MoodleDocs:Guidelines for contributors

Introduction

• You are welcome to contribute to Moodle Docs. Find something that can be improved, either in content, grammar or formatting, and fix it!
• If you've not done so already, please login.
• Please note that all contributions are released here under GNU General Public License.
• From Moodle 1.6 onwards, every page in Moodle has a link to a corresponding page in Moodle Docs. You can see this on moodle.org and, from an administrator's perspective, on the Moodle demo site.
• Please note that the Moodle help files will remain in each language pack and so their text need not be included in this documentation, though a small amount of duplicate information is ok.
• You are encouraged to illustrate documentation with screenshots. Please refer to the style guide for further information.
• There are tags you can place to ask for editing help from other contributors. These include requests for page deletion, updating and stub notations.

Creating new pages

• You are welcome to create pages for additional documentation. Simply type the name of your new page between double brackets [[New page name]] on an existing page and follow the link to start editing the new page. Alternatively, you may type in your browser address bar: https://docs.moodle.org/en/New_page_name (i.e. replace spaces in the new page name with underscores).
• Please choose a short name and capitalize the first word only (with a few exceptions, such as the word Moodle).
• New developer documentation pages should be added to the Development namespace by typing Development: before the new page name i.e. [[Development:New page name]].
• Please follow the style guide. If you categorize new pages it can make it easier for users to find, but the important thing is to put good content into the page.
• Page titles may be changed in the future by redirecting/moving pages, as part of documentation restructuring.

Page types

As Moodle Docs has grown over time, several general page style types with their own informal guidelines have emerged. As you look at pages you will probably recognize some of these. However, the basic rule is that if there is no page content, there is nothing to find and certainly nothing for the community to edit and consider. Thusly, please feel free to add content and not worry about the refinements below.

• General pages - the most common and most varied. The MoodleDocs:Style guide gives a good idea of the potential. This page itself is an example of a general page.

• Introduction pages. These serve almost as table of contents on a subject to pages with more detailed information. Several techniques are used. Some times links are placed in a bulleted list. Or short sentences maybe used to give context for the embedded page links. You may notice some of the major subject introduction pages are protected, such as Administrator_documentation.

• FAQ pages. FAQs are similar to introduction pages. In this kind of page, each heading has something about a frequently asked question, the typical answer is short. The answer provides links to pages, or links to a specific page section that should expand the answer to the question. It is OK to put in a particular item that may have frustrated you, along with a description of the solution. Like anything in Moodle Docs it maybe edited. Often readers reach these pages from a moodle.org forum link. Lesson module FAQ is an example.

• Contributed code pages. These tend to have links to the moodle.org download database, to the forum that discusses issues. Of course there will be a brief description of its purpose, a list of features, maybe some hints about installing and useful settings. Book module is an example.

Inter-language linking

• You are welcome to add inter-language links between pages in different languages. Simply type, for example, [[es:Corresponding page title in Spanish]] in the English MoodleDocs, or [[en:Corresponding page title in English]] in the Spanish MoodleDocs, at the bottom of the page, below the category link. Inter-language links will appear automatically in the "In other languages" block. With the exception of English, only related languages are interlinked. (If you feel that a related language is not included contact the Docs administrator).

Moodle version templates

• When adding documentation about a new feature, please add a Moodle version template by typing, for example, {{Moodle 1.9}}.
• In addition to highlighting differences in Moodle versions, Moodle version templates automatically categorize articles into version categories, for example Category:Moodle 1.9.
• Templates for Moodle versions no longer available from Moodle downloads can be removed and replaced with ordinary text, for example "From Moodle 1.5 onwards, ...".

Page comments

• For comments about a particular page, and/or short discussions, please use the corresponding talk page (click on the page comments tab). Please sign and date your talk page contribution by typing four tildes ~~~~.
• For longer discussions about the documentation, please use the Using Moodle Documentation forum.

Page protection

• Some pages are protected from editing. For these pages, try contributing via the associated talk page.
  • Tip: Copy the contents of a protected page, paste it in a new page, then edit the new page. On the new page's "page comment" tab give reasons for the edit. Then on the protected page's "Page comment" tab, call attention to the new page with a link and a summary of your reasons for change.
• For a list of protected pages, see Category:Protected pages.