Tutorial

From Wind Repertory Project

This tutorial is designed to aid people who have never used any sort of wiki software before. If you have any questions, please be sure to contact me and I will help out wherever I can, and will post the answers in here for other new users to benefit from. The Wind Repertory Project has a very specific layout, a result of seven years worth of user feedback. Please follow the layout specifics as closely as possibly in order to avoid having your work deleted.

Thank you very much for your interest in the WRP.


The Basics

First things first...let's get you familiarized with the basic layout of the software. On the left sidebar you will see links to various areas of the site. Selecting "Random Page" will give you just that: a random page from the database. In the left sidebar you will also see a search box, and below that you will see the toolbox. There should be no need to use any of the links in the toolbox, as everything can be accomplished in an easier way, which I will outline below.

Now, take a look at the top left of this frame (to the right of the WRP logo). Above the page placeholder, you will see several tabs. These tabs are (in order):

  • page
  • discussion
  • edit (only seen if you are logged in)
  • view source (only seen if you are logged OUT)
  • history
  • move (only seen if you are logged in and have the correct privileges)
  • watch (only seen if you are logged in)

Across the way (and a little further up) on the right side, you will see:

  • your user name (only seen if you are logged in, otherwise this will be your IP #)
  • your talk
  • your preferences (only seen if you are logged in)
  • your watchlist (only seen if you are logged in)
  • your contributions (only seen if you are logged in)
  • logout (or log in/create account)


We will go through each function one by one.

  • First, the PAGE tab. Each entry in the WRP database is actually two pages in one. The main article is PAGE, which is where all the information on the composer or composition is stored.
  • The DISCUSSION tab is a complement to the PAGE. Here you may ask questions about rehearsal techniques, give suggestions, perhaps even discuss your like (or dislike?) of the composition in question. To add your thoughts, make sure that when you are on the DISCUSSION page, you use the "+" (plus sign) and not the EDIT tab.
  • The EDIT tab will appear on any page that has not been protected by the Sysop (myself). That means that you can change, correct, or add information on any page that has an EDIT tab. We will discuss editing in more detail further down.
  • The HISTORY tab simply tells you the history of the article in question. No change made on the WRP is ever deleted...you can always check the history of a page, all the way back to its inception. So, if you are so inclined, you can travel back through time and see how many mistakes I made setting up the earliest pages. :-)
  • The MOVE tab should not be used by you. If there is any moving of a page to do, alert me and I will take care of it. Moving is necessary sometimes when duplication of titles occurs. For example, at some point I will have to move the Concerto for Percussion page because there is bound to be more than one composition with that title, and I will need to create a disambiguation page. All of this is a complicated way of telling you: DON'T USE THE MOVE TAB.
  • The WATCH tab allows you to keep track of any specific page you choose. These will show up under your WATCHLIST over on the top right.
  • The next set of links (which is on the top right) begins with your USERNAME. If you click in here, you will be allowed to write a few words about yourself on the chance that someone wants to see who the person behind a certain edit or addition is. Consider it a place where you can give us your brief biography.
  • The TALK link is for anyone who wants to say anything to you. I don't expect it will be used much, but that is what it is for.
  • The PREFERENCES link takes you to a page where you can adjust your personal preferences. Be careful about modifying the skins, or you may be unable to see content. In general, the only things you should mess with in here are your User Profile, the Date, and the Time options.
  • The WATCHLIST link takes you to any pages you have set on WATCH (as mentioned above).
  • The CONTRIBUTIONS link shows you your contributions to the WRP.


Editing

Creating a new page

The easiest way to do create a new page is to do a search for whatever it is you want to create (e.g., if you wanted to create a page for "Turbine," you would enter it into the search field on the left sidebar). Make sure you spell it EXACTLY as you want it to appear. If the page does not already exist, the search function will take you to a page where you have the option to create a new page. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO NOT USE A PERIOD IN THE TITLE OF A PAGE, as the page will not load if these are present. Commas are ok to use, however. Therefore, "Symphony No. 3" cannot be used, but "Symphony III (Maslanka)" would be the way to approach it. This is not a choice we made, but rather a shortcoming in the software itself, which we have no way of adjusting or fixing.


Also, clicking on any red link will take you to the edit page for that title, so that you may create the new page.


Wiki editing uses a few conventions that you may be unfamiliar with. In order to get an idea of what character do what, here is a table that tells you all about the editing toolbar, which is found at the top of every page you edit. Apart from the final two examples below, these pieces of wikitext are created by typing your text, selecting it, and then clicking the buttons on the toolbar.

Icon Function What it shows when editing What it shows on the page
Bold text Bold or strong emphasis '''music''' music
Italic text Italic or emphasis ''instrument'' instrument
Internal link Internal link [[Mackey]] Mackey
External link External link [http://www.nikknakks.net Random Page] Random Page
Level 2 headline Section heading == abc ==

abc

Embedded image Insert image [[Image:Grantham.jpg]] Grantham.jpg
Media file link Insert media [[Media:abc.ogg]] Media:abc.ogg
Mathematical formula (LaTeX) Mathematical formula <math>abc</math> <math>abc</math>
Ignore wiki formatting Ignore wiki formatting <nowiki>abc '''[[Bold text]]'''</nowiki> abc '''[[Bold text]]'''
Your signature with timestamp Sign talk comments (with time stamp) ~~~~ Pilato n 18:36, 3 February 2008 (CST)
Horizontal line Horizontal line ----


There is also another way in which you can enter information for a new page: Steal it from another page. In other words, if you are going to enter a new page on Grainger's "Mock Morris," you could head over to the already-existing "Immovable Do" page, hit the EDIT tab, copy all of the code, exit the page carefully (without erasing or changing the text), then pasting the code into the new page. All you will have to do is change the relevant information.

After you've done this a few times, you will get the hang of it pretty quickly, and what is more, you will learn what each character code does. This may be the absolute easiest way to add new stuff, and I recommend it to the beginning editors.


Here are some more basics on what codes do:

<br /> forcibly inserts a line break. If you notice that some of your sentences are running together, insert one of these at the end where you want the line to break, and voila! Instant line break.

==Text Here == creates a Level 1 header, complete with a horizontal line (as in the examples above).

===Text Here=== creates a Level 2 header, which is bold but does not contain a horizontal line. You will likely not use this code.

An asterisk (*) will create a bullet point and indent your text slightly, just like this:

  • Hello world!


Preferred Layouts

To keep the look and feel of the site consistent, please adhere to these general layouts for the Composer and Composition pages. Any deviations from this general layout will be corrected by the Sysop. If you are asked in the template to KEEP a category or heading, then please KEEP IT even if there may be no information for it yet. Likewise, don't add new headings.