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Wiki
Description: A wiki is a Web site that allows users of the site to edit it. This allows for joint authoring and ownership and is different from conventional Web sites which can only be edited by the webmaster.
Why use a wiki?
Wikis can be used for community, class or technical projects that require collaboration. For example, you could use the wiki to collaborate with others at distant locations on a joint article or paper. Your collaborators would log in to TRACS, go to your site, click on the wiki tool, and add their comments or changes to the article. They would also have the ability to add new pages and additional content to those pages. In addition, a wiki could be used to allow students to write a collaborative assignment without having to be in one place at one time.
Step 1: Click [Site Info] in the site you would like to add the Wiki tool to.
Step 2: Click [Edit Tools].
Step 3: Place a check box next to the Wiki tool.
Step 4: Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click [Continue] and then [Finish].
When you add the wiki tool to your website, the following pages are created by default:
| Page Name | Purpose |
| Home page | starting page |
| Help Page | lists wiki code (syntax) |
| Edit_right | appears to the right of the edit text box with Help page content |
| Default Template | a template |
| About | show information about the wiki |
You will also see a listing for “Recent Changes,” which shows changes made recently to all pages. As you click on pages, you will generate a breadcrumb trail, which shows, in order, the pages you have visited.
To edit an existing page (such as the Home page) select the page by clicking on its title. Click [Edit], located in the tool bar to see the page in edit mode. In edit mode, you will see a text box with existing text and/or links. This is where you will enter and edit text, as well as add links and images.
To the right of the box, you will see “Help Tips” to use in creating and formatting text in the wiki.
You can type text directly into the text box, copy and paste text, modify existing text, and format text. You can also add tables and add links to images (which have been uploaded to the Resources tool) and links to Web sites.
Step 1: To create a new page, you must first add a link to it. Select an existing page, for example, the “Home” page.
Add a link to the new page by typing its name enclosed in square brackets. For example: [name of page].
If your new page will be named “Research,” enter: [Research]
NOTE: The brackets are the simple text syntax or code, which tells the wiki this is a link to a page—in this case, a new page.
Step 2: Click [Save].
Step 3: Once you have saved the page, you will see the link to the new page that you created. The link consists of the word(s) you typed followed by a question mark, for example research? This indicates the page needs content.
Click the word, (e.g.: Research?), which will take you to the default template.
Click [Edit]. The “Research” page appears in edit mode. You can highlight and delete the default text and begin entering your own text in the text box.
Around the text box are instructions and examples of the code you will use to format your text within the wiki.
Step 4: When you are done, click [Save] to publish the page. Click [Preview] to see what the page will look like when published. Scroll down to see the preview.
If you need to make revisions, click [Edit], make your changes and then either click [Preview] or [Save].
Page names can be typed in upper or lower case, or a combination of both. You can also use most special characters and numbers within your page name.
NOTE: The following characters cannot be used in a page title:CharacterName:Colon@At#Hash mark|Pipe\Back slash
To delete a page, in the edit mode, delete all links to the page.
[top] While you are creating or editing an existing page, you can insert a link to another page on the wiki, or to a new page you will create later.
Step 1: To link to an existing page, type the name of the page you would like to link to within the square brackets. For example, [Home].
Step 2: To link to a page that you will create later, type the name of the new page within square brackets. Then follow the directions above for creating a new page, starting with Step 2.
Simply use the text editor buttons to format your text, link to files, and insert images.
Step 1: Type the entire URL of the page you would like to link to within square brackets. For example, [http://www.gardentoad.com]
Upload the file you would like to link to into your Resources folder in the site.
Step 1: Click the link icon in the text editor. Your Resources folder is displayed.
Step 2: Click [Select] next to the file you would like to link to.
Step 3: Click [Continue]
Step 4: Click [Save]
Upload the image you would like to insert to your resources folder on the site.
Step 1: Click the image icon in the text editor. Your resources folder is displayed.
Step 2: Click [Select] for the image from your resources folder and click [Continue]
Step 3: Click [Save]. The image appears on the wiki page.
The wiki tool generates breadcrumbs as you navigate through pages.
This appears at the top of the wiki page as an expanding list of pages you have visited in order. The name of each page is separated from other pages by a forward arrow like this: Home>About>Research.
A page can only appear once in this list. If you go back to a previous page, that page name is removed from the list and re-inserted at the end.
You can create a sidebar that will always be present and in which you can place your main navigation, so that you can easily access your pages.
Step 1: On your Wiki Home page click [Edit].
Step 2: To create a new page as a sidebar, type [view_right] and click [Save].
Step 3: Edit the new sidebar page and add new pages to it. These pages will appear as links in the sidebar.
Step 4: Click [Save]. The new page with the links will appear on the right side of your screen. Clicking the links will change the left side of the screen, while the right sidebar will remain stationary.
NOTE: You may delete the [view_right] link on the Wiki Homepage if you don’t would like to see it in the main wiki screen and it will not remove the sidebar.
Step 1: Type the word(s) you are looking for in the Search box and press Enter or Return.
A list of all pages in the wiki containing that word or words is displayed. The search results page will appear in your breadcrumb rail.
You can see and edit page permissions by clicking Info while on a page. You will see permissions listed for that particular page by role (instructor, student, teaching assistant).
Step 1: To change page permissions, check or uncheck the checkboxes.
Step 2: Click [Save] to save your changes.
Step 3: You can also edit site permissions by clicking the words edit site permissions beside [Save]. Make your changes, then click [Save], or click [Cancel] to exit.
The Info page includes a printer-friendly version of the page and an HTML version.
You can see the history of any page by clicking History. You will see a list of versions of the page that shows how many changes have been made, who made the changes and the dates and times.
You can compare the contents of any particular page by clicking “To Previous” or “To Current” to see a side-by-side comparison. Changes that were made will be highlighted.
To revert to an earlier or later version, click [Revert to this] beside the particular version.
If you would like to receive email notifications when the wiki page has been changed, click [Watch] and select your preference. Click [Save] to save your settings.
For questions, contact ETC Support at 245.5566. You can also email us at tracs@txstate.edu.
For the TRACS website home page, go to: http://tracs.txstate.edu/portal/login
If your login fails and you need help with your Net ID or password, contact ITAC at 245.4822