You Can Make A Wiki, Too A guide to creating a wiki of your own

What is a Wiki? o A Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any web browser. o Examples: o Wikipedia linklink o SupWiki linklink

Uses for Wikis o Three possible uses for a wiki: o Displaying an established reference material o A series of searchable web pages o Fully realized wiki reference o Information formatted with wiki-browsing in mind o Collaboration tool o Less about organization of information, more about sharing and accessibility of information

My Own Wiki: Where do I start? o First, a choice: Hosted vs. Software o Hosted means the wiki is maintained and run by an external website, and is provided as a service, like Blogger or Wordpress o Pros: o Minimal setup. Can start using almost immediately. o Cons: o Some are free, but have ads or limited usability. Others cost money. o Information is stored off-site, and is “at the mercy” of the company. o Not as customizable as installing your own.

My Own Wiki: Where do I start? o First, a choice: Hosted vs. Software o Software refers to a set of files hosted on your university’s servers. o Pros: o As dependable, reliable, and secure as your university's web pages o Highly customizable to suit your needs o Cons: o Takes time to set up: not as simple as uploading a web page o Your university's web servers might not have the necessary features installed

My Own Wiki: Where do I start? o First, a choice: Hosted vs. Software o Hosted preferable for: o Short term projects o Projects that need a wiki immediately o Software preferable for: o Information you want available permanently

My own wiki: A Vocabulary Primer o Some vocabulary that will be helpful: o Wiki Engine o The set of files, or software, that “runs” the wiki o Page History o A list of all edits made to a page, possibly including the time, date, and author of the edits.

My own wiki: A Vocabulary Primer o Some vocabulary that will be helpful: o WYSIWYG (pronounced whizzy-wig) o Stands for What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get, and refers to the page editing interface. o A WYSIWYG interface shows changes to text in realtime, like Microsoft Word.

My own wiki: Choosing A Wiki For you o There are over 100 of options to choose from! How do you begin to find what wiki will serve your needs? o The WikiMatrix linklink

My own wiki: Setting up my wiki o Step 1: Make a Friend o A student, a colleague, a friend, someone from IT, someone comfortable with o Programming o Web page editing or creation o Or Computing in general o Show them the Wiki Setup Guide o May take an afternoon, may take two weeks or more

My own wiki: Setting up my wiki o Step 2: Call IT o Explain what you are trying to do, then find out o What scripts, or server software you can run o Where you would upload your software o Will likely be different than where you upload your web pages o Step 3: Upload it! o Once uploaded, you may be able to visit your wiki and start playing with it, or it may not work at all o Most all wikis, before they’ll work, need to be configured

My own wiki: Configuring my wiki o Configuration is different for every wiki o Refer to the wiki’s documentation o Use your help through this process o Things to decide during configuration: o Permissions and passwords o Passwords to edit? To view? o Any ascetic changes o PmWiki: an example of skinning. linklink

Making your wiki work o A wiki is a tool for sharing information. o It will only be useful if the content is o Clear, o Concise, and o Current. o The hard work: o Deciding how to present your information o Achieving the 3 C’s

Making your wiki work: Organization o How to organize information for: a collaborative wiki o A Hub System: a main page listing every page created o Perfect for a small project, 20 pages or less. o Once project grows beyond that, create sub-categories that act as hubs

Making your wiki work: Organization o How to organize information for: a traditional reference wiki o Table of Contents system: a main page listing every page by title o Each page may be a topic, a chapter, etc. o Pages presented linearly, each linking to previous and next o Optional: keyword linking

Making your wiki work: Organization o How to organize information for: a wiki-styled reference tool o Series of hubs + keyword linking o Main page hub to give visitors a place to start o Larger topics will present themselves as natural hubs o Organization structure will develop over time o Keyword Linking is important o Offers points of exploration o Connects topics

Making your wiki work: Tips o Further tips on presenting information: o Keep individual pages short o Shorter pages are easier to read, easier to digest o If you can’t keep it short, keep it well formatted: o Divide sub-topics up o Keep sup-topics separated o Link to sup-topics from the top of the page o SupWiki examples linklink

Making your wiki work: Tips o Further tips on presenting information: o Link as many keywords as you can o Search for topic titles, important concepts or items o You will see a list of pages that has the word searched o Link each of those words back to the main topic that addresses it o Keep your writing as clear and concise as possible o If re-writing information specifically for a wiki o Draw on other wikis for inspiration o Clear your mind, imagine you’re a panicked first day trainee, and re-read your writing

What a wiki can not do: o A wiki will not train your staff o A wiki will not organize your information for you o A wiki will not keep itself up to date o A wiki is not a substitute for poorly written content

What Only a wiki can do: o Offer you the opportunity to review and re- organize your information in a way that people are used to finding and viewing it o Offer everyone instant, searchable access to your information o Make updating your information easier, as you can search for every mention of outdated information

Thank you! o References for you: o This presentation is available at along with a written wiki setup guide.