Difference between revisions of "Help:Contents"

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== Category & Page Relationships ==
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== Guidelines for User Registration ==
The relationships between categories and pages provide some structure for content in the Wiki, which will be useful as the Wiki matures with more content, or becomes a repository for additional research projects. The typical relationship between categories or categories and pages is a parent-child relationship, although in some instances a page or category will have multiple parents.  A parent is a page or category with at least one child.  A child is a page or category that includes the <nowiki>[[Category:something]]</nowiki> tag.  Below is an explanation of the relationship between different levels of content.
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We have a process in place to assure that contributions are relevant (and spam-free)
# ''Group of categories'' - (eg: [[:Category:Internal strategies]], [[:Category:External strategies]]).  These are top-level groupings, and for this project these categories have no parents.  This level can be thought of as Parts of a report.
 
# ''Category'' - items at this second level have a parent (a level 1 group of categories) and at least two "children" outcome (eg: Operations planning).  Think of these as chapters in a report.
 
# ''Outcome or result'' - is a category that describes a desired outcome for which a transit agency would employ strategies.  Content at this level has at least one parent and two children.  While content at this level will usually take the form of a category, it can take the form of a page if the content for none of the children strategies is (or is anticipated to be) long enough to warrant its own strategy page. Think of these as sections of a report (e.g. 4.2)
 
# ''Strategy'' - a strategy usually takes the form of a page.  Think of an outcome or result as a sub-section of report that presents implementable ideas (e.g. 4.2.1).  Each item linked in further reading should include at a minimum of two sentences that inform the reader's decision to follow or not follow the link. This page includes:
 
##an introduction to the concept covered in the page that gives the intelligent but unfamiliar reader context
 
##an overview of the benefits and drawbacks involved with pursuing the strategy, including how the strategy can help an agency in pursuit of any desired parent ''outcome or result'' , but also any adverse effects the strategy may have on other strategies, aspects of transit service delivery, or stakeholders
 
##examples of the strategy in action
 
##further reading for those interested in learning more, including academic literature and case studies, with link to content or DOI/library page.
 
# ''Sub-page'' - When some content provided on a ''strategy'' page would be too narrowly-focused or detailed for the typical reader, this additional information should be linked in a sub-page.  A ''sub-page'' differs from a ''strategy'' page in that it is not a strategy in-and-of itself (and therefore does not have a <nowiki>[[category:whatever]]</nowiki> tag, and it usually only linked by a parent page.
 
  
== Page content ==
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* Editing TransitWiki requires registration and email confirmation.  Once you do this, you'll be able to edit articles.
 +
* TransitWiki staff will review your account and upgrade your user rights to "engaged" status on a case-by-case basis. 
 +
** Users who register with a professional email address (associated with a company, educational institution, local government, etc) usually receive full TransitWiki privileges within 24 hours.  We may email you to confirm your registration and welcome you to the site.
 +
** Users who register with a free email address (especially hotmail and outlook.com) are subject to increased scrutiny.  We've found that many of those registering with hotmail and outlook.com addresses attempt to spam the site, and we have banned many of these accounts. 
 +
* If you believe TransitWiki staff erred in determining your account's status, please email us at [mailto:transitwiki@luskin.ucla.edu transitwiki@luskin.ucla.edu] and we'll be happy to assist you.
 +
 
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== Guidelines for Editing Pages and Contributing New Content ==
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Your contributions make TransitWiki.org more useful to the transit planning community.  TransitWiki.org welcomes:
 +
 
 +
* Specific examples of how transit agencies have implemented a measure or strategy discussed on the page and what they've learned
 +
* General information about a measure or strategy discussed on a page
 +
* Correction of errors and clarification of language used on TransitWiki.org
 +
* Contributions of relevant staff reports and studies ([[Special:Upload|how to upload]])
 +
 
 +
Please ensure that your contributions will be readily understood by the transit community, and aim to use a neutral point of view.  Commonly-used national acronyms and jargon are generally OK, but please spell out acronyms or detail plans that may be unfamiliar to visitors elsewhere in California or the United States.  Maintaining a neutral point of view will allow TransitWiki.org to present unbiased information to users from a range of agencies and areas.
 +
 
 +
There are some exceptions to what you should add to TransitWiki:
 +
 
 +
* Only add personally identifiable information when it will facilitate communication between users or when referencing senior transit officials.
 +
* Any information you don't want to be made publicly available or used by others
 +
* You may mention a product or service from a for-profit entity with a neutral point of view, but please do not endorse commercial products or services.  See the [[TransitWiki:General_disclaimer]] for more information.
 +
* Some contributions will be removed and the users who contributed the content will be banned:
 +
** Attacks on individuals or groups
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** Other inflammatory content
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 +
You must register and confirm your email address to edit TransitWiki.org.  Most users will be most comfortable using the built-in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Cacycle/wikEd_help wikEd] feature, which will enable you to edit and format your contributions in a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WYSIWYG What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get] manner. If you're familiar with Wiki Markup Language, used by millions to edit Wikipedia, you can toggle off the wikEd feature.
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Editing TransitWiki.org requires that you use special characters for formatting - known as the Wiki Markup Language.
 +
 
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== Guidelines for New Page Creation ==
 
=== Page titles ===
 
=== Page titles ===
 
Page titles should describe strategies, measures, or concepts as clearly and accurately as possible
 
Page titles should describe strategies, measures, or concepts as clearly and accurately as possible
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* avoid redundancy when possible (eg: transit, bus, rail)
 
* avoid redundancy when possible (eg: transit, bus, rail)
 
=== Page elements ===
 
=== Page elements ===
A presents information related to a strategy or measure.  Each page should have:  
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A page presents information related to a strategy or measure.  Each page should have:  
 
#an introduction to the concept for the intelligent reader who may not be familiar with this specific concept ''(required)'',  
 
#an introduction to the concept for the intelligent reader who may not be familiar with this specific concept ''(required)'',  
 
#an overview of the benefits and drawbacks involved with pursuing the strategy, including how the strategy can help an agency in pursuit of any desired parent outcome or result, but also any adverse effects the strategy may have on other strategies, aspects of transit service delivery, or stakeholders ''(required)''
 
#an overview of the benefits and drawbacks involved with pursuing the strategy, including how the strategy can help an agency in pursuit of any desired parent outcome or result, but also any adverse effects the strategy may have on other strategies, aspects of transit service delivery, or stakeholders ''(required)''
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Occasionally you will want to cite statements made in pages. Any in-line citation should use the the following code to produce a footnote citing a specific source:
 
Occasionally you will want to cite statements made in pages. Any in-line citation should use the the following code to produce a footnote citing a specific source:
 
<code><nowiki><ref>[http://linkurl.com/example Author or Institution Name. "Publication Title." Year of Publication.]</ref></nowiki></code>
 
<code><nowiki><ref>[http://linkurl.com/example Author or Institution Name. "Publication Title." Year of Publication.]</ref></nowiki></code>
Alternatively, one can produce a text-only footnote by omitting the link code brackets <code><nowiki><ref>example footnote</ref></nowiki></code>.
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Alternatively, one can produce a text-only footnote by omitting the link code brackets <code><nowiki><ref>example footnote</ref></nowiki></code>.  See [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Cite/Cite.php#Multiple_uses_of_the_same_footnote these instructions] for code needed to have more than one reference to the same source or footnote.
  
Produce a list of footnotes using the <code><nowiki><refrences /></nowiki></code> tag at the bottom of the page under a </nowiki>== Notes == section. </nowiki>.
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Produce a list of footnotes using the <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code> tag at the bottom of the page under a <nowiki>== Notes ==</nowiki>.  section.
  
=== Images ===
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=== Adding Images ===
[[File:BBB Rapid 7 at Wilshire-Western.JPG|left|200px]]Images can make the transit wiki visually interesting and convey information not possible through prose.  Consult the following to add images to your pages:
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[[File:BBB Rapid 7 at Wilshire-Western.JPG|right|400px]]Images can make the transit wiki visually interesting and convey information not possible through prose.  Consult the following to add images to your pages:
 
* Find an image that you own, is in the public domain, or is licensed for use on this Wiki
 
* Find an image that you own, is in the public domain, or is licensed for use on this Wiki
 
** Visit [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Finding_images_tutorial Wikipedia's finding image tutorial] for an overview on which images are acceptable to use in a Wiki like this one.  Creative Commons licenses that allow non-commercial use with or without attribution are acceptable for this Wiki.  Please always cite the source of an image, even if attribution isn't required by the license.
 
** Visit [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Finding_images_tutorial Wikipedia's finding image tutorial] for an overview on which images are acceptable to use in a Wiki like this one.  Creative Commons licenses that allow non-commercial use with or without attribution are acceptable for this Wiki.  Please always cite the source of an image, even if attribution isn't required by the license.
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*** [http://search.creativecommons.org/ Creative Commons Image Search]
 
*** [http://search.creativecommons.org/ Creative Commons Image Search]
 
*** [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page the Wikipedia Commons]
 
*** [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page the Wikipedia Commons]
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*** [http://www.flickr.com/photos/metrolibraryarchive/ Metro Library Flickr Archive]
 
*** [http://www.flickr.com/search/?l=cc&mt=all&adv=1&w=all&q=transit&m=text Flickr photos with Creative Commons licenses]
 
*** [http://www.flickr.com/search/?l=cc&mt=all&adv=1&w=all&q=transit&m=text Flickr photos with Creative Commons licenses]
 
*** The Federal Transit Administration's photo galleries: Region [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about_FTA_2435.html 1] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about/about_FTA_2501.html 2] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about_FTA_2502.html 3] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about/about_FTA_2503.html 4] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about_FTA_4810.html 5] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about_FTA_2505.html 6] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about_FTA_2506.html 7] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about/about_FTA_2507.html 8] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/regions/region9/about_FTA_4843.html 9] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about_FTA_2509.html 10]
 
*** The Federal Transit Administration's photo galleries: Region [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about_FTA_2435.html 1] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about/about_FTA_2501.html 2] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about_FTA_2502.html 3] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about/about_FTA_2503.html 4] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about_FTA_4810.html 5] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about_FTA_2505.html 6] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about_FTA_2506.html 7] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about/about_FTA_2507.html 8] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/regions/region9/about_FTA_4843.html 9] [http://www.fta.dot.gov/about_FTA_2509.html 10]
 
* Upload or sideload (paste image URL) the image at [[Special:Upload]].  Please cite the source of the image with "<code>Source: http://linktosource.page/image and the Photographer's Name, User Name or Organization</code>" in the summary field
 
* Upload or sideload (paste image URL) the image at [[Special:Upload]].  Please cite the source of the image with "<code>Source: http://linktosource.page/image and the Photographer's Name, User Name or Organization</code>" in the summary field
* Use the code <code><nowiki>[[File:Your Image Name.JPG|right|300px]</nowiki></code> to place an image on the right that is 300 pixels wide.  These parameters can be adjusted, for more information see [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Images MediaWiki help on adding images] - a how-to-guide for placing images in an article.
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* Use the code <code><nowiki>[[Image:Your Image Name.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Caption Text]]</nowiki></code> to place an image on the right that is 350 pixels wide.  These parameters can be adjusted, for more information see [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Images MediaWiki help on adding images] - a how-to-guide for placing images in an article.
  
 
== Categories ==
 
== Categories ==
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Juan has created titles from the outline following the above relationship rules.  You shouldn't need to create a new category.  Should you need to, please coordinate with Juan by email.
 
Juan has created titles from the outline following the above relationship rules.  You shouldn't need to create a new category.  Should you need to, please coordinate with Juan by email.
 
=== Category page contents ===
 
=== Category page contents ===
A category page is a special page that will auto-generate a list of child categories.  A category page can also be edited to include an introductory section that describes the group of categories, category, or outcome/result. In relation to a paper report, you can think of this as a brief introductory section (e.g. 4.0) that would precede several sections on a specific strategy (e.g. 4.1, 4.2, 4.3.2).
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A category page is a special page that will auto-generate a list of child categories.  A category page can also be edited to include an introductory section that describes the group of categories, category, or outcome/result (See [[:Category:Improve_user_experience]] for an example). In relation to a paper report, you can think of this as a brief introductory section (e.g. 4.0) that would precede several sections on a specific strategy (e.g. 4.1, 4.2, 4.3.2).

Latest revision as of 17:24, 7 February 2018

Guidelines for User Registration

We have a process in place to assure that contributions are relevant (and spam-free)

  • Editing TransitWiki requires registration and email confirmation. Once you do this, you'll be able to edit articles.
  • TransitWiki staff will review your account and upgrade your user rights to "engaged" status on a case-by-case basis.
    • Users who register with a professional email address (associated with a company, educational institution, local government, etc) usually receive full TransitWiki privileges within 24 hours. We may email you to confirm your registration and welcome you to the site.
    • Users who register with a free email address (especially hotmail and outlook.com) are subject to increased scrutiny. We've found that many of those registering with hotmail and outlook.com addresses attempt to spam the site, and we have banned many of these accounts.
  • If you believe TransitWiki staff erred in determining your account's status, please email us at transitwiki@luskin.ucla.edu and we'll be happy to assist you.

Guidelines for Editing Pages and Contributing New Content

Your contributions make TransitWiki.org more useful to the transit planning community. TransitWiki.org welcomes:

  • Specific examples of how transit agencies have implemented a measure or strategy discussed on the page and what they've learned
  • General information about a measure or strategy discussed on a page
  • Correction of errors and clarification of language used on TransitWiki.org
  • Contributions of relevant staff reports and studies (how to upload)

Please ensure that your contributions will be readily understood by the transit community, and aim to use a neutral point of view. Commonly-used national acronyms and jargon are generally OK, but please spell out acronyms or detail plans that may be unfamiliar to visitors elsewhere in California or the United States. Maintaining a neutral point of view will allow TransitWiki.org to present unbiased information to users from a range of agencies and areas.

There are some exceptions to what you should add to TransitWiki:

  • Only add personally identifiable information when it will facilitate communication between users or when referencing senior transit officials.
  • Any information you don't want to be made publicly available or used by others
  • You may mention a product or service from a for-profit entity with a neutral point of view, but please do not endorse commercial products or services. See the TransitWiki:General_disclaimer for more information.
  • Some contributions will be removed and the users who contributed the content will be banned:
    • Attacks on individuals or groups
    • Other inflammatory content

You must register and confirm your email address to edit TransitWiki.org. Most users will be most comfortable using the built-in wikEd feature, which will enable you to edit and format your contributions in a What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get manner. If you're familiar with Wiki Markup Language, used by millions to edit Wikipedia, you can toggle off the wikEd feature. Editing TransitWiki.org requires that you use special characters for formatting - known as the Wiki Markup Language.

Guidelines for New Page Creation

Page titles

Page titles should describe strategies, measures, or concepts as clearly and accurately as possible please:

  • use active voice
  • use simple language
  • avoid prepositions
  • avoid redundancy when possible (eg: transit, bus, rail)

Page elements

A page presents information related to a strategy or measure. Each page should have:

  1. an introduction to the concept for the intelligent reader who may not be familiar with this specific concept (required),
  2. an overview of the benefits and drawbacks involved with pursuing the strategy, including how the strategy can help an agency in pursuit of any desired parent outcome or result, but also any adverse effects the strategy may have on other strategies, aspects of transit service delivery, or stakeholders (required)
  3. examples of agencies which have studied or employed the concept (preferred)
  4. at least one link to further reading (required)

The minimum length of a mature page should be 10 lines or longer. Any mature page not meeting these criteria is considered a "stub" and should be rolled up into its parent.

Further reading

Always include a link and short abstract that helps the reader answer the question "should I follow this link?". A major feature of this wiki is that it can facilitate the identification of cost effective strategies that are appropriate to an agency, and connect agency staff with the additional information they need to explore and implement the strategy.

Standards for further reading and citations

Please cite authoritative sources such as studies, reports, and journal articles from reputable authors or organizations. For the most part, blog entries or news articles should be avoided. In some cases, an especially well-developed encyclopedia (Wikipedia) article can be offered for further reading with a proper introduction that is a well-done survey of a topic, but shouldn't be the sole source of research for a plan or strategy.

Citation format

Citations, references, and links to further reading should take the form: Author or Institution Name. "Publication Title." Year of Publication

References and footnotes

Occasionally you will want to cite statements made in pages. Any in-line citation should use the the following code to produce a footnote citing a specific source: <ref>[http://linkurl.com/example Author or Institution Name. "Publication Title." Year of Publication.]</ref> Alternatively, one can produce a text-only footnote by omitting the link code brackets <ref>example footnote</ref>. See these instructions for code needed to have more than one reference to the same source or footnote.

Produce a list of footnotes using the <references /> tag at the bottom of the page under a == Notes ==. section.

Adding Images

BBB Rapid 7 at Wilshire-Western.JPG

Images can make the transit wiki visually interesting and convey information not possible through prose. Consult the following to add images to your pages:

Categories

Category titles

Juan has created titles from the outline following the above relationship rules. You shouldn't need to create a new category. Should you need to, please coordinate with Juan by email.

Category page contents

A category page is a special page that will auto-generate a list of child categories. A category page can also be edited to include an introductory section that describes the group of categories, category, or outcome/result (See Category:Improve_user_experience for an example). In relation to a paper report, you can think of this as a brief introductory section (e.g. 4.0) that would precede several sections on a specific strategy (e.g. 4.1, 4.2, 4.3.2).