Starsonata:Talk Pages

Info for talk pages: There are two types of talk pages - the first one is standard talk pages which are used to discuss an article, while user talk pages are used to communicate with other users or leave them messages. Every page has an associated talk page, except pages in the Special: namespace. If there is no discussion of a page, the link to its talk page will be red. You can still discuss the page - you will just be the first person to do so.

Accessing a talk page

To access a talk page look for a link labelled Talk, Discussion or Discuss this page. These links will be found either at the top of the page or on the left hand side (near Edit this page).

A talk page adds Talk: to the beginning of the main page's title. If the main page has a prefix then talk is added after this prefix. For example, a talk page associated with the main article namespace simply has the prefix Talk:, while a talk page associated with the user namespace has the prefix User talk:. The Main Page is in the main namespace (because it has no prefix), so its talk page is simply Talk:Main Page.

After someone else edits your user talk page, the alert "You have new messages" is automatically displayed on all pages you view, until you view your user page.

Using talk pages

You should sign your contributions by typing three or four tildes

• ~~~ = Username
• ~~~~ = Username 19:36, 10 January 2006 (UTC)).

See Help:Automatic conversion of wikitext.

Formatting

Because the wiki software platform provides for a wide range of formatting styles, proper or at least consistent formatting is essential to maintaining readable talk pages.

The depth of a message is determined by the number of colons (':') in front of the message. Each colon represents a tab, and are commonly used in discussions on user and article talk pages. If a reply is made to a statement, one adds a colon to the number of colons used in the statement being replied to. This style of conversation is easier to read.

How's the milk? --Bob :It's great!! --Lisa :Not too bad.. --George ::I made it myself! --Bob I think the milk discussion should be moved to '''Talk:Milk'''.. --Lisa :I tend to disagree. --George

The above will produce this:

How's the milk? --Bob It's great!! --Lisa Not too bad.. --George I made it myself! --Bob I think the milk-discussion should be moved to Talk:Milk.. --Lisa I tend to disagree. --George

See Also

• Wikipedia's Help:Talk page
• Wikipedia's Talk page Guidelines

Parts of this page have been copied from Wikipedia