Help:New to the Wiki

Newbie in Survivor Wiki? Welcome!

The site has undergone lots of changes, and since most of its pages are still blank, helping us filling these voids will be highly appreciated. This page will give you some tips to get you started. When you're ready to learn more, check out the Community Portal or the Help section.

Editing
When you make edit pages, you are imparting something to the public, who sees these edits. Sometimes, your edits are either be changed or undone. Don't feel bad about this, because this is how all Wikis work. Rewatch episodes and double check everything you type so that your edit stays longer. It is highly-encouraged that you explain why you did such edits. Tip: wording is also very crucial to your edit's longevity.

Gibberish, poorly-written and outright stupid edits will WILL NOT BE TOLERATED at all times. The Survivor Wiki has just recovered from years' worth of poor edits and vandalism. Please be considerate to those who do write decent edits and those who really care about the site.

Also, be careful not to step on anybody's toes. Having a mindset of typing anything that comes into mind regardless of what anyone else says is not pleasing to fellow users. It is up to you to review what you add. Example: Did your edit really gave justice to the episode/contestant page, or you just put it for the sake of seeing whatever you want to see (one-sided edits or merely just made-up information)? Please read the What doesn't go here section below.

What goes (and doesn't go) where
The Wiki is consisted of six types of pages:


 * Main namespace pages — for episodes, characters, tribes, gameplay etc.
 * User pages that begin with "User:" — our users' profile pages
 * Talk pages — for both users and the namespace pages. User pages start with "User talk:" and the namespace pages start with "Talk:". This is where users discuss how to make the page better. Another use of Talk pages is that, users can discuss about Wiki and/or Survivor-related matters.
 * Forums, which begins with "Forum:" — a way of discussing things and getting feedback
 * Blogs, which begin with "User blog:" — an informal way of expressing your mind. Also a perfect to write fan fictions. This is also the place where users express their feelings, predictions etc. about a certain page. For example, you have predicted the outcome of a season, or you send your love (or hate) a castaway.
 * Sandboxes — pages that can be worked on for fun or in preparation for adding them to the main Wiki

The first thing to remember is that when you click on Create a new article inside the "New article/blog/image" menu on the left side of the screen, you will see choices as to what kind of page to create. All of these create a Main namespace page. They are for subjects like the episodes and characters. If you want to say hello, that's not the best place for those kinds of messages. These pages will be deleted immediately, faster than you can say, Survivor. Find someone's Talk page or a blog and put your greeting there.

Next, Talk pages are available for all Main namespace pages and for Users. You can get to them by clicking on the "Discussion" tab in the upper-right corner of each page. User Talk pages are for asking users questions.

Forums are about discussions about the contestants, episodes and anything related to the show.

Blogs can be for anything you want to discuss, but preferably relating to the show. Some blogs will also have news about the show or information for the members of this wiki.

User pages are discussed immediately below.

Sandboxes are temporary pages that you can play around in. The main sandbox is a great place for you to learn how to edit the wiki. We can alway restore the template when you're done so that someone else can use it.
 * You can also create your own sandboxes by going to your User page and creating them there. Simply go up to the address bar in your web browser and add  /sandbox  onto the end of the address. You will then be able to create the sandbox and work on it as much as you like. Personal sandboxes should be used if you are working on a new page for the wiki that isn't finished yet, and you can create as many as you need by changing  /sandbox  to whatever name you want (with the forward slash in front of it). Once you get it finished, you can click on Move to rename the page into its final name.

What doesn't go here
There are a few things that should not be added to this wiki. They include:


 * Fan fiction — This has been one of the problems that Admins found hard to fix over the past months. These fan fictions have been deleted. Main namespace Talk pages are for discussing how to make the page better, not for adding comments like venting your feelings about your favorite contestant getting eliminated should be put either in the pages or Blog pages, NOT the article page itself.
 * The Survivor Wiki is a not casting call — If you want to be on Survivor, this is not the official site for submitting contestant entries. The Wiki was made for the enjoyment Survivor fan community, not to help CBS find new players. Moreover, the site is not is not affiliated with CBS, Jeff Probst, Mark Burnett or anybody who works on the show.
 * Non-Survivor related topics — Only Survivor-related topics can be added in the Wiki. Other reality shows such as ANTM, The Amazing Race, Big Brother etc. should not be placed here. They have their own Wikis. Place them there.

Signing up
As it says on the main |main page, anyone can edit the wiki. You don't have to sign up for an account, but there are some advantages if you do:


 * Your edits show up under a name that you choose, rather than the IP address of your computer.
 * You can customize your User page to let people know what your interests are. See Help:Customizing your page for ways you can spruce up your User page.
 * You may not see as many ads when you sign into your account.

More information is available on the Why create an account page. If you're ready to sign up, you can click on "Create an account" in the upper-right corner of the page, but you must be at least 13 years old to do so.

Editing pages
The Community portal has a lot of tips on editing in the Help section and other tips can be found on the Help:Editing page. Some of the important tips for newcomers to remember are:


 * Refer to the Manual of Style for details about how edits should look and should be written.

Play nice
Ben 10 is a children's cartoon, but is intelligent enough that it is also enjoyed by teenagers and adults. The visitors and members of this wiki are of all ages. Please keep that in mind when you make edits.

In general, play nice. Our rules on behavior are covered in the Simplified ruleset, and here are some guidelines to go by.


 * No name-calling or insulting other people.
 * No swearing. Profanity will get you blocked from here for two weeks, and the block will get longer if you keep doing it. Even if you think it's a minor profanity, don't do it. It isn't needed here.
 * Don't spam. Spam includes off-topic messages, advertisements and any messages that you post several times in a row.
 * No fan fiction. If you want to write your own stories about Ben10,Go to the Fanonsite.The Fanon site has been specifically been set up for fan fiction so that this wiki can concentrate on what actually happens in the episode.
 * Undo happens to everyone, so don't get upset when it happens to you. If you make an edit and someone clicks on Undo to change it back, they will usually tell you why they did that in the Summary. If you really think the edit belongs there, add it back and be sure to say why in the Summary line.
 * Occasionally, we may have to leave a message on your Talk page saying why something you did wasn't allowed. If it was an honest mistake, then no harm was done. But if we have to tell you several times, then that usually means you are doing it deliberately. After about the third time, an administrator may place a block on your account. This means you will not be able to make any edits except for on your Talk page. Blocks can be anywhere from two hours to a few days for minor problems, or weeks, months, a year or permanent if the problem is severe enough. If you are able to provide a reasonable explanation for what you did, the block may be shortened or removed before it would expire.

That will get you started. If you have any questions, ask one of the other members of the wiki or post a question in the Help desk forum. If you have an idea for another topic to be added to this page, let us know on the | Talk/Discussion page.