Sams Teach Yourself Wikipedia in 10 Minutes

by Miller, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780672331237
• ISBN10: 0672331233
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-09-28
• Publisher: Sams Publishing

Summary

Wikipedia is written collaboratively by volunteers from all around the world. Anyone with internet access can make changes to Wikipedia articles. Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has grown rapidly into one of the largest reference web sites, attracting around 65 million visitors monthly as of 2009, placing it among the top ten English-language sites on the web. Sams Teach Yourself Wikipedia in 10 Minutes shows how to use the Wikipedia site for research, how to get the most out of Wikipedia content, how to edit and correct existing content, and how to write new Wikipedia articles. Sams Teach Yourself Wikipedia in 10 Minutes offers straightforward, practical answers for fast results. By working through the 10-minute lessons, you learn everything you need to know to quickly and easily use Wikipedia. Step-by-step instructions walk readers through the most common questions, issues, and tasks... "Did You Know?" tips offer insider advice and shortcuts... "Watch Out!" alerts help you avoid problems. Sams Teach Yourself Wikipedia in 10 Minutes will provide beginner and experienced users with fast at a glance tips pointing out helpful shortcuts and solutions, cautions to help avoid common Wikipedia pitfalls, and is written in a clear easy to understand format.

Author Biography

Michael Miller has written more than 90 nonfiction books over the past two decades. His best-selling titles include Sams Teach Yourself YouTube in 10 Minutes, Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Computer Basics, Googlepedia: The Ultimate Google Resource, and Speed It Up! A Non- Technical Guide for Speeding Up Slow Computers. He has established a reputation for practical advice, technical accuracy, and an unerring empathy for the needs of his readers. For more information about Mr. Miller and his writing, visit his website at www.molehillgroup.com or email him at [e-mail].

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
What You Need to Know Before You Use This Book	p. 1
About the Sams Teach Yourself in 10 Minutes Series	p. 1
Special Sidebars	p. 2
Getting to Know Wikipedia	p. 3
Welcome to the World of Wikis	p. 3
How Wikis Work	p. 3
Wiki History	p. 4
Wikipedia: The World's Largest Encyclopedia	p. 5
How Wikipedia Works	p. 5
Issues with Wikipedia	p. 7
Accuracy	p. 7
Depth of Coverage	p. 8
Beyond the Issues	p. 8
Other Wikipedia Sites	p. 8
Summary	p. 10
Navigating the Wikipedia Site	p. 11
Welcome to Wikipedia's Main Page	p. 11
Navigating Wikipedia	p. 14
Featured Content	p. 15
Topic Portals	p. 16
Browsing by Category	p. 17
Using the A-to-Z Index	p. 18
Timelines	p. 19
Outlines	p. 19
Glossaries	p. 20
Wikipedia in Different Languages	p. 21
Summary	p. 23
Searching for Information	p. 25
Conducting a Search	p. 25
Viewing Search Results	p. 26
Searching from Search	p. 26
Searching from Go	p. 27
Conducting an Advanced Search	p. 28
Searching Other Sites	p. 30
Fine-Tuning Your Search	p. 30
Wildcards and Fuzzy Queries	p. 30
Exact Phrases	p. 31
Boolean Searches	p. 31
Intitle Queries	p. 32
Summary	p. 32
Reading a Wikipedia Article	p. 33
Behind the Articles	p. 33
The Main Article	p. 34
Finding Additional Information	p. 37
Footnotes and References	p. 38
Discussions and History	p. 39
Summary	p. 39
Verifying Information and Checking References	p. 41
How Accurate Is an Article?	p. 41
Referencing Sources	p. 42
Verifying information	p. 44
Summary	p. 45
Going Beyond an Article	p. 47
Reading Related Articles	p. 47
Viewing Related Web Pages	p. 49
Summary	p. 50
Tracking Changes to an Article	p. 51
Viewing an Article's History	p. 51
Examining the History Tab	p. 52
Comparing Revisions	p. 53
Filtering the Revision History	p. 54
Searching an Article's History	p. 55
Keeping Track of New Changes	p. 56
Viewing the Watch List	p. 56
Viewing History via RSS Feed	p. 57
Summary	p. 58
Discussing an Article	p. 59
Viewing a Talk Page	p. 59
Entering a Discussion	p. 61
Responding to an Existing Topic	p. 61
Entering a New Topic	p. 62
What's Allowed-and What's Not	p. 63
Summary	p. 63
Editing an Existing Article	p. 65
All About Editing	p. 65
Making Your Edits	p. 66
Understanding the Wiki Markup Language	p. 68
Article Links	p. 68
Category Page Links	p. 69
External Links	p. 69
Book Sources Link	p. 70
Image and Sound Links	p. 71
Headings	p. 72
Citation References	p. 73
Text Formatting	p. 74
Variables	p. 74
Categorizing an Article	p. 75
Comments	p. 75
Table of Contents	p. 75
Citing Sources	p. 76
Summary	p. 77
Contributing a New Article	p. 79
Is the Topic Available?	p. 79
Creating the Article	p. 80
Structuring the Article	p. 81
Summary	p. 82
Table of Contents	p. 82
Sections and Section Headings	p. 82
Images	p. 83
Citations	p. 83
Appendixes	p. 84
Tips for Writing a New Article	p. 84
Summary	p. 85
Incorporating Pictures and Other Media in Your Article	p. 87
Uploading Pictures and Other Media Files	p. 87
Image Formats	p. 89
Adding Images to Your Article	p. 89
Basic Images	p. 89
Aligning the Image	p. 90
Creating a Photo Gallery	p. 91
Inserting Audio Files	p. 92
Inserting Video Files	p. 93
Summary	p. 93
Finding Pictures in the Wikimedia Commons	p. 95
Understanding the Commons	p. 95
Copyright and Licensing	p. 96
Finding Media in the Commons	p. 97
Browsing for Media	p. 98
Searching for Media	p. 99
Viewing Media Files	p. 99
Downloading Files for Your Own Use	p. 101
Using Files in Wikipedia Articles	p. 101
Uploading Files to the Commons	p. 102
Image Files	p. 102
Audio and Video Files	p. 103
Making the Upload	p. 103
Describing Your File	p. 105
Summary	p. 105
Asking Questions at the Reference Desk	p. 107
Understanding the Reference Desk	p. 107
Asking a Question	p. 109
Responding to a Question	p. 111
Summary	p. 112
Looking Up Words in the Wiktionary	p. 113
Understanding the Wiktionary	p. 113
Browsing the Wiktionary	p. 115
Searching the Wiktionary	p. 116
Understanding a Wiktionary Entry	p. 116
Contributing to the Wiktionary	p. 119
Creating New Entries	p. 119
Editing Existing Entries	p. 120
Summary	p. 121
Finding Quotable Quotations with Wikiquote	p. 123
Getting to Know Wikiquote	p. 123
Looking Up Quotes	p. 124
Browsing for Quotes	p. 124
Searching for Quotes	p. 125
Viewing a Quote Page	p. 126
Creating and Editing Quotes	p. 128
Editing Existing Quotes	p. 128
Creating New Entries	p. 129
Summary	p. 130
Getting the Latest News with Wikinews	p. 131
Understanding Wikinews	p. 131
Reading Wikinews Articles	p. 132
Sharing a Wikinews Article	p. 133
Writing and Editing Wikinews Articles	p. 135
Writing a New Article	p. 135
Editingan Existing Article	p. 137
Summary	p. 138
Reading and Editing Books Online	p. 139
Understanding Online Collaborative Books	p. 139
Using Wikibooks	p. 140
Browsing and Reading Wikibooks	p. 140
Printing a Wikibook	p. 143
Editing a Wikibook	p. 144
Starting a New Book	p. 145
Using Wikijunior	p. 146
Using Wikisource	p. 148
Using Wikiversity	p. 150
Summary	p. 151
Linking to Wikipedia Content on Your Own Website	p. 153
Why Link to Wikipedia?	p. 153
Creating a Link	p. 154
Summary	p. 155
Using Wikipedia for Research and School Papers	p. 157
Trusting Wikipedia-or Not	p. 157
Using Wikipedia as a Starting Point	p. 158
Researching Citations	p. 159
Researching Additional Sources	p. 159
Researching an Article's History	p. 160
Referencing Wikipedia-or Not	p. 161
Wikipedia: Not a Primary Source	p. 161
Citing Wikipedia	p. 162
Summary	p. 162
Participating in the Wikipedia Community	p. 163
About the Wikipedia Community	p. 163
Welcome to the Community Portal	p. 164
Discussing Things at the Village Pump	p. 165
Other Ways to Communicate	p. 166
Discussion Pages	p. 167
User Pages	p. 167
Mailing Lists	p. 168
Getting Help with Wikipedia	p. 168
Summary	p. 169
Using Wikipedia on Your iPhone	p. 171
Wikipedia on Safari	p. 171
Wikipedia Applications	p. 173
Wiki Mobile	p. 173
Wikipanion	p. 174
Summary	p. 175
Index	p. 177
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