Help:FAQ
From LyricWiki
Why can't I find [Specific Artist] or [Specific Song]?
- One possibility is that the song/artist is not actually in our database as yet. Another possibility is that the name you typed is not the recognized name for that artist or for the song. For example, you might be looking for Eminem but typed Slim Shady or Marshall Mathers instead. Also note, that page names on LyricWiki are case sensitive. If you cannot find NoRMAhl (which is the correct spelling and capitalization) please use the search functionality to check if, for example, Normahl exists. If you are sure that the page you are looking for does not exist you are always at liberty to create it. However please do read Help:Contents/Getting Started/Creating A New Page first. For not only will this page assist you in creating the new page, but there are certain instances when a new page should not be created.
[Page Name] is not capitalized correctly...it should be [page name], right?
- The capitalization of artist names, album and song titles is simply that the first letter of each word should be capitalized whether it is normally capitalized by the artist or not. (N.B.: Initials grouped together are interpreted as a word.) All the characters after the initial letter of each word should match the capitalization that the artist chose, e.g. T.A.T.u. as opposed to T.A.T.U. This provides a simple and uniform policy for naming pages across all nationalities. It also avoids the need for programmers to write a lot of additional code to determine the correct capitalization of pages when integrating the site into music players and the like. See LyricWiki:Page Names for the complete policy on naming song, album and artist pages.
[Artist:song name] is incorrectly spelled or not capitalized in accordance with LyricWiki's page naming policy. How can this be fixed?
- The way to correct an incorrectly named page is to move it to the correct page name. If you are registered and logged in, you will find the move tab at the top of the page. Please ensure that after the move, you update all the links relating to the moved page, e.g. the artist or song name in the {{SongFooter}} template, the artist's name in the {{Song}} template, the links to the song on the album and artist pages, etc.
I entered [Correct Pagename], but was redirected to [Incorrect Pagename]. What now?
- You can return to the redirect page by clicking the "(Redirected from …)" link below the title bar. Click the "edit" button, replace the redirect with the content of the incorrectly titled page, and finally redirect the incorrectly titled page to the newly restored correctly titled one. Voilà!
When I tried to move [Incorrect Artist:Song Name] to [Correct Artist:Song Name], I got a message telling me that the page already exists. So what do I do now?
- If a song page already exists with the correct title, you will not be able to move the page. Instead you will need to redirect it. However before proceeding to do this, always compare the two pages, because although the page you were trying to move may be incorrectly named, it may actually be better formatted, have more accurate lyrics, and have more complete information than the song page that is correctly named. If this is the case, then you should endeavor to improve the contents of the correctly named page before replacing the contents of the incorrectly named page with
#REDIRECT [[Correct Artist:Song Name]]. See Help:Redirect for further information on redirecting pages.
[Specific Artist] is spelled incorrectly and all the album and song pages containing their name are incorrect too. What should I do?
- All these pages need to be moved to the correctly named pages and all links updated accordingly. The pages that need to be moved can be established by checking the Special:PrefixIndex. If there are multiple incorrect pages and/or you do not want to undertake moving these pages yourself, simply place
{{Move|Destination|Reason}}at the top of the artist's page, providing the relevant details.
- Adding a {{Move}} template to the artist's page requests that the page be moved to the correct name. Using this template also places the artist page in Category:Requests For Moves, whereupon it will be looked at by an administrator. Administrators have access to special tools including a script that can change the prefix of multiple pages. However, it should be noted that if the correctly named page already exists, the incorrectly named page will not be moved by the script, but will still need to be redirected or moved manually by the administrator as detailed above.
- If after a few days your request has not been actioned, add your request manually to the Request For Moves page, which is on the watchlists of the LyricWiki administrators. If your need is urgent ;) post a message on the LyricWiki:Community Portal!
Two pages have been created for [Artist] - one is correctly spelled, and one is not. Both contain the same albums and songs. How can I fix this?
- If a page already exists with the correct title, you will not be able to move the page. Instead you will need to compare and improve the contents of each correctly named page before redirecting the incorrectly named pages to them (as above). Since this can be a herculean task if there are multiple pages and links to correct, it is recommended that you place
{{Move|Destination|Reason}}at the top of the incorrectly named artist's page, providing the relevant details. As mentioned above, using the {{Move}} template will place the artist's page in the Category:Requests For Moves where it will be looked at by an administrator. However, it should be noted that if the correctly named page already exists, the incorrectly named page will not be moved by the script and will still need to be redirected or moved manually by the administrator (as detailed above).
[Artist:Song] isn't by [Artist] so it should be deleted, shouldn't it?
- No. It should be moved or redirected to the correct artist. Always consider redirecting a page, before deletion. See also LyricWiki:Deletion.
I've just come across a page [www.spam.com:I Love Spam]. How do I delete it?
- You can't. Only administrators can delete pages. And yes the odd page like that does occasionally slip through the net and ends up in our database. Since these pages can't be moved or redirected, they do of course need to be deleted. However, whilst it will unlikely prove the case for www.spam.com, it is still best practice to check that the page is actually invalid before proceeding. Once this has been established, flag the page for deletion by adding
{{Deletion|Reason [[link]]}}at the top of the page to request that an administrator looks at the page. For other reasons that a page will be deleted by an administrator, see LyricWiki:Deletion.
Somebody named "Janitor" keeps re-adding songs that I deleted from the Other Songs section of [Artist]'s page. Can you ban him?
- Well, the problem is that you didn't actually delete the song page, only the link to it. Janitor is a bot and he is doing exactly what he was designed to do - add pages to the "Other Songs" section on their respective artist's page that aren't linked to from anywhere (i.e. they are "orphaned"). Janitor does this so that we humans can then allocate these songs to albums, redirect or move them where appropriate. Chances are that the pages you thought you had deleted need to be moved or redirected. However if moving or redirecting the page is not an option and you do feel that a particular page does need to be deleted, add the {{Deletion}} template to the top of the page as outlined above. And no, Janitor won't be banned ;).
Instrumentals have no place on a lyrics site, do they?
- Yes they do. First off, LyricWiki is not just a database of lyrics. We don't aim to provide completed discographies, but we do endeavor to provide information and links to other sites about artists, releases, and their songs. As such pages for instrumentals do serve a purpose on our site. People may also hear of a song title and look for it, either directly on the site or through a webservice, not knowing whether it is an instrumental or not. If a page has been created, they then know that the song is an instrumental and does not have any lyrics, instead of just getting no result. Yet another reason for creating pages for instrumentals is so that these will be entered as such in digital music players. That way, one can distinguish between instrumentals and song pages that have been created but have no lyrics entered as yet.
To create an instrumental page, place{{Instrumental}}within the<lyrics>tags and set the language parameter toInstrumental. Everything else should be done as a regular song page. For an example of a "(near) perfect" instrumental page, see Pink Floyd:Love Scene (Version 4).
What do all these coloured stars mean?
- The stars on song, album and artist pages are part of LyricWiki's page ranking program. The colour of the stars, which range from green to gold, is indicative of the level of quality the page has currently attained when compared to a set of criteria. For information on upgrading pages see how to rank pages .
Is there a page where users can request lyrics that haven't already been uploaded?
- Of course! See LyricWiki:Requests. Another page to check out if you are interested in providing some of these songs is LyricWiki:Missing Songs.
Is this site legal?
- We spend a significant amount of time contacting publishers and running a system to compensate them for the songs they have rights to publish with royalties. Even if a publisher has not responded to our attempts to contact, they can at any time stake claims to their artists and we will remove their work.
Further Help
- See Help:Contents
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Contrary to popular belief, you don't need to be a tech wizard to edit a wiki. If you can use a word processor, you can probably edit a wiki.
Just follow these instructions and you'll be editing in no time!
- Before you begin...
- You may wish to visit our online demos page for videos demonstrating all of the Wikia basics and much much more - see Help:Video demos!
About Wikis
What is a wiki?
A wiki is a website that you can edit. The word comes from "wikiwiki", a Hawaiian word for "fast". Wikis are designed to be collaborative so people can work together on a wiki project, so it's possible to build up a lot of content very quickly.
Find out more about the background of wikis on Wikipedia.
Getting started
Creating Your Wikia Account
While most Wikia wikis can be edited anonymously, creating an account allows you to keep track of your edits and only takes a moment.
- Click the "create an account" link in the upper right hand corner of the page.
- Choose a username and a password in the newly opened box.
- Provide your birthdate. This is both a safety precaution and as a means of preserving the integrity of the site while complying with federal regulations.
- Type in the word you see in the "captcha" image shown. This shows us you are a real person!
- Choose whether to provide an email address - it's optional, but if you don't give a valid email address you will not be able to recover your account if you forget your password.
Using the wiki
Finding Articles
All pages (on the Monaco skin) have a search box at the top left. Just enter your search term here, and click the search arrow. An alternative is search suggest, simply start typing in the search box and it will try to guess articles based on what you're typing.
Recent Changes
Recent changes is one of the most important pages on a wiki. It lists every edit that's made, tells you who made the change, and shows you what edit summary they added. So, it's a great way to get an idea of what's going on in your wiki and what pages are most active.
You can get to the recent changes page by clicking on the "Recent changes" page in the toolbox on the left or by going to Special:RecentChanges. You can get to Recent Changes on any Wikia wiki by typing Special:RecentChanges after the /wiki/ part of a Wikia URL. For example, to get to the Recent Changes page for Recipes Wiki, you would type http:/recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Special:RecentChanges.
Keeping Track of Changes to an Article
Every page has a "history" page to go with it. This lists the usernames of everyone who has edited the page, and tells you when it was edited. It also gives you links to old versions... nothing is lost when a page is changed, you can always recover previous versions. To see the history of a page, look for the "history" link above each article.
Knowing when a Page is Changed
You can "watch" any page, by adding it to a list of pages kept for your username. To do this, click the "watch" link at the top of the article you want to watch. If you want, you can set your preferences to have an email sent to you each time a page on your watchlist is edited.
Logging In
Click the "log in" link at the top of any page. This will open a box where you can enter your username and password.
Tip: You might want to leave "Remember me" unchecked if using a public computer.
Note: You must have cookies enabled to log in to Wikia (for more information please see the link below).
Changing Your Email, Password Etc.
Almost everything you might want to change about the way Wikia sites display and function can be found in your preferences. To get there:
- Click the "MORE" button in the upper right (between the "Watch list" and "Logout" links).
- Choose "My preferences" from the drop-down menu that appears. You can also visit Special:Preferences.
If password reset does not work, please Contact Wikia for help.
Editing
Changing a Wiki Page
Editing a page is easy:
- Click the "Edit this page" link above any article. Doing so will open a window that looks like a word processor document.
- Type your changes in the text box. Tip: It's a good idea to preview your edit to be sure the changes look the way they're supposed to. This allows you to see and fix mistakes before they get saved onto the wiki. If the article looks, good, click the "save" button at the bottom of the text box.
There's no way to break a wiki, so feel free to dive in and start making changes right away!
Undoing an edit
Keeping bad content off the wiki is just as important as adding good content. That's why it's important to know how to revert back to a previous version of an article.
Every edit made is stored on a Wiki, that means it's easy to go back to an old version if an edit is a mistake or vandalism. To change an edit for an article, go to the article's "history" page. Each date/time listed on the history page is a link to a different version of that article. Just click the version you want, then click edit, followed by the save button. Wiki admins have a shortcut link for this, and can "rollback" the most recent edits with one click.
Formatting text
The rich text editor makes bolding and italicizing as easy as selecting text and clicking a button. There's also wikitext code that will work as a shortcut if you prefer to keep your fingers on the keys:
- Bolding: Surround a word with three single quotation marks (''').
- Italicizing use two quotation marks ('').
- Putting it together: You can make text bold and italic with five quotation marks (''''').
Linking to another page on a wiki
As with formatting, there's more than one way to link to another page. In the rich text editor, select the text you want to turn into a link, then click the "Link" button (with the chain links) to pop up a dialog box which makes it simple to link internally to other pages on the wiki, or externally to sites elsewhere on the web.
The wikitext shortcut for internal page linking works in either the rich text or source editing box. To link to a another page, you put the page title in double square brackets. So to link to the page "Example", you would type [[Example]].
Once you know how to link to other wiki pages, you're ready to learn the pipe trick.
Starting a New Page
To start a new page you can use three basic methods:
- Click the "New page" link next to the pencil icon in the sidebar.
- Click a red (broken) link. A broken link is a link to a page that doesn't (yet) exist on the wiki.
- Use an inputbox -- an article creation box that can be place on the wiki's main page.
Remember to do a search for your topic before creating a new page. This is especially true of large wikis where there is a high probability that the subject you want to write about has already been added to the wiki by someone else.
Renaming (moving) Pages
Any logged in user can move pages. To do so, use the "move" link above the article:
- Click "move".
- Enter the correct title
- Click "Move page".
Note: It's a good idea to explain your move in the box provided.
Using Templates
A template is a page with text ready to be used on many pages without having to type it in each time. It looks like a normal page, but the title starts with "Template:". Templates are good for content that has to be added to many pages on the wiki, since they save you the time and effort of having to write the same text and wiki code over and over again.
To use a template, you just need to type its title inside curly brackets. So {{name}} will add the text from the page Template:Name.
Templates can get very complex, but at their simplest they are just pages that can be used many times using a simple form.
Adding an Image
There are three ways of adding an image:
- Upload it to the wiki using the Add image link, next to the painting icon, in the toolbox. You will be able to choose an image from your computer, and save it on the wiki. Then you can add it to an article by editing a page to add the image name in the form
[[File:Name.jpg]].
- Add an image while you are editing a page. Just click on the upload button
and you will see a form to upload and insert your image. See Help:Add Images for more on this method.
- The Import Free Images Button: Import free images allows you to upload freely licensed Flickr images without leaving your wiki! All you need to do is go to Special:Importfreeimages and type what you are looking for in the search box. Click search and thumbnails of Creative Commons licensed Flickr images matching your search terms will appear. Click on the (import this) link below an image to upload it to the wiki.
Categorizing Pages
The gray "Add category" button at the bottom of the text box makes it easy to search among existing categories or type in new ones.
To add categories in wikitext, add [[Category:Name]] to the article. This will add the category to the bottom of the page. If you want to link to a category, rather than add a page to it, you need to add a colon inside the brackets: [[:Category:Name]].
Where next?
There are many places to get help on Wikia. If you have not seen our video demos yet, check them out at Help:Video demos. Also, many wikis have a forum where you can ask questions of admins and other regular contributors. Alternatively you can contact the wider Wikia community at the Central Wikia forums. If you need more help, see Contacting Wikia.
