Personal tools

Debatepedia:Creating new pages

From Debatepedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Quickly create pro/con debate articles

  • Think of a debate, or a "yes/no" question, and create a short title for it, such as "Free trade".
  • Put the title of your debate in the search box and click "Go".
  • Look in the search results to see if your debate already exists.
  • If it doesn't, at the top of the search box, there is the option to "Create a new debate page along with the pro/con 'logic tree' structure." Click this, and your new debate will be created.
  • Put the "yes/no" question that frames the debate where it says, "write main "yes/no" question here..."
  • Edit like crazy and mold the debate to "feature debate status".
  • Become a Debatepedia Steward for the debate you created.

Quickly create a regular page

  • Think of a regular article that belongs on Debatepedia for a resolved topic, an individual argument (usually tied in with debate pages), an individual (in the context of their positions in debates), a debate team or organization, any organization (in the context of their positions in debates), a debate event, and for any other notable thing that you think deserves a page on Debatepedia. If you're working on a debate-related project or workshop of some kind, you can even create a page for these, and use them for defining the project and coordinating project efforts. Error on the side of creating articles that stretch the boundary instead of not creating articles.
  • Think of a title for the page and put it in the search box and press "go".
  • Make sure this article doesn't already exist.
  • Click, "create this page", which appears at the top of the search results.

OR, if you're editing in an existing article and type a term or the title of a debate that you think should exist but doesn't:

  • Just put two brackets on either side of what you think should be the title of the new article - "[[ ]]" - and click "save".
  • The title will appear red, which means that you've created a link to a non-existent page.
  • Click on the red link, and you'll be taken to the editing window of that new page where you can begin to edit and build content for that new page.

Look before you leap

"look before you leap" means on Debatepedia that, if you intend to create a new article on Debatepedia, that you should perform a thorough search to make sure that that article doesn't already exist. There are a number of ways to do this:

  • Using Debatepedia's search box: When checking to see if an article already exists on Debatepedia, you should first go to the Debatepedia search box. If you are searching for a debate, you should include in the search "Debate:" and then, maybe, "Gun Control". Browse through the results to see if anything comes up. Try a variation or two of this search.
  • Searching on Google: Google is a much more powerful tool than the search engine on this wiki. One should always perform a quick search via Google to make sure that an article doesn't already exist on Debatepedia, as the Debatepedia search engine may have failed at bringing up the appropriate results. If you are looking to see if a certain gun control debate is on Debatepedia, you should type into Google: "Debate: Gun Control, Debatepedia" or some variation of this. At this point, you could probably opt to create the page that you desire to create. But the final "look before you leap" layer of security is below.
  • Browsing through a relevant Category Page: Finally, before starting a new page, you should browse through a relevant category page to the subject at hand, scanning through the articles listed there. Using the gun control example, you would probably first go to the Law and Crime Category and browse from there.

If, at this point, you have not found thew article that you intend to create, it is a safe bet that the article does not exist, and you should go ahead and create it.

Debate vs. regular pages

On Debatepedia, debate articles are much different in structure and form than regular article. Debate articles have a unique pro/con "logic tree" structure, and software developed to enable the use and manipulation of this structure. When you create a debate page, this structure is automatically deployed onto the new page you've created. When you create a regular page, you are given a blank slate to work with. You can create both debate pages and regular pages on Debatepedia very easily.

Creating debate pages

It is very easy to create a new debate page with the unique Debatepedia "logic tree" structure and software automatically deployed. The first thing that you need to do is isolate the debate topic you have in mind. Then, develop a coherent "yes/no" question in your mind. It is very important that you be able to isolate the exact "yes"/"no" question, such that the debate will be a valid one, with clear pro and con sides. Once you've done that, think of a descriptive title for the debate you've thought of. Now, take this title, and type it into the "search" box on Debatepedia on the left tool bar. Press "Go" (not "search" for creating pages). Assuming that you've "looked before you leaped", go to the top of this page where it reads, "Click here to create New Debate along with structure?". Click "New Debate". Your new debate page will be created. Then, the first thing you should do is enter the "Yes"/"No" debate question that you designed at the outset in the top rectangle where it says "Write main debate question here..." Click the pencil icon on this box, and do this. You have just created a new debate page on Debatepedia. Now, you can begin writing pros and cons...

Creating regular pages

Picking a title

Creating regular pages is also very easy (and in some ways easier than creating debate pages). The first thing that you need to do is decide on a title for the article. This is complicated by the fact that Debatepedia is very category-based, such that the names of certain articles have to include the category name. For example, if you are creating an argument page, then the title of the page will have to begin with "Argument:(the argument)".

Here's a list of the regular pages that you could create on Debatepedia:

Creating the page:

Once you've decided on a title, there are two main approaches to creating a new page:

1.Search box: Type the exact new title-to-be of the page in the search box and press "Go" (not "Search"). At the top of the search results, it will say, "There is no page titled 'Title of your new page'. You can create this page." Click on "create this page", and your new page will be created (it will take you to an edit screen where you will have to add a portion of content (or no content) and press "save". 2.Creating a link to your new page: Once you've decided on a title, the fastest way to create an article is to create a link to it on an existing page. In order to do this. into an existing article (where it is appropriate to create a link to a new article). If you wanted

Problem with the site? 

Tweet a bug on bugtwits