WikiPosting

Nota Bene: these notes refer to different wiki software than is running here. ~Bill:2006-06-24

Wiki Posting on Us / Them
ElanaCentor asked how to use the Wiki, and I think that is as much about appropriate ways to comment and contribute, not just how to work the mechanics (although that's daunting enough). This topic is created for compilation of notes and tips on how to participate on the wiki and have it work.


 *  orcmid:2005-08-30T19:36Z

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Some wikis (including WikiPedia) have tabbed pages and there is a separate tab for discussion of a topic as well as the main edited page. Some wikis have comment provisions. Even so, for the most part people simply edit the wiki topic page.

When a wiki is being used conversationally, there are some practices that help. There are also some useful ways to learn how the wiki works that is helpful.

Looking Under the Hood

 * For one thing, you can find out that a wiki never forgets, so you can't damage it by editing a page. Nothing is lost. Look at the "View other revisions" link at the bottom of a page and you can see any of the versions of the page and how they originated.  If all else fails, an administrator for the wiki can roll back everything to an earlier page.  The important thing to remember is that there is nothing you can do that can cause any irreversible damage to the wiki.
 * Also, you can use the "Edit text of this page" link at the bottom to see what a raw wiki page looks like and how the different appearances are accomplished. Just back out of the edit-form page (or close it in your browser) to leave the page unchanged.

Preserving Conversation
To add material to an existing page, there are a number of actions that support continuity with the material that is already there.


 * Create an user name for yourself. It must be given in wiki camel case, usually, and that will correspond to a topic where you can introduce yourself.  Try the "Preferences" link at the top of a page and create an user name for yourself.  If your browser allows long-term cookies to be set, the wiki will recognize you each time you return.
 * Identify your remarks, especially when adding them in-line to existing material. Some wikis (not this one) will automatically provide your user name and a timestamp when you use the wiki cue "Bill".  This one doesn't do that, but one of us is obsessive enough to do it manually.  Others use their initials.
 * Set off comments in a way that makes it clear they are added and what they apply to. You can use horizontal rules (three "-" at the start of a line by themselves), or you can use indenting and bullets, especially when annotating an existing bulleted or numbered item.
 * When cleaning up text, adding hyperlinks, and other housekeeping, just go ahead and do it. There is no prohibition to collaborative editing.  Hey, my first contribution on WikiPedia was to correct a misspelling of "chipmunk."

 orcmid: 2005-08-30T19:54Z

Finding Wiki Topics
This wiki automatically recognizes camel case words, like WikiPosting, as wiki words. That makes it the name of a topic. So to create a (pending) topic, all you have to do is use camel case. If the topic has already had a page created, the wiki will link to that. If there is no page on that topic, you'll see a "?" link and that leads to a page that needs to be edited to create content.

There are further variations, but the essential idea on this wiki is that a camel-case spelling automatically makes a wiki topic, and you can follow a "?" link and be the first to provide content on that topic.


 * Making a link is the way to start a topic. Generally, you must be editing an existing page and use a camel-case word to create a topic reference.  After the page is posted, you can then pass through the link and edit material on that topic, especially for one that doesn't exist.
 * This brings up the question about knowing what topics have already been used so you don't create redundant pages on the same idea (but with minor differences in the topic wording).
 * Some wikis have an index so you can tell what topics there are. I don't think this is one of those.
 * However, if you use the search dialog box at the bottom of these pages, without putting in any search term -- just put the cursor in the box and click Enter -- you'll be presented with a list of all topics created so far. Now, is that geeky or what? Billorcmid:2005-08-30T21:13Z
 * Alternatively, someone can maintain an index, a wiki page that provides a map or table-of-content for the site. That might become important here at some point, at least for the Us/Them subset of postings.
 * It is possible to have isolated pages that are not connected, directly or indirectly to the home page of the wiki. That can be done here.  For some sites it is a feature.  But mostly, it is desirable to avoid having orphan pages.

 orcmid:2005-08-30T21:07Z

Thanks for posting this, Dennis - nw

Thanks for posting this, Dennis (dar), but... what do you mean by camel case?