Help:Talk pages

A talk page is a special wiki page containing discussion about the contents of its associated "subject" page. To view the talk page of an article, click on the discussion link somewhere on the border of the screen (depending on the skin you are using and whether you have changed your presentation preferences). In the default presentation, the discussion link is found in a tab at the top of the page, next to edit this page link. When you are on the talk page, clicking on the article link will take you back to the main article.

Inevitably, there will arise situations in which collaborators on an article can benefit mutually from discussing the article—thus MediaWiki designated a namespace specifically for such discussion. It is proper Wikiquette to sign and timestamp your posts on talk pages--this is accomplished by typing  ~  (four tildes in a row).

What is it used for?
The purpose of a talk page is to help to improve the contents of the main page, from an encyclopedic point of view. Questions, challenges, excised text (due to truly egregious confusion or bias, for example), arguments relevant to changing the text, and commentary on the main page are all fair play.

We generally oppose the use of talk pages just for the purpose of partisan talk about the main subject. In other words, talk about the article, not about the subject.

The practice of "spamming" - posting similar messages to more than a few users' talk pages, often for the purpose of soliciting a certain action - is discouraged.

"Post a comment" feature
For editing a talk page, one can optionally use the "Post a comment" feature (by clicking the "plus sign" button just to the right of the "edit this page" button), but only for a new thread and for a reply to be put at the bottom of the last thread.


 * For a new thread, fill in the "Subject/headline" box. Then the edit summary is automatically the same as the new section header.


 * For a reply to be put at the bottom of the last thread, do not fill in the "Subject/headline" box. In this case it is not possible to supply an edit summary. Instead, edit the previous thread.

When using "Post a comment", an edit conflict is impossible. However, in the case that you are not starting a new thread but replying to an existing one, your response may be appended to a newly created post that was added while you wrote yours. It is therefore generally recommended to use section editing to respond, and "Post a comment" to start new threads. If your comment is accidentally misplaced, just edit the page and move it.

Example of a Talk Page
Note that the above examples are only intended to be representative of the format a talk page should be kept in, and not of the kind of contents that should be posted.

User talk pages
Your user page also has a talk page which has some special features. For one thing, there is a link to it in the header next to your name (if you use a "skin" other than the default it may be somewhere else). Also, if edits are made to it by others, the text You have new messages will appear at the top of the page. These pages can be used for occasional personal communication among users; but note that these pages are public. If you want to communicate privately, use e-mail, instant messengers, or some other device.

To write in another user's talk page, click the Discuss this page link on your sidebar when you view the user page (which you can do by clicking on a user's nickname). On the list of recent changes and on your watchlist, you can directly access a user's talk page by following the (Talk) link behind the user's name / IP address.

Can I do whatever I want to my own user talk page?
Most users treat their user talk pages like regular talk pages, and archive the contents periodically to a personal subpage -- either when the page gets too large, on a regular schedule, or when they take a wikivacation. Others delete comments after they have responded to them.

Actively erasing personal messages without replying (if a reply would be appropriate or polite) will probably be interpreted as hostile. In the past, this kind of behavior has been viewed as uncivil, and this can become an issue in arbitration or other formal proceedings. Redirecting your user talk page to another page (whether meant as a joke or intended to be offensive or to send a "go away" message) can also be considered a hostile act.

Feel free to decorate your personal pages as you see fit, but keep in mind that your user talk page has the important function of allowing other editors to communicate with you. People will get upset if they cannot use it for that purpose.

How to keep a two-way conversation readable
If you are writing messages back and forth between user talk pages, the resulting text can be hard to follow. Here are two systems for making what would otherwise be disjointed comments easier to follow:


 * Copy the text you are replying to from your user talk page to the other person's user talk page. Put your reply right underneath it, but indent the reply section so it stands out. (Just like a regular talk page.)

OR:


 * Put a notice on your user talk page that you'll reply there unless they ask otherwise. Do this for conversations that other people start.
 * Watchlist the other person's user talk page and tell them they can reply there. Do this for conversations you start.