Welcome to Gasopedia!
Gasopedia is a free, web-based encyclopaedia of Bristol Rovers. Anyone is free to edit and create the articles, and we can all play a part in making this an accurate resource and welcoming community. Rules here are kept to a minimum to try and allow as much flexibility as possible to editors and the articles they create.
- If you're new to using MediaWiki software (the same software used at Wikipedia) then there is a user guide here, on the meta.mediawiki website. If you haven't used MediaWiki before then this will give you a good idea of how to do things.
- Have a look round. You can navigate around this wiki by using the menu on the left-hand side of the screen, or by clicking on links from the Bristol Rovers Wiki or from other articles. There are two types of links in articles; blue links, which take you to another article, and red links, which are links that have been put in place but the article hasn't been created yet. If you are feeling confident enough you can click on a red link and create the article yourself. See the help section for instructions on creating different types of article.
- Create an account. You don't have to do this to edit Gasopedia, but using an account rather than editing anonymously has a couple of advantages. Using an account keeps your IP address hidden, this is publicly visible next to any anonymous edits you make, and secondly it allows easier communication with you because it means people can use your user talk page to contact you. People also tend to be more trusting of edits made by a registered user, rather than made anonymously. See here for more details.
- Say hello! If you want you can go to the community portal and introduce yourself by clicking on the Discussion tab at the top of the screen.
- Write an article about yourself, if you want to. When you're logged in, click on your username at the top of the screen. This takes you to your user page, where you can write about yourself, hobbies, interests and anything else you want to share with the world.
- Pay attention to page types. The appropriate content of a page depends on its type (also referred to as which namespace it is in). There are several different types of page here.
- article: (also known as the main namespace) This is where the content of the encyclopedia is kept, e.g. Rickie Lambert.
- article talk: Use this to discuss the contents of an article and how to improve it, not for general discussion about the subject of the article. It can be accessed by clicking the discussion tab at the top of any article.
- user: This is where any user can create an article about themselves if they want. In general, the only page in the User namespace which you should edit is your own user page. You should only edit other people's user page if they invite you to, or if you are reverting obvious vandalism by a third party. Remember when creating your user page that you should never include personal details such as your address or telephone number.
- user talk: You can use anyone's user talk page to leave messages for them, but remember, Gasopedia will not tolerate users being abusive towards each other, so keep it friendly.
- image: Any uploaded images will appear here along with the information associated with them. Remember that if you upload an image it must be entirely your own work, or you must have permission from it's author which must be reproduced on the image page.
- image talk: This is rarely used, and is for discussing files that have been uploaded.
- template: A template is a piece of wiki code that is used on many pages. Instead of typing the same thing into many articles, a template can be created once and then 'transcluded' into several articles, for example Template:Squad.
- template talk: For discussing templates.
- help: As the name suggests, this is where you can find help when you get stuck.
- help talk: This is where you can ask questions when you get stuck, or suggest changes and improvements to the help pages.
- category: All articles should be put into at least one category. The category tree can then be used as a way of finding articles. For an example of a category, see category:Players.
- category talk: This can be used to discuss which articles should be in a particular category, or whether a large category should be broken up into smaller sub-categories.
In addition to these there is the project: namespace. This is where pages that affect the wiki as a whole, such as this welcome page, can be found.
The rules[]
As already mentioned, rules will be kept to a minimum. Some points to bear in mind:
- This is an encyclopaedia, not a chat room. When editing articles, stick to facts and not opinions.
- Treat other users with respect. This is not a place for personal attacks or abuse.
- Keep it Gas related. Although Gasopedia contains plenty of stuff about other teams, it focuses on their relationship and history with Rovers.
- Respect copyright. You can upload pictures to add to articles, but all photos should be your own work or uploaded with the permission of the original author. Don't upload photos that you have found on other websites, and don't copy text from other websites or publications.
That's about it, you're ready to get started. If you've got any more questions, you can either ask an existing editor on their user talk page or leave a message at the help centre.
Happy editing!!