Help:Contents

This article provides background on the wiki concept and how it is applied for the Bogleheads wiki.

For wiki editors, comprehensive help regarding the MediaWiki software is available on the Help:Editor page from the Wikimedia Meta-Wiki Project. Users may also post questions on the Bogleheads Wiki Editors' Lounge subforum.

Guidelines for writing appropriate articles are bound by three core content policies:
 * All Boglehead articles and other encyclopedic content must be written from a neutral point of view, representing significant views fairly, proportionately, and without bias.
 * Neutral Point of View


 * Material challenged or likely to be challenged, and all quotations, must be attributed to a reliable, published source.
 * Verifiability


 * No Original Research

In short, there is an expectation that contributions will follow Wiki standards and be written from a neutral point of view. Citations of claims and facts are necessary to ensure verifiability link to how to do this. On the main page of a topic, long examples are to be avoided (they can be provided via links on other pages). Instead, general principals that are applicable to a broad audience should be stressed.

Citing references
For consistency, references should be organized in a common format. Please list references as follows:


 * ==Notes==
 * Explanatory footnotes (those that are not references) appear first.
 * ==See also==
 * This is the first header for links and is used for internal wiki page links.
 * ==References==
 * Footnote references appear after the See also section and before the External links section.
 * ==Further reading==
 * A general reading list, but should not include references cited elsewhere in the page.
 * ==External links==
 * This section contains outside links.

Unused reference section headings may be omitted.
 * An example from Wikipedia: Stock
 * An example with footnotes: Risk and return: application

How to check and see if a page already exists in the wiki
Type the title in the search box (upper left corner of the sidebar on left) and hit return (or select the Go button). If the page exists, your search will go directly to the page. If the page does not exist, a list of possible matches will appear. If your page is similar to a page that exists, considering updating that page instead.

How to create a page
You can create a new page in one of two ways:
 * 1) If you are in a current wiki page, you can create a new page by using the internal wiki link syntax title of new page around the text you wish to signify as the title of the new page. This as yet unwritten page will appear in red type on the page.
 * 2) A  more common way to start a new page is to type the title into the sidebar search box and hit the Go button. You will see the message: There is no page titled "name of title". You can create this page . If you click  create this page you will be taken to an empty page box. As soon as you place content in the box and save it you will have created a page.

See Format for new page in the Wiki Help:Guide for contributors for a new page template.

How to edit a page
See: How to edit a page, from Wikipedia

The Wikipedia Manual of Style is a style guide for Wikipedia articles that encourages editors to follow consistent usage and formatting. Use this guide for reference.

Using buttons in the edit box
The edit box buttons are designed to be similar to the Microsoft Word layout. Detailed instructions, including a snapshot of the editing toolbar, is available in the forum. NEW WIKI TOOLBAR NOW AVAILABLE

Using the Excel to wiki tool
The excel2wiki.net | Excel to wiki converter is available to convert Excel tables into wiki format.

Instructions are on the website. All you need to do is copy & paste the cells from Excel onto the form and click submit.

Wiki cheatsheet
The Wikipedia Cheatsheet contains basic formatting commands. Content is more important than format. If you run into difficulty, please continue to edit and ask for assistance later.

Renaming pages
If you need to rename a page please do not copy and paste the contents of the old article into a new article. A cut and paste will separate the previous contributions from their edit history. Use the move tab at the top of the page and carefully follow the directions. See Help:Moving a pagefor details.

Using discussion
You can use the discussion page (up in the heading) to make a comment. When you do leave a comment, select ~ (four tildes), this dates and signs the comment. Alternatively, the "Sig" icon in the editing toolbar will enter this for you.

Wiki writing is collaborative. You can find the authors of every edit by hitting the history tab. This will show you the authorship of each edit.

Template messages
Use messages to apprise readers of page status or find a page displaying a message and help edit it.
 * List of template messages
 * Pages using messages that may require cleanup


 * Article templates includes:

If you are engaged in a substantive edit on a page it is a good idea to place an Under construction or In use template in your page. This allows others to know that you are working on the page, and to refrain from editing the page until you have finished your edits.

Navigation templates

 * Navigation Templates

Follow Wikipedia's guidelines: A navbox on every page. The template will accept a "state" parameter which can be forced to "Show" or "Hide" by default. For example:


 * - autocollapse, which is set in MediaWiki:Common.js to be anything 2 rows or higher
 * will force the table to be uncollapsed (all rows viewable)
 * forces collapse
 * forces collapse within a contained table (not tested)
 * invokes table sort (not tested)

Per Wikipedia convention, do not use the "state =" parameter and let the page decide to "Show" or "Hide" the tables. There are always exceptions, so use your judgment.