Editing Help:Starting a new page

There are three methods of '''starting a new page''', detailed below. But first, '''make sure the article is needed'''. One of the most common mistakes made by new editors is to create unnecessary new pages. 

==New article checklist==
Before starting a new page make sure that all of the following conditions are met:
* There are no pages which already provide the same information(try search?). If there is any type of similar article, add the information there instead of creating a new article. 
* ...


==Starting a new page==
===Using the search page ===
The easiest way to create a page is to use the '''search box'''. Type the page name into the search box, hit '''GO'''. You will be give an option to ''Create the page "your page name" on this wiki!'', 'your page name' would be marked as a red link, click it. This will take you to an edit page where you can add your new information.

If "Go" takes you to an existing page, then the information you want to add probably belongs on that page. Also, before clicking on "create this page" it is generally best to look through the page matches found by the search engine to see whether any of those pages is a better place to add your information.

=== Create a new page Using Wikilinks ===
MediaWiki makes it very easy to link wiki pages using a standard syntax (see [[Help:Links|Links]]). If you (or anyone else) creates a link to an article that doesn't exist yet, the link will be coloured red, <span style="color: #ba0000">like this</span>.

Clicking a red link, will take you to the edit page for the new article.  Simply type your text, click save and the new page will be created.

Once the page has been created, the link will change from <span style="color: #ba0000">red</span> to <span style="color: #002bb8;">blue</span> (<span style="color: #5a3696;">purple</span> for pages you've visited) indicating that the article now exists.

=== Create a new page Using the URL ===
You can use the wiki's URL for creating a new page. The URL to an article of the wiki is this:
*<code><nowiki>http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/</nowiki>'''ARTICLE'''</code>

If you replace <code>'''ARTICLE'''</code> with the name of the page you wish to create, you will be taken to a blank page which indicates that no article of that name exists yet. Clicking the "''edit''" [[Help:Navigation#Page Tabs|page tab]] at the top of the page will take you to the edit page for that article, where you can create the new page by typing your text, and clicking submit.


== Create redirects to your new page == 
Don't forget to setup redirects when you create a page. If you think another person may search for the page you've created by using a different name or spelling, please create the proper redirect(s).

To create a redirect, the '''first line''' of the page should read <nowiki>#REDIRECT [[Destination]]</nowiki> where Destination is the page to which people should be redirected.  This must appear as the very first line of the page.

== Protect your new page == 
If desired, once you create your new page, you should protect the page and allow only the type of users you would like to edit the page.

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[[Category:Help|Starting a new page]]