BrewWiki:Community Portal
BrewWiki Portal Community Portal
This is the main community page for those who wish to contribute to BrewWiki. BrewWiki is a community site, and depends on your contributions as an editor or author to keep it current, relevant and growing. BrewWiki was originally created in June of 2006 by Brad Smith of BeerSmith.
Be a Contributor
To contribute as an author or editor, you first need to create an account (see the link at the top right of this page). Creating an account take only a minute or two, and requires minimal information. Once you have an account and have logged in, you can edit or create a new article. To edit any article, just click on the edit tab at the top of that article. To create a new article, please do a search first to see if a similar article exists. If it does not exist you can easily create it from the search results page. Then link your article to the appropriate portal below.
Editing and Formatting
BrewWiki uses the MediaWiki software system. Formatting of pages is unique to this system, but easy to learn by browsing a few examples. Click on the edit tab on any page to see what the source document looks like. The Wikipedia quick guide offers some basic formatting options including a cheatsheet to help you contribute to BrewWiki. The Wikpedia extended editing guide provides more detailed formatting options. For more detailed discussion of style, see the Wikipedia Style Manual.
Add an Article, Not Just Links
We want BrewWiki to be a true brewing encyclopedia and not just another collection of links. While it is perfectly appropriate to add some links - especially to the pages dedicated to links, it is also important that you contribute real content. You can write a new article on just about anything brewing related, or consider adding a paragraph or two to an existing article. Your thoughts might prompt someone else to add a few paragraphs, and before you know it we will have a true brewing encyclopedia.
Some Editing Guidelines
- Articles should be named by the shortest possible keyword - ideally one or two words
- Articles should contain real content (with the exception of specific link pages such as the list of suppliers) and not be just a collection of links.
- Articles should start with a short definition or introduction of the topic being discussed (the topic name is usually bolded in the introduction)
- Articles should use headings as appropriate to organize topics in the article
- You can use the code __NOTOC__ at the top of a page to supress the automatic generation of a contents box for short articles. Longer articles should include the automatic contents box.
- Unless the page is a simple definition, it should include the ==See Also== heading near the end of the page and link back to the main portal and other related BrewWiki pages.
- External site links should be added at the bottom after the See Also section under the title ==External Links== if appropriate
- All pages require a category using a category statement at the very bottom of the page such as [[Category:portalname]]. Categories for major portals are listed below.
- Definitions should, as a minimum, be added to the Glossary category with the code: [[Category:Glossary]]. Other pages can be added to the Glossary using the same code, even if they are also members of another category (i.e. you can have more than one Category statement at the end of an article).
- Try to avoid orphaned pages - pages you create should be linked to either another page (as might be the case for a definition) or a main portal (for a more substantial article).
Protected Pages
A handful of pages are protected (such as the main page) to prevent spamming or defacing of the web site. We fully support making changes to these pages as needed. If you have a need to edit a protected page, simply contact any Administrator and they can either make the edit for you or give you permissions to do it yourself. Before requesting a new link on the main page, see if your article fits under an existing portal (listed below).
The Glossary
The Category:Glossary exists to list major brewing terms and topics. You can add a page to the glossary with the code: [[Category:Glossary]]. However, not every page needs to be added to the glossary. Only major terms and topics used in brewing should be listed. For example, it would be inappropriate to list every possible malt ingredient in the glossary - a category called Ingredients already exists for this purpose. However, it is appropriate to link to the Malts page since this is a general brewing term.
Stubs
Some pages are marked as stubs. A stub is an incomplete page or work in progress. You can help to expand BrewWiki by working to edit and expand existing stubs. To mark a page as a stub, include the code {{Stub}} on the page and a box will be displayed showing the page is a stub. This template will also force the page to be added to the category Stubs.
- Category:Stubs - A list of pages that have been marked by authors as stubs, work in progress, or incomplete pages
- Special:Wantedpages - Pages that are completely blank - they are links that have not been created yet
BrewWiki Projects
BrewWiki pages are organized into projects that each have a main portal and a main category assigned. Where possible, the larger projects correspond to main entry portals on the BrewWiki Main Page. To join a project as an editor or author, simply add your name to the editor column for the major projects listed below. We recommend that you contact the other editors for your project to coordinate before jumping in with major changes. Please be sure to link new pages to the appropriate portal page and category for the portal you are editing.
| Project Portal | Categories | Description | Editors, Authors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ingredients | Category:Ingredients | Catalog Brewing Ingredients | Brew365 |
| Processes | Category:Processes | Brewing processes such as Mashing, Fermenting, etc | None |
| Equipment | Category:Equipment | Equipment used in Brewing | None |
| Recipes | Category:Recipes | Collection of Beer Recipes | None |
| Beer Styles | Category:Styles | All the Styles of Beer | None |
| References | Category:References | Web sites, books, mags, more | None |
| Organizations | Category:Organizations | Organizations & Clubs | None |
| Suppliers | Category:Suppliers | Retail and Wholesale Suppliers | None |
| News & Events | Category:News | News and Events | None |
| Technical Reference | Category:Technical | Technical Details of Brewing | None |
| People | Category:People | People and Personalities | None |
| Craft Beer | Category:Craft Beer | Regional beer, Microbrews and Brewpubs | None |
| This Page | Category:Help | Article Contribution and Help | BrewWiki |
| Main Page | Category:Portals | Main Page and Main Portals | BrewWiki |
To Do List
BeerWiki is a work in progress. Unfortunately many of the pages are still incomplete pages or stubs.
- Most Wanted - A list of the most wanted pages for BrewWiki!
Special Pages For Editors
- Category:Stubs - A list of pages that have been marked by authors as stubs, work in progress, or incomplete pages
- Special:Wantedpages - Pages that are just stubs and have no content whatsoever
- Special:Wantedcategories - Categories that are stubs
- Special:Uncategorizedpages - Pages not assigned to a category
- Special:Deadendpages - Pages that dead end (no 'See Also or External Links)
- Special:Lonelypages - Orphaned Pages
- Special:Categories - A list of all categories
Content Guidelines
- The posting of Copyrighted Material, Adult Content, Blatent Advertising, Inappropriate Content, and material wholly unrelated to brewing is expressly prohibited
- All contributions are to be in English
- Please avoid foul language, abusing other members, and other forms of bad behavior
- Please report any abusive or bad behavior to an Administrator
- Keep contibutions factual and brief
- Content that promotes excessive or underage drinking is prohibited
- By posting, you are releasing your rights to material per the BrewWiki:Copyrights page (Gnu public license)
