WikiIndex:Talk pages for wiki people

Alerting to messages

Users unfamiliar with all of the clever things the MediaWiki software does may have been unaware of this.

Every User page has a corresponding Talk page. Not just another old page to add to the jumble: it's special for its user. As soon as a User Talk page is edited, the software creates a message to that user, visible as soon as the user logs in, advising that he or she has new messages. It goes away after the user opens the page, which is very easy to do because the message includes a direct link to the page.

Recent versions add the option of a link that goes to a page that shows the latest difference, which is extra-useful if your visitor added something not at the end but under an appropriate heading partway down the page. You see the text that was added and can then work your way through previous edits to see if there are any you missed.

Wikietiquette about User Talk pages

The standard on Wikipedia and several derived works is that nobody should alter anything that someone else has written on a User Talk page unless it's offensive etc (and maybe not even if it is - it may be useful evidence!)

Users occasionally archive the older parts of their Talk pages, with a link to the archive (which can easily be a subpage); for example, "[[User_talk:Robin_Patterson/archive1|Archive Aug-Nov 2005]]".

Talk pages in general

Question has come up about the usefulness of having information on two pages, when it would easily fit onto one page, thus using the talk page in a different way than Wikipedia.