New Article Guidelines

Drafting the New Article

What Topics can an article cover?

This is an area that's open to broad interpretation; almost anything related to monitoring, from medium wave up to satellites is a possible topic. As a general rule, if it fits into one (or more) topics that are on the main article (the article that sent you here), it's a candidate. There are a few topics that should not be covered in this wiki:

• Anything to do with modifying scanners for cellular coverage;
• Software links for decoding modes not permitted under US law, such as POCSAG,FLEX,MDTs and KDTs;
• Hacks and/or illegal sale of commercial software or shareware;
• Hacks and/or illegal sale of software used for programming professional radios, such as Motorola handhelds;
• Spam and other malicious content.

Coding Hints

Please always use a neutral point of view; this is a Wiki standard on many sites. If there's no RR forum that's associated with the article, opinions are welcome on the talk/discussion pages. The forums are a much better place for these, since they're much more likely to be read. In addition, if you use an outside source, be sure to credit it.

The Quick guide to editing pages has a very good summary of many of the more important commands and directives. While you can use the Sandbox to write and test your code, be aware that this is a non protected public area; your code could be wiped out at any time, without warning. Your User Area (click on your user name in the left frame, under 'Personal Tools') can be used to store your code for as long (or as brief) a time as you wish. Sometimes it's better to use a text editor or simple word processor offline to construct your article, particularly if you are new to coding in the Wiki markup language. That's an individual choice for the user to make.

Saving Your Work

When your coding is complete, it's time to establish where the article will reside.

One very quick way to go is to enter the URL of the wiki, then follow that with the title. If you wanted to create a stand alone article on the Eton E1 receiver, for example, the URL becomes:

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Eton_E1_Review

If you are going to make this a member of another article, that article comes first. The correct format is:

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/article_name/article_name

So for example, let's say the article on the Eton E1 receiver should be a member of our SWL Broadcast article. The URL would read:

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/SWL_Broadcast/Eton_E1_Review <==== New Article

Either way, you will have created a blank article with a title. Click on the 'edit' tab to get into the editor. Copy/Paste your code into here.

Another way to approach this is to edit the appropriate section, insert the title you want, and save it away. When the article is stored, if the Wiki cannot find something with that title, it shows up in RED Click on it, and you will be taken to the editor where you can copy/paste your code.

You should write a short edit summary in the small field below the edit-box. You may use shorthand to describe your new article, as described in the legend. When you have finished, press preview to see how your article will look. If you're happy with what you see, then press "Save" and your article will be stored. Don't "sign" your new article (the software keeps track of who enters a new article and makes any changes).

How do I index my article and let others know its available?

There are 2 ways that articles are indexed on the RR wiki, and both methods exist on our main article. The first is through the use of a topic index. This article breaks down a broad topic into individual members, sometimes with more detail than would be easily codeable using the MediaWiki software. Such an example is the Uniden Scanners article; this article lists numerous scanners, along with their approximate years of manufacture as well as if the scanner is expected to be supported for Rebanding.

You may need to dig into the individual members to find the right spot to insert the link for your new article. Don't hesitate to do this; in fact, there is the possibility that your article could fit in more than one topic. If you had written an article reviewing the Eton E1 portatop receiver, for example, such an article would be a fit on our SWL Broadcast, Utility Monitoring and Reviews articles.

The second method is the use of the MediaWiki Category directive. This method will be used when no topic index currently exists, or in order to gather a series of topics into one place to answer a commonly-asked question. This also insures that the article will be indexed by MediaWiki automatically when it is stored, and will therefore make it easier for other users to find it. At this writing we have just over 50 such categories and around 4000 articles. See the provided link for the syntax. The list of all categories we have on the RR wiki can be found here. It's entirely acceptable that one article may belong to more than one category. If this is the case, MediaWiki will resolve each category, seperated by a vertical bar. The use of this directive is strongly recommended. The bottom line is simple; the more ways an article is indexed the more likely it will be read.