Get Started
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How to (Specific Quick Tips for editing ZedNext)
The How to page can be edited for particular hints and recommendations.
What is a wiki?
A wiki (pronounced WICK-ee or WEEK-ee) is a tool for creating web documents that can be created and modified by anyone. It is a tool for collaborative authoring. This wiki is used by the DAISY Z3986 Advisory Committee for the sharing of information and the generation of 'living' standards documents. Anyone (at least those who have registered) can edit anything on this wiki.
Because the wiki keeps track of all changes, there's no worry about breaking things. If you make a mistake, you can just restore a previous version. You can also see who has made changes to documents and can even see their exact edits by comparing versions of documents. Pretty cool, huh?
Anyone can view the documents on the wiki, but if you'd like to start contributing or changing document, you simply need to register.
Getting started
This wiki is set up for the Z3986 Advisory Committee. If you are on that list, you own this wiki. You have the ability to change anything you see here. That doesn't mean, however, that you should. Be respectful of the work of others. Changes should be made collaboratively. This wiki is an open environment and you can easily create new pages to show off your own work. You may also want to modify your preferences to set your notification options, timezone, and other options.
Creating or editing wiki articles
To make a change to a document, first make sure you are logged in, then go to the document you want to modify, then click either the "edit this document" link at the top of the page or the "edit" link to the right of any page section. You will then see a text only version of the page or page section. Edit away. If you'd like, add a brief Summary statement explaining the nature of the change you have made into the text field provided at the bottom of the page. This is helpful to others, as well as yourself. You can also select an option to "Watch this page", which means that you can be notified of page changes by e-mail and/or in your "my watchlist" area.
Creating a document is very similar to modifying a document, except that you need a blank document to start out with. You can do this in one of two ways. The first method of creating a new document is done by entering a URL into your browser for a non-existant page within the wiki (such as http://daisy.org/ZedNext/my_new_page). Just enter http://daisy.org/ZedNext/ into your browser address bar followed by some unique document name. As long as the name isn't already taken, the wiki will allow you to begin editing your new page. Be sure to avoid the /, &, ?, or other special characters in the document name. Click "Save page" when you're done. When you are done creating your new document, you can edit other documents and add links to your new document.
You can also begin by adding a link in an existing document to your yet-to-be-created page. Then follow the link to your new page, edit the page, then save it.
Wikitext
When creating or modifying documents, you can use Wikitext. Wikitext is a special, but easy-to-use language for formatting the text in your document. Many of the text formatting functions are available via a toolbar at the top of the editing window. However, it is useful to understand the basic syntax of Wikitext. You can use the Wikitext reference to get started.
Wikitext tips
- Use proper headings (== Main heading==, === 2nd level heading ===, ==== 3rd level heading ====) to provide structure to your document.
- Lists are created by adding an asterisk (*) followed by one empty space to the beginning of a line. Numbered lists use the pound sign (#). The wiki software will generate the appropriate list formatting.
- If you're familiar with HTML, you can also use most HTML tags for formatting, though Wikitext is preferred to ensure consistency throughout documents.
- There are many shortcut keys that can be used to make navigating and using the wiki easier. A complete list is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Keyboard_shortcuts
Wikitext links
There are two types of links in Wikitext. Links to documents within the wiki and links to any other web page.
Links to documents within the wiki are created by surrounding the document title with two sets of square brackets. For instance, [[committee members]] will create a link to the committee members document. You can create a link to a wiki document, but have the link label (the blue underlined text), display something other than the document title. In this case, you add a | character (typically found above the Return key on English keyboards) followed by the text label you want to display. So [[committee members|members of the committee]] would display members of the committee.
Links to external resources can be added by simply typing the URL, such as http://access-board.gov/. You can also display a different label for the external link by surrounding the URL with single square brackets, separating the URL and the label by a space. [http://access-board.gov/ Access Board homepage] will display Access Board homepage
Of course there are many more things you can do with links, so check out the links section of the Wikitext reference.
Wikitext sandbox
If you'd like to practice using this Wiki or Wikitext, you can make changes on this Sandbox. Go ahead and make all the changes you want - you can't (well, shouldn't be able to) break anything. I've pre-populated the page with some sample Wikitext for you to explore.
Wiki etiquette and tips
- Show respect for the work of others. While this is a collaborative tool, it should be one wherein the work of others is respected and not removed or edited needlessly. Some level of consensus should be made before making changes to guideline and standards documents. If there is any question about the appropriateness or accuracy of a modification, consult the original author or your subcommittee first. Alternatively, you can add your modification with a notation that it could/should replace a particular section. The most appropriate version can be accepted later.
- Red links in the wiki indicate pages that have not yet been created. Go ahead and create them, if you'd like.
- Check out the MediaWiki Editing Tutorial for more details on creating and editing documents.
- The MediaWiki User's Guide has more information on customising and using the wiki.
- Each page has a "discuss this document" link at the top. It can be used to provide commentary on a document or to explain changes you made to a document. You can provide a link to the discussion page by adding a wiki link with "Talk:" proceding the document title. [[Talk:ZedNext wiki]] provides a link to this page's discussion page - Talk:ZedNext wiki. Discussion of other topics should occur in the Z3986 lists or other tools.
- While any person can track the changes you make to a document, you can leave your 'signature' within a document at anytime to indicate that you were there and did something. Entering three tildes into the editing window gives your user name. Four tildes give your user name plus date/time. Five tildes gives the date/time alone.* Your watchlist (link at the top of the page) allows you to monitor the changes of pages over time. To watch a page, just select the "watch" link at the top of the page. You can also choose to receive an e-mail when a page you are watching is modified by enabling this option in your preferences.
- You can create a personal wiki homepage for yourself by selecting your username at the top of the page. The "my talk" link at the top of any page allows others to leave you comments. In a way, it becomes your own personal chat room. Be sure to "Watch" the page so you will be notified of new comments.
Getting help
If you have any questions about using this wiki or need assistance, you can leave me a message by going to the User_talk:Kathy page and selecting the + note at the top of the page to leave me a comment or contact a member of the ZedNext Communications Task Force.
