Editing Battlestar Wiki:Tutorial (Talk pages)

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'''Talk pages''' are a key feature of any self-respecting wiki, ''[[Battlestar Wiki]]'' being no exeption. Talk pages offer the ability to discuss articles and other issues with other [[:Category:Galactipedian|Galactipedians]].

==Talk pages==
If you want to ask a question about an article, or you have a concern or comment, you can put a note in the article's [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Talk page|talk page]].  You do that by clicking the "discussion" tab at the top of the page.  '''Don't worry'''' if the link shows up in red (or maroon); it's ok to create the talk page if it doesn't already exist.

When you post a new comment, put it at the bottom of the talk page.  The exception is that if you're responding to someone else's remarks, put your comment below theirs.  You can indent your comment by typing a colon (<tt>:</tt>) at the beginning of a line.

You should sign your comments by typing <tt><nowiki>~~~</nowiki></tt> for just your username, or <tt><nowiki>~~~~</nowiki></tt> for your username and a time signature (see the example discussion below).  When you save the page, your signature will be inserted automatically.  Most of us use time signatures because it makes following discussions much easier.

You can get a username by [[Special:Userlogin|creating an account]] (it's free). You have to be registered to post a reply.

=== Indenting ===
Indenting can improve the layout of a discussion considerably, making it much easier to read. A standard practice is to indent your reply one more level deep than the person you are replying to.

There are several ways of indenting in ''Battlestar Wiki'':

==== Plain indentations ====
The simplest way of indenting is to place a [[Wikipedia:Colon (punctuation)|colon]] (<tt>:</tt>) at the beginning of a line. The more colons you put, the further indented the text will be. A [[Wikipedia:newline|newline]] (pressing '''Enter''' or '''Return''') marks the end of the indented paragraph.

For example:
:<tt>This is aligned all the way to the left.</tt>
:<tt><nowiki>:</nowiki>This is indented slightly.</tt>
:<tt><nowiki>::</nowiki>This is indented more.</tt>
is shown as:
:This is aligned all the way to the left.
::This is indented slightly.
:::This is indented more.

====Bullet points====
You can also indent using ''bullets'', usually used for lists. To insert a bullet, use an asterisk (<tt>*</tt>). Similar to indentation, more asterisks in front of a paragraph means more indentation.

A brief example:
:<tt><nowiki>*</nowiki>First list item</tt>
:<tt><nowiki>*</nowiki>Second list item</tt>
:<tt><nowiki>**</nowiki>Sub-list item under second</tt>
:<tt><nowiki>*</nowiki>Isn't this fun?</tt>

Which is shown as:
:*First list item
:*Second list item
:**Sub-list item under second
:*Isn't this fun?

====Numbered items====
You can also create numbered lists. For this, use the [[Wikipedia:number sign|number sign]] or [[Wikipedia:hash symbol|hash symbol]] (<tt>#</tt>). This is usually used for polls and voting. Again, you can affect the indent of the number by the number of <tt>#</tt>'s you use.

Example:
:<tt><nowiki>#</nowiki>First item</tt>
:<tt><nowiki>#</nowiki>Second item</tt>
:<tt><nowiki>##</nowiki>Sub-item under second item</tt>
:<tt><nowiki>#</nowiki>Third item</tt>

Shows up as:
:#First item
:#Second item
:##Sub-item under second item
:#Third item

===Example discussion===
Here is an example of a well-formatted discussion:

Hi. I have a question about this article. I'm pretty sure purple elephants only live in New York! [[Wikipedia:User page|JayRandumWikiUser]] 02:49, 10 Dec 2003 (UTC)
:Well, last time I was in New York, the elephants I saw were green. &mdash; [[Wikipedia:User page|try2BEEhelpful]] 17:28, 11 Dec 2003 (UTC)
::I think you should find a source for your claims. [[Wikipedia:User page|Living&nbsp;&times;&nbsp;Skepticism]] 20:53, 11 Dec 2003 (UTC)
:::Okay, these elephant journals agree with me:
:::* ''Elephants Monthly''
:::* ''Elephants World''
:::&mdash; [[Wikipedia:User page|try2BEEhelpful]] 19:09, 12 Dec 2003 (UTC)
:I live in Australia, where the elephants look like kangaroos! The people below agree with my statement: [[Wikipedia:User page|-DontGdayMateMe]] 17:28, 14 Dec 2003 (UTC)
:# [[Zoophilia|ElefantLuvr]] 01:22, 15 Dec 2003 (UTC)
:# [[Wikipedia:User page|AisleVoteOnAnything]] 05:41, 15 Dec 2003 (UTC)
:# [[Wikipedia:User page|alittlebehindthetimes]] 18:39, 27 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Note that if you want to include a list in your comments, add colons before each item, for example:

<nowiki>:::Okay, these elephant journals agree with me:
:::* ''Elephants Monthly''
:::* ''Elephants World''
:::&mdash; [[Wikipedia:User page|try2BEEhelpful]] 19:09, 12 Dec 2003 (UTC)</nowiki>

Also, signing your message off is done by:
* Writing <nowiki>~~~</nowiki> for the name ([[Wikipedia:User page|try2BEEhelpful]]), or 
* Writing <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> for the name and date ([[Wikipedia:User page|try2BEEhelpful]] 19:09, 12 Dec 2003 (UTC)), or
* Writing <nowiki>~~~~~</nowiki> for the date only (19:09, 12 Dec 2003 (UTC)).

You should usually sign with both name and date but votes are often signed with names only.

==Experiment==
Experiment!  This time, instead of editing a sandbox, leave a message on the talk page by clicking "Discuss this page" or "discussion".  Remember to sign your user name.  You might want to try responding to someone else's post.  Remember, you should use "Show preview" to see if your formatting works before you save.

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