View source for Help:Talk page

{{GC2.0 Tools Help gcp}}
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{{nutshell|Talk pages are for discussing changes and communicating with others.|On GCPEDIA, nearly everything and everybody has a talk page.}}  {{Help TOC|star=1}} 
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== Discussion Pages ==

There are two types of discussion pages: 

*'''standard discussion pages''' are used to discuss the content of a page/article 
*'''user talk pages''' are used to communicate with other users

All GCpedia articles have an associated discussion page. 

*a <font color="#ff0000">red </font>link indicates there has been no discussion associated with that page 
*a <font color="#0000ff">blue </font>link indicates there is a discussion associated with the article

Whatever the colour of the link, you can click on the discussion tab to discuss the page. 

'''To contact a user via their talk page:''' 

*go to <nowiki>”Special pages”</nowiki> in the toolbox on the left-hand side of any GCpedia page 
*click on <nowiki>“users” </nowiki>and scroll to the name of the person with whom you want to communicate 
*Click on the person’s name 
*Click on the discussion tab and leave your message

<!-- COMMENT OUT THE FOLLOWING // NEW TEXT HAS BEEN INSERTED ABOVE // 

The next time the person logs on to GCPEDIA, there will be a notification telling them they have a message.

<big><font color=#008080>'''Tip'''</font></big> Remember to sign and date your contributions on all talk pages by adding four tildes <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> or by clicking on the signature button [[Image:Signature.png]] at the top of the editing box (the tenth icon from the left)


==Discussion pages==

Use discussion pages to provide feedback onto wiki pages. 
*You can explain edits, offer constructive criticism or ask questions about the article.


Click the "discussion" tab beside the "article" tab on the wiki:

[[Image:Gcdiscussion.jpg|left| Click discussion]]


Once on the discussion page, click on the create tab if the edit box is not already open. [[Image:Gcdiscussioncreate.jpg| When on the discussion page, click edit]]

Click the '''+''' sign to add a new discussion header. [[Image:Gcdiscussionb.jpg]]

Enter your comment. Don't forget to click [[Image:Sig.png| Your signature with timestamp]] to add your signature! 


==Adding a Signature==

Adding a signature is a useful feature when asking questions in an article's discussion page, or when using a number of scaffolds.

*To add your signature, click the [[Image:Sig.png]] button.
*The resulting <nowiki>--~~~~</nowiki> won't look like much, but after you save your document it becomes:
 --[[User:Vmcintos|Vmcintos]] 15:02, 17 October 2008 (EDT)

*Use <nowiki>--~~~</nowiki> to show a signature with name but no a date:
 --[[User:Vmcintos|Vmcintos]]

*Use <nowiki>--~~~~~~</nowiki> to show a signature with a date but no name:
 --15:02, 17 October 2008 (EDT)~

-->

== Talk page use ==

=== Sign your contributions ===

You should sign and date your contributions on all talk pages. To do this easily, type four tildes <nowiki>(~~~~)</nowiki> at the end of your comment, or just click the signature button [[Image:Sig.png]] on the row of buttons above the edit box. This will be automatically converted into a user signature and the date and time. (You can change the form of your signature using your [[Help:My preferences|user preferences]]. See: [[Help:Signature]] for additional information.) 

=== Sections ===

To discuss a new topic, start a new section by going to a new line and typing a title like this: <tt>== Heading ==</tt>, replacing "Heading" with a suitable title for the topic you wish to raise. Place new discussions at the ''bottom'' of the page. You can also use the tab labeled "+", at the top of a talk page, next to the edit tab, which performs these steps automatically. 

To respond to a discussion already in progress, add your comment below the last entry in the discussion. If you want to respond to a specific comment, you can place your response directly below it. When doing this, keep in mind the advice given below about ''indentation''. 

=== Indentation ===

Indentation is used to keep talk pages readable. Comments are indented to show whether they are replies to other comments, and if so, which ones. 

Comments are indented using one or more initial colons (:). Each colon represents one level of indentation. You will see these colons in the wikitext when editing a talk page, but when viewing the page itself you will see the indents. 

The first comment in a section will have no colons before it. When you reply to a statement, you should use one more colon than the number that appear in the statement you're replying to. For example, if you're replying to a statement that has 2 colons before it, your response should have 3 colons before it. 

The following is an example of a talk page discussion using indentation. The text typed in the edit box is shown on the left, and the resulting display on the right. 

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6" border="1"
|-
| <pre>How's the soup? --[[User:John]]
:It's great!! --[[User:Jane]]
::I made it myself! --[[User:John]]
Let's move the discussion to [[Talk:Soup]]. --[[User:Jane]]
:I tend to disagree. --[[User:George]]
</pre>
| 
How's the soup? --[[John]]<br>

:It's great!! --[[Jane]]<br>
::I made it myself! --[[John]]<br>

Let's move the discussion to [[Talk:Soup]]. --[[Jane]]<br>

:I tend to disagree. --[[George]]<br>

|}

<br>

== You have new messages ==

After someone else edits your user talk page, the alert below is automatically displayed on all pages until you view your user talk page. If you click "new messages" it will direct you to the bottom of your talk page. If you click "last change" it will show you the last edit done to your talk page. 
<div class="usermessage plainlinks"><div class="plainlinks">You have '''<font color="#002cc8">new messages</font> (<font color="#002cc8">last change</font>).'''
== Remember O.I.R. ==

Discussion threads on a Wiki are centred around the development and improvement of the content of a corresponding article or page. When making a comment or responding to comment, try to structure your comment using the '''O.I.R.''' method: 

*'''<u>O</u>bservation:''' What would you like everyone to take note of? 
*'''<u>I</u>mpact:''' What is its impact? Why is it important? 
*'''<u>R</u>ecommendation:''' How do you think it should be changed or improved?

Comments such as "''I don't like it''", "''It doesn't make sense''", and "''Whats the point of this''?" aren't very conducive to a good effective conversation and can very quickly stagnate the creative process. 

== See also ==

*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Introduction_to_talk_pages Wikipedia's Introduction to talk pages] 
*[[Help:Archiving a talk page]]

== Note ==

Certain sections in this page are adapted from [[wikipedia:Help:Using talk pages|Help:Using talk pages]]. 

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[[Category:GCPEDIA_Help|D]] [[Category:Official_watchlist]] [[fr:Aide:Pages de discussion|fr:Aide:Pages de discussion]]</div></div>