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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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{{DISPLAYTITLE:<span style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);">{{FULLPAGENAME}}</span>}}
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=Welcome to the uk.d-i-y wiki!=
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[[image:CeilingRoseInternal.gif|link=:Category:Lighting|thumb| [[:Category:Lighting|Lighting]] ]]
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[[image:FinishedGardenSlatTable.jpg|link=:Category:Furniture|thumb| [[:Category:Furniture|Furniture]] ]]  
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[[image:CompressionComponentsOnPipe.jpg|link=:Category:Plumbing|thumb| [[:Category:Plumbing|Plumbing]] ]]
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[[image:StudWallWithDoorWay.png|link=:Category:Building|thumb| [[:Category:Building|Building]] ]]  
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[[image:C-Plan-Water.gif|link=:Category:Heating|thumb| [[:Category:Heating|Heating]] ]]
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[[image:Fan with Timed Trigger.png|link=:Category:Electrical|thumb| [[:Category:Electrical|Electrics]]  ]]
  
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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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* 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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'''Here you will find articles on:-'''
  
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* You can discuss this wiki on the [[Talk:Main_Page|talk (discussion) page]]
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*Domestic [[:Category:Plumbing|Plumbing]]
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*Central [[:Category:Heating|Heating]]
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*Household [[:Category:Electrical|Electrics]]
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*Electrical [[:Category:Lighting|Lighting]]
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*DIY [[:Category:Building|Building]] and carpentry
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*[[:Category:Furniture|Furniture]] making and other Woodwork
  
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In fact if you are in the process of an interesting build or DIY project, then this is the place to post about it for other like minded people to enjoy.
  
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== Navigation ==
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'''and many many [[Special:Allpages|more]]... '''
  
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* You can use the '''search''' function (in left sidebar) to find anything (e.g. 'boilers')
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You can access wiki articles by any of the following:
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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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*[[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 to find particular [[Special:Allpages|topics]] (e.g. [[Limescale|'limescale']]).
  
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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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==About this wiki & uk.d-i-y==
  
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=== Editing Articles ===
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This wiki contains a mixture of DIY related instructional and reference material, as well as details of projects, DIY related anecdotes, experiments, and humour. Its not an encyclopaedia, although it has some very detailed and encyclopaedic articles. Its not a forum, but if you want a DIY forum, look at the ways to access uk.d-i-y below. 
  
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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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uk.d-i-y is a usenet "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsgroup newsgroup]" that was created in 1994, and has since grown into a very popular group which usually receives more than 6,000 postings every month!  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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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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Some may be unfamiliar with newsgroups, and usenet in general. Newsgroups have existed on the internet for many many years (they even predate the creation of the world wide web itself) and they are an ideal place to have discussions and exchange information.
  
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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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Some web sites (including Google Groups) allow access to usenet groups, however they are often at their best when accessed using dedicated news reader software. '''For better ways of joining in the discussion, read [[newsgroup access tips]]'''
  
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http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Editing
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'''DIY''' is for ordinary people who want to Improve their home, Craft & Make things, and do Repair jobs for themselves without needing to employ others to do them for them. Many such jobs require the DIY-er to expand their skills and understanding - sometimes quite rapidly - to carry out the job successfully. Since many such jobs have already been tackled by other DIYers it is useful to learn from their experience.  
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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 the UK the '''uk.d-i-y''' newsgroup has for some time 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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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. OK 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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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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For help on how to include images in articles this page is useful: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Images
 
  
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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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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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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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*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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* Use plural form for article names about classes of things e.g. '''Round Tuits'''
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*To create a login or user account, see [[Account Requests]]
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* Capitalise first word and main words in article names e.g. '''Where to get Round Tuits'''
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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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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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[[Category:Wiki]]
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=== Copyright ===
 
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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]].
 
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Revision as of 11:48, 1 April 2021


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

Lighting
Furniture
Plumbing
Building
Heating
Electrics


Here you will find articles on:-

In fact if you are in the process of an interesting build or DIY project, then this is the place to post about it for other like minded people to enjoy.

and many many more...

You can access wiki articles by any of the following:

About this wiki & uk.d-i-y

This wiki contains a mixture of DIY related instructional and reference material, as well as details of projects, DIY related anecdotes, experiments, and humour. Its not an encyclopaedia, although it has some very detailed and encyclopaedic articles. Its not a forum, but if you want a DIY forum, look at the ways to access uk.d-i-y below.

uk.d-i-y is a usenet "newsgroup" that was created in 1994, and has since grown into a very popular group which usually receives more than 6,000 postings every 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 (they even predate the creation of the world wide web itself) and they are an ideal place to have discussions and exchange information.

Some web sites (including Google Groups) allow access to usenet groups, however they are often at their best when accessed using dedicated news reader software. For better ways of joining in the discussion, read newsgroup access tips

DIY is for ordinary people who want to Improve their home, Craft & Make things, and do Repair jobs for themselves without needing to employ others to do them for them. Many such jobs require the DIY-er to expand their skills and understanding - sometimes quite rapidly - to carry out the job successfully. Since many such jobs have already been tackled by other DIYers it is useful to learn from their experience.

In the UK the uk.d-i-y newsgroup has for some time 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 ...

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.)


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.

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).

Retrieved from "https://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Main_Page&oldid=21792"