Help:Getting started

As a new editor, also known as a contributor, you may feel a little overwhelmed. Regardless of skill level, anyone can make contributions to the wiki with just a few clicks and some typing. Please don’t be intimidated, as you’ve got the support of a team of experienced collaborators, researchers and proofreaders. Also keep in mind that you can never break anything, as previous versions of an article can easily be restored.

Don't worry if you don't understand everything at first, as it is acceptable to use common sense as you go about editing. We encourage you to be bold in a fair and accurate manner, with a straightforward, just-the-facts style.

How to edit

See also: MediaWik's Help:VisualEditor/User guide and Wikipedia's Help:VisualEditor

There are two different editors available. The WikiEditor (also known as the Source Editor) and the VisualEditor.

To choose which one to use you will need to log in to your finiki account, go to preferences (top right) -> editing tab, uncheck Temporarily disable the visual editor while it is in beta, optionally change Editing mode to Show me both editor tabs, and save your preferences.

The following introduction (links take you to Wikipedia articles) shows the main differences between the choice of editors.

The wiki markup source editor shows the underlying page source code. It works like a plain text file, indicating links and other items using simple code like this: [[Earth]].	VisualEditor is the easier way of editing that works more like a word processor and hides the underlying source code. Links and other items are edited using toolbar and pop-up interfaces.
Editing	Editing
Referencing	Referencing
Images	Images
Tables	Tables

Beginner skills - Proofreading and page maintenance

See also: Help:Editing

Even with no expertise in investing, anyone can start right away helping to proofread recently-edited pages and to maintain older wiki pages. All that’s needed is a quick review of the very basics of wiki markup language, a quick tutorial, perhaps a little practice in the sandbox, then to find the specific wiki pages that are awaiting your help.

• Start first with a review of the Guide for Contributors and the Wiki Cheatsheet.
• Next, if you want to practice your editing skills, try them out in the sandbox.
• Then, to find pages for proofreading: Recent Changes or a random page
• For more proofreading pages: New Pages

On the desktop left-side menu under Contribute, is Recent changes. All editing activity is logged here. If you want to see what the editors have been doing (and perhaps join them to help), select Recent changes as the first place to check when visiting the wiki. Changes to the main wiki articles are those that are listed under "(main)" space. For those familiar with discussion boards, the finiki equivalent is talk pages, so you also might want to narrow the Recent changes to the Talk namespace.

Intermediate skills - Improving an existing page

If you have general expertise in investing, or are interested in doing some research, there are many existing wiki pages that need expansion and improvement. This work generally requires more extensive fluency with the wiki markup language, but there are excellent guides available to assist you.

• Start first with a study of the Guide for Contributors and the Wiki Cheatsheet.
• All of the articles that have been flagged as needing attention are listed under finiki:Maintenance, also accessible from the left-side menu under Contribute, in the desktop version of finiki.

Advanced skills - Creating a new page

If you have expert knowledge of a topic, or would just like to research and learn about it, there are numerous wiki topics that are waiting for someone to create a new page for them. Developing a brand new page may require fairly advanced wiki markup skills, but some novice editors may also want to try it as a “learn by doing” project.

• Start first with a study of the Guide for Contributors and the Wiki Cheatsheet.
• See Creating a new page for details of creating a new page, written by fellow finiki editors and also Starting an article - Wikipedia for a much broader perspective on the topic.

finiki accounts

So what to do if you’re not already a wiki editor and would like to become one? In most cases, editors come from the Financial Wisdom Forum (FWF) membership. FWF members can send a private message (PM) to request an account be created for them.

We welcome interested members of the public to contribute. The recommended method is to join FWF and contribute to the community and then use the PM method above.

As a last resort, please send an email to infofiniki.org , with the Subject: finiki account request and we'll consider creating an account for you. Can't remember if you already have a finiki account? See list of users.

Login problems

If you are having problems with your finiki login you can reset your password. The functionality depends on you having a valid email address as part of your preferences (you'll need to be logged in).

Further reading

• Barrett, Daniel J. 2009. MediaWiki: Wikipedia and Beyond. O’Reilly Media. ISBN 978-0-596-51979-7.
• Broughton, John. 2008. Wikipedia: The Missing Manual. O’Reilly Media. ISBN 978-0596515164.

External links

• "Help:Introduction". Wikipedia.
• "Wiki Markup". Wikipedia.
• "Help:Cheatsheet". Wikipedia.
• "Manual of Style". Wikipedia.