Wiki Tip of the Day
From KM4DevWiki
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Tip #1 - "Recent Changes" is our friend
There is a link in the left navigation bar of our wiki called "recent changes" - If you click on this link you will be taken to a page that shows what content has been recently modified or added. This is a great way to find out where the current activity is on a wiki. It is also helpful if you lost your way and want to get back to a page you have recently edited.
When I'm "wiki gardening" (that is facilitating, organizing and cleaning up a wiki) I use "recent changes" to help me add links to the main index page. (reference: joi.ito.com/joiwiki/WikiGardener)
Play with the recent changes link and share with us how you are using it.
Tip #2 - Curiosity and Persistence when introducing new tools
We ran into a problem with a link here on the wiki. As it turns out, we learned that you can't format the text inside a wiki page link. So when making a new page, don't put formatting in it. But there is a bigger lesson. With our curiosity and persistence we figured out how to fix it and learned something new. When experimenting with new tools, ask for a spirit of curiosity and a bit of persistence. Josien, Allison and I debriefed a bit of this on the page where we are commenting on the process. Take a look and see what you think: KM4Dev Cook Book in the Questions and Tips section.
Tip #3 - Use 'Preview' to experiment
This one might increase confidence to try out making edits when you're not sure if they will work properly. After clicking the edit tab and making some changes, use the 'Show preview' button instead of 'Save page' and you can see what the page would look like if it were saved. If it's not right, scroll down a bit and there is the text editing box again for you to change it further. You can do this as many times as you like, improving the formatting or writing a little bit more each time, or trying things out and then abandoning them. When you get the page looking as good as you want it, Save Page, and just your lastest version gets recorded. So by following this method you can feel braver to experiment, and it makes it tidier for people following the Recent Changes, too. ( --ShamanicKitchen 05:50, 15 May 2006 (EDT) ) (HEY SHAMANIC KITCHEN - tell us how you add your signature!)
Tip #4 - Link back to key pages
As we start to build our KM4Dev Cook Book we start to need some organization. For example, when a new recipe is added, it would be nice to have a link at the top back to the KM4Dev Cook Book page. To do that, put the words KM4Dev Cook Book (the name of the main cook book page) at the top of your recipe page. Then highlight the title and click on the Ab underline button in the top of the edit box. That will make a link back to the main cookbook page.
Tip #5 - insert a signature
how
As long as you are logged in, (which you will have to be, to edit this wiki) then there's a button on the editing toolbar, 2nd from the right, see below:
http://static.flickr.com/52/148097330_bd9542bee5.jpg
What it does, is to insert some code ( --~~~~ ) which then gets turned into a signature with datestamp when you save the page.
when
It's useful to add a signature when writing in "thread mode", ie asking questions and making comments, especially on the "discussion" pages. But better not to add signatures when writing or adding to normal articles because it kind of defeats the collaborative joint authorship idea, which is one of the best features of wikis. To put it another way, other people may be reluctant to add to and improve upon what's already there if it's been signed.
