FAQ

From Peacebuilding

Here are some Questions we have anticipated.

If you don't see your question answered here, ask it at the Discussion area, and someone will answer it as soon as possible (probably).

Contents 1 General questions 1.1 What is this site about? 1.2 Who are Caritas Internationalis? 1.3 Who edits and organizes all this, though? 1.4 So, any Peacebuilder can add articles? 1.5 Do you have any proof that this works? 1.6 Who owns the site? 1.7 What software are you running? 1.8 Where's the contact information? 2 Questions about content 2.1 This article can be improved 2.2 I am trying to find Topic X, and there's no article about it! 2.3 I am trying to find Topic X, and all that's there is "asdfkjadflkjfd weird text 2.4 I have an idea for an article, but I don't know exactly how to get started. 3 Questions about editing 3.1 This all looks like gobbledygook! How do I edit these pages? 3.2 Hey! I wrote this long nice article on Topic X, and it got changed! What gives? 3.3 How do I delete a whole page? 3.4 How do I sign a posting? 3.5 But my English sounds terrible. I'm embarrassed.

General questions

What is this site about?

Peacebuilding is a project to create a shared and up-to-date guide to Peacebuilding. It was originally developed by Caritas Internationalis and is open for Peacebuilders around the world to contribute to. You can read more about this site on the About page.

Who are Caritas Internationalis?

Our Homepage

Who edits and organizes all this, though?

We do. And you can too. We created the original set of articles and the structure of the site around the teaching materials that we produced. The structure organizes the articles into hierarchies and make links between them and have navigational pages, and things like that.

So, any Peacebuilder can add articles?

That's the idea, yes. We use a the Wikipedia engine that lets any reader edit any page, instantly.

Do you have any proof that this works?

Well, we have the existence proof of other projects that create references collaboratively. Probably the most famous one is Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Many of our policies and guidelines are borrowed from that project.

Who owns the site?

The site is owned by Caritas Internationalis but anyone can use it and add contents.

What software are you running?

We use MediaWiki, the software developed by Wikipedia, with some modifications to the layout. You can get it from http://www.mediawiki.org/ .

Where's the contact information?

See this page.

Questions about content

This article can be improved

This is Wiki -- you can edit it yourself! Click the edit this page link, and change the parts that you can improve. That's the whole idea.

I am trying to find Topic X, and there's no article about it!

We're still a new project, and there are articles we haven't even thought about writing about yet. Feel free to start the outline of an article. Maybe other Peacebuilders will add to it.

I am trying to find Topic X, and all that's there is "asdfkjadflkjfd weird text

This is typical vandalism. Feel free to delete the vandal's garbage and replace it with a full article.

Make sure to check the article's history (there will be a "history" link at the top of the page) and look at the second or third revision listed to make sure there wasn't content that was blanked. You can edit, add to, and save that version to preserve the original content.

I have an idea for an article, but I don't know exactly how to get started.

Check out how to start a new page.

Questions about editing

This all looks like gobbledygook! How do I edit these pages?

Pages on this site are formatted using Wiki markup. It looks funny at first, but after a while it seems like second nature. You should read about how to edit a page.

Hey! I wrote this long nice article on Topic X, and it got changed! What gives?

Any Peacebuilder can edit any page. When you submit an article, it's subject to editing for style, subject matter, spelling, factual information etc.

How do I delete a whole page?

You can't delete a page directly. The site administrator has to do this.

How do I sign a posting?

When posting a message on a talk page it is customary to sign the posting with your user name and the posting date so that everyone knows who you are (for example: "Username 15:35, 6 May 2005 (EDT)"). To get that text to appear automatically, simply type four tildes ("~~~~"), and they will be replaced with your user name and the current date when the edit is submitted.

But my English sounds terrible. I'm embarrassed.

Don't worry too much about the level of your English. Your spelling errors will be corrected by other people.

Or just write in your native language - it might be as useful like that.

We really want you to share your knowledge!