Help:Adding a Voter Suppression Wiki item to EP Wiki

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Goal

The Election Protection Wiki needs volunteers to add the information from the Voter Suppression Wiki which is located at http://votersuppressionwiki.wetpaint.com/

General help

How-to

  1. First, you'll need to log in to edit (this prevents vandalism and spam). Click on the "Log in" link at the top-right corner of your browser window. If you haven't registered with SourceWatch, all you need is an email address (it won't go on any mailing lists) and it just takes a minute. Click here to register and then come back.
  2. Open the Voter Suppression Wiki
    • Note: It's best to right-click that link and others on this page (or for Mac users, open-apple-click the link) to open them in a new window. This allows you to easily refer back to these instructions.
  3. We will use the example Wisconsin incorrect absentee ballot applications. For this example, open that page.
    • When you have chosen your own incident to add, look to see if someone else has added the information already.
  4. Edit the Election Protection Wiki’s Wisconsin State Threats page
    • Tip: Click the Edit tab on an open page to begin editing the page. You can also edit sections of a page by clicking the Edit link on the right side at the top of a section.

      VSW How To 1.gif

    • After clicking the edit tab:

      VSW How To 2.gif

  5. Choose a category: Locate the best threat category for adding the item. For this incident report we chose: Absentee and early voting
  6. Use * (shift-8) to designate a new item. Then add the date and type a description of the incident into the editor. In this case it is described,

    September 12, 2008. Allegations that the McCain campaign mailed faulty absentee ballot applications to Wisconsin Democrats. These applications have incorrect city clerk addresses for the voter to send the application to, which could result in the voter being knocked off the voter rolls.

  7. Add a reference footnote for the incident report. Please refer to the SourceWatch article, Help:References.
    • This incident was reported in a September 12, 2008 article in the Wisconsin State Journal titled McCain's mailer creates controversy and written by Mark Pitsch, so the reference looks like this: (Note that a link to the article is included in the reference.)
      <ref>Mark Pitsch, [http://www.madison.com/wsj/topstories/304740 McCain's mailer creates controversy], Wisconsin State Journal, September 12, 2008.</ref>
    • Also note that the incident came from the VSW. In this case, we've pre-set a reference code to cite the VSW report. All you have to do is enter:
      <ref name="VSWref" />
  8. Your entry will look like this in the editing window:

    VSW How To 3.gif

  9. When you save the page, a numbered footnote will appear that looks like this:

    1) ↑ Mark Pitsch, McCain's mailer creates controversy, Wisconsin State Journal, September 12, 2008.
    2) ↑ This incident report originated the Voter Suppression Wiki.

  10. Save the Page: When you are finished, enter a summary of what you have done to the page in the summary box below the editing window (like “Added VSW entry”). You can then preview your work by clicking "Show preview" or save your work by clicking "Save page."

That's it! You can see this completed example [here].

Again, if you have any questions, just email Conor Kenny at Conoremail.png. Thank you!