MEpedia:Discussion and collaboration

Discussion, or talk, pages are a forum for contributors to discuss changes if they need advice on an edit they are considering, or if they have concerns about a change that's been made. Every MEpedia entry has a discussion page, as does each contributor. These discussion pages are the main form of communication within MEpedia, as there is no other way to message or email another user.

For more information on discussion pages on all sites that use MediaWiki software, see the discussion page help.

Where to ask your question

 * Specific entry's discussion page. If you have a question or comment about a particular MEpedia entry, it is often best to leave your question or comment on that entry's discussion page, even if your question will be directed to a particular contributor. Others who have the page on their watchlist may have valuable input to contribute.  Other contributors can also be explicitly invited to a new discussion.  To find out who has recently edited the page, click on "View History" at the top of the page being discussed.


 * User discussion page. If you have a question or comment for a specific contributor that's not limited to one entry, it is best to leave your question or comment on that contributor's User Discussion page. Be sure that you are adding it to their User Discussion page (e.g. User talk:Pyrrhus) rather than editing their User Page (e.g. User:Pyrrhus). While contributors who do not have an MEpedia account do not have user pages, they do have a discussion page associated with their IP address and you may leave them a message there. Bear in mind that if their IP address changes, they may not see your message to the old IP's discussion page. (This is a good reason to create an account!)


 * Help desk. Contributor availability can vary significantly, so if you need help quickly, you can also ask your question at the Editor Help Desk and get input from the contributor(s) available to reply to you soonest.


 * Admins. If you need input or assistance that requires Administrator rights, you can find a list of editors with those permissions at Special:ListUsers/sysop.

How to use a discussion page
To use a discussion page, click the "Discussion" tab at the top left of the screen.

If no one has discussed anything on the page before, you can simply add the first question or comment to create the discussion page. If the discussion page already exists, you'll see the preceding discussions. (Check to see if your question has been addressed!) If you're responding to a discussion under way, you can join it by adding your comment below the comment you wish to reply to. Otherwise, click the "Add topic" tab to start a new discussion.

Discussion formatting 101
Writing in a discussion page uses the source editor and so requires certain symbols called "wikitext". Don't worry: a few formatting tricks and you'll be on your way!


 * Discussions are threaded using colons (":") to indent each new line. If you're responding to an existing discussion, indent your comment by adding one colon more than the number used in the comment you're replying to (i.e. the first comment won't be indented; but the second comment will use one colon, then if you're the third person to comment, use three colons). If you start a second paragraph, make sure to indent that as well. This indentation keeps the conversation thread readable.


 * If you don't use a colon (":") to start a new line, you can start a new line with "  ".  If you don't have a colon or "   " at the beginning of the new line, it may show up as a continuation of the last paragraph, not as a new paragraph.


 * To invite another contributor to join the discussion, you can link to that contributor’s page by putting "User:" in front of the contributor's name, and placing that inside double brackets "" "" . For example, "Inviting contributor User:Pyrrhus to the discussion." Depending on the contributor's notification settings, this generally sends them an alert. (If you're commenting on the discussion page associated with a contributor's user page, there's no need to leave this link; they will get a notification automatically.)


 * You should always end your comment with four tilde characters " ~ ", which signs your name and a timestamp to the comment. Alternatively, you may be able to just click the 'Signature' button above the editing window, if the button is visible.

Save the page and you're done!

For more information on wikitext, see the wikitext help.