User:Editor 357/assignments

Let's start with references. A good place to practice is fixing bare URLs. A bare URL is a reference that only uses the URL as a source, without sufficient information about the cited information (such as title, author, quote, and so on). This could lead to link rot, where a website goes down, or content gets deleted, and the referenced data is possible lost.

This is why it's important to use the citation templates, such as {{cite web}}, in order to have a way to rescue rotted links (like using the Wayback Machine).

Here's a list of pages that have the {{Cleanup-bare URLs}} template: Special:WhatLinksHere/Template:Cleanup-bare URLs. And here's a search that looks up all the pages that use bare URLs:

Pick one that you like, and let's start. —Hexafluoride ^{Ping me if you need help, or post on my talk} 17:16, 9 December 2016 (UTC)

Sorry for not getting to this earlier. I have reviewed the list of pages, and have decided that I would like to work on Albert II of Belgium. Let me know when to start! —Editor 357 ^{(Talk • Contributions)} 12:03, 21 December 2016 (UTC)

We can start right away. Good choice. I see that it has many bare URLs and improper {{cite}} templates.

For starters let's just fix the bare URLs, and change them into {{cite web}}. The template should use the |url=, |title=, |author=, |date=, |accessdate= at least whenever possible.

It's good to do two or three by hand at first, just to learn the parameters, but then you can just use the "Cite" tool up in the editor bar, and then select "cite web" from the drop down menu. It's very easy to use. All the possible fields are present, so you don't have to memorize any, and some URLs can be filled automatically by pressing on the magnifying glass icon below the field "URL".

Here's an example: <ref>{{cite web|author1=Example|title=Example Domain|url=https://example.com|website=example.com|accessdate=21 December 2016|date=21 December 1980}}</ref>.

If a ref is used more than once, you don't need to repeat the referencing. Just assign each ref a name (whenever possible), and then just invoke the name at the next time. In the above example, this would become: <ref name="Example 1">{{cite web|author1=Example|title=Example Domain|url=https://example.com|website=example.com|accessdate=21 December 2016|date=21 December 1980}}</ref>

"This is the second ref example.<ref name="Example 1" />"

The result of all of this should look like this: "Here's an example,^[1] and here's the same one repeated."^[1]

—Hexafluoride ^{Ping me if you need help, or post on my talk} 13:39, 21 December 2016 (UTC)

Alright.

You have a choice, you could write an article about whatever you like. I saw that you're interested in aviation, and might have a deep knowledge of it, so you might like to try "aircraft". Of course, this will be a training article, and so this isn't editing the aircraft article that already exists. If you'd like to write about something else in the aviation industry that doesn't have an article, that would be even better.

We'll start by writing a lede. A lede (or lead) is the introduction of the article. It needs to summarize the article adequately, but provide useful information that will be delved into deeper later in the article. The length of the lede varies. It could be a sentence or two, or it could be a paragraph, or more. Troll Airfield, Geilo Airport, Dagali, and GoAir are Good articles, and therefore would serve as a good example of what to include and how to write (you can also check the criteria for good articles) that aren't long, yet provide good information.

Good luck. Start the article in your namespace (for example under User:Editor 357/assignments/TITLE). —Hexafluoride ^{Ping me if you need help, or post on my talk} 08:22, 3 January 2017 (UTC)