Help:Quick guide to editing
This page provides basic instructions for editing on SourceWatch and Congresspedia. Before you can edit, you'll need to quickly register with a valid email address, which we require to deter spammers and vandals.
Contents
Registration
Before you can make contributions to the site, you must first register. The process is quick and should take no more than a minute or so. (Register here)
Once you have been asked to create a username, as well as provide an email and your full name, you will be sent an email with your password information (immediately). Once you have retrieved the password, you can login on the site and begin making edits. (Login here)
Editing
Opening an edit window
At the top of each page, an “edit” link can be found. Clicking on this link will open an edit window with the text and code of the entire page. You will notice that there are also “edit” links on the right side of all subsections throughout a page. If you wish to edit only one subsection, you can click on the “edit” link directly across from a subheading, and an edit window with the text of the subsection will open. Editing only a single subsection at a time is recommended, as it is easier to sort through the text and identify text you would like to edit.
Linking to other pages
All new information on the site requires a valid source. If the information added comes from an external source, it is necessary to insert a link to the appropriate site where the information was found. Links to external sources are created by placing a single-bracket around the appropriate URL. Consider the following example:
- A user wishes to add information found on an external website regarding a vote on the Senate floor.
- The text should be written as follows:
The Senate voted 75-25 in favor of the bill. [Appropriate URL]
If you wish to insert an internal link, place a double-bracket around the text comprising the link. For example, you would enter the following if you wished to create an internal link to the "Senate" page on Congresspedia, and an external link to the site where the new information was found:
The [[Senate]] voted 75-25 in favor of the bill. [Appropriate URL]
Editing the Articles/Resources section
Each outside source used to cite information added to the site must be added to the Articles and Resources section at the bottom of each page. If you were to add a link to a resource such as THOMAS, you would enter:
*[http://thomas.loc.gov THOMAS]
The star preceding the text will create a bullet point before the source. As is indicated in the example, follow the URL with the name of the resource (the text you wish to be visible). In this particular example, the text will read:
When adding a new article to the articles section, the following information is necessary:
- Name of the author
- URL of the site where the information was taken
- Name of the article
- Name of the source
- Date the information was published
The following is an example of how a citation should be entered:
*Jonathan Weisman, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/17/AR2006051701779.html "Ethics Panel Starts 3 Probes,"] ''Washington Post,'' May 18, 2006.
Note: The two apostrophes before and after Washington Post italicize the text. This can also be done in the editing window by highlighting the text you wish to italicize and clicking the italics logo at the top of the window. If you wish to bold text, you can either add 3 apostrophes before and after the appropriate text, or highlight the text and click the bold logo at the top of the editing window.
Entering the above text/code will make the following citation appear:
- Jonathan Weisman, “Ethics Panel Starts 3 Probes,” Washington Post, May 18, 2006.
Remember to preview
At the bottom of the edit window, you will see options for "Save page" and "Show preview." It is always best to preview your work and make sure it looks the way it should before saving the page. Until the page is saved, none of your changes will be visible to site visitors.
