Title: Creating a new document
Author: Siobhan
Published: December 17, 2012
Last modified: April 23, 2026
---
# Creating a new document
## In this article
* [Overview](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/past-projects/codex/creating-a-new-document/?output_format=md#overview)
* [Create a Rough Draft Article](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/past-projects/codex/creating-a-new-document/?output_format=md#create-a-rough-draft-article)
* [Writing and Producing Codex Content](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/past-projects/codex/creating-a-new-document/?output_format=md#writing-and-producing-codex-content)
* [Check and Double Check](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/past-projects/codex/creating-a-new-document/?output_format=md#check-and-double-check)
* [Final Steps](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/past-projects/codex/creating-a-new-document/?output_format=md#final-steps)
* [Creating a New Page](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/past-projects/codex/creating-a-new-document/?output_format=md#creating-a-new-page)
* [WordPress Codex Categories](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/past-projects/codex/creating-a-new-document/?output_format=md#wordpress-codex-categories)
[↑ Back to top](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/past-projects/codex/creating-a-new-document/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)
You will learn how to create a new page in this guide. Before you start on this,
you should have read the [Guide to creating User Pages](https://codex.wordpress.org/Codex:Creating_a_User_Page),
and created a User Page for yourself. That allows you to create your own personal
testing ground for new pages and rough draft articles.
We cover creating an individual page to add to the Codex below. But first, this
commercial:
**For your consideration:**Please note that all contributions to Codex may be edited,
altered, or removed by other contributors. If you don’t want your writing to be
edited mercilessly, then don’t submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public
domain or similar free resource. DO NOT SUBMIT COPYRIGHTED WORK WITHOUT PERMISSION!
Also note that all content on the Codex is provided under the terms of the [GNU General Public License](http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html)
## [Overview](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/past-projects/codex/creating-a-new-document/?output_format=md#overview)
You are free to create new articles, but first, please read the [Codex Guidelines for creating new pages](https://codex.wordpress.org/Codex:Guidelines#New_Pages)
and [Codex Styles](https://codex.wordpress.org/Codex:Styles). Generally, if you
are not sure that you can finish your new article in one sitting, consider creating
a rough draft of the article first. Once your work is complete, you can mail the
[wp-docs mailing list](https://codex.wordpress.org/Mailing_Lists#docs) informing
others of the new article and requesting feedback. In this guide, you will learn
[how to create a rough draft](https://codex.wordpress.org/Codex:Creating_a_New_Page#Create_a_Rough_Draft_Article),
and from there, how to create a new page.
## [Create a Rough Draft Article](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/past-projects/codex/creating-a-new-document/?output_format=md#create-a-rough-draft-article)
Before posting to the Codex main pages, it may be beneficial for the new article
to go through some checking and editing before finding a home among the regular
pages. This section describes how you can create a rough draft of an article by
creating a Sub-Page of your User Page to work on the draft. If you are not sure
about being able to complete what you are starting, or have questions about the
article you are working on, creating a rough draft is a good way to begin. Be aware,
though, these _rough drafts_ are currently crawled by search engines, so make sure
your information is as accurate as possible.
To create a rough draft article on your User Page, the process is similar to creating
your User Page:
1. Creating the Draft Page Link
Edit your User Page and add a link to the title of the article. Please follow the
article title conventions and guidelines as established in the [Codex Guidelines](https://codex.wordpress.org/Codex:Guidelines).
The link format should be:
```
[[User:Fredsmith/Title of Article]]
```
and would look like this when the page is saved:
User:Fredsmith/Title of Article
Because the link is red, it means that the linked page has no content. If you haven’t
already, add a note to the **Summary** about what you’ve done and save your edited
User Page by clicking **Save Page** button below it.
2. Creating the Draft Page
Click the red link of the article title, and the page will open with a blank editing
window. Now it’s time to start adding your article content. Use the [Codex Guidelines](https://codex.wordpress.org/Codex:Guidelines),
[Codex Styles](https://codex.wordpress.org/Codex:Styles), [Editing Help](https://codex.wordpress.org/Help:Editing),
and the [ Sandbox](https://codex.wordpress.org/Sandbox) as examples for laying out
and formatting your rough draft article page.
3. Add Draft Notification
At the top of the empty page, before you enter your text, please type the following:
{{Draft}}
When you save or preview the page, the following _warning_ will appear to warn people
who find this article on a search engine that it is a rough draft and subject to
correction and change.
> This article is a [ROUGH DRAFT](https://codex.wordpress.org/Category:Drafts).
> It is in need of editing and verification. This information is subject to change.
> You can [help](https://codex.wordpress.org/Codex:Contributing) edit this page
> and others on the WordPress CodexWordPress Codex Living online manual to WordPress.
> org [https://codex.wordpress.org/](https://codex.wordpress.org/) by **[editing it](https://codex.wordpress.org/index.php?title=Codex:Creating_a_New_Page&action=edit)**.
4. Alert Codex Documentation Team
To alert the Codex Documentation Team that you’ve created a new document, at the
bottom of your new page, please add:
[[CategoryCategory The ‘category’ taxonomy lets you group posts / content together
that share a common bond. Categories are pre-defined and broad ranging.:New_page_created]]
This will create a “flag” that will let people know that this is a new page requiring
editing. Add this only when you are ready for the volunteers to start working on
the document to help you finish it. You can also post a link to the draft article
on the [WordPress Codex Documentation Team](https://codex.wordpress.org/Documentation_team)
mailing list to let them know you are ready for inspection, editing, and move to
the right section of the WordPress Codex.
5. Save and Preview
As you work, you can save the document at any time by clicking **Save Page** below
the edit textarea. This will save the document and make the changes visible to any
viewers, as well as close the Editing view. The changes in the unsaved document
are only seen by you. **DO NOT LEAVE THE PAGE WITHOUT SAVING.** To do so may lose
all your edits.
To preview the changes, click **Preview**. This saves the content temporarily and
reloads the page so you can preview the edits you’ve made. **THE CONTENT IS NOT
SAVED!** The edits are not visible to the public, and if you leave the page the
edits may be lost. To save your changes, click **Save Page**.
Preview and save often. If you are writing code or complex content, the Preview
helps you to edit and fix problems before you get too far into the document.
If you leave the Editing view, click **Edit Page** from the sidebarSidebar A sidebar
in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display
information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical
column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content
area, footer, header, or any where in the theme. to return to editing the page.
You can also click the **Edit** link at each headerHeader The header of your site
is typically the first thing people will experience. The masthead or header art
located across the top of your page is part of the look and feel of your website.
It can influence a visitor’s opinion about your content and you/ your organization’s
brand. It may also look different on different screen sizes. section to edit that
specific section.
If you are unsure as to what you’ve edited and need to see the changes between versions,
click **Show Changes** to see the version differences.
When ready to finish or leave the document. Click **Save Page** to save and leave
the document. It is highly recommended that you make a note in the **Summary** form
as to what you have done with the document. Only a few words are necessary. This
helps the Documentation Team know what is happening with the progress of the page.
## [Writing and Producing Codex Content](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/past-projects/codex/creating-a-new-document/?output_format=md#writing-and-producing-codex-content)
Before contributing an article to the WordPress Codex, search thoroughly to see
if something similar has been produced. If necessary, add any new content to the
previously published document to enhance and improve it.
Link to other documents within the WordPress Codex throughout your document to encourage
readers to find more and related information. Link to pages like the [Administration Panels](https://codex.wordpress.org/Administration_Panels)
when instructing readers through the path of using WordPress to avoid redundant
content, but also give them more information on the parts and pieces of WordPress.
In addition to the guidelines and tips in [Codex Guidelines for creating new pages](https://codex.wordpress.org/Codex:Guidelines#New_Pages)
and [Codex Styles](https://codex.wordpress.org/Codex:Styles), we recommend you write
the majority of your article in a word processor or [Glossary#Text_editor text editing program](https://codex.wordpress.org/Glossary#Text_editor_text_editing_program)
first so you can spell check and thoroughly proof your article before posting. Simply
copy and paste the article into the editing window and then you can start [editing and styling](https://codex.wordpress.org/Help:Editing)
it to Codex standards.
Take advantage of the popup references page found on every Edit view to the [Help:Editing](https://codex.wordpress.org/Help:Editing)
page with all the MediaWiki code and WordPress Codex styles. Open it in a tab in
your browser as a style reference page.
Take care to break up sections of information within the document into heads, to
give readers an easy way to jump to the specific information they need, and to make
the document easier to read.
## [Check and Double Check](https://make.wordpress.org/docs/handbook/past-projects/codex/creating-a-new-document/?output_format=md#check-and-double-check)
Before saving the page, here are a few things to check:
Are there any red colored links? These are “dead links” and will take the visitor
to an empty page. Check the link to make sure everything is spelled properly and
the link matches EXACTLY to the linked page, with capital letters capitalized and
lower case lower. A link to “an Article On WordPress” will not link to an article
titled “An article on WordPress”. Is everything spelled right? It doesn’t hurt to
copy the final material and paste it in a word processor or text editor and run
it through a good spell checker to be sure. Is the content order right? Check to
make sure the explanation comes first, then the simple material, moving towards
the more complex. Are the sections in order? Check that the sections are ordered
right. If the article has more than four sections, the _table of contents_ box will
automatically generate, so check there to see if they are ordered properly as section,
subsection, sub-subsection and then back to subsection or section headings. Avoid
usage such as section, sub-subsection, subsection, etc. Keep the steps clean. Have
you categorized the page? Did you put the [appropriate categories](https://codex.wordpress.org/Codex:Creating_a_New_Page#WordPress_Codex_Categories)
on the page? Double and triple check the code If you have included code, be sure
and do a test run of the code before you publish by copying and pasting the code
into a test WordPress page. Sometimes code can get scrambled during the edit process.
Check that code is in tt and not `code` tags On the Codex, style example code within
a paragraph using the HTMLHTML HTML is an acronym for Hyper Text Markup
Language. It is a markup language that is used in the development of web pages and
websites. tags and not the