Help:Welcome, newcomers!

Welcome to C:S Creators—the wiki for Cities: Skylines-related projects that's free for all to edit! We hope that you enjoy contributing and tagging along with us, and to help you and everyone else enjoy creating a documentation of our favorite projects in Cities: Skylines, we have created the following quick-start guide for you to quickly learn the essentials of editing this, as well as other wiki's.

Navigating the wiki

See also: Help:Navigation (MediaWiki)

The idea of wiki's is that they give an easily navigable overview of knowledge, no matter how general or specific. To help you find this information, we have three means of exploring the wiki:

1. The sidebar, found on the left side of the page, contains links to an overview of recent changes, a random page, as well as other things we think you might need, such as overviews of projects, content creators and in-game content in general.
2. The tabs, found on the top of the page, usually read from left to right the Article and Discussion pages, followed by Read, Edit and History outlined to the right of this bar. The far right has a search bar, should you be looking for something very specific.
3. User links, found above the tabs. These show links about you as an user of our wiki. When first visiting the wiki, you will not be logged in. If you're not logged in, then you can do so here. Either way, this bar will show you your talk page, an overview of your contributions, followed by Create an account and Log in if you're not yet logged in or a member of the wiki, or your watchlist and your preferences.

Searching the wiki

See also: Help:Searching (MediaWiki)

A wiki is a collection of knowledge, and documented knowledge is wasted if it cannot be recalled. For this reason, we have a handy search bar amongst the tabs on top of every page. You will find it to the far right of the page, just below the far top of the page. Upon typing something here, it will give you several results close to what you've entered while you're still typing. These, however, are limited to articles; discussions, templates and many more will not come up this way. Hitting the enter bar at this point, will give you a larger list of everything that you've entered. This will also allow you to search for results matching your query outside of the article space.

Tracking changes

See also: Help:Tracking changes (MediaWiki)

If you're interested in this wiki, then you will most likely be interested in keeping up with whatever happens on several of the pages on this wiki. For that reason, you can track changes to articles via various means:

• The articles you work on are most often articles you care about. For this reason, we add pages you edit to your watchlist automatically. Your watchlist can be accessed from the user links.
• Recent Changes gives you an overview of recent changes on the entirety of this wiki. It can be found in the top block of the sidebar, where it is the second link from the top, not counting the wiki logo, which is a link to the main page.
• User contributions give you an overview of what a certain user of this wiki, whether they are logged in or not have contributed to the wiki. It can be found in the last block of the sidebar, where it is the second link, as well as the user links, where it is the second from the right. The difference here, is that the one in the user links links you your edits on the wiki, while the one in the sidebar links to the edits of another user, granted that you are looking at their userpage.

On these pages, you will find several abbreviations. Shown below is an average set of changes to a wiki you might encounter:

• (diff) (hist) . . m Springwood; 22:18 . . Wauteurz (Talk) (added category)
• (diff) (hist) . . Springwood; 22:16 . . SimonRyr (Talk) (added image)
• (diff) (hist) . . N Springwood; 22:15 . . SimonRyr (Talk) (Created page with "Springwood is a city in Canifrina")

The overview above is listed from most recent to oldest edit. From left to right, you find (diff), which is an abbreviation of differences. It displays the difference this edit made to the article, showing an overview with the second-latest edit on the left, and the latest on the right. (hist), short for history, links to the history of this page.

Followed by this, is a letter in bold, which can be one of three things: m for minor edit (generally edits that don't add much and change minor things such as grammatical errors), N for the creation of a new page, or nothing, should it be a regular edit without a tag. This is then followed by the name of the article to which this change was made, the time at which the change was made, and the user that made the edit, their discussion page. This then is followed by an (optional but preferred) summary of what they changed in their edit. You can describe this in the Summary: box underneath the editing window.

Wiki's are free to edit. How? We shall tell you.

Editing pages

See also: Help:Editing pages (MediaWiki)

Editing a page is as simple as clicking Edit at the top of the page, making your desired changes to the text, and clicking Save page once you're done. Of course, the larger your edits, the more you will want to change. Therefore, we have some rules and conventions we'd like you to follow:

Most importantly, be bold. We want your changes, no matter the quality. Don't know how to handle wikitext, get confused by seeing all those brackets throughout the text? Just add the info. Others will solve it if it needs to be further polished.

An edit can be as large as adding a whole new paragraph to the text, or as small as fixing a single typo. In general, add text that is clear and concise. If you're editing without a purpose, then the edit will most likely not add anything. If you set out to improve the page in any way, then your edit will most likely be very much appreciated.

If you need to add any form of formatting, do so through wikitext rather than HTML. For instance, we add bold text by typing '''bold text''' rather than <b>bold text</b>. We won't explain every way of formatting here. Instead, see the paragraph detailing formatting.

Furthermore, we would appreciate if it you would describe what your edit has changed to the page. This makes tracking changes much more easy for you and others. Simply enter a short description, something like fixed typo if you've corrected a grammatical error, or added more info about poppies if you did exactly that. Keep it brief. We do not need an essay about what you've changed, how it has changed your mindset and whatnot.

Lastly, as a bit of advise: Hit the Show preview button before publishing your edit. This shows how the page or section will look to others once it is published. This way, you can do a quick scan through the text and see whether you've unintentionally broke something else, forgot something, or anything else that may be slightly off.

Once you're done with the above, click Save page to publish the page for all to see.

Starting a new page

See also: Help:Starting a new page (MediaWiki)

Naturally, the thing you wish to document may not even be documented yet. In this case, you will have to add the article yourself. This can be done via several ways:

• Links make up a good part of wiki's. Existing link destinations will be linked in blue or purple if you've visited the destination article before. Redlinks link to article that are not yet on a wiki. You're free to add them. Simply click a redlink and it will link you directly to the editor for the new article. If you're looking for a way to start editing, see what people want to see added on Wanted Pages.

• Articles can also be created through searching for the page. Enter the desired article title, and click the redlink at the top of the search results.

• A wiki's URL can also be used. Simply type http://cscreators.referata.com/wiki/ followed by the desired title.

If you think that a page should be easier to navigate to, then set up a Redirect.

Formatting

See also: Help:Formatting (MediaWiki)

''Italic''

'''Bold'''

'''''Bold & italic'''''

no ''markup''

Text before
----
Text after

* Start each line
* with an [[Wikipedia:asterisk|asterisk]] (*).
** More asterisks give deeper
*** and deeper levels.
* Line breaks <br />don't break levels.
*** But jumping levels creates empty space.
Any other start ends the list.

* combine bullet list
** with definition 
::- definition
** creates empty space

* combine bullet list
** with definition 
*:- definition
** without empty spaces

*bullet list
:- definition
:* sublist that doesn't create empty
:* spaces after definition

# Start each line
# with a [[Wikipedia:Number_sign|number sign]] (#).
## More number signs give deeper
### and deeper
### levels.
# Line breaks <br />don't break levels.
### But jumping levels creates empty space.
# Blank lines

# end the list and start another.
Any other start also
ends the list.

;item 1
: definition 1
;item 2
: definition 2-1
: definition 2-2

: Single indent
:: Double indent
::::: Multiple indent

# one
# two
#* two point one
#* two point two
# three
#; three item one
#: three def one
# four
#: four def one
#: this looks like a continuation
#: and is often used
#: instead <br />of <nowiki><br /></nowiki>
# five
## five sub 1
### five sub 1 sub 1
## five sub 2

Start each line with a space.
 Text is '''preformatted''' and
 ''markups'' '''''can''''' be done.

Text is preformatted and
markups can be done.

<nowiki>Start with a space in the first column,
(before the <nowiki>).

Then your block format will be
    maintained.
 
This is good for copying in code blocks:

def function():
    """documentation string"""

if True:
        print True
    else:
        print False</nowiki>

HTML tags

See also: Help:Formatting#HTML tags (Media Wiki)

<br/>

<ins>Inserted</ins> or <u>Underlined</u>

<s>Struck out</s> or <del>Deleted</del>

<code>Source code</code>

Text before
<blockquote>Blockquote</blockquote>
Text after

<!-- This is a comment -->
Comments are visible only 
in the edit zone.

<nowiki><pre>Text is '''preformatted''' and 
''markups'' '''''cannot''''' be done

Text is '''preformatted''' and 
''markups'' '''''cannot''''' be done

<nowiki><pre style="color: red">Text is '''preformatted''' 
with a style and 
''markups'' '''''cannot''''' be done

Text is '''preformatted''' 
with a style and 
''markups'' '''''cannot''''' be done

Linking

See also: Help:Links (Media Wiki)

Linking pages is an integral part of navigating a wiki. We can define five types of links:

1. Internal links, linking to pages on this wiki;
2. External links linking to other websites;
3. External links to internal pages on this wiki;
4. Interwiki links to other websites using special prefixes;
5. Interlanguage links to other wikis registered as other language versions of the current wiki.

C:SCreators uses only link types 1 through 3:

Description	You type	You get
1) Internal links.
Internal link	[[Main Page]]	Main Page
Internal piped link	[[Main Page|Homepage]] All internal links can be piped. External links can be piped, but the pipe is replaced with a space in that case.	Homepage
Internal link with pipe trick	[[Special:RecentChanges|]] Pipe tricks work on all internal links with a prefix.	RecentChanges
Internal word-ending link	[[Help]]ing	Helping
Internal outed-out word-ending link	[[Help]]<nowiki>ful advise</nowiki>	Helpful advise
Redirect	#REDIRECT[[Main Page]] See also: #Redirects	Main Page
Internal link to paragraph	[[#HTML tags]]	#HTML tags
Internal link to paragraph on another article	[[Springwood#Transportation]]	Springwood#Transportation
Internal link to subpage	[[Main Page/example]]	Main Page/example
Internal link to category	[[:Category:Help]] [[::Category:Help|]]	Category:Help Help
Internal link to local media file	[[:File:CS Creators logo.png]] [[:File:CS Creators logo.png|]]	File:CS Creators logo.png CS Creators logo.png
2) External links to other websites.
	[https://www.paradoxplaza.com/cities-skylines] [https://www.paradoxplaza.com/cities-skylines Cities:Skylines (Paradox Plaza)]	[1] Cities:Skylines (Paradox Plaza)
3) External links to internal pages.
	[http://cscreators.referata.com/wiki/Main_Page] [http://cscreators.referata.com/wiki/Main_Page Main Page (C:SCreators)]	[2] Main Page (C:SCreators)

User pages

See also: Help:User page (Media Wiki)

An User page is a page about a wiki user with an account on the wiki, and who is most likely a contributor to the wiki.

If you've registered yourself as a user on this wiki, then you can create your own user page. Your user page is linked in the top right. More importantly, others will see links to your user page from various places which assist wiki collaboration. This includes the "Recent changes" and "page history" displays (See #Tracking changes). You can also link to your user page within text of a wiki page, which is mainly useful on talk pages when you sign your name.

Content of your user page

User pages are just as flexible as any other wiki page, and it's a page all about you, so generally people will leave you to freely write your user page in whatever format you like. It's a feature to help other people know who you are, and to bring the online community closer together. Think of it as a “profile” page. You might like to mention where you are from and what your job is. You can also state what your main areas of interest are in relation to the topic of the wiki, and describe contributions you have made or areas where you are interested in contributing.

Using your user page as a sandbox

You are very much welcome to use the user namespace as a sandbox to develop articles that aren't quite ready to be featured yet. This may be useful especially for long articles. Navigate to your userpage, with /Sandbox added behind it to create a sandbox. Naturally, you may have as many sandboxes as you like, with any sensible name of your choice.

Other people's user pages

As mentioned above, you will see links to other people's user pages, in various places throughout the wiki.

User Contributions

When viewing another person's user page, an additional link "user contributions" appears in the "tools" of the sidebar. This takes you to a list of all of this user's wiki edits. Use this to get an idea of how prolific a contributor somebody is, or to track down edits made by a user who is causing trouble/making bad wiki edits.

Editing someone else's page

It's generally considered bad etiquette to rewrite or reword another person's user page. Editing is not disallowed, but you should avoid adding information (or especially opinions) which might be misinterpreted as coming from that user, in situations where this could potentially cause upset. Some types of edit are widely acceptable, and unlikely to cause upset:

• Fixing internal links, when a page has been moved or deleted
• Fixing broken external links
• Categorizing or fixing categories of user pages.

User talk pages

Every user page has an associated talk page; a "user talk page". This is a special kind of talk page, for leaving messages directed at a particular user. See #Discussions.

Link to the reader's user page

To create a link to the user page of the user that clicks that link, use Special:MyPage. Similarly, to link to the user talk page, use Special:MyTalk.

Discussions

See also: Help:Talk pages (Media Wiki)

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 Signature button in the toolbar above the editing textbox). For more information see Help:Signatures.
• Start a new discussion with a level 2 heading at the bottom of the page (or use the "Add topic" tab).
• Indent replies with colons (:) at the beginning of the line.

User talk pages

A "User talk page" is a talk page associated with somebody's "User page" (See #User page.) 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.

Signatures

See also: Help:Signatures (Media Wiki)

Images

See also: Help:Images (Media Wiki)

Lists

See also: Help:Lists (Media Wiki)

Tables

See also: Help:Tables (Media Wiki)

Categories

See also: Help:Categories (Media Wiki)

Subpages

See also: Help:Subpages (Media Wiki)

Moving and renaming

See also: Help:Moving a page (Media Wiki)

Redirects

See also: Help:Redirects (Media Wiki)

Protected pages

See also: Help:Protected pages (Media Wiki)

Templates

See also: Help:Templates (Media Wiki)

Magic words

See also: Help:Magic words (Media Wiki)

Namespaces

See also: Help:Namespaces (Media Wiki)

Special pages

See also: Help:Special pages (Media Wiki)

Preferences

See also: Help:Preferences (Media Wiki)