User blog:Kidakins/Useful Guide to Editing

I've noticed a lot of new editors making the same mistakes, so I would like to make a very short, simple guide that editors can refer to if they'd like.

First, check out the policies of the wiki. They explain the standards of editing and such that you should stick to. Some general tips as well:
 * Make sure correct grammar and spelling are used on pages at all times. If you feel like you're spelling something wrong, double-check your work before you save pages. Most browsers have built-in spellcheckers, so there should be no reason for as many typos as I've seen in the span of a few minutes.
 * Capitalize names. Item names, monster names, every name EVEN if it is split into two words. Page names should especially have a lot of capitalization (aside from small words like "of").
 * Check to make sure the page you're creating isn't already on the wiki, just under a different name (or properly capitalized).
 * (A minor thing, but something I feel should be mentioned) Please don't use "you" or "your" to refer to the reader or any players of Terraria. Instead, use "the player" in any spot where you would say the above. It sounds better overall.
 * If you can, work outside of the visual editor more often and learn the ins and outs of wiki-text. I cannot tell you how horrid the code looks to some of us contributors who don't use the visual editor. (Span tags everywhere.. *shudder*)

Secondly, take a look at the Templates category. Infoboxes especially. These are very handy for editing, and I've noticed a lot of pages being made without any of the templates that should be on them. When it comes to templates, is your best friend. If you feel the article you're editing is too short or lacking information, add that template to the top. It'll flag it and add it to the stubs category so that other editors can go through and see if there is any information that could be added. is another good template to add as well, especially if the information in an article is poorly written, missing an infobox, very cluttered, etc. I personally don't always have the patience/attention span to go adding infoboxes everywhere, so I flag problematic pages and get back to them when I can.

Lastly, there are some really good resources on the Wikia community site itself. There's a tutorial for first time editors as well as a general help page for any questions.

So hopefully this guide can help a few of the new editors? I just figured I'd try to get a friendly message out there to help.

And for the love of all that is holy, please stop using that pre-loaded page template and just start with a blank page. *shakes fist*