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A user page is a page about a wiki user - someone who registered on the wiki - and is (most probably) a contributor. User pages are pages in the User namespace.
Once registered, anyone can create a user page with the link in the user menu (menu in top right corner of pages, see creating user pages section).
All users will see links to user pages from various places, such as the “Recent changes” and “page history” pages (see Help:Tracking changes).
It is possible to link to a user page within the text of a wiki page, which is mainly useful on talk pages for signatures. There is also the {{U}} template.
Do not apply categories to articles in the User namespace - this clutters the main wiki indexes up with user pages. As such, do not use maintenance templates in User namespace pages, nor similar templates that add categories to pages. A {{Note}} template can be used at the top of User namespace pages to indicate article status, if needed.
Anyone planning on doing specific work on the wiki, please create a user page and explain what is planned, so that other users know what is happening.
User page contents
A user page is like a profile page, it can be a great place to tell other users about activities, interests, personal details, or describe what is being worked on, or planned, in the wiki - to bring the online community closer together.
User pages are just as flexible as any other wiki page. Users are generally free to include and format these pages as they wish. Help other users find useful information in any subpages by linking to them from the main user page.
The {{InfoBox user}} template can help to conveniently present information for other users. Developers should use the {{Developer}} template.
User scratchpad / development area
A user page, and its subpages (User namespace), may be used as a scratchpad for developing ideas without cluttering the Main namespace. Ideally, use the user page as a profile page and its subpages for experimentation.
Avoid expending too much effort working on content in user pages, it is best suited to experiments and rough drafts. Content that positively improves the wiki is often better being put directly in the main wiki pages.
Please don't let drafts languish in the User namespace. When work is no longer ongoing, and if an article has reached sufficient content to become at least a small stub, please move the article to the Main namespace so that others may work to improve it. Aim to let others contribute to articles as soon as possible.
The wiki has a shared Sandbox page, which may be used for quick (non-permanent) wiki experimentation.
Creating user pages
Creating the main user page
The user page can be created from a link to the currently nonexistent page. The user account must be created and the user logged-in.
To get a link to the user page, click on the "user menu" which is the menu in the top right hand corner of any page, that is titled with the name of the currently logged-on user. In that menu, click the item titled with the current username (yes the same as the menu's name). This should lead to a currently nonexistent user page, which can now be created.
Click on the "create this page" link. There should now be a blank page where content can be written.
Creating a user subpage
To create a user subpage, go to the user page and append a slash ("/") to the URL, followed by the subpage name. The URL to the user page can be found in the "user menu" as explained in the previous section.
Navigate to the subpage URL that has just been entered. Click on the "create this page" link.
Note that a subpage can be created without having to create the main user page first, if desired.
Contacting other users
Every user page has a special User talk page for sending messages to that particular user. This is a preferred way to contact other users on the wiki, to allow others to participate in the discussion.
If a user's attention is required on a discussion page, they can be alerted by linking their user page and signing with ~~~~ in the same edit. See Mentions for more details.
Users may be contacted more privately by email from the Tools menu on their User page, if they have activated that possibility. Some users may have other means of contact listed on their User page, such as IRC.
Users may be present in #gentoo-wiki (webchat), it may be preferable to conduct some discussions there so that other wiki contributors can participate.
Other user's user pages
As mentioned above, links to other people's user pages are provided in various places throughout the wiki.
User contributions
When viewing another person's user page, a "user contributions" link appears in the tools menu. This provides a list of all of this user's wiki edits. Use this to get an idea of how prolific a contributor is, or to track down edits made by a user who is causing trouble/making bad wiki edits.
Editing someone else's page
It's generally considered bad etiquette to rewrite or reword another person's user page. Editing is not disallowed, but never add information (or especially opinions) which might be misinterpreted as coming from that user, this could potentially cause upset. Some types of edit are acceptable, and unlikely to cause a negative reaction:
- Fixing internal links, when a page has been moved or deleted
- Fixing broken external links
- Categorizing or fixing categories of user pages.
If another user gives permission to edit any of their pages, please explicitly state in the edit summary that the permission was granted. Edits that do not may be summarily reverted (save for the three minor exceptions stated above). This of course does not apply to any pages that explicitly accept edits through a note in the header.
A {{Note}} may be added to the top of a user page to grant blanket permission for others to edit the page.
Link to a user page
To link to someone's user page, {{Link|User:username}} can be used. A more aesthetically pleasing link can be created using {{U|username}}.
To create a link to the user page of the user that clicks that link, use Special:MyPage.
See also
- Help:Starting a new page — ways to start a new page.
- Help:Talk pages — talk page to be used to discuss wiki work with other users.
- User:Larry - example user page