Help:Talk pages

Talk pages are special pages used for discussion on how to improve an article. They can be edited just like any other page; however, as discussion pages, there are some guidelines and etiquette rules that one should adhere to when editing a talk page.

The basics

1. Click the "edit" button for the section you want to comment on, or "+" if you want to add a new section.
2. Add your comment. Make sure it's indented properly by using colons (:) appropriately.
3. Make sure to sign your comment with four tildes (~~~~).
4. Click "Save page".
5. That's it! Your comment is now saved to the talk page.

Signing and indenting

All talk page comments must be signed. This is done by adding four tildes (~~~~) to the end of your comment. At the very least, sign with your username. This is done with three tildes (~~~). Five tildes (~~~~~) will produce only a timestamp. This is rarely used on talk pages, but may be useful in certain situations. Signing contributions to the wiki's main content is not permitted.

The colon (:) is used to indent a paragraph. This should be done at the start of every new comment, with the indent increasing by one with each new comment, and all content of a single comment should be indented at the same level. Basically:

Comment. ~~~~

:New comment. ~~~~

::Second new comment. ~~~~

would produce:

Comment. MySig 04:08, 17 January 2012 (UTC)

New comment. MySig 04:08, 17 January 2012 (UTC)

Second new comment. MySig 04:08, 17 January 2012 (UTC)

The indenting should be reset when it becomes excessive.

What talk pages are for

Talk pages are used for discussion on an article; that is, what can be done to improve it, disputed points, etc. They are not forums to be used for general discussion of the subject of the article. If you notice that a discussion has gone off-topic, please notify the users who are discussing off topic to stop.

User talk pages

User talk pages are used to discuss wiki-related topics with another user. Here, one would discuss a user's editing style, share tips on improving editing ability, and other similar, wiki-related subjects. However, User talk pages can sometimes be used for non-wiki related topics, as long as the conversation isn't too long. It is preferred that you use the wiki's IRC chat for discussing off-topic subjects.

Archiving talk pages

When a talk page becomes excessively lengthy, it is a good idea to archive it. If you need help archiving, please contact a staff member.