User:MrX/Adoption school

=Adoption school for ____ = This is the centralized page for mentoring ____ in the processes, policies, guidelines and practices of Wikipedia.

Program goals
By the end of the mentoring program, the subject should have a working understanding of...
 * Core policies
 * Wiki formatting, layout and style
 * How to create new articles
 * How to effectively use talk pages
 * Where to look, or who to turn to, for help

You should feel free to continue editing, and contributing to Wikipedia in other ways, during this program.

Lessons
Each lesson should be completed by reading the recommended background material, asking questions, and completing the assignments which will consist of answering questions and completing various activities. The lessons can be worded on sequentially or concurrently.

Assignment
Read the following and ask any questions below. Then answer the question at the bottom of the lesson.


 * Brief - Brief overview
 * Five pillars - Core foundation principles
 * WP:NOT - What Wikipedia is not
 * WP:LOP - Summary of policies with links to the TL;DR versions
 * WP:COPYRIGHT - Copyright policy
 * Help:Edit summary - This is not a policy per se, but is a widely used (and expected) practice. I would like to see you start using edit summaries consistently as it will help you become a great editor. Routine edits can have brief summaries; for very minor edits (correcting typos, spacing, punctuation) you can check the "This is a minor edit" box at the bottom of the edit window. Major edits and edits that may be controversial should have more detailed edit summaries. You can also add links to edit summaries, in the same way you add links to articles and talk page discussions.    for (internal) Wikilinks and [  ] for external links.

Assignment questions (open book)
1. What is Wikipedia's main purpose?

2. Who's in charge of Wikipedia?

3. Is Wikipedia a good place to publish press releases?

4. How are decisions made at Wikipedia?

5. What is original research?

6. Is it ever OK not to follow a policy? (cite the policy that supports your answer)

7. Give three ways to ensure that we are editing neutrally?

This lesson will help you become familiar with the technical aspects of editing. It is important to take the time to read all of the material at least once. The lab exercise will give you the opportunity to demonstrate what you have learned and receive feedback.

Assignment
Read the following and ask any questions below. Complete the lab exercises and answer the question at the bottom of the lesson.


 * WP:MOS - Wikipedia manual of style
 * WP:LAYOUT - Article layout guide
 * WP:TITLE - Article titles
 * WP:EL - External links

Lab exercise

 * 1) In the toolbar on the left of the screen, there is link called "Random pages". Click on it until you find an article that could benefit from an edit. Edit the article (use an edit summary too). Repeat this until you have edited at least 10 articles, and a least one substantial one (add a citation, add a sentence or two, etc.).
 * 2) At the bottom of every article page is a list of categories. Find an article in your area of interest. Click on a category at the bottom, which will take you to a page listing other articles in the same category. Review any of these articles to see if you can make edits to improve the articles. Make at least 10 edits, and a least one substantial one (add a citation, add a sentence or two, etc.).

Please ping when you start this exercise and also when you end it so that I can review your edits.

Feedback
This lesson will help you to identify reliable sources and add citations to articles.

Assignment
Read the following and ask any questions below. Complete the lab exercises and answer the question at the bottom of the lesson.


 * WP:RS - Identifying reliable sources
 * WP:FN - Footnotes
 * WP:CITE - All about citations

Lab exercise

 * 1) Using the "Random pages" or "Recent changes" link in the left menu, or by surfing a category, find three articles that could benefit from additional citations. Locate a source via a Google search, database search or other means, and add a citation to each article. Use an obvious edit summary (like, "adding a citation") so that I can find and review your edits.

Assignment questions
1. Is an internet forums a reliable sources? 2.Identify the error in this citation:

Open discussion
Here we can have ongoing discussion in lieu of using the talk page.

Helpful gadgets
There are some tools that I recommend that you enable in your user preferences, which will make your editing a little easier. Of course, this is all optional. (top right menu - Preferences > Gadgets)
 * Browsing
 * Open external links in a new tab/window
 * Twinkle, a set of tools that automates common tasks such as reporting vandalism, warning vandals, requesting deletion, welcoming users, and tagging articles. (Preferences panel) <- 'very helpful'
 * Suppress display of the fundraiser banner (Unless you want to see life-size images of Jimbo's head )


 * Watchlist
 * Display pages on your watchlist that have changed since your last visit in bold. See Customizing watchlists for more options.


 * Editing
 * HotCat, easily add / remove / change a category on a page, with name suggestion [example]
 * ProveIt, a powerful GUI tool for viewing, editing, adding, and inserting references (screenshot, working demo) <-'This is a great tool for adding citations''
 * wikEd, a full-featured integrated text editor for Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome. Please read the help page for usage instructions.
 * Yet Another AFC Helper Script: easily review Articles for creation submissions, Files for Upload, redirect and category requests

I turn this one off: Form for filing disputes at the dispute resolution noticeboard


 * Appearance
 * Change UTC-based times and dates, such as those used in signatures, to be relative to local time. (documentation)