Help:FAQ

Here are some of the most urgent questions that might come up for new users in AWF-Wiki:

Is it really necessary to create an own Wiki? Why not using Wikipedia?: The content we are creating here is not what Wikipedia wants and many aspects are not conform to the conventions of Wikipedia. Our target group (students in forest science) need in-depth explanations and practical examples to make use of this knowledge reference. Therefore we created our own Wiki. Nevertheless we encourage participants of AWF-Wiki also to contribute to Wikipedia.

Who is funding this project?: At the moment we have no funding for this initiative! All initial content was produced either by staff members of the Chair of Forest Inventory and Remote Sensing at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen or by associated student assistants.

Editing articles

Is it allowed to edit all content for everyone?: Yes, in principle it is. That is the idea of every wiki! All users are asked to contribute and to improve existing articles. Before you start you should have an idea about your contribution. It might range from correcting misspelling in existing text up to writing new articles. As you need an account to edit articles you are encouraged to ask for invitation!

Who is reviewing my changes?: Everyone! We are a community of forest scientists, so there is a lot of expertise in different fields of knowledge. There is a category summarizing all new articles, that is observed also by a special group of referees in this wiki.

Do i have to be afraid of destroying something?: No! Your input is highly appreciated and you are not able to destroy existing articles by editing. There is always the possibility to restore a former version of an article.

I made a wrong upload, how can i delete it?: If you uploaded a wrong image or document (or like to delete an article you created), you are not able to delete it by your own. In this case please enter {{delete}} in the file description or on top of the page.

I want to contribute with a new article, but where?: There is few content up to now, because AWF-Wiki was just launched. If your article is about a topic that do not fit in the existing categories, you can create a new one. Just add [[Category:Your Category name]] at the end of your article to implement a new category. To describe this new category follow the red link and write a small description.

Is there any place for private content?: No! A wiki is a place, where all content is shared and visible to everyone (including your personal page!).

Do i always have to link to other articles?: Yes, you should! Even if the article is not existent jet, you should link to it. It appears as red link and is an invitation for other users to write this article.

Is there a spelling check?: No, not inside the Mediawiki software. We kindly ask you to activate spelling check in your browser and help to find and correct existing typos!

It is not possible to create an account, who is selecting the members of this wiki?: There is not really a selection of members. Everyone who is interested and brings a certain amount of expertise in the scientific fields covered here can ask for invitation in the menu "Account". Also students are invited to ask for an account!

I don't like to be a member, but someone gave me an account?: Please write an e-mail (menu Account) and we delete you!

I need special help for my article, the given explanations are not enough for me!: You can find more help and examples in the help section of Wikipedia! We use the same software (MediaWiki) in AWF-Wiki, so that most explanations are also valid inside here!