Wiki Guidelines

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Wiki Guidelines

How to contribute to EcuaWiki — the basics of editing, what belongs here, what doesn't, and how to maintain the quality that makes this a useful resource.

What EcuaWiki Is

EcuaWiki is a community-run, free, ad-free guide to the Santa Elena Peninsula and Ruta del Spondylus on Ecuador's Pacific coast. It is written by residents, long-term visitors, and people who know the area from lived experience.

The goal is to be genuinely useful — not a list of generic tourist advice, but specific, accurate, local knowledge that you can't easily find elsewhere.

Who Can Edit

Anyone with a registered account can edit EcuaWiki. Editing is free. To register, click the account icon in the top right of any page.

What Belongs on EcuaWiki

Local knowledge about the Santa Elena Peninsula and Ruta del Spondylus
Practical information: transport, services, costs, access
Factual descriptions of places, activities, and events
Information written from direct experience or verifiable local sources
Updates to outdated information — prices, hours, closures, changes

What Does Not Belong

Promotional content — EcuaWiki is not a directory for paid listings
Generic travel advice available anywhere (e.g. "Ecuador uses USD")
Unverified claims — if you're not sure, say so or leave it out
Content about places outside the Santa Elena Peninsula / Ruta del Spondylus scope
Copyrighted text copied from other sources

How to Edit a Page

Log in to your account
Navigate to the page you want to edit
Click Edit (visual editor) or Edit source (wikitext) at the top of the page
Make your changes
Add a brief Summary describing what you changed
Click Save changes

For wikitext formatting help, see Help about MediaWiki.

Formatting Standards

EcuaWiki pages follow a consistent visual style with dark hero banners at the top of each page. If you're creating a new page, try to match the format of existing pages in the same category. Key elements:

Dark coloured header with breadcrumb navigation
Stat bar with key facts
Sections using standard wiki headings (== Section ==)
Tables for comparative information (wikitable class)
Categories at the bottom

Quality Standards

Be specific — "the Salinas malecón has permanent volleyball nets in the central section" is more useful than "there is volleyball in Salinas"
Be honest — if something is hard to find, noisy, expensive, or risky, say so
Be current — note the date of information where it may change
Attribute — if you're citing a source (INEC census, municipal PDOT, etc.), say so

Content That Needs Community Input

The pages most needed right now are listed on Special:WantedPages. Activity pages, restaurant directories, and practical guides for residents are the highest priority.