Basic Instructions

For now, this wiki is public. Anyone can edit pages although only "members" can create new pages or upload files. Public access will change if the privilege is abused.

Please do not undo the work of others (although feel free to correct spelling mistakes and obvious formatting problems). Make comments or discussion posts if you think more drastic changes are needed.

Please do not put copyrighted material on this wikispace unless you have the rights to it. If you see something here that you believe is in violation of copyright, please inform the "owner", sofya at heraldshill dot org

As an unofficial page, we will not be needing releases (Model, Photo, Content) - hopefully. But be honorable and get permission before you add someone else's creative works.

Creating a new page:

Basic Steps

• Put the new page name in the search bar. Really!
• Click on the name in the search results where it prompts to Create the page "_____" on this wiki!
• Insert Template, if appropriate (see below).
• Type in text as desired.
• Insert images (see below).

• Add relevant categories - Category:People, Category:Vatavian, Category:Scribe, etc. (see below)
• Save the new page.

Uploading images:

• You have to be logged into your account to upload images
• Click on Insert -> Media on the VisualEditor Toolbar (or the "Upload File" button in the left toolbar in a separate tab)
• Follow the instructions on the Media edit window or Cut and Paste the image file name (Image.gif, etc. ) into the appropriate area (if not using the VisualEditor)
• Label images as appropriate

Make sure to click on any new categories you just created and make sure they're not orphans, i.e. their parent categories are correct.

Pages that migrated sucessfully

• Add categories to the bottom of the new page - Category:People, Category:Vatavian, Category:Scribe, etc.
  • on VisualEditor, the Category tool is found under the triple - icon on the right side between the ? icon and the pencil icon
  • Don't have to put in all possible categories to begin with, but the main category such as People or Events at least
• Save the changes.

Click on any new categories you just created and make sure their parent categories are correct.

Templates:

• People - Template:People
• Events - Template:Events

To use a template using the source coding:

• Open a new page as above
• In the edit box, put the code "subst:People" using double-curley brackets {{ on one side, and double close-curley brackets on the other side.
• Save the page without any other coding
• This will substitute in the Template text.
• Re-open the article for editing to personalize it and fill in the blanks.

Categories/Subcategories:

• Categories and subcategories are used in MediaWiki to organize pages together much like tags were used on wikispaces.
• Categories are case-sensitive.

Major categories are:

• People - citizens and friends of Calontir. Subcategories for:
  • group membership (Vatavians or Coeur d'Ennui),
  • personas (Russians),
  • service (Waterbearers), etc.
• Groups - branches, guilds, colleges, and households of Calontir. Subcategories include:
  • Branches - official groups of the SCA, subcategories Vatavia, Coeur d'Ennui, etc.
  • Guilds - official guilds and colleges of Calontir, subcategories - Scribe's Guild, Brewer's Guild, etc.
  • Households - unofficial, loosely defined groups of people based on a common interest, noble family, etc.
• Activities - martial, Art & Science, service
• Events - official events in Calontir. Also should be cross-categorized:
  • Branch hosting (eg. Vatavia) and/or
  • History (for major kingdom events like coronations)
• Resources - kingdom information. Subcategories:
  • Awards
  • History
  • Royal Lineage
  • Songs
  • Stories

Some subcategories fall under more than one category/subcategory. For example, Vatavians is a subcategory of People, but also a subcategory of Vatavia.

MediaWiki automatically makes a Category page for any category assigned to a page.

Categories are assigned by putting the relevant code at the bottom of the page:

• If using VisualEditor, the Category tool is found with the triple - icon on the right side between the ? icon and the pencil icon
• If using the text editor, double-square brackets [[ around the Category:Name command, then closed-double-square brackets.

Many pages will belong to multiple categories, and each category needs it's own bracketed command.

• For example, Sofya la Rus is Category:Hillians (Heraldshill), Category:Russians, Category:Heralds, etc.

The same code is use to create category trees.

• So the page Category:Vatavians would have the code for Category:Vatavia at the bottom (along with the code for Category:People).
• Then the Category:Vatavia, would have the code for its parent, Category:Branches.
• In turn, Category:Branches would have the code for its parent, Category:Groups .

A note about Categories:

• "Categories" are how the wiki will be able to list people with like-minded individuals on the same page. (Wikispaces used "tags".)
• If you add the tag "people" to your page, then that page will automatically be listed on the People page with everyone else.
• If you add the tag "silent heraldry" to your page, then you will be listed with everyone else who is tagged (once the "Silent Heraldry" activities page has been created with the appropriate widget)
• You don't need to be in full "Edit" mode (or even be signed in) to change tags.
  • In top right corner, click on the "..." button for more options
  • Select "Tags", then select "edit"
  • Type the first 3-4 letters of the tag name
  • Wait a moment for the wiki to bring up the tags that have already used those letters
  • Select the appropriate one
  • If you don't see the one you want, try a different tag - "Clothing" instead of "Costuming"
  • Capitalization doesn't seem to matter
  • Tags should probably be more generic rather than more specific - so tag "music" rather than "vocal music", "weaving" rather than "cardweaving", etc.
  • A&S tags are based on the official categories in the Kingdom Judging Criteria, slightly simplified, eg. Dance instead of "Dance Performance, European"
  • Award/Order tags are based the official name of the Order, eg. "Silver Hammer"
  • Group tags are just the name of the group, eg. "Vatavia" NOT "Barony of Vatavia".