Last modified: 2006-07-04 09:20:54 UTC
A recurring question (see http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Help_desk&diff=18277866&oldid=18269414 and http://en.wikipedia.org/ w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Help_desk&diff=17909119&oldid=17904644) is about what certain indicators used on special pages (like "top" and "m") signify. From the resounding silence on the matter on the Help Desk, I infer that there is no facility to add explanatory text or links to special pages. I propose that we add such a facility (or document it better and use it if it exists).
Yes, I agree. Perhaps even a help file within the mediawiki software might be useful. For example, I installed mediawiki on my intranet server at home, and was wondering for a while what the red exclaimation marks were on the RC page, until I noticed they were watchlisted pages [and this didn't happen in wikipedia]. I'm adding my vote for this.
I think you'll find the red exclamation marks are "unpatrolled pages". I've found (after installing MediaWiki for myself) that it is possible to add help to at least some of these pages. See [[MediaWiki:Recentchangestext]], and its friends at [[Special:Allmessages]].
Edit the system messages to customise interface text for each page. You can either add a brief description there, or link to a custom page in the help namespace.
