Help:Getting started
Welcome, wiki editors!
This page is a portal for novice wiki editors who are looking for a place to start. Regardless of skill level, anyone can make contributions to the wiki with just a few clicks and some typing. Please don’t be intimidated, as you’ve got the support of a team of experienced collaborators, researchers and proofreaders. Also keep in mind that you can never break anything, as previous versions of an article can easily be restored.
Beginner skills - Proofreading and page maintenance
Even with no expertise in investing, anyone can start right away helping to proofread recently-edited pages and to maintain older wiki pages. All that’s needed is a quick review of the very basics of wiki markup language, a quick tutorial, perhaps a little practice in the sandbox, then to find the specific wiki pages that are awaiting your help.
- Start first with a review of the Guide for Contributors and the Wiki Cheatsheet.
- Next, if you want to practice your editing skills, try them out in the sandbox.
- Then, to find pages for proofreading: Recent Changes or a random page
- For more proofreading pages: New Pages
On the left-side menu under Wiki activity, is Recent changes. All editing activity is logged here. If you want to see what the editors have been doing (and perhaps join them to help), select Recent changes as the first place to check when visiting the wiki. For those familiar with discussion boards, the finiki equivalent is talk pages, so you might want to narrow the Recent changes to the Talk namespace.
Intermediate skills - Improving an existing page
If you have general expertise in investing, or are interested in doing some research, there are many existing wiki pages that need expansion and improvement. This work generally requires more extensive fluency with the wiki markup language, but there are excellent guides available to assist you.
- Start first with a study of the Guide for Contributors and the Wiki Cheatsheet.
- Then, pages needing expansion: Expand
- Or, pages needing cleanup: Pages with template messages
- Or, pages under development: Development
- For pages needing maintenance: Maintenance Reports
Advanced skills - Creating a new page
If you have expert knowledge of a topic, or would just like to research and learn about it, there are numerous wiki topics that are waiting for someone to create a new page for them. Developing a brand new page may require fairly advanced wiki markup skills, but some novice editors may also want to try it as a “learn by doing” project.
- Start first with a study of the Guide for Contributors and the Wiki Cheatsheet.
- To find new pages that are wanted: Wanted Pages
- See Creating a new page for details of creating a new page, written by fellow finiki editors and also Starting an article - Wikipedia for a much broader perspective on the topic.
finiki accounts
So what to do if you’re not already a wiki editor and would like to become one? All potential finiki editors must first apply via email for creation of a finiki account. In most cases, these editors are Financial Webring Forum members. However we welcome interested members of the public to apply to become an editor, subject to a probation period.
Can't remember is you already have a finiki account? See list of users.
Login problems
If you are having problems with your finiki login you can reset your password. The functionality depends on you having a valid email address as part of your preferences (you'll need to be logged in).
External links
Further reading
- Barrett, Daniel J. 2009. MediaWiki: Wikipedia and Beyond. O’Reilly Media. ISBN 978-0-596-51979-7.
- Broughton, John. 2008. Wikipedia: The Missing Manual. O’Reilly Media. ISBN 978-0596515164.
