Teflpedia:Newcomer's guide

This page is intended to answer frequently asked questions (FAQs). If your question is not answered below, try the help pages, or ask in the teachers' room.

Who writes the articles?
They are written by the community. No single author "owns" any Teflpedia article although some may have (or have had) primary authors. A primary author has no more say in an article once it is in the community than any other member of the community. As member of this community you have as much right to edit an article as anybody else.

How to post a new article
Easy! See Creating a new article - second link in the Help section (in left sidebar).

What kind of articles will I find on Teflpedia?
While Teflpedia is open to all ideas related to teaching and learning English, things need to be demonstrable and referenced from publications and other reliable sources. To give an example, teaching methodologies based on, for instance, horoscopes, would tend to be addressed skeptically. That said, a specific lesson plan for a classroom activity aimed at engaging students in active use of English based around horoscopes would be acceptable.

On the other hand, teflpedia articles are not intended to be as exhaustive as other, more encyclopedic sources, e.g. Wikipedia, but are aimed more at being of practical use. In the case of biographical articles, while Wikipedia is likely to provide full biographical details such as exact date and place of birth, and an infinite amount of other personal details, regarding childhood and marital status, etc., here at Teflpedia such information is not considered pertinent.

Likewise, external links to interesting web pages that provide an authoritative insight on the subject are, in many cases, extremely useful. However Teflpedia is not intended to be a directory of links, and these should be used appropriately and kept to a minimum.

How can I see what's going on at the moment?
To see all recent edits to Teflpedia, click on Recent changes in the Navigation box at top left. To see edits to one particular page, go to the page in question and click on the tab you'll find at top right.

How can I keep an eye on articles that interest me?
Your personalised Watchlist will help you keep track of changes to whatever Teflpedia pages you choose to add to it.

How do I edit articles on Teflpedia?
If you have never edited a wiki before, you'll find some helpful tips over at Help:Editing.

Should article content follow any particular structure or order?
Please consult our Style guide.

What can I do with the stuff I find on Teflpedia?
You are free to use any Teflpedia material in your classes. You are free to link to any page in Teflpedia. For other copyright restrictions see our article Teflpedia Copyright.

Is there a "Talk about Anything/Everything" page?
If you wish to raise a subject of general interest to the Wiki, the Teachers' room is where it's at. If you want to talk about something which mainly affects you, then putting something on your own talk page may generate interest.

What are Article Pages and Discussion (Talk) Pages?
Every article has an "Article" page, and a "Talk" page. The encyclopaedic content of the article goes on the "article" page and any debate or comment on the article goes on the "Talk" page. Please do not put comments/opinions on the "article" page (if they address issues that can usefully improve the article, they will be moved to the talk page. Otherwise they will simply be deleted). See also Help:Namespaces.

How do I sign my posts to talk pages?
You have two options:
 * enter ~
 * click the signature and timestamp icon you'll find above the edit box.

How do I indent talk pages?
Talk page comment are threaded—replies indented to the right—with a colons. See Help:Indents

I disagree with one of the articles. What should I do?
If you have objections then you should first raise them on the article discussion (talk) page. It is better to point out specific errors in the article than it is to post something like, "This is all wrong!!!!" Please be aware that not everyone is here at teflpedia 24/7, so please make sure you assume good faith (AGF) and allow time for people to respond.

Remember that if you are trying to change a controversial article, your objective is to persuade people using reason and logic. Experience from many years of participating in wikis suggests that people who adopt a condescending or aggressive tone will significantly reduce their chances of persuading others to support their views.

Likewise, under no circumstances must you simply write a new article on top of an existing article or delete the article, as it will be considered vandalism.

What standards of behaviour are expected?
Please read our Community Standards.

What can I do with my user page?
With some obvious restrictions like obscenity, slander, racism or linkspam, you can put whatever you like on your User page, adding or deleting content as you wish.

Your User talk page, however, can be edited by anyone and you may not delete items from this page. The reason for this rule is to prevent the retrospective re-writing of history which has been known to happen at other Wiki projects. If you find your User talk page is getting uncontrollably long, you may archive it periodically by following the easy steps outlined in Help:Archiving your User talk page.

Why does my username always come up in red?
Your username will continue to come up in red until you put something on your User page. Writing anything on that page will make your username appear in blue.

How do I put those cool userboxes on my page?
See teflpedia:Userboxes

How is Teflpedia financed?
Teflpedia is presently financed by the site owner, however any donations to help offset costs would be most welcome.