Tasks and Tools

Before you Start

First Things First

• Anyone can contribute to UserBase, but it is recommended that you create an account. The Quick Start page tells you how to register and log in.
• Be aware that your contribution will be governed by the licenses Gnu Free Document Licence and Creative Commons. Click on the images in the Navigation Panel to read the details.
• Use the Talk page to communicate with other contributors or get help.

Relevance

It should relate to KDE software, directly or indirectly. We define it like this:

For New Users - helping to get started

For Regular Users - learning about new features and tips

For Advanced Users - but use sub-pages for this.

Not for Developers - Techbase is the place for that

Ways to Contribute

Update Existing Content

• Update an image, replacing an outdated image with a newer one.
• Create a screenshot
• Modify existing content, fix a spelling, clarify a description, add more details.

Add New Pages

• Create a new page, showcase an application, introduce a new concept.
• Write a manual. You need to know an application quite well, and probably to be in contact with the author. We can help you.

Working with Languages

• Preparing a page for translation needs more patience than skill. If you can spare short periods of time, frequently, this is a very helpful task.
• Translate a page. You need to be fluent in a language, but not a professional translator to translate a wiki page. Translating manuals is the skill of a special team.
• Translate with Off-Line Tools. Get the essentials for Gettext and Import.
• How To Convert UserBase Manual to Docbook gives you an insight into the process that takes place on your finished manual.

Remember

It's important to be consistent, so here are some general rules:

• Take care with heading levels - we start at second level (Mediawiki uses top level for page-name), using "=="
• Make sure you refer frequently to this page and to typographical guidelines
• Check if all table cells have space after the pipe character. This rule conforms with traditional wiki formatting.
• Make application name formatting consistent (avoid using Amaroks, do use Amarok's).
• For screenshots and other images, .png format is preferred. The Upload page lists the file types that are acceptable. .
• Remove all non-printable characters from image names.

Hints and Tips

Some Preferences that will help -

• If you don't have [edit] links against the sections, open your User Preferences (Personal Tools in the sidebar) then look for Editing and set Enable section editing via [edit] links
• While you are in those settings, enable Show preview on first edit - while you are editing you can glance at the original display for reference
• The default display is to show the preview first, with the edit box below. If you prefer the edit box at the top you can change that setting in the same place