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2006-09-14T23:08:51Z

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There are two types of '''talk pages''' - the first one is standard talk pages which are used to discuss or ask questions about an article, while user talk pages are used to communicate with other users or leave them messages. Every page has an associated talk page, except pages in the ''Special:namespace''. If there is no discussion of a page, the link to its talk page will be red. You can still discuss the page - you will just be the first person to do so.

===Accessing a talk page===
To access a talk page look for a link labelled ''Talk'', ''Discussion'' or ''Discuss this page''. These links will be found either at the top of the page or on the left hand side (near ''Edit this page'').

A talk page adds ''Talk:'' to the beginning of the main page's title. If the main page has a prefix then talk is added after this prefix. For example, a talk page associated with the main article namespace simply has the prefix ''Talk:'', while a talk page associated with the user namespace has the prefix ''User talk:''. This article is in the ''Help:'' namespace, so the talk page for this article is [[Help talk:Talk page]]. You can click on the discussion tab above to see the message that we left on the talk page. The [[Main Page]] is in the main namespace (because it has no prefix), so its talk page is simply [[Talk:Main Page]].

After someone else edits your user talk page, the alert "You have new messages" is automatically displayed on all pages you view, until you view your user page.

===Using talk pages===
You should sign your contributions by typing three or four tildes <nowiki>(~~~ = Username)</nowiki>
 <nowiki>(~~~~ = Username 19:36, 10 January 2006 (UTC))</nowiki>.

When discussing the name of the page or discussing merging it with another page, always mention the current page name.

On a talk page, "this page" usually refers to the main page (i.e. the page the talk page is associated with). If the talk page itself is referred to, write "this talk page".

The "Post a comment" feature allows convenient appending of a [[Help:section|section]] with the section header the same as the [[Help:edit summary|edit summary]], and typed only once.

====Formatting====
Because the [[wiki]] software platform provides for a wide range of formatting styles, proper or at least consistent formatting is essential to maintaining readable talk pages.

The depth of a message is determined by the number of colons (':') in front of the message. Each colon represents a tab, and are commonly
used in discussions on user and article talk pages. If a reply is made to a statement, one adds a colon to the number of colons used in the statement being replied to. This style of conversation is easier to read.

Example:
{| border="1" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0"
|
<nowiki>How are you doing? --[[Bob]]</nowiki> 
<nowiki>:Great!! --[[Lisa]]</nowiki> 
<nowiki>::That's too bad. --[[George]]</nowiki> 
<nowiki>:::What????? --[[Bob]]</nowiki> 
<nowiki>I think this discussion should be moved to [[User Talk:Bob]]. --[[Lisa]]</nowiki> 
<nowiki>:OK, we'll talk on Bob's user page. --[[George]]</nowiki> 
|}

The above will produce this:
{| border="1" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0"
|
How are you doing? --[[Bob]] 
:Great!! --[[Lisa]] 
::That's too bad. --[[George]] 
:::What????? --[[Bob]] 
I think this discussion should be moved to [[User Talk:Bob]]. --[[Lisa]] 
:OK, we'll talk on Bob's user page. --[[George]] 
|}

Help:Talk pages - Revision history

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