Difference between revisions of "Simple Wiki Instructions"

Revision as of 14:26, 26 March 2008

Login to the Wiki

All faculty members have an IAM MediaWIki account by default. The MediaWiki system does not authenticate through IAM, so your password may be different. You can reset your password via email. The IAM MediaWiki exists on our servers, is editable only by those in the IAM community, and is not linked to wikipedia or any other such system. To my knowledge the wiki is not indexed by search engines, either.

Editing the Wiki

Once logged in, you can edit any page that is not otherwise protected (see other security features, below). You can edit any section of any page by clicking the "edit" button on the right hand side of a specific section. You can edit the entire page by clicking the "edit" button at the top of the page.

Starting a New Page

The simplest way to start a new page is by creating a link. Since your page ought to be linked somewhere on the existing Wiki, think about where your link should go and simply create a blind link via MediaWiki markup. For example, if I were creating class notes for a new class, I would edit the "Classes using the Wiki"section of the Wiki with a link to my new class ClassX101. The wiki markup for a link is [[ClassX101]]. Save your changes, then test the link. You will get a message saying "you have created a link to a page that does not exist, To create the page, start typing in the box below" You can simply start typing in the new window to add content to your new page. Save your changes.

Learning Wiki Markup

Wiki markup is different from HTML, in some cases simpler. You must learn the basics of wiki markup to create bullet points, formatting, etc. But there are many built in features to make life easier. For example, URIs immediately become links just by typing them (using http:// . . . .). MediaWiki also accepts preformatted HTML code also by default. Outlline-like tables of contents can be automatically created by using correct header formatting. There is much more information available if you click on MediaWiki Help within the wiki.

Creating a "Secret" Page

In some cases you want to work on a page without it being linked to the main IAM wiki (or work on it first, and then link it later). You can still do this using the above instructions, and then simply go back and remove the link. It will be so secret you probably won't know how to navigate back to it. Try bookmarking it within your browser before you remove the link.

Other Security Features

All edits are tracked by the system. Therefore, if someone were to write "this class is crud" on your materials, it is immediately evident who wrote it. You can also lock or protect a page so it is only editable by you.