Introduction to WIKIs
Wikispaces
What is a wiki?
Why make a wiki?
How do I make a wiki?
How do I edit a wiki?
What is a wiki?
Activate your prior knowledge by thinking about wikipedia which is a a public
encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Just like a regular encyclopedia, people can visit
wikipedia to search for information.
However, unlike a traditional encyclopedia, the reader can also fix a mistake and add
to the content of the encyclopedia. In short, wikipedia is a dynamic and living piece
of information because readers are actively editing and updating the content as the
world changes.
A wiki is a webpage that (permitted) members can collectively add to or change.
The benefit of wikipedia is that as a living document, it has the potential to
be current and up-to-date. You can view the history log to see all of the
changes that have been made, so you can see how our knowledge about a
specific subject grows and changes.
The danger is that anyone can edit the page, which means the content is
subject to vandalism and personal bias. As an “open-source” document
(which means that anyone can edit or contribute to it), there are usually
several good samaritans who help ensure the content is accurate and
unbiased. After all, if I have one perspective about an issue and someone else
has the opposite perspective, we can keep each other in check to make sure
the content accurately reflects our viewpoint.
In practice, vandals get their IP addresses blocked and because all changes
are recorded in the history log, it’s possible to undo vandalism. Ultimately,
however, critical thinking and evaluation of the content must always be
maintained.
Why use a wiki?
Wikis are simple, efficient tools for managing knowledge and collaborating.
They're particularly convenient in today's busy and international workplace.
They're easy to learn and use. Wikis aren't as complicated as other types of
content management systems.
With wikis, knowledge doesn't get buried in emails, locked into file systems,
hard drives or servers, intranets or extranets, or closed in more specialised
data management systems and knowledge management systems.
Wikis are online so users can access, collaborate on, and share content,
knowledge and files anytime, anywhere.
Wikis are also exceptionally flexible. You can customise them and also connect
a wiki to other applications, databases, and file systems.
And, most wikis are a fraction of the cost of most enterprise software.
A wiki lets you and your teammates collaborate online. It's easy, efficient, and
intuitive to use. Every user gets a voice and everyone's contribution is seen, heard,
and can be commented upon. In this way wikis improve and democratize
communication -- no one misses the 'memo' and anyone can send it. Wikis get
information to the right people -- important information (documentation,
processes, ideas, communication, etc.) is available to the people who need it, not
locked and buried in one person's in-box.
Wikis make it easy to keep all your information current and accurate.
Information stored in wikis is dynamic. With wikis, anyone can edit a page
(however, with Confluence, administrators can control view, editing, and
content privileges) so content is current.
Wikis keep your information safe. It's virtually impossible to lose information.
You can view changes made by different users or rollback to previous versions.
Even as members of your team turn over and new employees are hired, the
wiki can be an unbroken repository of knowledge that evolves with your
growing organisation
How do I make a wiki?
Too easy. Go to www.wikispaces.com/
Click on Wikis for Individuals and Groups
Fill in Username, Password and Email. (You can make your own Username and
Password.
Click Join Now.
Easy!
How do I edit a wiki?
Add/create a new wiki page
Click new page usually near the top on the left hand side of the wiki
Now give the page a name (this should not be too long because it will display in the right hand
navigation menu
Click Create. Now you can start adding content.
Edit a wiki page – the wiki editor
Once you have logged in the site, you will see the following buttons/icons.
The location of the edit this page varies as the two example show.
To start typing (or adding text) you need to EDIT the page.
Click on the Edit This Page icon.
You will see the following screen.
It is an editor/toolbar which looks a lot like a word processor toolbar.
Click on the page and start typing.
When you have finished click Save.
Repeat the steps when you want to add more text.
Remember to save often.
Changing the font
You can change the size and colour of your words by using these buttons:
B= Bold
I = Italics
U = underlined
Colour and style
This is a bit trickier:
Click on this button:
You will see the following screen:
You can change the look of the font, the size and the
colour.
As soon as you click inside the colour box, the colour
wheel appears.
Click anywhere on the wheel to select a colour.
When finished, click on Apply Style.
Headings
You can also use headings in your wiki.
To use headings,
Highlight you text,
Click on the drop down arrow next to the word normal or in our case
heading 2 and select your heading.
Click Save to save your work.
PS: headings can be a bit difficult, if you don’t succeed first time, just try again.
Adding a link to a web page
Sometimes you may want to add a link to a web site to your page.
The easiest way is to just cut and paste the web address into the wiki page. Sometimes that is
easier, so that the person who is reading the page can see the actual web address.
You need to follow the instructions in the Adding text section.
Just copy and paste the link.
It will look like this:
Don’t forget to click save.
This is the easiest way of doing short links.
Upload and add picture or a document
To insert a file or image make sure that your cursor is in the place you want the image/document to
go.
Move along your word editor to this part.
You are particularly interested in the first one. It is called insert images or files.
Click on it.
The following screen will appear:
Click on the Upload files tab which will open as shown below.
Click the Browse button to look for a picture or a file anywhere on your computer.
Select the file and click open.
Click the Upload button.
The file/image will now be shown in the dialogue box.
If you double click on the image/file, it will be inserted on your wiki page.
Note
Sometimes the cursor moves and the file is inserted at the top of the page.
In this case delete the link and look at the instructions that follow.
Add picture or a document already uploaded
To insert the file or image make sure that your cursor is in the place you want the image/document
to go.
Click on the insert images file icon
The following screen appears
If there are a lot of files/images click on the letter of the first word of the file.
Locate your file
Double click on the file
It should now be inserted in your wiki page and
Once your picture is on the page you and decide where you want it – left of right on the page –
it usually works best if you click right align.