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== About Accounts ==

To read these pages, you do not have to create an account or log in.  However, if you want to edit any pages, then you must create an account and log in.  Having an account and being logged in has the following advantages:

* You can edit pages or add new pages
* You can have a watch list, which is a personal list of pages you can look at in one glance with the "my watchlist" link at the top; this lets you see if any changes have been made on those pages
* You can have a "user page", which is like a one-page website all your own
* You can track your contributions to the web page using the "my contributions" link at the top
* It lets you "sign" your contributions to "discussion" pages (see link at top) by typing 4 tilde characters: <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>

Creating an account should not have any negative consequences.

== About Links and Images ==

Links on these pages are either blue or red.  Blue links mean that clicking on the blue highlighted words will take you to a page that has already been created.  If you are only reading pages (and not creating them), just ignored any link that is not blue.  Red links are to ''planned'' pages.  If you are interested in [[Help:contributing|contributing]] to the site, then clicking on red links will take you to the Edit page so that you can create the page.

Links that are followed by an arrow symbol, like this link to our new [http://new.photos.yahoo.com/eliafamily/albums photo gallery] are to webpages that are "off site" - pages not part of the Elia Family Project.

Blue links turn purple if you have visited the page recently.

You may click on any image to get more details about the image.

== About The Menua ==

=== The Top Menu ===

The top menu has the following options:

* (User Name)
* my talk
* preferences
* my watchlist
* my contributions
* log out

Currently, the top menu has a bug when viewed wit '''Internet Explorer''' which makes the first two menu choices impossible to click.  This bug does not exist when viewing the page with '''Netscape''' or '''Firefox''', where the menu is displayed toward the right-top rather than the left-top.  ([http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ Firefox], a free browser from Mozilla, would be the preferred browser for viewing these pages; consider getting and using Firefox if you'd be editing the pages much.)

The first link takes you to your user page.  For example, see the [[User:Admin|admin's user page]].  If you aren't interested in editing pages, this will remain blank.  Feel free to use it to introduce yourself, or to use it as a "scrap book" for future plans, favorite links, etc.

The "my talk" page is a Discussion page related to your user page.  Every page on the site has a "Discussion" page.  It is meant for talking about the page - ideas for improvements, debates about the accuracy of its contents, or any other feedback.  You can use your talk page any way you'd like, or you may not use it at all.

The "preferences" page allows you to adjust certain settings.  This page is a little "buggy" - for some reason the preference settings often give you errors or unexpected results (it is out of the Admin's control).  Feel free to explore it, but use it with caution.

The "my watchlist" page will initially be blank.  However, every page on the web site gives you an option to "watch" the page.  The watchlist shows you all recent updates or changes to the pages you're watching.  For example, you may want to "watch" your own biography, or user page, and it you are contributing to the site, you'll probably want to watch the To Do List as well (see the "Side Menus" section below).

The "my contributions" page will also initially be blank, but will keep a list of pages you've edited.  This can be very helpful for you to go back and look at your edits from time to time, to see if the pages have evolved.

The "log out" link will log you out of the system.

=== The Side Menus ===

The Side Menus have 6 separate menus.  The bottom 3 menus are placed there by the hosts of this website; the Admins have no control.  These are the "editthis.info" menu, the "also by" menu, and the "post this page on" menu.  They are basically advertisements by the creators to editthis.info, and considering that all of these pages are free of charge, it isn't a bad thing!  The other 3 boxes are the Navigation menu, the Search box, and the Toolbox.  The latter is particularly useful for editors.

==== Navigation ====

I won't list each option here, because the Navigation box may change in time.  In general, it will list the most important links, including to get you back to the main page of the site.  I do want to highlight the link for the [[Eliafamily:Community Portal|To Do List]] which is a great place to go if you want to know what's coming in the future, or if you want to [[Help:Contributing|contribute]] to the web site.  I also want to highlight the [[Help:Contents|Help]] link, which provides a wealth of information on reading, editing, and using these pages.

==== Search Box ====

One of the very best advantages of moving the website to this wiki format is the availability of the Search box.  You can immediately find what you're looking for as a reader, and the Search box can also be helpful for editors.  Researching an article on "golf" for the web site?  Type golf in and immediately see how many biographies have the word, and therefore how many Elias have viewed it as a hobby.

==== Toolbox ====

Take advantage of this when editing!  Updating the [[2006]] page?  Go to the page and click on "What links here" in the Toolbox - and you'll immediately have a list of all of the things that should go on the [[2006]] page.

"Upload file" is how you add particularly images to the web site.  We are limited in space for images, but images that go with biographies or images that illustrate interest articles (like the [[''Prinz Adalbert'']] article and image) should be uploaded.  Keep images reasonably small (< 100 kB if possible).

"Special Pages" takes you to a list of pages, some not very useful, some very useful.  Explore at your leisure.

=== Top Menu For Pages ===

Every article has a top menu in "tabbed" format.  The first link is usually "article", though it can be "help" or "project" or other descriptors.  When on this tab, you are reading the web page in question.  In addition, the menu will also contain:

* Discussion - the "talk page" for the article
* Edit - how you may edit the page; the code behind the version people actually read
* Watch - click this to add the page to your watch list (turns to Unwatch if it is already on your list)

Other options can be available to.  The Discussion page is meant to be a place to talk about the article; to plan changes or to provide feedback.  See [[Help:Editing]] for help on the Edit tab.  The page may also contain "edit" links after each heading (like this one does!).

== Have Questions? ==

The Admin has put this page on his watch list.  Use the Discussion tab on this page for any questions.

[[User:Admin|Admin]] 13:23, 21 October 2006 (EDT)