Help:Quick start guide

This quick start guide will help you learn how editing works on a wiki. This guide is specially aimed at total beginners, and once you finish reading this, you'll be more than ready to edit articles. Don't feel the need to memorize everything on this guide though – just come back to it when you need a quick reminder. You shouldn't need to know more, but you can learn more by experimenting (common sense will take you far!), checking the other help pages, learning from an article that does what you want, or asking on the chatroom.

Introduction

If you want to fix a typo, add info, or change text, you will have to edit the article. To do so, open the article you want, and click the "edit" tab at the top of the page. A text box will then appear with the article's contents.

Basic editing

Any normal text you type or change will end up exactly as you wrote it.

What you write	What you get
This is some normal article text. This is another line.	This is some normal article text. This is another line.

You might find some characters that don't make sense as normal text, though. These are explained further ahead.

After you make your changes, press "Save page" below the content text box, and the article will be instantly updated. It would be nice if you could use the "Show preview" button first, to see if the article will end up like you planned (remember that this does not save yet!). You should also write a quick summary (e.g. "Fixed a typo." or "Added information about pellets.") so that people can know what you did more easily.

To create a new article, use this box, but make sure you read the full guide first, and search to make sure the page doesn't already exist. <createbox> width=24 break=no buttonlabel=Create new article </createbox>

Sections

An article is split into sections. A list of sections can be found on the table of contents at the start of any article. You can create sections like so:

What you write	What you get
== Control types == This section explains the control types. === Classic === This sub-section explains the classic controls. === Stylus === This one explains the stylus control scheme.	Control types This section explains the control types. Classic This sub-section explains the classic controls. Stylus This one explains the stylus control scheme.

Special content

But what if you want text in bold, or a list? Just follow the section that corresponds to what you need. If you want to combine the effects, just combine the rules (e.g. ''[[Pikmin 2]]'' for a link + italics.)

Bold and italics

What you write	What you get
This is '''some text''' in bold. Also, game names, like ''Pikmin 3'', should be in italics.	This is some text in bold. Also, game names, like Pikmin 3, should be in italics.

Links

What you write	What you get
On [[The Distant Spring]] there is an [[Smoky Progg|optional boss]] for quick players.	On The Distant Spring there is an optional boss for quick players.

Images

What you write	What you get
[[File:Red Pikmin.png|thumb|A Red Pikmin.]]	A Red Pikmin.

Advanced example
What you write	What you get
[[File:Blue Pikmin.png|thumb|right|A right-aligned image.]] There is an image to the right of this text. {{clear}} This text should appear below the image.	A right-aligned image. There is an image to the right of this text. This text should appear below the image.

Lists

What you write	What you get
* Hocotatians ** Olimar ** Louie ** The President * Koppaites ** Alph ** Brittany ** Charlie	Hocotatians Olimar Louie The President Koppaites Alph Brittany Charlie

Templates

In simple terms, when you write the name of a template, it expands into a whole box, or table, or what have you. If said box/table/etc. has any fields, you can fill them out when you call the template's name. To learn more about how a specific template's arguments work, read that same template's page.

What you write	What you get
{{stub}}	This article is a stub. You can help Pikipedia by expanding it.
{{todo|Add a table to compare.}}	To do: Add a table to compare. Care to do so?

Talk pages

You can discuss an article on its "talk page". To access it, click the "discussion" button at the top of the respective page.

Just type your text in the appropriate place in order to post a comment. After you write it, add ~~~~ at the end, so people know that it was you. To reply to somebody, write your message under theirs, and add a colon (:) before your text, so that it becomes aligned with their response. If their comment already has some colons, then add the same number of colons + 1.

Final thoughts

When editing, try to use clean English, be consistent with your style, don't go crazy, and write the truth. Basically, write what you'd see on a US school book that explains everything about Pikmin. And keep in mind that help is always around the corner.

If you still want more information, read the other help pages; if not, then you're probably ready to jump right in and start helping!