Quickie Ricky Wiki Instructions
A U3A Online Project: Page 1
U3A wikis: Cooperation in cyberspace
Rick Swindell – Vice President U3A Online: December 2007
Note: The screen shots shown in these pages may differ from those shown on pbwiki. This is because pbwiki updates their pages frequently. Regardless, the principles for setting up your wiki stay the same.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------A wiki is a website that any U3A member can very easily add to or edit, allowing information to be shared by any member of that wiki. Because cyberspace has no boundaries wiki members can live anywhere. Moreover wikis are free and you can set up as many as you like. Here is a screen shot of the Redlands U3A wiki. Each member of the Redlands U3A history group took on a project to research the lives of a famous Australian and write up the story as a word document. Each of the sometimes lengthy stories resides on the Redlands U3A free wiki and these can be read and modified by clicking on the link on the Side Bar. You choose your wiki’s title Scores of stories can be added to your free wiki. Each has its own page accessible through the links on the Side Bar
Images can be easily added to liven up pages The most important feature as far as U3A cooperation is concerned is that the group convenor is happy for other U3As to contribute other stories. Some have already done so. How motivating for U3A members to be able to see their work “up in lights”. Have a look at the site by going to http://redlandsu3a.pbwiki.com/ and entering the password u3a. Please don’t add your own story or change anything without first consulting with the class convenor John Butters buttersjm@optusnet.com.au
Quickie Ricky Wiki Instructions
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Since setting up these instructions PBwiki has introduced PBwiki 2.0 with a different appearance from PBwiki 1.0, which we’re using. If you want to use these notes to refresh your memory don’t use PBwiki 2.0. Wikis don’t take long to learn to use so learn the process with wiki 1.0 then teach yourself wiki 2.0 later, which is also free.
The new wiki setup page now looks more like this than the screen shots shown on page 3.
Unclick this box before choosing Create my wiki
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Section 1: How to set up a wiki
1. Navigate to http://pbwiki.com/
2. Click Create a wiki
1. If your first choice name has been taken try another 2. Enter only the wiki name not the full web address 3. Enter requested details and choose For education from the drop down menu
Your details will be emailed automatically immediately
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Here’s a portion of the typical notification email. Note you need to confirm by clicking on the link containing your password
Thanks for creating a PeanutButterWiki at pbwiki.com. You're almost ready to start rolling with your wiki! :) We won't finish actually making your wiki until you log in, so please do that now. Until you log in for the first time, someone else could still take this name. To finish creating your wiki and set your wiki's password, click below: http://rickwick.pbwiki.com/?pwd=Kpvmd4hfiw
Click here
1. Choose a simple password that you and the U3A colleagues who will share the wiki can easily remember 2. Click Make my wiki public 3. Select Agree to our Terms of Service 4. Select New Point-andClick editor 5. Click Next: Choose wiki features
1. Select the free option. This will give you 10 Mb – a huge amount for most practical purposes and it remains free. If your wiki is a roaring success you can always pay by credit card to immediately upgrade to 1000 Mb.
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In Section 1 you’ve learned how to get a wiki. You can own as many free 10 Mb wikis as you like. You might want to set one up for: o o o o Your U3A newsletter team so members can easily share stories and exchange information about upcoming newsletter items Committee of Management The U3A writers’ or poetry group so they can publish their work Your own extended family. Each person has their own page for messages, photos etc and each page is accessible to every member of the extended family
As you work through the following instructions you’ll probably think of many other creative uses for wikis. In Section 2 you’ll learn how to 1. 2. create your personalised welcome screen work with the main “index page” called the Side Bar
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Section 2: How to Edit your wiki
Your new wiki Front Page will look similar to this with the name of your wiki at the top. Here are the main features
Wiki title
Front Page or Home page
Side Bar
Home appears on every main page. Click on Home if you get lost and you’ll return to your Front Page
Edit page
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1. Click Edit page to start editing
Note the editing tools You can change the colour, size, font, alignment etc as you do in Word In particular note the Insert Image and Link icons
1. Delete all the existing text by dragging over it then press the backspace or delete key
1. Enter a suitable welcome message 2. Click Save (If you forget to Save before quitting the Edit screen you lose your changes – the screen will revert to what it was before you started to edit.
o
Cancel will return to the original without changes
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1. Click Side bar to edit The Side bar is where you’ll put links to each of the famous persons’ stories as each story is submitted (see Redlands U3A wiki page 1).
1. 2.
Click Edit Delete all the text in the subsequent Edit screen Click Save to save the blank side bar
3.
This is the screen you will see after carrying out steps 1-3 above
1. Click Home
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In this section you’ve learned how to create your personalised welcome screen and edit the Side bar. In Section 3 you’ll learn how to: 1. 2. 3. Find a suitable image using Google Images Upload the image to the pbwiki site Insert the uploaded image from pbwiki into your own wiki
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Section 3: How to add images
This screen shows the result of navigating to Google using my browser Firefox.
1. Navigate to Google from your browser 2. From Google select Images 3. Type in a name in the search box (eg Edmund Hillary)
o
The search found more than 40,000 images for Edmund Hillary
1. Find one that’s not too big (less than 50 kb or you’ll use your 10 Mb quickly) 2. Right click on your chosen image and select Save Image As… 3. Save to desktop (or other convenient place) with a descriptive name
You next need to upload your chosen image to pbwiki
1. Return to your Front Page 2. Click Files
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In the Files section of your wiki you can upload up to 5 images at a time from your computer to pbwiki 1. Click Browse and navigate to where you stored your image (desktop) 2. Double click on the image to insert its location into the box 3. Click Upload This is the way you add all resources such as images to your wiki
You’ll see a message when your files have been uploaded
1. Click Home to return to your Front Page
1. Click Edit page to insert the saved image into the editing screen
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1. Position the cursor where you want to insert the image eg after the first sentence 2. Click Insert Image
1. Click the image you want – a preview will appear
As your wiki grows you will have scores of images listed in the selection panel
2. Click OK
Here’s the image inserted in the editing screen 1. Click inside the image to reveal the sizing handles. Drag on a handle to make the image bigger or smaller to suit your taste. (If you drag too far the image may pixelate because of the low resolution) 2. Don’t forget to Save before returning to the home page
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In this Section you’ve learned how to 1. 2. 3. Find a suitable image using Google Images Upload the image to the pbwiki site Insert the uploaded image from pbwiki into your own wiki
You use a similar technique to upload other resources prior to inserting them into your wiki In Section 4 you’ll learn how to: 1. 2. 3. add new pages to your wiki add a famous person story to each of these new pages link the pages from the Side bar
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Section 4: How to add and link pages
The Side Bar is where you’ll add the titles of new pages Each new page will be linked to a story about a famous person. 1. Click [edit] on the Side Bar to open the editing screen
Click here to edit the Side Bar
Here’s a portion of the SideBar editing screen 1. Type in Edmund Hillary 2. Highlight Edmund Hillary by dragging across with your mouse 3. Click Link
1) Highlight the words which you want as a link…
2) Then click Link
1.
Choose wiki page from the drop down menu Click new page The new page name and link text are already chosen for you Click OK Click Save … then Click Home to return to your Front Page
2. 3.
4. 5. 6.
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Portion of the Front Page showing your new link on the Side Bar The dotted line shows the Edmund Hillary link has been made but the Edmund Hillary page has not yet been created
1. Click on the dotted link in the Side bar (don’t click edit) and…
…the Create a new page screen appears 1. Type in the name if its not already entered 2.
Click Create a new page
You’re back in the editing area. 1. Add a few words. 2. Try out some of the editing features by highlighting the words by dragging across (or Edit; Select All) and change their colour, font and size 3. Save… 4. …then Home
Highlight the words you want to emphasise
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The solid line under Edmund Hillary on the Side Bar shows that the page has now been set up Add all new pages to your wiki in the same way that you added Edmund Hillary 1. Now spend a few minutes typing some text about Edmund Hillary into your wordprocessing package (eg Word)
Here’s a sample of one of the many brilliant stories submitted by the U3A writers class. 1. Follow the instructions in this box to copy a story into memory then 2. Return to the Front Page of your wiki 3. Click Edmund Hillary on the Side Bar to open the new Hillary page
1. Click Edit page to get to the edit screen for the Edmund Hillary page
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Here’s the Editing screen for your new Edmund Hillary page
1. Position the cursor after “Story to be added shortly” and Paste the story into the page
1. Delete the text you don’t want 2. Fix up typos 3. Format the text for readability, add illustrations 4. Save
Growing list of famous people
The Help screen has a large amount of extra information You might like to add the latest newsletter or other information for your users
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In this Section you’ve learned how to 1. 2. 3. Add a page Link the Side Bar name to the new page Copy a story to the new page
You use the same techniques to add and link as many new pages as you need
Congratulations. You can now set up your own wiki. Many other features can be added to a wiki. See the help screen and demos for more ideas. What a marvellous tool for sharing ideas, not just within your U3A but also with other U3As. Seeing their stories and ideas published on the Internet would be highly motivating for most members and encourage many to use the Internet more widely.