Difference between revisions of "How To Wiki"

Revision as of 12:50, 3 February 2010

A quick guide to creating and editing pages on wikis built using MediaWiki software.

Creating a page

First, login, by clicking "login" at the top-right of the window. You'll need an account for this. Email the Site Administrator if you need an account or have forgotten your password.

To create a page, search for it using the "search" box on the left of the window.

If it doesn't exist, you will be given the option to create it. The page will be titled exactly with the phrase you searched for, so choose a good title carefully. Use initial capitals.

Editing a page

If you just created it, you will already be editing it.

If you want to edit an existing page, navigate to it, then click "edit" at the top of the page. The "edit" option will only appear once you have logged in.

Once you are editing you can just type.

Formatting and linking

Pretty early on, you'll want to do some basic formatting and linking. Here's a few tips to get you started. Complete help can be obtained here on the MediaWiki site.

The easiest way to format and link is by selecting the relevant text, and clicking on the icons at the top of the text window. This will insert special characters into your text that will be interpreted as formatting and links when you save or preview the page.

Its also worth learning these special characters yourself, like:

• Create a Level 2 heading like this: == Heading ==
• Create a Level 3 heading like this: === Heading ===
• Create a list like this: * First item
• Create a sub-list like this: ** First sub-item
• Create a numbered list like this: # First item
• Create a numbered sub-list like this: ## First sub-item
• Create a intra-wiki link like this: [[Page Name]]
• Create an extra-wiki link like this: [http://csumb.edu CSUMB]

Smart Referencing

Use this format for references it will make life MUCH easier

 <ref>RefName RefLink </ref>

For example if I am going to be using a paper called awesome paper at www.awesomepaper.com and reference it more than once I would write this for the first reference is...

<ref name="Awesome"> Awesome Paper www.awesomepaper.com </ref>

The reference will pop up automatically in the reference section.

Notice how I added a name="whatever" in the first reference tag, this makes it easier for me to cite this same reference again

So now anytime I want to use that reference again all I have to write is...

<ref name="Awesome"/>

and it will refer the reader back to the same reference without adding it to the list again.

Links

• Specific examples of how to use Links and References.
• How to Post a Map on the Wiki