Discussion pages are the pages where editors can discuss about improvements or suggesstions of article pages or other Historical India pages. Discussion pages are prepended by 'Discussion : ' string. For eg. Discussion : My New Page. By default, there is a discussion page link on every article or project page which redirects user to discussion page if exists. Otherwise it redirects user to page where a discussion page can be created easily just by clicking on Create Discussion button.
Discussion page is important since it provides the platform for users to discuss their ideas and goals before adding it to main page where it will be publically visible to everyone. Discussion page can also be helpful in case of dispute. Most of the times disputes are resolved by deliberation which are meant to happen on discussion page.
How To Use?
Creating A New Topic
It is a usual case that there are multiple conversations about multiple topics are going on in a discussion page. Hence, it is recommended to create a new topic if you want to discuss some other issue that is currently being discussed on discussion page. To create a new topic, just click on New Topic icon on editor toolbar and write the topic name that you want to create.
New Topic must always be created below current discussion. Altering the topic chronology is a violation of Historical India policy.
Replying To Current Topic
It is usually recommended to add your comment at the end of current topic discussion, but in many cases it is important to add a reply to a particular comment within discussion. In that cases, using indentation is recommended, which signifies it's importance as a comment to above line. Indentations are useful since they keep discussion pages readable.
Mentioning A User
You can mention a user within discussion by typing and selecting a username and then clicking on @ icon on editor toolbar. It is recommended to use this tool if you want to grab the attention of a particular user in discussion. By mentioning someone, the user will be notified about the mention in his notification box.
Signing A Post
It is compulsory to sign a post after you edit any discussion page. It helps other users understand the about user who made edits. For signing a post, just click on Sign button on toolbar while positioning cursor at the end of your edit. User signature is automatically generated when user clicks on Sign button. The signature contains username of editor with userpage hyperlink and the time at which he has signed the post.
Using Emoticons
Emoticon icon is place before preferences option on editor toolbar with smiling emoji icon. It has many cool emojis which helps in keeping discussion alive. Emoticons are also helpful where you want to add a tick about the current status of project goal. For eg. adding cross icon if proposal is rejected, adding right icon if target has been completed, etc.
