Help:How to start a new page

Please help grow GEM Wiki by creating new pages on fossil fuel projects and the people, corporations, governments, and other entities shaping the global energy system.

Before you create a new page

Check to see if a similar page already exists

If you want to create a new page on a topic, first use the "search" form (on the upper right of the GEM Wiki homepage or at this link) and plug in the tentative title of your new page to see whether someone has already created a page on that topic or something very similar.

A similar page may show up under "Article title matches" or "Page text matches" on the search results screen. It's obviously better that we combine pages (and efforts) on very similar or identical topics. For example, you may be trying to create a page on "Yamal gas project," but a search for "Yamal gas project" shows that there is already a page for Yamal megaproject. Rather than create a new page, you should put a redirect in on the uncreated page that will reroute readers to the already existing page. This will also take any red links to that similar page and turn them purplish, letting readers know that a page already exists on that topic, which is nice.

Similarly, you may want to create a page on "Radioactivity in oil and gas," which would be about the radioactivity levels in oil and gas waste and people exposed to this waste. However, a search for "radioactivity" shows that there is already a section on radioactivity on the page [Gem.wiki:Environmental impacts of fracking]. In this case you can copy the content from this existing page and use it to create and build on a new page, using the same footnotes.

Naming conventions for titling pages

Make sure to abide by Gem Wiki's naming conventions when titling your new article. This helps keep the encyclopedia tidy and makes adding links to articles easier.

How to create a new page

There are three ways to create a new page:

1. From the search results page;
2. Using an internal link to a non-existent page; and
3. Directly in the address bar of your browser.

Creating a new page from the search results page

The fastest way to create a new page, and to make sure there is not already an existing page, is to simply to use the search box to input the name of the page you want to create (with all the proper capitalization - see the naming conventions). If no such article exists, you'll get a page saying: There is no page titled "[the name of your page]". You can create this page. When you get there, click that red link and it will open an editing window on the new blank page. Simply type in your text, click save and you're done.

Creating a new page using an internal link to a non-existent page

If you're creating a new page because you saw one of those red links somewhere, just click on the red link. If you've registered with GEM Wiki (which is required to edit - you can register here) and are logged-in, you'll usually get a page that says: "Create the page [name of page] on this wiki!" It really is that simple! Simply type some text into the box and click "save." (Remember to jot a note in the smaller "Summary" box below the big box - this helps other editors keep track of what's happening on the wiki. In this case something like "starting a new page" will suffice.)

Creating a new page directly in the address bar of your browser

Another option is to simply type the name of the article you want to create into the address bar of your browser. To do this, go to any GEM Wiki page and delete everything in the address bar after https://www.gem.wiki/w/index.php?title= . Then type the title of your new page after the "=" and hit return. You should then see a page that says: "Create the page [page name] on this wiki!" Then just type your text in and click "save." That's it.

Tips and guidelines for creating new articles

Guidelines for new articles

When starting a new article, remember to establish context at the start of a new page. Each article should begin with a brief (one- or two-sentence) general description of the project, corporation, or topic.

You also need to add a basic structure to the page that will allow your footnotes to display. For a quick template on how to do this see How to add an articles and resources section.

More guidance:

• GEM Wiki Style Manual
• How to link articles by adding a "badge" to the article
• How to create a clearinghouse for connected articles or build a "portal"

Stub Pages

Stub pages are articles with little content, but that through the ongoing work of their creator and the collaboration process grow over time into longer articles. Stub pages are noticed and picked up by search engines, and thus attract new readers and thus new contributors. Please show tolerance for stub page creation; rather than deleting information for its minimalist content, edit and enrich the stub page. Today's stub page acorn is tomorrow's big oak, or next month or next year's big oak.

To classify a stub page as such, simply insert a this: {{stub}} at the end of the article. The wiki will automatically put a stub tag in the page.

Acknowledgment: the content of many of the help pages in GEM.wiki have been adapted from Wikipedia. See Help:Starting a new page