View source for YPPedia:User pages

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== Introduction ==
Pirate '''"User pages"''' are areas where anyone can put just about anything they want. Currently, the YPPedia has very little [[YPPedia:Policies_and_guidelines | restrictions]] on what you can put there. As long as you keep your user page acceptable for people of all ages, it will be permitted. 

A user page is different from an article in the main name space as it is intended to be edited generally only by the user themselves. This is distinct to the creator of an article in the main name space who does not own the article, as shown in the notice below the edit box of an article.

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== Start your own ==
When you first register on YPPedia, it suggests that you make a user page to tell a little about yourself. To start editing your user page, simply click on your username near the top right corner of the page. Initially your name will be in <span style="color:red;">red text</span>, this simply indicates the page currently doesn't exist.

[[Howto:Create my user page]] contains step by step screenshots of the user page creation process.

=== Guidelines ===
While the content of your User page is entirely upto you, many users follow certain guidelines:
*By including some basic information about themselves
**Perhaps the real-life character ''or more commonly''
**Extra information about your main pirate (possibly including a portrait)
*By including what they are currently working on in the Yppedia
*Mentioning important achievements (''familiars'', ''OM status'' etc)
*Mentioning the users language preferance (see [[Help:Language]] for further information)

Some users use their page as a sandbox of testing certain features of YPPedia, often creating subpages to aid in organization of material.

=== Some start up code ===
If you would like some thing simple to start with (and perhaps ''play around'' with) simply copy the below code into your user page and replace the text with your information. 

<pre>
{| <!-- Start Table Code --> style="float:right;"
|- <!-- New table row -->
| Pirate Name

|- 
| Member of crew

|-
| Ocean you play on

|-
| Picture of your pirate
|} <!-- End Table -->
</pre>

And remember if you see something you like on somebody elses User page, simply press the [[User:Shaddowz |edit]] button and see how they did it.

== Some note worthy examples ==
*[[User:Faulkston | Faulkston's Userpage]]
*[[User:Yaten | Yaten's Userpage]] 
*[[User:AtteSmythe | AtteSmythe's Userpage]]

==Finding User Pages==
Typing a user name in the search menu won't work as by default, the user name space is not searched for pages. There are a couple different methods to track down a user page, the search box or links found on other pages.

===Search Box===
If you already do know the user's name, you can type in User:NAME inside the search box towards the left hand side of YPPedia. Replace NAME with the user’s name. Alternatively it is possible to go to the [[Special:Search?search=&fulltext=Search|YPPedia search page]] and select the checkbox by User before starting a search.

===Links===
If you currently do not know the name of the user, choose this method.  Find the page that you want to know the creator/editor of.  Then click on History in the navigation bar at the top of the page.  You will find a list of contributors.  Click on any user's name to go to their user page.

== User_talk pages ==
In addition to your user page you are also given a '''Talk page'''. This is generally where people will leave you messages and you can reply to messages here also.

To get to a user's talk page, first go to the user's page. There is a link "Discuss this page" in the navigation bar at the top of the page.  If it is blue, that means there have been messages left for the user already. Clicking the link first takes you to the user's talk page, then clicking the Edit link in the navigation bar at the top of this page allows you to edit the user's talk page.

If the "Discuss this page" link on the user page is red, there are no messages for the user. Clicking on the link takes you directly to editing the user talk page.

Once you have the edit page up, you can scroll down to the bottom and type in a heading. An example is found below.  Below the heading, type in the message you want to leave for the user.  Use "Show Preview" to see what your message will look like to the user.  Once you are happy with the message, click on Save Page.  The next time the pirate logs on to YPPedia, he/she will see the message you left for them.

===Example of a Message===
(Taken from [[User talk:Guppymomma]])

"Hoy mate, just a quick question.  How do ye make an image transparent and is there a certain program to use?  Thanks!  --[[User:Instantflash|Instantflash]] 16:54, 8 February 2008 (PST)
: Jumping in here.  Any of the popular graphics editing programs (Photoshop, GraphicConverter, etc.) will let you add transparency to an image.  That being said, it can be a tedious process.  Further, I've extracted the new furniture items from the resources (with transparencies).  So, this weekend, I'll be updating the images.  Thanks for putting up what you've got for now since I'm not ready.  --[[User:Barrister|Barrister]] 17:18, 8 February 2008 (PST)"

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[[Category:Help|User pages]]