Remember: always follow the Leave No Trace principles when out in the wild.
CampWiki:Conventions
From CampWiki
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What Belongs Here
This site was created to allow for the sharing of information about camping, hiking, or living the more simple life in your log cabin like Richard Proenneke did in One Man's Wilderness.
Some Acceptable topics
This is by no means a complete list, but it's just to give you an idea of what belongs here.
- Campgrounds (we prefer public over private campgrounds)
- National Parks
- Historical background on parks and landmarks
- Science and science projects as they relate to nature, especially that which can be observed in the outdoors
- Plant and Animal identification
- Outdoor equipment tips
- Hiking trails
- Wilderness Survival
- Minimum impact living ("Leave No Trace" philosophy for every day living)
- Fishing and Hunting guides
- Photography tips (please don't upload pictures larger than 150Kb, ideally keep them below 32kb)
- Activities
- Medical topics as they relate to the outdoors.
Unacceptable Topics
- Religion an mythology (unless it relates to a historic monument)
- Any reference to alcohol, tobacco products, or illicit drugs, pornography, or human sexuality
- Use of profanity or derogatory language
- Any attack on political, ethnic, or religious groups-- with the exception of political action requests against governments who's policies and/or proposed laws harm the environment and/or would damage or make less accessible the wild.
- Advertisements to join other non-profit or for-profit groups, to buy/sell equipment (it is okay to list online stores selling the products in the Links section, provided that multiple sources are listed), or to visit a particular non-public park or campground. Listing of a non-public campground is okay, provided they are follow page conventions for campsites, and are free of action and buzz words (you advertising guys know what I mean).
- Anything that doesn't relate at all to the outdoors
Name Spaces
We use a number of name spaces to help organize information. You will use a name space when creating your pages. Note that the name spaces below are predefined. You can't create your own name spaces like you can create categories. To use a name space, prefix the page title with the name of the name space followed by a colon. For example Outdoor Skills:Leave No Trace is in the Outdoor Skills name space.
For subtopics within a namespace, use a slash in the name to separate topics. Slashes are used most often here when separating location names for campsites and hiking trails.
Here are a list of some name spaces used:
- Outdoor Skills: Any topic relating to outdoor skills should go here, like Outdoor Skills:Leave No Trace. Information on Camping Equipment also belongs in this name space.
- Medical: Medical topics (first aid, diseases)
- Wildlife: Anything living in the woods: Insects, Spiders, Amphibian, Reptiles,Fish (not whales), Birds, Wildlife:Mammals (aquatic mammals included)
- Campgrouds and Trails: List of campgrounds, parks, and trails, organized by location and/or group. Each state/province should include a National Parks and National Forest page listing national parks and forests in that province and state (these will be included in the country-wide index). Private campgrounds for non-profit organizations (i.e. scout camps) should only be listed in the state/province wide index.
- By Country: Campgrounds and Trails:USA, Campgrounds and Trails:Canada
- By State: Campgrounds and Trails:USA/California (common sub pages: Campgrounds and Trails:USA/California/NPS, Campgrounds and Trails:USA/California/Scout Camps
- By Region (county) Campgrounds and Trails:USA/California/Los Angeles, Campgrounds and Trails:USA/California/San Diego,
- National Park Campgrounds, trails, and attractions: Campgrounds and Trails:USA/California/NPS/Sequoia National Park/Lodgepole (use /Trail/Trail name, and /Attraction/Name to separate them from campgrounds). If a national park contains a scout camp, then it should be referenced on the page about the national park, but should still be listed in the scout camp page for that region, not under the park its self. In other words, for Boy Scout Camp Wolverton in Sequoia, use the page name Campgrounds and Trails:USA/California/Scout Camps/Wolverton, not Campgrounds and Trails:USA/California/NPS/Sequoia National Park/Wolverton.
- Science: Science, as it relates to the outdoors (or science projects that can be performed/observed outdoors). Pages should reference the scientific field of study, like: Science:Astronomy, Science:Astronomy/Stargazing
- Outdoor Activities: outdoor activities: Hunting, Outdoor Activities:Fishing, Scouting, and other subjects.
If, for some reason, your page doesn't fit in any of the above, take a look at the existing categories and see if it fits somewhere before putting it in the main name space.
You can not create a name space. They have to be defined within the wiki source code. If you use a colon to separate page names, and that name space doesn't exist, then the page is created within the Main name space. So, if you create a page Zippy:Somepage, the page name will be "Zippy:Somepage"
Categories
Every page should belong to a category. At the very least, they should belong to a category with the same name as their namespace.
Use of categories help in locating information in the database. Unlike name spaces, they can be created at any time. In fact, some of the templates will set up the categories for you, Template:Disease and Template:Hazard are two examples.
You create a category the same way you use them:
[[Category:Category Name]]
It is often a good idea to give a search key to help with organizing pages in the category view. If we didn't use search keys then all campsites would be listed under "C", because the page names begin with a C.
We prefer the category tag to be at the top of the page (Mediawiki prefers category tags to be at the bottom).
Creating sub categories is done the same way, but with an extra step. You need to click on the Category name at the bottom of the screen and edit the category page. Add the a [[Category:Parent]]
to the sub category page. Ta-Da! Now the wiki software will treat the category as a sub category. You can link to category pages by prefixing the name with a colon like this: [[:Category:Name]]
.
Yes, it's kind of backwards. You create the child first, then give it a parent by editing the category page. You can view a list of all categories by going to Special:Categories
Any new category you create should belong to at least belong to a category with the same name space it is being used under. For instance, if you're creating a category for First Aid, then it should belong to the existing Category:Medical, so your category should be Category:Medical:First Aid
There is one exception. When assigning a category to campgrounds and trails, they should belong to one of the sub categories in Category:Location. This is to help find local trails and campsites. When creating new location categories, use the same slash naming method for the pages. So, if your campground is near Vancouver, BC in Canada, your category should be: Category:Location:Canada/BC/Vancouver. After creating that page, be sure click on the category name at the bottom and assign that category to belong to Category:Location:Canada/BC, and so on until you go back to a category which already exists.
A page can belong to more than one category. [[Category:name]]
can appear anywhere in your page and they will work the same as if they were put at the top or bottom of your page. So, if you accidently type [[Category:name]]
instead of [[:Category:name]]
when you were trying to direct someone to a category listing, then you won't see that link, instead your page will be assigned to the name category.
Just remove category tag from your wiki page to remove the page from that category.
Page Formats (Templates)
To keep pages consistent, please copy and paste the following templates into the new page you create.
Campsite or Trail
Follow the page naming conventions listed above.
The {{Template:Rating}}
will add a box to allow people to vote on the campground (currently, this isn't implemented, but add the tag anyway for when we're ready).
Special note: When creating a new location category for scout camps, use this format for telling the wiki software what subcategory it belongs to:
[[Category:Location:USA/State|!Scout Camps]]
Note that there is a '!' before the name. That's simply to modify how the sorting works for the category list. Instead of being under 'S', it'll be under '!' setting it apart from other locations. See Category:Location:USA/California/Scout Camps and Category:Location:USA/California to see how this works.
**** Other Campgrounds **** [[Category:Location:USA/STATE/COUNTY|Camp Name]] [[Category:Campgrounds:USA/STATE/COUNTY|Camp Name]] **** National Park Camps **** [[Category:Location:USA/STATE/NPS/Park|Camp Name]] [[Category:Campgrounds:USA/STATE/COUNTY|Camp Name]] ****** Scout Camps ****** [[Category:Location:USA/STATE/Scout Camps|Camp Name]] [[Category:Campgrounds:USA/STATE/Scout Camps|Camp Name]] __TOC__ <big>'''Note:''' This is a private campground only for use by the [http://www.scouting.org/ Boy Scouts of America].</big> ***************************** ==Campground Name (Location)== {{Template:Rating}} Description of campground, facilities, and activities and trails near site. You should include a back reference to any national park or national forest it is associated with. ===Activities and Attractions=== Ranger Talks, fishing,rafting, etc. ===Facilities=== *Toilets: flush/pit/dig your own/pack out your own waste *Showers: *Running Water: Yes (only during time), no, nearby river/stream *Trash: yes/pack in-pack out *RV Hookups: yes/no ===Reservations=== ===Seasonal Information=== ====Summer==== *Campground open: *Campground Cost: *Conditions: ====Fall==== *Campground open: *Campground Cost: *Conditions: ====Winter==== *Campground open: *Campground Cost: *Conditions: ====Spring==== *Campground open: *Campground Cost: *Conditions: ===Hazards=== ====Year Around==== {{Template:Hazard/Black Bear}} ====Spring and Summer==== {{Template:Hazard/Mosquito}} {{Template:Hazard/Tick}} {{Template:Hazard/Rattlesnake}} ===Directions=== *GPS Location: (to park entrances) From highway xx heading north/east From highway xx heading south/west
You may include images if you wish, but keep the around 320x200 and use lots of compression. Don't you dare upload a .bmp or uncompressed .gif/.png file! We recommend using The Gimp graphics editing software.
National Parks/Forest
In the United States use "NPS" before it's name for national parks; for national forests, use NFS. NFS and NPS stand for National Park Service, and National Forest Service.
Name the pages in a similar manner. Examples:
Campground and Trails:Location:USA/NPS NFS Park/Forrest name
Exampe:
Campgrounds and Trails:USA/California/Fresno/NPS/Yosemite National Park
[[Category:Location:USA/**Location**|**Park Name** National Park]] [[Category:Location:USA/National Parks|**Park Name** National Park]] ==Park/Forest name== Description of campground, facilities, and activities and trails near site. You should include a back reference to any national park or national forest it is associated with. ===Activities and Attractions=== Ranger Talks, fishing,rafting, etc. ===Campgrounds=== [[Campgrounds and Trails:Location/NPS Name/Campground Name|Campground Name]] Open year around.<br> ===Seasonal Information=== ====Summer==== ====Fall==== ====Winter==== ====Spring==== ===Hazards=== ====Year Around==== {{Template:Hazard/Black Bear}} ====Spring and Summer==== {{Template:Hazard/Mosquito}} {{Template:Hazard/Tick}} {{Template:Hazard/Rattlesnake}} ===Directions=== Include written directions and road descriptions. also include a link to [http://maps.google.com|Google Maps], or some other established online mapping site. Google Maps is probably best since you can mark any location on a map as a destination WITHOUT knowing the address, or you can use GPS coordinates.
Medical Section
We've already established a convention for listing diseases (yup, we have those too!). Use the template below when adding a new disease to the database:
Use this format when creating the page: Medical:Disease/Disease_Name
==General Information== {{Template:Disease |Disease Name |Type (Genetic/Viral/Microbe) |Infection method (Hereditary, airborne, ingestion, etc) }} ==Description== ==Symptoms== ==Treatment== ==Links==
The Template:Disease automatically assigns the page to the Category:Disease. See Medical:Disease/Sickle_Cell_Anemia to get an idea of what your page should look like. Use images sparingly, and only when the add to the understanding of the subject.