the-coppermind-wiki/ 17th Shard] or [https://discord.gg/vPyGGKEv3fhN Discord]. For more on proper discussion page usage, see [[:Help:Discussion]].
 
== User Pages ==
You can visit (or create) your own user page by clicking your username in the top right corner. Use this to tell others about who you are and what you're working on, if you'd like. You can also use it as a sandbox to playexperiment with new articles and chip away ator more extensive changesedits before you editchange the real thing.
 
You can create additional subpages as well. Just append a backslashslash (<code>/</code>) to the URL of your user page, followed by the name for the subpage.
 
== Other Resources ==
: [[:Special:SpecialPages]] provides a very long list of other pages you may find useful.
 
== Categories and Templates ==
;User Talk Pages
Over the course of this guide you'll hear about '''categories''' and '''templates'''. We'll cover them towards the end, because a full explanation is on the more advanced side of what we'll talk about. But you'll see them come up here and there in the meantime. So let's talk basics.
: Note that user talk pages (see "Talk" next to your username) ''do not work properly''. Don't create or make use of user talk pages.
 
;Categories
== Namespaces ==▼
: Categories are tags we use to group and sort articles. You can find any article using the book/series categories listed on the Coppermind home page or using the content categories in the left sidebar. Categories are used to group articles this way. You can see what categories an article is in at the ''very bottom'' of a page. Some categories must be included manually, but many happen automatically thanks to templates.
Every page on Coppermind is filed into a certain '''namespace'''. Look at your current URL... Do you see the <code>Help:</code> portion? This page is in the "Help" namespace! Here's some common namespaces to be aware of:
 
;Templates
;Main
: Templates make more complicated and/or repetitive editing tricks easier to do. If you ever see something surrounded by double curly braces (<code>{{</code> and <code>}}</code>), it's a template. The template begins with the name of the template, which is followed by a number of ''parameters''--some required, some optional. Parameters are separated by vertical lines (<code>|</code>).
: This is the namespace where all of the ''articles'' are located. This namespace doesn't use any prefix--just the article name. (Note that all page titles are ''case sensitive''.)
 
▲== Namespaces ==
;User
Namespaces are an advanced topic. If you'd like to know more about how Coppermind is organized and why some pages (like this one) say things like <code>Help:</code> before the page name, then take a look at [[:Help:Namespaces]].
: Every user can create a user page (and subpages) as described above. These page titles begin with <code>User:</code>.
 
;File
: Images and other media files may be uploaded to Coppermind for use in articles. They each get their own page in the File namespace, where you can see metadata about the file. These page titles begin with <code>File:</code>. For more on uploading and using files, see [[:Help:Images]].
;Category
: Every page should be sorted into categories. They help us keep everything organized and easy to find. Category pages are created on the Category namespace. The page will automatically populate with links to all the pages that reference that category. These page titles begin with <code>Category:</code>. For more on Categories, see [[:Help:Categorization]].
 
;Template
: Template pages are where we create and define templates to be used in other pages. Templates are basically shortcuts to help simplify tricky or common formatting needs. The info boxes you see on the top right corner of many articles are created with templates. Citations make use of them as well. They're everywhere! These page titles begin with <code>Template:</code>. For more on Templates, see [:Help:Templates].
 
;Other Namespaces
: This list isn't comprehensive, so you may notice other namespaces (like Help).
 
{{help
;Talk Namespaces
|title=New Editor's Guide
: For every namespace there's an associated Talk namespace as well. This is where the related Discussion pages belong.
|prev=
|this=Getting Started
|next=[[Help:Guidelines|Guidelines]]
}}
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