Guide for new WUN users

Welcome to Wake Up Nottingham! This page gives you a quick overview of some things you'll want to know to get started using the site. You'll be able to find more detailed information when you need it.

How do I get around?
The links in the Wake Up Nottingham top bar across the top of the page will take you to main areas of this sub-site. Unlike most sites, content does not have to be linked under top-level headings - it can just be in the general pool of information, found through search (see below) and links from other pages. The site map indexes all the WUN pages. The calendar lists events that are coming up. The directory collects pages about organisations.

The links down the left side of the page apply to the whole Sustainable Community Action site. For instance, clicking "Random page" might give you a WUN page or one referring to action at national level or a project in another locality. So you get seamless links with what's happening in the wider world.

To search for an article on a given subject within Sustainable Community Action use the Wikicities box on the left. (Use the Google box to search the wider internet.)

Throughout the site blue links show a page that exists, and you can jump to it in the normal way. This includes links to the external internet, flagged up by a little symbol like so. Red links show pages that don't exist yet - but could. The wiki approach is that any page is possible, so if you don't find it you can create it simply by putting some content in.

Can I really create and change pages?
Yes. You can get actively involved in shaping the site without needing permission from anyone. It's an adventure, innit?

Of course you need to use the same courtesy and common sense that you would in any other project working together with other people. Don't offend or insult; listen to other viewpoints; stay within the goal of the project (see the WUN home page).

The biggest adjustment for most of us is the idea of group ownership. Don't submit anything unless you're happy for others to come along and change it. Conversely, only change others' work to make genuine improvements like correcting errors, adding new information or making it clearer to the reader. Don't make changes just because you don't like the way they've done it or you want to put your own stamp on it. All pages have discussion areas if you want to float ideas.

Creating a new page for WUN
Simple information on page creation and editing is at Help:Contents; detailed information over at Metawiki (an information source for all wikis).

First use search to make sure your topic isn't already covered somewhere. If it isn't, the search results page gives you the option of creating a new page. Click it to bring up the edit window. You can just type your text in here. Use preview lots of times to check it looks right, then save it when you're happy.

The wiki software uses its own set of simple formatting commands. For a non-technical user these should be more digestible than HTML (the basic language used to write web pages). As an example, the thing you're most likely to want to do: add a link to another page within the wiki. You simply put the page's name in double square brackets. So  Main Page gives Main Page. You can do this for any key term in your page - if it doesn't have its own page to link to yet it'll show up red and someone else can come along later and create the page for it.

To make your page part of Wake Up Nottingham you just need to put  (the word "nottingham" in double curly brackets) right at the top of the page, followed by an empty line, then your page text. This adds the top bar and makes the page part of our "category" within the SCA site. (In technical terms it inserts a predefined "template".)

What's the deal with these Google adverts?
Wake up Nottingham is part of Sustainable Community Action, which is part of a project called Wikicities, which provides hosting for wikis free of charge. The ads generate revenue that enables Wikicities to do this. So don't begrudge them being there because they're paying for this site, and they're kept fairly unobtrusive.

Should I register as a user?
You don't have to in order to create and edit pages, but it gives a number of advantages, including:
 * it's much nicer to see a name in the records of page progress so you know who's been involved (it can be a "handle" rather than your real name)
 * you get a user page where you can give some information about yourself (this might not be a good idea if you're a young person - check with a responsible adult first)
 * you can be notified of changes to pages you're interested in