Wikipedia basics: how to use talk pages: transcript

Key points

• Every Wikipedia page has a talk page, reached through the Discussion tab.
• Article talk pages are for discussing changes and editing disagreements, while user talk pages are for messaging individual editors, who are notified of new messages.
• A new message is posted with the New Section tab, and it should be signed with four tildes, which add a username and timestamp.
• Replies go beneath the comment they answer, using one more colon than the previous comment to indent.
• Editors should be civil, focus on the topic rather than the person, and assume good faith.
• Leave an edit summary on each contribution and use a watchlist to follow discussions.

Chapters

1. 0:00What talk pages are and where to find them
2. 0:32Types of talk pages and posting a new message
3. 1:07Signing posts and indenting replies
4. 1:59Good faith, edit summaries and watchlists

Full transcript

0:00This screencast is about communicating with other Wikipedia editors using talk pages. It covers what talk pages are for, how to use them effectively, and some of the conventions and etiquette to follow when using them. Talk pages, also known as discussion pages, are the main way editors communicate with each other on Wikipedia. Every page on Wikipedia, whether an article or a wiki project, a user page, or something else, has a corresponding talk page, which you can get to by clicking the Discussion tab.

0:32The talk page for an article is where editors discuss proposed changes, editing disagreements, and other topics related to improving the article. Other kinds of talk pages are for discussing Wikipedia's policies and processes and the like. User talk pages are for communicating with individual editors. When you leave a message on someone's user talk page, they will get a notification about the message the next time they're on Wikipedia. To post a new message on a talk page, you can click the New Section tab, and then add your message and a title for the new section.

1:07At the end of your message, you should sign it. Adding four tilties in the edit window will add a signature when you save it, with your username and a timestamp showing when you left the message. You can respond to someone else's comments by posting beneath them within the same section. Wikipedia discussions use indentation to create threaded discussions. Each subsequent reply has a different level of indentation. The wiki markup for indentation is to start a line with one or more colons. Each colon creates another level of indentation, so replies should begin with one more colon than the previous comment. The keys to effective talk page discussions on Wikipedia are to be civil and address the article or topic at hand rather than making it personal, and to assume good faith on the part of other editors.

1:59Even if you think someone is doing something silly or wrong, they almost always have the same goal you do, to make Wikipedia better. And don't forget to sign your posts and leave an edit summary each time you add to a discussion. The easiest way to keep up with discussions you want to watch is to put the pages on your watch list. There are several other ways of following TalkPage activity. Check out Wikipedia Coincindication for details. Happy editing!

Source and licence

Recording: File:Wikipedia basics - Talk pages.ogv by Sage Ross (2011-02-15), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0. The transcript, summary and chapters on this page are shared under the same licence (CC BY-SA 3.0).

The transcript is machine speech-to-text by the TidyTools Audio & video transcriber; the summary, key points and chapters were written by Claude from that transcript. Both may contain errors: check the recording before quoting it.