Editing Questions
I made a mistake! What do I do?
How do I edit a page?
How do I add a new page?
How do I add an image to a gallery?
How do I add an image to an article, not for the gallery?
What information do I enter into the Species table?
What information do I enter into the Bird Toys table?
How do I add my bird toy or product review?
How do I add a tag to an article?
How do I credit a source or create a bibliography?
How can I add text or credit a source for a gallery picture?
I want to edit an article but the coding and everything else is too overwhelming! What can I do?
Can I add copyrighted text and images to articles?
Wiki Syntax – editing code on pages
General Questions
How do I join Wiki Pet Bird?
I went to (name of article) but there is no actual informative content. What’s up with that?
My question still wasn’t answered
I made a mistake! What do I do?
First of all, don’t panic. :)
If you have edited a page and submitted it, only to find it all distorted or chunks of text deleted, here’s what to do:
Scroll down to the very bottom of the page and select the ‘history’ option. Here you will see all the revisions ever made on the article. The one at the very top will be the change you made.
You will notice that all the revisions have the letters V S R (except the latest one does not have R). Click the R for the one listed immediately under yours. This will revert the page to how it was before you edited it.
If you have made a different mistake, such as created a new page in the wrong category, etc, either ask for it to be fixed by posting in the Help Forum, or email me at info@wikipetbird.com.
How do I edit a page?
First you need to be a member of Wiki Pet Bird.
Go to the page you want to edit.
Scroll down to the very bottom of the page and select the ‘edit’ option. You can then enter text, etc there.
For help on editing Wiki Syntax, click here.
How do I add a new page?
First make sure that the page has not already been created. For example, there is no need to create a page called ‘Greenwinged Macaws’ because we already have a page for that (use the search tool to see what pages have already been created).
If you would like to add a new page to Wiki Pet Bird, first go to Add Page. Choose an appropriate category for the new page and type it in.
It will now be created, ready for editing. :)
How do I add an image to a gallery?
Go to the page you want to add an image to.
Scroll down to the very bottom of the page and select the ‘files’ option.
Select ‘upload new file’ and fill in the form.
The image will automatically appear in the gallery (you may need to refresh the page to see).
At the moment, we have no real way of crediting an image in an article’s gallery. It might be a good idea to put some text on the actual image, crediting its source (as long as you have permission to do so).
Another way is to add some text underneath the gallery. Note that when images are uploaded, the latest one will appear first. Therefore, you could write something such as, “The last image with the closeup of the bird’s face is copyrighted to John Smith (http://www.johnswebsite.com), used with permission.
How do I add an image to an article, not for the gallery?
First, upload the image file to the article. Then go to edit the page.
Where you want the image to appear, enter the following code:
[[image image-source]]
Where it says ‘image-source’, enter the name of the file (e.g. birdbath.jpg).
You may also add attributes to an image. Click here for more information.
Please note, if you are entering an image into the table on the right (seen in Species, Toys, and Products articles), make sure the image is not too big. It should be 190 to 200px wide or less. Any bigger and it may distort the look of the table.
What information do I enter into the Species table?
For articles on species, there is a table on the left. The first row is where I picture of the species should be inserted, while the second row is for the picture’s credit/source if needed.
Classification:
A good reference for finding out these is by looking up the species on Wikipedia.
ORDER: examples are Psittaciformes (parrots), Passeriformes (perching birds) and Galliformes (gamefowl).
FAMILY: examples are Psittacidae (true parrots), Estrildidae (weaver-finches) and Phasianidae (pheasants and partridges)
SUBFAMILY: some birds have subfamilies, examples being Loriinae (lories and lorikeets) and Cacatuinae (cockatoos).
GENUS: examples are Pyrrhura (green-cheeked conures, etc), Taeniopygia (Australian finches) and Coturnix (quails).
SPECIES: examples are A. solstitialis (Sun Conure), T. guttata (Zebra Finch) and C. chinensis (Chinese Painted Quail)
Aviculture:
NOISE LEVEL: Is the species generally considered low, medium, loud, or very loud?
SKILL LEVEL: What skill level is the species generally recommended for? Beginner, Intermediate or Expert? For example, cockatiels are often recommended for beginners.
SIZE: Is the bird small, medium or large?
PRICE: This section is a bit iffy because it depends on which country you are in. For many birds, this will simply be ‘Various’. However some birds, such as Zebra Finches, are generally considered cheap in many countries while Macaws are generally considered to be expensive.
MAINTENANCE: Medium or high? While most birds are high maintenance, this more refers to compared to each other. A cockatiel is considered lower maintenance compared to a high maintenance cockatoo.
TALKING: In general, how is this bird’s talking ability? Poor, good or great?
What information do I enter into the Bird Toys table?
For articles on bird toys, there is a table on the left. The first row is where I picture of the toy should be inserted, while the second row is for the picture’s credit/source if needed.
TYPE – there are 11 types of toys. Type in the category that the toy bests fits into (or up to two categories such as Noisy/Preener):
Noisy: Toys that ring, rattle, ding, or clatter. From bells to music boxes.
Puzzle: Problem solving toys. The bird must ‘solve’ the toy (may include manipulation parts of the toy) in order to get the reward (food, small toy pieces, or undoing the toy itself).
Destructible: Toys that are made to be destroyed. Made of chewable materials.
Non-Destructible: Toys made to last. Often made of acrylic, PVC, rawhide, or heavy nylon. Often brightly coloured.
Foraging: Toys containing food that the bird must ‘work’ for to get, often involving problem solving (although not always).
Preener: Toys that can be preened, shredded, chewed, or picked at. They could be as simple as a shoelace to a toy with other parts attached to it.
Push N Pull: Toys that have pieces that slide back and forth or move up and down. Toys that have pieces that can be moved around.
Mover N Shaker: Swings, ladders, rings, perches with attached toys, perch toys, spiral ropes, chains, swinging ropes, etc.
Foot Toys: Toys that aren’t connected to one part of the cage. They are usually suitable for a parrot to grasp and may be found on the floor of the cage or in a bird toy chest. Small pieces of wood, rattles, hard rubber chews, hard plastic toys, etc.
Toy Chest: A box, bowl, or container in a cage. Often used to contain foot toys.
SIZE – what size bird is the toy suitable for? Small, medium, or large? If it comes in various sizes suitable for all birds, it called be classified as ‘All’.
PRICE – what price range is the toy in usually? Cheap, medium, expensive, or all?
How do I add my bird toy or product review?
First, go to the article that is about the product you want to review.
Edit the page and go to the ‘Reviews’ section. It will look something like this:
> Enter your review here.
> ~ Your name/alias
Type your review after the > sign. Please note that if you want to start a new paragraph, you must enter another > sign. Here is an example:
> I bought this music box for my sun conure 6 months ago and he loves it! He can often be seen dancing along to the Beachboys music after pushing the button.
> It took about a month for him to learn how to push the button though. We showed him how and he eventually got the hang of it.
> ~ Stacey
Looks like this:
I bought this music box for my sun conure 6 months ago and he loves it! He can often be seen dancing along to the music after pushing the button with his beak.
It took about a month for him to learn how to push the button though. We showed him how and he eventually got the hang of it.
~ Stacey
How do I add a tag to an article?
Go to the page you want to add tags to.
Scroll down to the very bottom of the page and select the ‘tags’ option. Add the desired tags, separate with spaces.
They will automatically appear in the ‘tag cloud’.
How do I credit a source or create a bibliography?
One way to do this is to create footnotes. In the text you have written, go to where you want to add a footnote and enter this code:
This is the text here. [[footnote]]Enter the bibliography information here[[/footnote]]
It will look like this with the footnote information at the bottom of the article:
This is the text here.1
How can I add text or credit a source for a gallery picture?
At the moment, we have no real way of crediting an image in an article’s gallery. It might be a good idea to put some text on the actual image, crediting its source (as long as you have permission to do so).
Another way is to add some text underneath the gallery. Note that when images are uploaded, the latest one will appear first. Therefore, you could write something such as, “The last image with the closeup of the bird’s face is copyrighted to John Smith (http://www.johnswebsite.com), used with permission.
I want to edit an article but the coding and everything else is too overwhelming! What can I do?
If you really feel like you can’t edit an article by yourself, post what you want edited in the Help section of the forum and someone will get around to doing it for you.
Can I add copyrighted text and images to articles?
Copying bodies of text from another source (such as another website) and pasting it into an article is not allowed. Small quotes of text are generally okay but the original source must be credited (see how to make a footnote).
Uploading other people’s images without permission into an article is not allowed, even if the source is credited. The image must either:
- Be already available for public use and fits within the rules of using it for this website (such as a stock image, image the creator has already given out permission to use, etc)
- Have special permission granted to you from the image’s creator to use it on this website
- Be your own image that you created
At the moment, we have no real way of crediting an image in an article’s gallery. It might be a good idea to put some text on the actual image, crediting its source (as long as you have permission to do so).
Another way is to add some text underneath the gallery. Note that when images are uploaded, the latest one will appear first. Therefore, you could write something such as, “The last image with the closeup of the bird’s face is copyrighted to John Smith (http://www.johnswebsite.com), used with permission.
Wiki Syntax – editing code on pages
For a handy reference to simple coding, click here to go to Wiki Syntax for beginners.
This covers things such as how to centre text, create bulleted lists, headings, insert images, and more.
How do I join Wiki Pet Bird?
First you must have a Wikidot account.
At the very top of the Wiki Pet Bird pages, click ‘create account’.
Fill in the form and click ‘next’.
A confirmation email with a verification code will be sent to the email address you entered. Simply follow its instructions.
Once you have a Wikidot account, go to the Join This Site page.
Enter the password (the password is ‘join’). You are now a member. It’s that easy!
Once you are a member, you will be able to edit articles, upload files, and post in the forum.
I went to [name of article] but there is no actual informative content. What’s up with that?
This website is very new so many articles have not yet been established. You can get involved by joining the site and inputting your knowledge into various articles! :)
My question still wasn’t answered
You can either try asking at the Help Forum or contacting me at info@wikipetbird.com.