Main Page

Most Popular Story Pages

• Shiloh at Dawn - ( 2934 views )
  
• Don't Tell Jane - ( 2791 views )
  
• Hunter from Hull Chapter 1 - ( 2747 views )
  
• Dust in the Wind - ( 1674 views )
  
• Servant Girl Chapter 1 - ( 1491 views )
  
• The Wolf of Black Woods Chapter 1 - ( 1395 views )
  
• Soldiers of the Night - ( 1383 views )
  

Here's how Costory works:

• An author (you) easily starts a new collaborative story on Costory.
• Other co-authors contribute to the story by adding plots, scenes, or characters. Or, they may editing existing pages of the story.
• Readers and editors enjoy the evolving story while they discuss it's merits using the talk feature.
• Learn how to start writing your story
• See the start of a Sample Story

Recently Updated Story Pages

• Soldiers of the Night Overview
  ( GemCityBoy ) - [ 12:29, 19 May 2008 ]
• A Centipede in the Bathtub
  ( GemCityBoy ) - [ 12:23, 19 May 2008 ]
• Shiloh at Dawn Chapter 4
  ( Taylor W. ) - [ 19:22, 17 May 2008 ]
• Shiloh at Dawn Chapter 5
  ( Taylor W. ) - [ 21:37, 14 May 2008 ]
• Gods of Men Overview
  (Anonymous user(s) of CoStory) - [ 04:08, 14 May 2008 ]

Newly Posted Story Pages

• A Centipede in the Bathtub
  ( GemCityBoy ) - [ 12:17, 19 May 2008 ]
• Gods of Men Chapter 5
  (Anonymous user(s) of CoStory) - [ 03:10, 16 May 2008 ]
• A Centipede in the Bathtub
  ( Bossfee213no ) - [ 03:58, 7 May 2008 ]
• A Centipede in the Bathtub
  ( User: ) - [ 03:37, 7 May 2008 ]
• Gods of Men Chapter 5
  (Anonymous user(s) of CoStory) - [ 17:56, 4 May 2008 ]

Most Popular Categories

• Adventure
• Historical
• Romance

View All Categories

How to Wiki - Basic Wiki Techniques

Costory.com is powered by the popular MediaWiki wiki software. If you are familiar with creating and editing pages on Wikipedia then you will have no problems here.

If you are unfamiliar with how to form and edit pages in a wiki, you can learn the language very quickly by reading the MediaWiki Help Pages To learn the CoStory standards for starting a new collaborative story, storybook or novel please read the Help sections below.

How to Start a New Collaborative Story

The best way to start a new story is to use the search box in the left column of the Costory website. Type the proposed title of your new story into the search box, then click the Go button. If a story by that title already exists you will be taken to the Title Page for that story. If the story doesn't already exist, you will see this: There is no page titled ":Example Story". You can create this page.

Click on the link to create the new page. This will be the Title Page for your story.

A story will normally consist of at least 3 pages:

• The Title Page
• The Story Overview
• A page for each Chapter.

Collaborative Story Framework (Standard Pages)

How an author starts into or edits a story is their choice. But we do attempt to stick to a very basic framework, or set of standards for organizing our stories.

There are 3 main types of pages:

1. The Title Page
   • The Title Page should be named the same as the title of your story. Example: My Story.
   • It should contain the story title and any other information you desire.
   • You can add a Story Menu (template) and the Story Category to the title page. See the directions below to learn more.
2. The Overview Page
   • The Overview Page should be named the same as the title of your story plus the word Overview. Example: My Story Overview.
   • The Overview Page can contain any or all of the following sections:
     • Overview or Summary
     • Outline
     • Characters
     • Scenes
     • Plots
   • It should also contain the Story Menu (template) with links to the Title Page and the Chapters.
   • See an example in our Sandbox
3. Chapter Pages
   • Normally an entire chapter will be published on one wiki page.
   • Name Chapter pages with the Story Title plus a chapter description like, My Story Chapter One.
   • If you are writing s short story with no chapters, you may write the entire story on the Title Page.

How to Place My Story in a Category

To place your story in one of the categories you need to put the category code somewhere on your Title Page, eg.

[[Category:''Sandbox'']]

To see an example of a category on the bottom of a story Title Page Click Here.

How to Start a New Chapter

Typically, an entire chapter will be located on one Costory.com wiki page. If your story only has one chapter, or is a short story, then you can write the entire story on the Story Title page or you can start one new chapter page. Of course, during the collaborative writing process, it is quite possible that the original short story could take on a new direction with chapters being added that weren't originally envisioned.

To start a new chapter, create a new page named the Story Title plus a description of the chapter. For example, start a new page called My Story Chapter One. Then you will want to link from the Title Page to the chapter page. Linking in the MediaWiki is easy. Here is a sample that links the Sandbox Story One Title Page to it's first chapter, Sandbox Story One, Chapter 1.

[[Sandbox Story One Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]

The link code above results in this link to Chapter 1

See the sections below for instructions on creating a Story Menu Template that can be included on all of the story's pages.

How to Edit Pages

Story pages may be edited by anyone on the CoStory.com website. There are tabs at the top of each page. Click the Edit tab at the top of the page to edit an entire page. If the Edit tab has been replaced by a View Source tab then the page has been locked from editing.

Also, sections within pages can be edited by clicking the Edit link aligned right and abeam the Section Title. Locked sections may not be edited.

When the editing window is open, you will have Editing Tools available to help you format your text. For advanced techniques like

• Lists
• Tables
• Sections
• Sub-sections
• Images
• HTML

please refer to the MediaWiki Help Guide

How to Create a Story Menu Template

• Create a new page with a name similar to Template:My Story Menu where My Story is the title of your story.
• Create the links you need for the Title Page, the Overview and each Chapter.

Link Menu Example:

[[Sandbox Story One|Sandbox Story One]] | [[Sandbox Story One Overview|Overview]]

The code above creates this menu template:

Sandbox Story One | Overview

Once you have created the Story Menu Template, you can use it in all of your story pages. That way, when the Story Menu Template is updated, the menu is updated for all of the pages that are part of your story.

To include the Story Menu Template in one of your story's pages use this simple code example:

{{My Story Menu}}

In the example above, My Story Menu is what you named the Story Menu Template.

Since this is the most complicated part of creating a story, we keep an eye on the stories and try to help out with the menu templates. This aids readers and editors in navigating through the stories.

How to Insert Images

Registered Authors who are logged in may upload images for use in their stories. Use the Upload file link in the toolbox in the left column. Follow the standard upload dialog instructions. Once the image is uploaded you will be supplied with code to embed the image into your story.

For advanced techniques such as

• alignment
• float
• sizing
• thumbnails

see the MediaWiki Help Guide for Images

MediaWiki Links (More Help)

Consult the User's Guide for information on using the collaborative wiki software.