Getting Started on the Wiki:Weblogs and Wikis

Getting Started on the Wiki

for new visitors and new users

Reading

You can browse this website just like any other. Page titles are WikiWords, which are mixed-case words. Every WikiWord in text is a link to a page with that title. The title at the top of each page is a backlink. Click it to see a list of all pages which link to the page.
Use RecentChanges in the top navigation bar to view recently modified pages and catch up on changes made since your last visit.
Use the PageIndex in the navigation bar to see a list of all pages on the wiki.
Use the Search box at the top of each page to find stuff.

Editing Existing Pages

To edit pages, you need register once, and log in subsequently. I'll show you how to do so in class, or use this tutorial. mmorgan@bemidjistate.edu Email me (mmorgan at bemidjistate dot edu) for the registration code.

If you're working on a public computer, Logout at the end of your session. Otherwise, others using the computer can edit page.

Once you've registered or logged in, you can edit pages and leave comments.
Click on the Edit page link at the bottom of each page, or double-click on the page to enter edit mode. Do that right now so you can see the code of this page. It will make more sense. But please don't change the text on this page.
Click the Store button at the bottom of the editing page to save your edit. Use the Preview button to preview your work before saving it.

Creating New Pages

To start a new page, start on a page you want to link from. Often, this will be your WikiName page.
Double-click the page to start editing.
Click where you want the link to the page to appear, and type in a page name.

Note > Use WikiWords for page names - but don't use spaces in the title. MyNewPageMCM is a wiki word: it starts with a capital letter, followed by at least one lowercase letter, followed by at least one other capital letter. mynewpageMCM won't work. My New Page MCM - with spaces - won't work. Wikis are fussy about capitals.

Store the page.
Once you have stored the page, click the new link. You'll get a page saying your new page doesn't exist. Click to create the page.
You can now edit your new page and link to it using the page link.
You can move the link around on the page - add it to any page - but don't change the link name: that will break the link to the page.

Some formatting

You can format text by using the formatting bar at the top of the edit mode page, or by hand-coding.

To use the formatting bar, select the text to format and click the icon you need.

To code by hand

Create bold text by surrounding words with two single asterisks on either side.
Create italic text by using two backslashes on either side.
Create bulleted lists by using a four spaces and a dash at the start of each line.

The wiki will word wrap like a word processor so don't use return at the end of lines. But it does not readily indent paragraphs. Instead, separate paragraphs with a blank line by pressing the return key twice to start a new paragraph.

This is a paragraph.

This is another paragraph. They're separated by an extra blank line.

You can use the line return to set short lines, such as lyrics and poetry:

Let us go then you and I
While evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table
Oh do not ask what is it
Let us go and make our visit

Indent whole paragraphs (like a block quote) by starting the line with four spaces:

Here's an examples of an indented paragraph. This would be appropriate for block quoting a source, or otherwise setting it off.

Structural elements

Create structural elements - heads and sub-heads - by surrounding the heading text with equals signs. The more equals signs the larger the heading. Generally, heading level 1 is reserved for the page title, so we start at heading level 2.

heading level 2

5 equals signs

heading level 3

4 equals signs

heading level 4

3 equals signs

heading level 5

2 equals signs

Horizontal Rules

Create horizontal rules with four dashes like this:

Images

You can link to or embed images in pages. The image has to be on the web, and you need to control access to it. Here's the general pattern for embedding an image in a page. The " " are essential. To insert this code, go into the edit mode to edit the page, and then click the Image icon in the editing bar.

The difficulty is getting the image url. How to do this differs by operating system: Windows and Mac, and different versions of Windows.

Get to the image you want to embed on the wiki page. On FB, get to the actual full image page, not the image as it appears on your wall.
Right click on the image. If you're lucky, you'll see a menu item such as Copy Image Location. On some Windows versions, you have to select Properties ... to get to the image location.
Copy that location.
Return to your wiki page and click where you want to embed the images.
Click on the Image icon in the wiki toolbar (Looks like a tree.). It will paste in {{image url="url" title="text" alt="text"}}
Double-click to select the just the string "url" between the " ". Paste the image location between the " ".

Check the url: The image location should end in .jpg .png, or .gif. If it doesn't, it's not an image. Try again.

Adjust the width. Add width="350px" after alt="text", but before the closing }}. You can make it larger or smaller, but 500px is about the limit.

For more info, see the FormattingRules

Adding New Pages

You can add new pages wherever you are in the wiki.

Create a new WikiWord on an existing page using InterMedialCaps (also called CamelCase). Save the page.
Click the new WikiWord.
This will bring up a new page asking if you want to create the page. Knock yourself out.
Use the Store button to save the page, the Preview button to preview it without saving.
Save periodically, as you would any document, to keep from losing work owing to a crash or a break in Internet service.
WikWords must be unique. Create a generic page for your own work, give it a WikiWord title and append your initials. For instance, ExerciseOneMCM creates a unique page with a generic title.

Reading the Code

Like the way a page is formatted? Want to see how to embed an image? Go to the page you want to look at, go into edit mode by double-clicking the page or by clicking on the Edit button. Review the formatting. You can even copy and paste the formatting to your own page and then change the content.

What's Next

Experiment. Please don't edit this page. Instead, use the SandBox to practice editing. Or practice editing on your own wiki page. Refer to the FormattingRules for more elaborate formatting.

Make Yourself Known

Please use your real name on this wiki, and don't create multiple identities.

You have a wiki page on this wiki, listed on the HomePage. That's your home base.
Add personal or professional information to your page.
Use your WikiName as a signature when appropriate.
If you forget your password, go to the login page and follow the instructions.

Security

There isn't much. Anyone who knows how to access the log in screen can register and edit the wiki: comment, change stuff, delete stuff. Some of it might get restored. Don't worry about it too much; it's part of WhyWikiWorks.

Advice

The FormattingRules has advanced editing instructions.
When in doubt, click on Edit This Page at the bottom of the page to look at the code.
Open pages in new windows. And please do not edit this page to experiment - use the SandBox.
Save often! You're saving to a server somewhere on the web and if the connection breaks, you can lose content.

sources: A narrative toc adapted and localized from WikiWikiWeb Wiki:OneMinuteWiki. See also OneMinuteWiki for a more compact version, and HowToUseWiki.

Weblogs and Wikis : GettingStarted