Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

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m (Changed note on the "newness" of the wiki since its over 10 years old now!)
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This [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki wiki] is intended to provide a resource for all those into [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_it_yourself '''Do It Yourself'''] ('''DIY'''). DIY includes a vast range of subjects, with the common factor of ordinary people doing jobs for themselves that are within their abilities but which they would otherwise have to employ others to do for them. Another common factor is that many such jobs require the DIY-er to expand their skills and understanding - sometimes quite rapidly - to carry out the job successfully. Since a third factor is that many such jobs have already been tackled by other DIYers it is useful to learn from the experience of others.
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__NOTOC__
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In the UK the '''uk.d-i-y''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsgroup newsgroup] has for many years been a valuable resource for exchanging information and, like many newsgroups, it has for many years had a web-based [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAQ FAQ] containing articles contributed and edited by a few individual 'regulars' of the group. Since wikis are by their nature very DIY websites this uk.d-i-y wiki was perhaps inevitable ...
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==Welcome to the uk.d-i-y wiki!==
  
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The wiki was first put up on a trial basis, but appears to be sufficiently popular to become a permanent feature. However it is still in its infancy so:
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'''Here you will find articles on:-'''
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* the range of subjects covered is patchy
 
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* most articles are the work of only one or two people: this means they may carry particular bias(es) of the author(s). (Viewing a page's '''history''' tab shows how the page has been edited and how many people have contributed to the process).
 
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It is hoped that as more people find it a useful resource more will be inclined to contribute their own particular skills - whether that is in the form of writing new articles, improving existing ones or even pointing out where improvements need to be made (in content or in clarity).
 
  
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* No login is required to post new articles or edit existing ones, but feel free to create a login if you wish. It helps people see who's created what.
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* [[:Category:Plumbing|Plumbing]]
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* [[:Category:Heating|Heating]]
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* [[:Category:Electrical|Electrics]]
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* [[:Category:Lighting|Lighting]]
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* [[:Category:Building|Building]]
  
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* You can discuss this wiki on the [[Talk:Main_Page|talk (discussion) page]]
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'''and much much [[Special:Allpages|more]]... '''
  
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You can access wiki articles by any of the following:
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* [[Special:Allpages|Article Index]]
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* [[Special:Categories|Contents by Subject Category]]
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* [[Special:Random|Random article]]
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* Entering a keyword in the search box on the left
  
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== Navigation ==
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You can use the '''search''' function (in the sidebar at the left) to find particular [[Special:Allpages|topics]] (e.g. [[Limescale|'limescale']]).
  
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* You can use the '''search''' function (in left sidebar) to find anything (e.g. 'boilers')
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== About this wiki & uk.d-i-y ==
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* Here is a list of all [[Special:Categories|categories]] of article
 
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* Here is a list of all [[Special:Allpages|articles]] (pages) in the wiki
 
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* Here is a list of [[Special:Newpages|new pages]] in the wiki
 
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* Here is a list of [[Special:Recentchanges|recent changes]] in the wiki
 
  
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== Contributing ==
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uk.d-i-y is a usenet "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsgroup newsgroup]". It was created at the end of 1994, and since then has grown into a very popular group which typically receives in excess of 6,000 postings per month!
  
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A wiki is a collaborative thing. You can contribute by adding to or improving the content of articles (even if just to corect speling improve grammar)<!-- I meant to do that! -->. You can also help by letting other contributors know if an article is unclear, even if you can't help by clarifying it yourself: you can add comments on an article's "talk" page (click on the '''discussion''' tab at the top). It helps if you can be specific e.g. ''"It's not clear whether you should use a widget or a dongle for firkling a round tuit"'' rather than ''"article is not clear"''. Talk (discussion) pages are also the place for suggestions for extending an article (e.g. ''"how about a section on where to get Round Tuits?"'') or splitting (''"maybe the section about where to get Round Tuits should go in the Supplies article?"'') and so on.
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You can get access to the group via [http://groups.google.com/group/uk.d-i-y/topics?hl=en Google Groups] which will let you get a taste for what is on offer.  
  
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=== Editing Articles ===
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Some may be unfamiliar with newsgroups, and usenet in general. Newsgroups have existed on the internet for many many years, and even predate the creation of the world wide web itself. Although some web sites (including Google Groups) have been created that allow access to usenet, it is generally at its best when accessed using dedicated news reader software. '''For better ways of joining in the discussion, read [[newsgroup access tips]]'''
  
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Each wiki page has an '''edit''' tab at the top of the page. This lets you edit the entire page, including such elements as categories.
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[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_it_yourself '''Do It Yourself'''] ('''DIY''') encompasses a vast range of subjects, with the common factor of ordinary people doing jobs for themselves that are within their abilities but which they would otherwise have to employ others to do for them. Another common factor is that many such jobs require the DIY-er to expand their skills and understanding - sometimes quite rapidly - to carry out the job successfully. Since a third factor is that many such jobs have already been tackled by other DIYers it is useful to learn from the experience of others.  
  
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Many pages also have '''edit''' links at the right of the page, opposite section headings. These allow you to edit just that section.
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In the UK the '''uk.d-i-y''' newsgroup has for many years been a valuable resource for exchanging information and, like many newsgroups, it has for some years had a web-based [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAQ FAQ] containing articles contributed and edited by a few individual 'regulars' of the group. Since [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki wikis] are by their nature [[Special:Allpages|DIY]] websites this uk.d-i-y wiki was perhaps inevitable ...
  
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In each case you can edit text quite simply (e.g. correcting typos) but if you want to add to or change the structure substantially you will need to know a bit about wiki markup.  
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This [[Special:Allpages|wiki]] was started in 2006, and now has over 600 articles on a wide range of subjects. Articles range in their completeness and levels of polish, some are excellent, and some are still in need of more work. Since many articles are the work of only one or two people, they may carry the particular bias(es) of the author(s). (Viewing a page's '''history''' tab shows how the page has been edited and how many people have contributed to the process.)
  
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http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Editing
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It is hoped that people (this includes you!) will [[#Contributing|contribute]] their own particular skills - whether by writing new articles, improving existing ones or just pointing out where improvements need to be made (in content or in clarity).
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is probably the canonical reference on editing this 'make' of wiki (mediawiki) although this particular installation may differ from the examples given at wikimedia.org, depending on how this installation has been configured.
 
  
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==== Images ====
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* In order to [[Creating and Editing Articles|post new articles]] or [[Creating and Editing Articles|edit existing ones]], you will need to login first.
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* To create a login or user account, see [[Account Requests]]
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* You can discuss this [[Special:Allpages|wiki]] on the [[Talk:Main_Page|talk (discussion) page]]
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* All contributions to this [[Special:Allpages|Wiki]] are considered to be released under the [[Project:Copyrights|GNU Free Documentation License]].
  
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One of the nice things about the wiki is that we can upload pictures to include in articles. However the wiki seems to keep all uploaded images in one pool ([[Special:Imagelist]]), so if we're to be able to manage this we probably need to pay a bit of attention to the names we give to the image files. So instead of, say, '''boiler.jpg''' followed by '''boiler2.jpg''' ... '''boiler1001.jpg''' maybe we could name them like '''Boiler_Worcester-Bosch_Greenstar_Junior_24i_front_outside_view.jpg'''. That's a bit of a mouth (or keyboard)-full but we'll probably all be grateful by the time we get to Wikipedia size :-) Supplying a meaningful description when we upload images should also help.
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== Navigation ==
  
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For help on how to include images in articles this page is useful: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Images
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* You can use the '''search''' function (in left sidebar) to find anything (e.g. 'boilers')
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* Here is a list of all [[Special:Allpages|articles]] (pages) in the wiki
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* Here is a list of all [[Special:Categories|categories]] of article
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* Here is a list of [[Special:Newpages|new pages]] in the [[Special:Allpages|wiki]]
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* Here is a list of [[Special:Recentchanges|recent changes]] in the [[Special:Allpages|wiki]]
  
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=== Creating Articles ===
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== Contributing ==
  
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You can create an article by trying to view an article of that name. If it doesn't exist, you are given the chance to create it. So say you want to create an article about plastering. Put the word "plastering" in the search box and click go. If that article doesn't exist, you get a link to create it. (You may want to consider re-submitting the query for the exact title of the article you want to create since it's not so straightforward to change existing titles in the wiki. So search again for 'Plastering' rather than 'plastering' to create the article with the title Capitalised.)
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A [[Special:Allpages|wiki]] is a collaborative thing. You can contribute by adding to or improving the content of articles (even if just to corect speling improve and grammar)<!-- Don't change this: I meant it to be like that! -->. You can also help by letting other contributors know if an article is unclear, even if you can't help by clarifying it yourself: you can add comments on an article's "talk" page (click on the '''discussion''' tab at the top). It helps if you can be specific e.g. ''"It's not clear whether you should use a widget or a dongle for firkling a round tuit"'' rather than ''"article unclear"''. Talk (discussion) pages are also the place for suggestions for extending an article (e.g. ''"how about a section on where to get Round Tuits?"'') or splitting (''"maybe the section about where to get Round Tuits should go in the Supplies article?"'') and so on. Please see [[Creating and Editing Articles]] for more info on, er, creating and editing articles.
  
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==== Naming ====
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If you would like an account to enable you to edit or create articles, then please request one [[Account_Requests|here]]
  
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When referring to one article from another it helps to have a consistent naming convention. Unlike Wikipedia's naming convention [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions]] this Wiki seems to have evolved its own ''de facto'' convention:
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== Spammers please Note ==
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* Use plural form for article names about classes of things e.g. '''Round Tuits'''
 
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* Capitalise first word and main words in article names e.g. '''Where to get Round Tuits'''
 
  
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Here is an [[Example_article|example article]]. It contains an example of the structure and many of the formatting markups you may want in an article, which you can use as a template.
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Please be aware that there is absolutely no point in adding link spam to this wiki. The system has been configured to emit "no follow" tags on all pages. The wiki administrators will delete or revert any damaging changes. Hence any spam links that you post will be neither seen or indexed via search engines. You (or your client) will not gain any benefit from doing this.  
  
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=== Copyright ===
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'''The wiki administrators will ban users who spam - and if needs be, permanently. '''
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All contributions to this Wiki are considered to be released under the GNU Free Documentation License. For more information see [[Project:Copyrights]].
 
  
 
== External Links ==
 
== External Links ==
 
* [http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk.d-i-y/topics uk.d-i-y newsgroup] ''(Google groups web interface)''
 
* [http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk.d-i-y/topics uk.d-i-y newsgroup] ''(Google groups web interface)''
 
* [http://diyfaq.org.uk/ uk.d-i-y FAQ website]
 
* [http://diyfaq.org.uk/ uk.d-i-y FAQ website]
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----
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* [http://www.diy-extra.co.uk DIY Advice and Articles]
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* [http://honestbuilder.com/trade_terms.html Glossary of trade terms] (from [http://honestbuilder.com HonestBuilder.com])
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* [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Do-It-Yourself Wikibooks: Do-It-Yourself] (from the people who brought you [http://en.wikipedia.org Wikipedia])
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* [http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk UltimateHandyman.co.uk] Illustrated articles on DIY basics.
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* [http://www.diyinfo.org DIY Wiki with many illustrated articles] (USA)
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* [http://www.rudimentsofwisdom.com Rudiments of Wisdom] by [http://www.timhunkin.com Tim Hunkin]. Light hearted but informative.
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[[Category:Wiki]]

Revision as of 11:25, 22 February 2017

Welcome to the uk.d-i-y wiki!

Here you will find articles on:-

and much much more...

You can access wiki articles by any of the following:

You can use the search function (in the sidebar at the left) to find particular topics (e.g. 'limescale').

About this wiki & uk.d-i-y

uk.d-i-y is a usenet "newsgroup". It was created at the end of 1994, and since then has grown into a very popular group which typically receives in excess of 6,000 postings per month!

You can get access to the group via Google Groups which will let you get a taste for what is on offer.

Some may be unfamiliar with newsgroups, and usenet in general. Newsgroups have existed on the internet for many many years, and even predate the creation of the world wide web itself. Although some web sites (including Google Groups) have been created that allow access to usenet, it is generally at its best when accessed using dedicated news reader software. For better ways of joining in the discussion, read newsgroup access tips

Do It Yourself (DIY) encompasses a vast range of subjects, with the common factor of ordinary people doing jobs for themselves that are within their abilities but which they would otherwise have to employ others to do for them. Another common factor is that many such jobs require the DIY-er to expand their skills and understanding - sometimes quite rapidly - to carry out the job successfully. Since a third factor is that many such jobs have already been tackled by other DIYers it is useful to learn from the experience of others.

In the UK the uk.d-i-y newsgroup has for many years been a valuable resource for exchanging information and, like many newsgroups, it has for some years had a web-based FAQ containing articles contributed and edited by a few individual 'regulars' of the group. Since wikis are by their nature DIY websites this uk.d-i-y wiki was perhaps inevitable ...

This wiki was started in 2006, and now has over 600 articles on a wide range of subjects. Articles range in their completeness and levels of polish, some are excellent, and some are still in need of more work. Since many articles are the work of only one or two people, they may carry the particular bias(es) of the author(s). (Viewing a page's history tab shows how the page has been edited and how many people have contributed to the process.)

It is hoped that people (this includes you!) will contribute their own particular skills - whether by writing new articles, improving existing ones or just pointing out where improvements need to be made (in content or in clarity).

Navigation

  • You can use the search function (in left sidebar) to find anything (e.g. 'boilers')
  • Here is a list of all articles (pages) in the wiki
  • Here is a list of all categories of article
  • Here is a list of new pages in the wiki
  • Here is a list of recent changes in the wiki

Contributing

A wiki is a collaborative thing. You can contribute by adding to or improving the content of articles (even if just to corect speling improve and grammar). You can also help by letting other contributors know if an article is unclear, even if you can't help by clarifying it yourself: you can add comments on an article's "talk" page (click on the discussion tab at the top). It helps if you can be specific e.g. "It's not clear whether you should use a widget or a dongle for firkling a round tuit" rather than "article unclear". Talk (discussion) pages are also the place for suggestions for extending an article (e.g. "how about a section on where to get Round Tuits?") or splitting ("maybe the section about where to get Round Tuits should go in the Supplies article?") and so on. Please see Creating and Editing Articles for more info on, er, creating and editing articles.

If you would like an account to enable you to edit or create articles, then please request one here

Spammers please Note

Please be aware that there is absolutely no point in adding link spam to this wiki. The system has been configured to emit "no follow" tags on all pages. The wiki administrators will delete or revert any damaging changes. Hence any spam links that you post will be neither seen or indexed via search engines. You (or your client) will not gain any benefit from doing this.

The wiki administrators will ban users who spam - and if needs be, permanently.

External Links

Retrieved from "https://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Main_Page&oldid=20104"