Help:How can I correct an error I've spotted?

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Revision as of 09:37, 22 September 2005 by Randywombat (talk | contribs) (→‎Quick guide to source code: clarify external links)
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CPDL is a wiki, which means that any user can edit it. If you notice a mistake on a CPDL page (wrong voicing, wrong composer, whatever), it's easy to correct it.

Above the title of each page is a row of tabs marked 'Article', 'Discussion', 'Edit this page' and so on. Clicking the 'Edit this page' tab displays the source code for the page in question. You can make any changes you like to this source code, then click the 'Save page' button.

If you want to review your changes and check how they look on the original page, you can click 'Show preview' before saving the page. This displays the results of your edits without actually changing the page. You can make further edits to the previewed version -- or, if you like what you see, simply click 'Save page' to make your changes permanent.

Your changes will be visible immediately to everyone who visits CPDL. Users will also be able to view the history of changes made to the page and will themselves be able to make edits to your edits. That way, over time, the site becomes gradually more accurate and more comprehensive.

If you add a large batch of scores or make other significant large-scale changes, please consider making a note on the ChoralWiki:Current events page to alert other users.

Quick guide to source code

When you edit a page, what you're actually editing is the source code that generates the page. Most of the time, the source code looks pretty similar to the content of the page itself, and you can modify, delete or add to it simply by typing in the normal way. However, there are a few extra elements which you can use to improve the page.

  • Wiki links: These are words that appear blue and underlined, and which link to other CPDL pages when you click on them. When you edit the source code for a page, you can make any word into a wiki link simply by putting two square brackets on either side: [[ at the start and ]] at the end. For instance, if you type [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] in the source code, the page will display Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as a wiki link.
  • Internet links ('real' links): These are ordinary links that point to websites elsewhere on the internet (as opposed to just within CPDL). CPDL displays these in blue and with a little jumping arrow sign like this. To create these links, simply enclose the web address in single square brackets, like this: [http://www.sheetmusicplus.com]. If you think the bare address looks a bit ugly, you can add a description to display instead. For instance, if you type [http://www.sheetmusicplus.com Sheetmusic Plus website] in the source code, the page will display Sheetmusic Plus website.
  • Italic text: To make a word or phrase italic, type two single quotes '' at the beginning and again at the end. For instance, if you type ''Ave verum'', the page will display Ave verum. (Note that typing two single quotes '' is quite different from typing a double-quote or speech mark " !)
  • Bold text: To make a word or phrase bold, type three single quotes ''' at the beginning and again at the end. For instance, if you type '''Ave verum''', the page will display Ave verum.
  • Headings: To make a word or phrase into a section heading, type two or more equals signs == at the beginning and end of the phrase.

There are many, many more advanced elements of wiki source code which you can use if you like. These are catalogued fairly exhaustively in the help pages for Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that, like CPDL, is also a wiki.

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