How does GaijinPot Wiki work?

GaijinPot Wiki works like any other wiki website. Writing and editing articles is done with classic wiki markup. Those familiar with Wikipedia.org should have no problem using GaijinPot Wiki, however there are a few key differences.

Logging in

Unlike other wiki sites, GaijinPot Wiki requires all contributors to register with the site and log in before they can edit content. To view content, no registration is required.

Japan-Specific Content

This is a site dedicated to anything and everything regarding the country of Japan, and life for foreigners there. As such, your article, "The History of Jazz," will probably not make the cut here. Conversely, the article "The History of Japanese Jazz" (however short it may be), would be a welcome addition.

Commercial Site

As you've probably already noticed, GaijinPot.com is a commercial site, powered by advertisers. This makes it different from other wiki sites in that there are special concerns regarding advertisers. However, GaijinPot Wiki should be an un-biased source of information. Wiki posts that are blatant advertisements or blatant bashings of any company are not allowed on GaijinPot Wiki.

Getting started

Editing most GaijinPot Wiki pages is easy. Simply click on the "edit" tab at the top of a page. This will bring you to a new page with a text box containing the editable text of the original page. If you add information to a page, please provide references, as unreferenced facts are subject to removal. When you are finished with an edit, you should write a short summary in the small field below the edit-box. You may use shorthand to describe your changes. To see how the page looks with your edits, press the "Show preview" button. To see the differences between the page with your edits and the previous version of the page, press the "Show changes" button. If you're satisfied with what you see, be bold and press the "Save page" button. Your changes will immediately be visible to all GaijinPot Wiki users.

You can also click on the "Discussion" tab to see the corresponding talk page, which contains comments about the page from other users. Click on the "new section" tab to start a new section, or edit the page in the same way as an article page.

You should also remember to sign your messages on talk pages and some special-purpose project pages with four tildes, but you should not sign edits you make to regular articles. In page history, the software automatically keeps track of which user makes each change.

Writing and editing

GaijinPot Wiki is a wiki, meaning that anyone can easily edit any unprotected page, and save those changes immediately to that page, making the alterations visible to every other reader. After your first edit, you will be a GaijinPot Wiki editor!

Because GaijinPot wiki uses MediaWiki software, the wiki markup is the syntax system you can use to format a page. Wiki markup is a markup language that offers a simplified alternative to HTML and is used to write pages in wiki websites.

For more information and a tutorial on editing a page and using wiki markup, go here.

Links and URLs

Internal links:

[[Miso soup]] is a classic Japanese dish.

There are [[America|American]] army bases in Okinawa.

Japan also has [[public transport]]ation.
Examples include [[bus]]es, [[taxicab]]s, and [[tram]]s.

See the [[GaijinPot Wiki:Manual of Style]].

[[Accommodation#Long-term housing]] is a link to a section within another page.

[[#Links and URLs]] is a link to another section on the current page.

[[GaijinPotWiki:Manual of Style#Italics|Italics]] is a piped link to a section within another page.

Publishing and discussion

Because GaijinPot Wiki welcomes changes from all users, anything you submit for publishing can be altered, removed, or added to at any time. When you contribute content to GaijinPot Wiki, it becomes part of the Wiki's community, and takes on a life of its own.

The "Discussion" tab at the top of the page is your space to talk about any and all additions and changes to content. If you know more about sumo than the person who wrote the article, then change it! If an article has been changed, but you don't agree, then say so in the Discussion area. Changes are always welcome, and so are reasonable arguments.

See also

• Edits and changes
• Discussion