User:Mathglot/sandbox/Drafts/How to create a new page
Namespaces
[edit]The methods available for creating a new page depend somewhat on the intended location and function of the new page. Wikipedia has a number of different namespaces, which are collections of pages that have the same function or role in Wikipedia. For example, all discussion pages about articles are in the Talk namespace, every user may have a page in the User namespace, article categories are found in Category space, and so on.
Every page in a given namespace shares the same reserved prefix, followed by a colon, like "User:", or "Talk:" . Articles are found in WP:mainspace, which has no prefix, and may be referred to without one (e.g. France), or in special cases, with just the colon prefix followed by the article name (e.g., France).
How to create a new page
[edit]There are several ways to start a new page. Here are the main ones:
- From a red link on a page – if you see a red link on a page it means there is no article there; if you want to create it, just click the link.
- From the search box – if you search for a page and it doesn't exist, you will be provided with a red link which you can click to create it.
- From a button on an input box – you will see examples of this in action below.
Other methods exist for advanced users, like overtyping the url in the browser address bar and others, but these are not recommended when creating your first article.
How to create a new article
[edit]An article is a Wikipedia page about some notable topic that resides in mainspace. Everything above about creating a page applies here, but there are some differences, especially for brand new editors, who do not have the ability to create a page in mainspace.
All editors, including newer editors, have the ability to create pages in Draft space, and in User space. If you see a red link like Underwater astronomy in an article, just click the link to open a editing window for a new article with that name. After entering content in that window, when you hit the big, blue Publish button, the new article will be created.
In Draft space
[edit]If you want to create your article in Draft space, you may use the box below. Enter the article name in the box (just the article name, without namespace prefix) and then click "Create a Draft":
In User space
[edit]If you want to create your article as a User space subpage, you may use the box below. Enter the article name in the box and then click "Create a userspace subpage":