LabVIEW Wiki:Contributing FAQ - Revision history

Logmanoriginal: Various clarifications and updates

2020-05-17T07:08:53Z

Various clarifications and updates

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	{{Help contents back}}		{{Help contents back}} {{TOCright}}
	This page of frequently asked questions is devoted to ~~answering those~~ questions commonly asked by contributors ~~to LabVIEW Wiki~~.		This page of frequently asked questions is devoted to questions commonly asked by contributors.
	~~__NOTOC__ __TOC__~~		==Getting started==
	== Getting started ==
	===Do I have to register to edit pages?===		===Do I have to register to edit pages?===
	Yes, you ~~must have~~ an account ~~and be logged in~~ to edit pages on ~~the~~ LabVIEW Wiki. If you do not have an account, go [~~http~~://~~forums.lavag~~.org/register.html here] to get one. LAVA Forum members don't need a new account. They can use their existing login name and password. For more information on why we don't allow anonymous edits, see [[LabVIEW Wiki:Why don't you allow anonymous edits?]]		Yes, you need an account to edit pages on LabVIEW Wiki. If you do not have an account, go [https://labviewwiki.org/wiki/Special:CreateAccount create one now].

	~~You don't have to use your real name for your username. If you don't like the username name you currently have then you can request a change in this [http:/~~/~~forums.lavag.org/LabVIEW-Wiki-Support-f91.html forum]. You can also edit the [[User_talk~~:~~Michael_Aivaliotis\|admin's talk page]]. You can also send a Personal Message to the Admin [http://forums.lavag.org/index.php?act=Msg&CODE=4&MID=2 here~~].

	===How can I contribute?===		===How can I contribute?===
			====Discuss issues====
	====~~Point out problems~~====		A lot of people get started on LabVIEW Wiki because they are reading an article and think to themselves "that's not right...". If you know just what to do to fix something that isn't right — great, go for it; but if you aren't sure what to do, here's an approach with which you can never really go wrong. Simply navigate to the discussion thread associated with an article by clicking on the Discussion button on the top and make a comment on what you think needs changing.
	A lot of people get started on LabVIEW Wiki because they are reading an article and think to themselves "that's not right...". If you know just what to do to fix something that isn't right — great, go for it; but if you aren't sure what to do, here's an approach with which you can never really go wrong. Simply navigate to the discussion thread associated with ~~the~~ article by clicking on the Discussion button on the top ~~right~~ and make a comment on what you think needs changing.

	====Create new articles====		====Create new articles====
	LabVIEW Wiki articles contain lots of links to other articles. ~~Black underlined~~ links represent pages that do exist. Red links point to pages that don't yet ~~exist~~. Whoever created these links thought that an article on the topic should exist. If this was not a popular idea, the link may have been removed. It's also possible that a spelling error was made, or that they didn't know the correct name for an existing page on the same (or a more general) topic. In this case, you could fix the link, and/or create a [[Help:Redirect\|redirect]]. If you decide there should be an article at the other end of the link, by all means start writing it!		LabVIEW Wiki articles contain lots of links to other articles. Regular links represent pages that do exist. Red links point to pages that don't exist yet. Whoever created these links thought that an article on the topic should exist. If this was not a popular idea, the link may have been removed. It's also possible that a spelling error was made, or that they didn't know the correct name for an existing page on the same (or a more general) topic. In this case, you could fix the link, and/or create a [[Help:Redirect\|redirect page]]. If you decide there should be an article at the other end of the link, by all means start writing it!

	For technical help getting started, see [[Help:Starting a new page]].		For technical help getting started, see [[Help:Starting a new page]].
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	====Publicize LabVIEW Wiki====		====Publicize LabVIEW Wiki====
	~~Please add~~ a link on your website or blog ~~promoting LabVIEW Wiki~~. All links ~~to our site~~ should point to ~~the main URI~~: ~~http~~://~~wiki.lavag~~.org.		Add a link to LabVIEW Wiki to your website or blog. All links should point to: https://labviewwiki.org.

	===Where do I start?===		===Where do I start?===
	{{Main Page/Work in Progress}}		{{Main Page/Work in Progress}}

	====Start with what you know====		====Start with what you know====
	*Write about a LabVIEW ~~related technique or concept~~ that you ~~already use in your current development~~. If you have helped other users with LabVIEW problems on the LAVA Forums or the NI Forums, then transfer that bit of knowledge here. The next time someone posts that same question you can simply point them to your ~~composition~~ on the LabVIEW Wiki.		* Write about LabVIEW topics and concepts that you are familiar with. If you have helped other users with LabVIEW problems on the LAVA Forums or the NI Forums, then transfer that bit of knowledge here. The next time someone posts that same question you can simply point them to your article on the LabVIEW Wiki.
	*~~Things~~ you have ~~already~~ done research on. Have you written a thesis, essay, or white paper? Consider contributing the fruits of your efforts to related LabVIEW Wiki articles. First of all, there will almost certainly be an existing article which you will want to merge your content into. Secondly, make sure you are comfortable with our License. See [[LabVIEW Wiki:Copyrights]]		* Write about LabVIEW topics that you have done research on. Have you written a thesis, essay, or white paper? Consider contributing the fruits of your efforts to related LabVIEW Wiki articles. First of all, there will almost certainly be an existing article which you will want to merge your content into. Secondly, make sure you are comfortable with our License. See [[LabVIEW Wiki:Copyrights]]

	====Start with outside research====		====Start with outside research====
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	==Terminology==		==Terminology==
	Note, for a more comprehensive list see [[Help:Glossary]]		Note, for a more comprehensive list see [[Help:Glossary]]

	===What is the difference between a page and an article?===		===What is the difference between a page and an article?===
	~~The term "page" encompasses all the material~~ on LabVIEW Wiki, ~~including LabVIEW information topics~~, talk pages, ~~documentation, and [[Special:Specialpages\|~~special pages~~]] such as [[Special:Recentchanges\|Recent Changes]]. "Article" is a narrower term referring to a page containing a LabVIEW Information entry. Thus~~, ~~all~~ articles are pages~~, but not all pages are articles~~.		Everything on LabVIEW Wiki is a ''page''. This includes the home page, templates, talk pages, special pages, user preferences, files, articles, et cetera. There are currently {{NUMBEROFPAGES}} pages on LabVIEW Wiki. ''Articles'' on the other hand, are a subset of pages that make up the LabVIEW Wiki content. For example [[LabVIEW]], [[LabVIEW Versions]], [[Events]], [[VI Scripting]], et cetera. There are currently {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} articles on LabVIEW Wiki. Go to [[Special:Statistics]] for statistics on LabVIEW Wiki pages and articles.

	A '''~~LabVIEW Wiki article~~'~~'' is a page that has LabVIEW specific information~~ on ~~it.~~
	~~See [[Special:Allpages]] for~~ a ~~list~~ of ~~all LabVIEW Wiki articles and [[Special:Statistics]] for statistics on LabVIEW Wiki and its growth.~~
	~~An "article" does not include any~~ pages ~~in any of the specified namespaces~~ that ~~are used for particular purposes, such as:~~
	* the ''LabVIEW Wiki~~'' namespace for material about meta subjects related to LabVIEW Wiki (~~example, [[LabVIEW ~~Wiki:FAQ]~~]);
	* the ''talk'' namespaces for discussing what the content of pages should be. This is currently disabled on all pages except for the user pages. We prefer to substitute the talk pages with forum threads. One forum topic thread per article. The articles are generated automatically when you click on the Discussion button. The dedicated Wiki forum for article discussions is located [http://forums.lavag.org/WIKI-Article-Discussions-f89.html here].
	* the ''special'' namespace, ~~whose pages are created by the software on demand (see~~ [[~~Special:Specialpages~~]]);
	* the ''user'' namespace for pages that are used by individual Wikipedia writers (example, [[~~User:Michael_aivaliotis~~]]).
	* the ''image'' namespace which is used for describing and attributing images (example, [[~~:Image:LabVIEW_Logo_Vertical_4c.jpg~~]])

	~~But not all pages in the article namespace~~ are ~~considered to be~~ articles~~; the most notable exceptions are:~~
	* the [[Home\|Home Page]];
	* pages which contain no internal links;
	* thousands of [[LabVIEW Wiki~~:Disambiguation\|disambiguation pages]] which are used to resolve naming conflicts;~~
	* thousands of [[Help:redirect\|redirect]] pages which are used to ~~re-route one page to another page.~~

	~~The automatic definition used by the software at~~ [[Special:Statistics]] ~~is: '''any page that is in the article namespace, is not a [[Help:Redirect\|redirect page]] and contains at least one wiki link'''. ''The~~ statistics ~~software currently has no method of detecting disambiguation pages, however; nor does it disregard [[~~LabVIEW Wiki~~:Stub\|stub]]s (but in any case, many~~ articles ~~tagged as stubs are quite substantial) or stublists (lists templates with little or no content)''~~.

	===What is an orphan?===		===What is an orphan?===
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	===What is a stub?===		===What is a stub?===
	A stub on ~~LabVIEW Wiki~~ is a very short article, generally of one paragraph or less. Most people dislike stubs, even though they are probably a necessary evil. Many excellent articles started out as short stubs. Likewise, our hope is that existing stubs will be expanded into proper articles. For general knowledge regarding stubs, please refer to [[LabVIEW Wiki:Stub]].		A stub on is a very short article, generally of one paragraph or less. Most people dislike stubs, even though they are probably a necessary evil. Many excellent articles started out as short stubs. Likewise, our hope is that existing stubs will be expanded into proper articles. For general knowledge regarding stubs, please refer to [[LabVIEW Wiki:Stub]].

	===What is disambiguation?===		===What is disambiguation?===
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	===What is a minor edit? When should I use it?===		===What is a minor edit? When should I use it?===
	When editing a page, a [[Helpi:How to log in\|logged-in]] user has the option to flag an edit as "minor." Use of this flag is largely a matter of personal taste. A general rule of thumb is that an edit that corrects spelling or formatting, performs minor rearrangements of text, or tweaks only a few words, should generally be flagged as a "minor edit". A major edit, in contrast, generally performs a change that close watchers of the page are likely to want to review. Of course, if an edit performs a major semantic revision, but is limited to only a few words (for instance changing "functional global" to "global" or ''vice versa'', then the edit should ''not'' be flagged as minor.		When editing a page, a [[Helpi:How to log in\|logged-in]] user has the option to flag an edit as "minor." Use of this flag is largely a matter of personal taste. A general rule of thumb is that an edit that corrects spelling or formatting, performs minor rearrangements of text, or tweaks only a few words, should generally be flagged as a "minor edit". A major edit, in contrast, generally performs a change that close watchers of the page are likely to want to review. Of course, if an edit performs a major semantic revision, but is limited to only a few words (for instance changing "functional global" to "global" or ''vice versa'', then the edit should ''not'' be flagged as minor).

	This feature is important because users can choose to ''hide'' minor edits in their view of the [[Special:Recent Changes\|Recent Changes]] page, to keep the volume of edits down to a manageable level.		This feature is important because users can choose to ''hide'' minor edits in their view of the [[Special:Recent Changes\|Recent Changes]] page, to keep the volume of edits down to a manageable level.

	== General ==		==General==
	===Where do I find more information beyond this FAQ?===		===Where do I find more information beyond this FAQ?===
	You can view the main help page [[Help:Contents\|here]].		You can view the main help page [[Help:Contents\|here]].

MichaelAivaliotis at 07:11, 13 July 2009

2009-07-13T07:11:36Z

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	See [[Help:How to revert a page to an earlier version]].		See [[Help:How to revert a page to an earlier version]].

	===Why are some links red? What are the "?" links?===		=== Why are some links red? What are the "?" links? ===
	They both indicate that a page with that name has not yet been started. Which one you see depends on your [[Special:Preferences]]. If you have "Highlight links to empty topics" checked, you'll see red links. Otherwise, you get the little blue question marks.
	Either way, you can click on that link and start a page with that name. But be careful: there may already be articles on similar topics, or an article on the same topic under a different name. It's pretty important to hunt around for similar topics first. See [[LabVIEW Wiki:Naming conventions]] for information on naming pages.		They both indicate that a page with that name has not yet been started. Which one you see depends on your [[Special:Preferences]]. If you have "Highlight links to empty topics" checked, you'll see red links. Otherwise, you get the little blue question marks. Either way, you can click on that link and start a page with that name. But be careful: there may already be articles on similar topics, or an article on the same topic under a different name. It's pretty important to hunt around for similar topics first. See [[LabVIEW Wiki:Naming conventions]] for information on naming pages. If you just registered, your username is probably shown as linking to a page that doesn't exist. Don't worry! This just means you haven't filled out your user page yet. Click on the link and tell the world all about yourself! See [[LabVIEW Wiki:User page]] for more information.
	If you just registered, your username is probably shown as linking to a page that doesn't exist. Don't worry! This just means you haven't filled out your user page yet. Click on the link and tell the world all about yourself! See [[LabVIEW Wiki:User page]] for more information.

	===OK, what about the pale blue links?===		===OK, what about the pale blue links?===

Michael_Aivaliotis: /* I have, or can get, special permission to copy an image or article to LabVIEW Wiki. Is it OK to do that? */

2007-09-30T00:59:06Z

I have, or can get, special permission to copy an image or article to LabVIEW Wiki. Is it OK to do that?

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	===I have, or can get, special permission to copy an image or article to LabVIEW Wiki. Is it OK to do that?===		===I have, or can get, special permission to copy an image or article to LabVIEW Wiki. Is it OK to do that?===
	The text and images of LabVIEW Wiki are covered by the Creative Commons Attribution License. Unless an item is covered by the same or a similar license, or is in the public domain, it cannot be used on LabVIEW Wiki. So you have to ask the copyright holder of the material to license it under the Creative Commons Attribution License.		The text and images of LabVIEW Wiki are covered by the Creative Commons Attribution License. Unless an item is covered by the same or a similar license, or is in the public domain, it cannot be used on LabVIEW Wiki. So you have to ask the copyright holder of the material to license it under the Creative Commons Attribution License.

			If you are creating original images for submission to LabVIEW Wiki then this would not be an issue.

Michael_Aivaliotis: /* Do I have to register to edit pages? */

2007-09-30T00:38:32Z

Do I have to register to edit pages?

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	Yes, you must have an account and be logged in to edit pages on the LabVIEW Wiki. If you do not have an account, go [http://forums.lavag.org/register.html here] to get one. LAVA Forum members don't need a new account. They can use their existing login name and password. For more information on why we don't allow anonymous edits, see [[LabVIEW Wiki:Why don't you allow anonymous edits?]]		Yes, you must have an account and be logged in to edit pages on the LabVIEW Wiki. If you do not have an account, go [http://forums.lavag.org/register.html here] to get one. LAVA Forum members don't need a new account. They can use their existing login name and password. For more information on why we don't allow anonymous edits, see [[LabVIEW Wiki:Why don't you allow anonymous edits?]]

	You don't have to use your real name for your username. If you don't like the username name you currently have then you can request a change in this [http://forums.lavag.org/LabVIEW-Wiki-Support-f91.html forum]. You can also edit the [[User_talk:~~Michael_aivaliotis~~\|admin's talk page]]. You can also send a Personal Message to the Admin [http://forums.lavag.org/index.php?act=Msg&CODE=4&MID=2 here].		You don't have to use your real name for your username. If you don't like the username name you currently have then you can request a change in this [http://forums.lavag.org/LabVIEW-Wiki-Support-f91.html forum]. You can also edit the [[User_talk:Michael_Aivaliotis\|admin's talk page]]. You can also send a Personal Message to the Admin [http://forums.lavag.org/index.php?act=Msg&CODE=4&MID=2 here].

	===How can I contribute?===		===How can I contribute?===

MichaelAivaliotis: /* Create new articles */

2007-09-26T09:03:52Z

Create new articles

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:03, 26 September 2007
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	====Create new articles====		====Create new articles====
	LabVIEW Wiki articles contain lots of links to other articles. Black underlined links represent pages that do exist. Red links point to pages that don't yet exist. Whoever created these links thought that an article on the topic should exist. If this was not a popular idea, the link may have been removed. It's also possible that a spelling error was made, or that they didn't know the correct name for an existing page on the same (or a more general) topic. In this case, you could fix the link, and/or create a redirect. If you decide there should be an article at the other end of the link, by all means start writing it!		LabVIEW Wiki articles contain lots of links to other articles. Black underlined links represent pages that do exist. Red links point to pages that don't yet exist. Whoever created these links thought that an article on the topic should exist. If this was not a popular idea, the link may have been removed. It's also possible that a spelling error was made, or that they didn't know the correct name for an existing page on the same (or a more general) topic. In this case, you could fix the link, and/or create a [[Help:Redirect\|redirect]]. If you decide there should be an article at the other end of the link, by all means start writing it!

	For technical help getting started, see [[Help:Starting a new page]].		For technical help getting started, see [[Help:Starting a new page]].

MichaelAivaliotis: /* What is the difference between a page and an article? */

2007-09-26T09:02:56Z

What is the difference between a page and an article?

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	* pages which contain no internal links;		* pages which contain no internal links;
	* thousands of [[LabVIEW Wiki:Disambiguation\|disambiguation pages]] which are used to resolve naming conflicts;		* thousands of [[LabVIEW Wiki:Disambiguation\|disambiguation pages]] which are used to resolve naming conflicts;
	* thousands of [[~~Helpi~~:redirect\|redirect]] pages which are used to re-route one page to another page.		* thousands of [[Help:redirect\|redirect]] pages which are used to re-route one page to another page.

	The automatic definition used by the software at [[Special:Statistics]] is: '''any page that is in the article namespace, is not a [[Help:Redirect\|redirect page]] and contains at least one wiki link'''. ''The statistics software currently has no method of detecting disambiguation pages, however; nor does it disregard [[LabVIEW Wiki:Stub\|stub]]s (but in any case, many articles tagged as stubs are quite substantial) or stublists (lists templates with little or no content)''.		The automatic definition used by the software at [[Special:Statistics]] is: '''any page that is in the article namespace, is not a [[Help:Redirect\|redirect page]] and contains at least one wiki link'''. ''The statistics software currently has no method of detecting disambiguation pages, however; nor does it disregard [[LabVIEW Wiki:Stub\|stub]]s (but in any case, many articles tagged as stubs are quite substantial) or stublists (lists templates with little or no content)''.

MichaelAivaliotis: /* What is the difference between a page and an article? */

2007-09-26T09:02:28Z

What is the difference between a page and an article?

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:02, 26 September 2007
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	* pages which contain no internal links;		* pages which contain no internal links;
	* thousands of [[LabVIEW Wiki:Disambiguation\|disambiguation pages]] which are used to resolve naming conflicts;		* thousands of [[LabVIEW Wiki:Disambiguation\|disambiguation pages]] which are used to resolve naming conflicts;
	* thousands of [[~~LabVIEW Wiki~~:redirect\|redirect]] pages which are used to re-route one page to another page.		* thousands of [[Helpi:redirect\|redirect]] pages which are used to re-route one page to another page.

	The automatic definition used by the software at [[Special:Statistics]] is: '''any page that is in the article namespace, is not a [[~~LabVIEW Wiki~~:Redirect\|redirect page]] and contains at least one wiki link'''. ''The statistics software currently has no method of detecting disambiguation pages, however; nor does it disregard [[LabVIEW Wiki:Stub\|stub]]s (but in any case, many articles tagged as stubs are quite substantial) or stublists (lists templates with little or no content)''.		The automatic definition used by the software at [[Special:Statistics]] is: '''any page that is in the article namespace, is not a [[Help:Redirect\|redirect page]] and contains at least one wiki link'''. ''The statistics software currently has no method of detecting disambiguation pages, however; nor does it disregard [[LabVIEW Wiki:Stub\|stub]]s (but in any case, many articles tagged as stubs are quite substantial) or stublists (lists templates with little or no content)''.

	===What is an orphan?===		===What is an orphan?===

MichaelAivaliotis: /* Are there any standard formats, for things like dates for example? */

2007-05-07T07:09:01Z

Are there any standard formats, for things like dates for example?

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	===Are there any standard formats, for things like dates for example?===		===Are there any standard formats, for things like dates for example?===
	See the [[~~Help~~:Manual of Style\|Manual of Style]].		See the [[LabVIEW Wiki:Manual of Style\|Manual of Style]].

	===What do I do if I find two articles on the same subjects?===		===What do I do if I find two articles on the same subjects?===

MichaelAivaliotis: /* Where do I find more information beyond this FAQ? */

2007-04-12T11:17:57Z

Where do I find more information beyond this FAQ?

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	== General ==		== General ==
	===Where do I find more information beyond this FAQ?===		===Where do I find more information beyond this FAQ?===
	You can ~~start by reading~~ the ~~introduction at [[LabVIEW Wiki:Introduction]]. The~~ main help page is [[Help:Contents]].		You can view the main help page [[Help:Contents\|here]].

	===Are there any rules or guidelines I should be aware of?===		===Are there any rules or guidelines I should be aware of?===

MichaelAivaliotis: /* What is the difference between a page and an article? */

2007-04-12T11:17:03Z

What is the difference between a page and an article?

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:17, 12 April 2007
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	* the ''LabVIEW Wiki'' namespace for material about meta subjects related to LabVIEW Wiki (example, [[LabVIEW Wiki:FAQ]]);		* the ''LabVIEW Wiki'' namespace for material about meta subjects related to LabVIEW Wiki (example, [[LabVIEW Wiki:FAQ]]);
	* the ''talk'' namespaces for discussing what the content of pages should be. This is currently disabled on all pages except for the user pages. We prefer to substitute the talk pages with forum threads. One forum topic thread per article. The articles are generated automatically when you click on the Discussion button. The dedicated Wiki forum for article discussions is located [http://forums.lavag.org/WIKI-Article-Discussions-f89.html here].		* the ''talk'' namespaces for discussing what the content of pages should be. This is currently disabled on all pages except for the user pages. We prefer to substitute the talk pages with forum threads. One forum topic thread per article. The articles are generated automatically when you click on the Discussion button. The dedicated Wiki forum for article discussions is located [http://forums.lavag.org/WIKI-Article-Discussions-f89.html here].
	* the ''special'' namespace, whose pages are created by the software on demand (see [[~~LabVIEW Wiki~~:~~Special pages~~]]);		* the ''special'' namespace, whose pages are created by the software on demand (see [[Special:Specialpages]]);
	* the ''user'' namespace for pages that are used by individual Wikipedia writers (example, [[User:Michael_aivaliotis]]).		* the ''user'' namespace for pages that are used by individual Wikipedia writers (example, [[User:Michael_aivaliotis]]).
	* the ''image'' namespace which is used for describing and attributing images (example, [[:Image:LabVIEW_Logo_Vertical_4c.jpg]])		* the ''image'' namespace which is used for describing and attributing images (example, [[:Image:LabVIEW_Logo_Vertical_4c.jpg]])