From Atkinspedia

Contents 1 I'd like to contribute to Atkinspedia! What should I do? 1.1 Create new articles 1.1.1 Tip 1.2 Make a donation 1.3 Help other users 1.4 Where do I start? 1.4.1 Start with what you know 1.4.2 Start on a random page 1.4.3 Start with outside research 1.5 Thank you!

I'd like to contribute to Atkinspedia! What should I do?

There are many ways! Below are just some of our best ideas, which include many things you can do with minimal effort.

Create new articles

Creating a new article is often a very useful thing to do, especially if there are lots of articles linking to an empty page.

Atkinspedia articles contain lots of links to other articles. Blue (or purple, if you have already visited them) links represent pages that do exist. Red links (or tan, if you have already visited them) point to pages that don't yet exist. Presumably, whoever created the link thought that an article on the topic should exist. It's possible this was a bad idea, and the link should be removed. It's also possible they made a spelling error or didn't know the correct name for a page on the same (or a more general topic) that does exist. In this case, you could fix the link, and/or create a redirect. If you decide there should be an article at the other end of the link, by all means start writing it!

In addition to looking for red links, you can look at a list of requested articles, and pick one you know something about. (See the section "Where do I start?" below.)

For technical help getting started, see Help:Starting a new page.

Tip

Don't be surprised if other people edit "your" pages to adapt them to our policies. It's OK to learn as you go along.

Make a donation

Atkinspedia is in constant need of more server capacity, bandwidth, and other technical services, to keep it running and fast enough to be useful. see the Atkinsalltheway forums to find out how to help.

Help other users

Even new users can help answer factual questions on the Atkinspedia:Reference desk, which serves the same purpose as a reference desk you might find in your local library. (You might also think of it as the Atkinspedia version of Google Answers.) You don't have to be an expert on Atkinspedia because:

• You can help people find answers in existing Atkinspedia articles.
• If you know the answer to a question not answered by Atkinspedia, you can assist the questioner and at the same time, add that information to Atkinspedia for the benefit of future readers.
• If you don't know the answer to an interesting question, you can research it in non-Atkinspedia sources, and then improve Atkinspedia for the benefit of the questioner and future readers.

If you already have some experience, your assistance in one of the many Atkinspedia help forums, including Atkinspedia:Help desk, would be a valuable contribution. You can help Atkinspedia grow by helping other people share what they know.

Where do I start?

Start with what you know

Make a list of everything you know. Strike through the things that are not verifiable or not supposed to be covered by Atkinspedia. Then, find the proper places to write about the items remaining on the list. Use the go button, the search, or just navigate by following links. Click the "What links here" link on pages you visit.

Things you might know about...

• Things you have already done research on. Have you written a thesis, essay, or school paper? Consider contributing the fruits of your efforts to related Atkinspedia articles. You probably don't want to dump the raw text of your essay into the wiki. Secondly, Atkinspedia is an encyclopedia. Articles that are not written in an encyclopedic style should be rewritten that way. Also keep in mind that Atkinspedia is not a place to post original research. This means that if you make a new discovery or come up with a new theory, you should find someplace else to post it. What we are about is researching and summarizing ideas and information that have already been publicized elsewhere. Most papers written up to the undergraduate level do exactly this. * *What kind of article would you like to write?
• If you see an article with a red link and think you can write an article on that subject, go for it!

Start on a random page

Visit a Special:Randompage and jump into the rabbit hole!

Start with outside research

Feed your appetite for knowledge. Pick a subject about which you know relatively little but have always been curious or want to remedy a guilty ignorance. If you already know a lot about something, the best references in the field might know more, or might be a helpful reference for other readers or helpful to you in your writing.

Try to find good online and print resources, both books and journal articles. Using good references is a way of improving the credibility of Atkinspedia, which will be increasingly important as Atkinspedia grows and becomes more and more relevant. Then cite your sources. By citing sources you avoid copyright violations and plagiarism as long as you use only acceptable portions of other works. Doing research also makes it easier to think of material to add and allows you to improve any article, even one you didn't know much about.

Write about something you don't know about. Use this as an excuse to research a new topic. As you learn about it, write what you are learning here on Atkinspedia. This is actually a good study aid because it forces you to take notes, to organize information, and to put what you've learned into your own words.

Find something from a public domain resource, update it, add links to it, and put it here (but make sure it really isn't copyrighted—see Atkinspedia copyrights).

Thank you!

Your contributions are what make Atkinspedia possible.