First edit

For your first edit you will add some content to your personal page in the wiki, called your User page.

Activity

Step 1: Go to your User page. Your User page is automatically created for you after you create an account on WikiEducator. To access it click on your username just to the right of the image at the very top of any page. This will take you to your User page. Tip: If you don't see your username, you must first log in. Click on the "log in" link on the top of the page, and log in with the username and password you created in the previous tutorial. Step 2: When you get to your User page, click on the edit tab at the top of the page to change your page into edit mode. Step 3: If the rich text editor is not enabled when you are in edit mode click on the [Rich Editor] link (see: How to enable the Rich Editor). Step 4: In the text box that appears type something about yourself, for example, "My name is ..........". You may also want to say something about your reasons for wanting to contribute to WikiEducator, or ways that people can contact you. Step 5: After you have entered some text, notice that underneath the box in which you were entering text there is a series of buttons that look like this: File:Edit buttons.png Step 6: Click on the Save page button. Visit the Show me how screen movie for a practical demonstration. (Not recommended for low bandwidth connections)

Congratulations. You have now made your first edit and published to the Internet.

The difference between the "Save page" and "Show preview" buttons

For the time being we are only concerned with the "Save page" and "Show preview" buttons. "Show preview" is useful to get a quick look at what your page will look like before it is actually saved.

Warning - the "Show preview" button does not save your edits on the WikiEducator website. You must click the "Save page" button after previewing your page.

However, in the preview mode you can scroll back down to enter more text, or fix something that doesn't look right. Clicking the "Save page" button will save your page on WikiEducator and put your page back into view (published) mode.

Good etiquette

Tip: Before you click "Save page", it's considered good etiquette to enter a polite explanation of your changes in the "Summary" box between the edit window and the save and preview buttons. It can be quite terse; for example if you just enter "typo", people will know you made a minor spelling or punctuation correction, or some other small change. Also, if the change you have made to the page is minor, such as a spelling or grammar correction, be sure to check the box "This is a minor edit".

Adding content to your User page is a good way to let others know that there is a real person behind all that great content you've been authoring :-) Your User page can also be used as a place for people to contact you to ask questions or collaborate on projects, and a way to let others know what you are working on in the wiki or what your specialties are. In addition, working on your User page is a good way to practice wiki editing. Later we will create a page off of your User page for just this kind of practice.

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