Help:Start a new page

There are numerous ways to begin a new page or, alternatively, to simply begin editing a blank page.

Does the page already exist?
Before you make a new page you should check to see if the page, or a similar page, already exists. There may also be an existing page that has some information about your topic. Enter appropriate search terms related to your topic in the search box (upper right side of the page) and click on Search. You should try a few different searches with various terms to try to be somewhat thorough.

Every name proposed for an ant that meets the requirements of the Zoological Code (see ICZN or Wikipedia) should already have a page of its own. Antwiki discourages creating new pages for these names. To understand why you can read Ant Name Pages.

Choosing a Page Name
The software will let you enter a page name that has hundreds of characters. Even so you should be a little conservative when choosing a page name. The terms you use should provide, as best as possible, a concise description of the page content. A short example will hopefully provide a good idea of what you should aim for when naming a new page. If I choose to write about ant nests in temperate forests I might name my page "Temperate forest ant nests." Perhaps even better would be "Temperate forest nests." The page name "Ant nests" would be to general. "Forest Ant Nests" is also too general since I have no intention of writing about Rainforest or Boreal forest ant nests.

You should not make new pages with a title that only contains ant names. Pages with titles that are only made up of ant names already exist Help:Naming_Species_Pages

Initial Page Creation Methods
The following is modified from this Mediawiki Manual editing page: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Starting_a_new_page

Search Box
Type the name of the page you want to create into the search box, which is found on the upper right of every page. If your search cannot find a page with the name you entered you will see a line of text, with a link in red, that tells you you can create a page with that name with a simple click of the mouse.

Clicking on this link will take you to a new empty page. From there you are just a few steps away from creating your page.

URL
Enter a unique page name in the URL address bar, just after http://antwiki.org/ ). If there is more than one word in your title just type the terms like you would in a document, putting spaces between each word. Once you enter the name in the URL hit the enter or return key. This will lead you to a page that tells you this page does not exist and you will given an option, via a link, to "edit this page."

Clicking on this link will take you to a new empty page. From there you are just a few steps away from creating your page.

An Existing Red Link
You can create a link on an existing page for a page that does not exist. Any words placed between a set of double brackets are automatically linked to an Antwiki page that has that name. this would link to a page if entered in edit mode If the page exists the letters are blue. If the page does not exist the link is shown in red letters.

Clicking on this link will take you to a new empty page. From there you are just a few steps away from creating your page.

Finish Creating Your Page
When you arrive at a page you have now named and are close to creating, you will see a heading and a blank edit box. Begin typing text in the editable area. Once you have created your content go to the bottom of the page and click on publish.

Create a Link, Not an Orphan!
Most pages you create will be content you want others to find, read and use. This means it needs to be linked to from another page (|see mediawiki help about creating links) on Antwiki. Otherwise no one will ever see your wonderful content.

It is Ok to create a page that is not linked to any other pages. Usually you would do this for a page that is a work in progress (you can learn how to add a work-in-progress banner here) or that serves as a sandbox page for your own use.