SourceWatch:How to log in

Why log in to SourceWatch?
You don't have to log in to read SourceWatch. You don't even have to log in edit articles on SourceWatch -- anyone can edit any article, even without logging in.

However, it's still a good idea to log in, for these reasons:
 * Other users will be able to recognize you by your user name when you make changes to articles. You will have your own user page where you can write a bit about yourself, and a user talk page which you can use to communicate with other users.
 * You will be able to keep track of changes to articles you are interested in using a watch list.
 * You will be able to rename pages.
 * You will be able to set your own preferences.

How to log in
Click on the log in link at the top right of the page. You will then be prompted to enter your username and password. If you haven't logged in before, you will need to enter your password twice. You may give your email address if you like. Other users will be able to send email to the address, but they won't be able to find out what the address is, unless you provide it on your user talk page. If you click the box Remember my password across sessions, you will not have to give your password again when you access SourceWatch from the same computer.

How to set preferences
Click on the Preferences link at the top right of the page for various options, including: For more help, see SourceWatch:User preferences help.
 * Changing your password.
 * Changing the skin, which changes the way that the web pages look, including the fonts, colors and layout of the way you view the site.
 * Changing other details of your SourceWatch experience, such as the number of pages displaying for you in Recent changes, which is one of the ways to keep track of articles that are evolving on the site.

Your User page and User talk page
As a logged in user, you will be able to create your own user page and user talk page. When you are logged in, you will see your user name displayed at the top of the page. Click on this to get to your user page, which you can edit in the same way as any SourceWatch page. Most users write a little bit about themselves and their interests on their user page. You also have a User talk page. You can access this by clicking on the Talk link next to your username at the top right of the page. Other people may write messages in your user talk page by editing it, and you can respond. When another user has written something on your user talk page, an asterisk (*) appears next to the Talk link at the top right of the page to let you know you have a message.

Signing your username
You can "sign" your name when editing a page by typing three tilde signs, like this:. This will sign your username and automatically create a link back to your user page. Typing four tilde signs ( ~ ) will sign your name and also automatically add the date and time. Note that on SourceWatch, users only sign what they write on talk pages -- not in actual articles.

How to log out
You can log out any time by clicking on the Log out link at the top right of the page.

Acknowledgement: the content of many of the help pages in SourceWatch have been adapted from Wikipedia.