How to Edit the Climate Lab Wiki

Editing with a word processor

Editing and formating pages on the Climate Lab wiki is much like using a standard word processor. Unlike most other public wikis, the Climate Lab wiki uses a WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) page editor, which means that what you see when you're writing and editing is what you'll see when you save your work. 

One of the few exceptions is web applications, such as videos, which are loaded onto the page when the page is saved.

Editing with HTML

You can also edit a wiki page using HTML editor.  Click the source button on the page editor tool bar to switch to HTML mode, then make your edits.  Editing a page or article in source mode is often useful when inserting and adjusting multimedia like images, files, or videos.

For more information on adding multimedia to pages, see How to Use Wiki Page Features and Tools. 

Basic page elements

When you're editing an article, it's important to know the basic structure, elements and functions of a wiki page.  The basic page elements include:

• Title: The title states what you'll be discussing (ex., Voluntary Carbon Offsets).  Nounal phrase with the first letter of each word capitalized.
• Introduction: Each article starts with an introduction that defines the subject of the article, places it in the context of climate change, and provides an overview of the major subtopics and issues related to subject.  Generally starts by restating and defining the subject  of the article.
• Sections: Sections and subsections organize information in articles around different issues or subtopics. Sections and subsections are delineated by headers and subheaders. Like titles, headers and subheaders should be nounal phrases.  Create a section by changing the Style in the page editor and typing the section header.
• Footnotes: Footnotes refer to specific passages of an article and cite the sources for those passages.  All pages on the wiki should generally have a Footnotes section. And apart from the shortest articles, most pages should strive to have at least three or more sources cited.  Use the Insert Footnote and Insert Reference buttons in the page editor.
• Resources: Relevant and useful sources of information on the article topic that are not included among the footnotes should be included under the Resources section. The Resources section should be the last section created in the article, below Footnotes.

For details on each of the wiki page elements, see How to Layout and Format a  Wiki Page, the wiki layout guide.

Talk pages

 If you are considering making substantial changes to an article, you might first propose and explain the changes in the talk page ("Talk") for the article.  You can get to the talk page by clicking on "Talk" in the top navigational bar.  After making any substantial changes to an article, leave a note on its corresponding talk page to explain the changes to other editors and visitors.  Add your comments to the end of the page and be sure to indent and sign your reply or comment.  Please remember to keep your comments thoughtful and considerate to other editors.  Once you save your changes, they will be visable to all Climate Lab wiki users.