Help:Talk pages

Every wiki page has an associated talk page, which can be used for discussion and communicating with other users. Talk pages can be accessed by clicking the "" nav>Special:MyLanguage/Help:Navigation#Page Tabs|tab at the top of the page. Simply edit the page as normal to add your comment.

A talk page is actually very similar to any other wiki page, but it is in the "   " namespace, to keep it separate from the articles in the "" namespace (See ). As with any wiki page, you can edit it, link to it, and view the editing history.

Editing conventions on talk pages
Having discussions on a free-form wiki page will seem strange at first. It helps if everyone follows some simple editing conventions:


 * Always sign your name after your comments. Use the four tildes " " wiki syntax (or the signature button Insert-signature2.svg in the toolbar above the editing textbox). For more information see .
 * Start a new discussion with a  at the bottom of the page (or use the "" tab).
 * Indent replies with colons at the beginning of the line.

Example
Here is an example discussion, following the talk page conventions: {| class="wikitable" !style="width:50%" | Wiki text !style="width:50%" | Rendered talk page



Soup
How's the soup? --Bob 18:07, 26 August 1991 (UTC)


 * It's great!! --Simon 11:21, 28 August 1991 (UTC)


 * I made it myself! -- Bob 14:11, 3 September 1991 (UTC)

I think the soup-discussion should be moved to Talk:Soup.. -- Lisa 21:55, 3 September 1991 (UTC)
 * }

Editing discussions
Having discussions on a free-form wiki page will seem strange at first. It has some advantages over the conventional rigid forum format, but it can get a little messy. As with other wiki pages, anyone can help with tidying up discussions, to conform to the editing conventions, e.g., add signatures and headings where they are missing.

Clearly we also have the opportunity to edit other people's comments. It is generally bad etiquette to modify somebody else's wording. (Better to just add your own comment with your corrections.) But it can be acceptable to ... NDKSHSAFKLHSFKL/SHLKSFHFLKHNFSFKLSHFNLKSFBSNFHKLDFBHLKFHFKJGB.FSGAS.FGASBFIFIEHFAIWSDHWOWHRDW;OWWHQ;ROHRFK;WFHBW;KLFBWNK;DFHWSAFHWF;KHAWLKAWSBFKLA;SVBSKLVBNDKLVCHBFCIESIOHFEFIKHNLFKVBDNKLVBDHLVKEHFVIEFHELFKVBDMV.XDNDBVLKDFLHV;EFLFVHNA;LSN/,NASFHL;AHFA'FJASLNVDVBSVM,.NX.VDNVSDKHVLSDHF;AELFHNVK;F;ELFJNLDJ;LEJNN VD.,VKN.EKFNC;FN;KD

User talk pages
A "    page" is a talk page associated with somebody's "     page" (See .) This is a place to leave messages for a particular wiki user.

This can function as a kind of messaging system. Users receive the following prominent notification when new messages have been left on their talk page:

The message will continue to be displayed on all pages until users visit their talk page.

They may be notified by email as well, although this cannot always be relied upon (since the email notification feature must be activated by supplying a valid email address, and clicking a confirmation link). If you don't get a response to your user talk page message, try looking for other contact details that they may have supplied on their user page.

Note that the messages are not private, and others can join in the conversation.