Creating a Wiki

• Choose a wiki hosting service or wiki software.  Many of the examples used in this class come from PBWiki (a free hosted wiki services which provides advertisement-free wikis for educational use) and I will be referencing the steps to follow in order to create a PBWiki.

• Choose a site name.  This will become the URL of your wiki.  Many premium wikis will allow you to create a unique domain name.

• Provide an email address.  If you allow others to make changes to your wiki, you will receive notifications via this email address.

• Select a type of wiki.  Individual?  Business?  Educational?  Many free hosted wikis will feature advertising alongside the wiki content.  PBWiki and Wetpaint provide ad-free wikis for educational use.

• Free or premium?  Consider what you will be using the wiki for.  A standard ad-free educational wiki from PBWiki, for example, allows you to attach and store files; add plugins like chat, video and spreadsheets; and provide RSS feeds.  For additional storage space, customization options, access controls and tighter security, you may wish to consider a premium account with one of the many wiki hosting services.

 

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Making Changes to a Wiki

• Log In.  If you are editing a public wiki, use the shared password and provide your name and email address.  If you are using PBWiki, you can also use your PBWiki Identity.

• Click Edit.  Wiki pages have a public side and a private side.  By clicking Edit, you will be shown the private, "behind-the-scenes" side of the wiki where you can add, remove or make changes to the public side of the wiki.

• Make use of the toolbar.  Toolbars vary depending on the type of wiki you are using.  PBWiki's "WYSIWYG" editor has a full-formatting toolbar

 

Many of the functions on the toolbar mirror those you find in word processing software.  Others, such as the Insert Plugin button, allow you to add unique tools such as video, chatrooms, and calendars to your wiki.

• Save your work.  Some wikis allow you to preview the public side of your wiki before you "go live" with your changes.  Because of the instant nature of wiki editing, there is no lag time between when you make your changes and when the public sees them.  You may be able to hide a page while it is under construction, or lock the last version of the page into place.

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Managing Your Wiki

Notifications.  If you are creating a wiki that will be edited by a number of people, you can "watch" your wiki page for changes.  By setting up notifications, you will receive an email when changes are made to the wiki.

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Sharing your Wiki                                 

Share. Many wikis feature a sharing option which will allow you to email any number of individuals and invite them to contribute to your wiki.  Generally, this invitation provides instant access to editing capabilities without the use of a password, so use these features with caution.  You can also simply provide a link to your wiki, if you merely want others to view your site.  You can also notify potential contributors of your wiki's password and allow them to login and add content.  PBwiki rewards for sharing your site-- with every invitation you send, PBwiki adds 5% additional storage space to your wiki, up to 100%.

 

Promote.  PBwiki provides you with several helpful ways to get traffic to your wiki, should you desire it.  Most wikis allow you to add tags to describe your wiki.  Sharing your wiki, of course gets you new visitors.  If you have a blog or other website where you can "advertise", PBwiki provides several customized website badges.

 

You can encourage others to promote your wiki for you by including del.icio.us, digg and furl links on your page.  PBwiki also gives you instructions on how to maximize your "findability" on Google.

 

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Getting Started

• Instructions for a PBwiki

  PBwiki hosts this site and it is very easy to use, with built-in tutorials.  With a free site you will have several style options.

   

• Instructions for a Wikispaces wiki

  Wikispaces has the easiest sign-up process.  A Wikispace page will be very clean and pared-down.

   

• Instructions for a Wetpaint wiki

  Wetpaint sign-up is a bit more involved than those of the other sites, but in the end, you will have a unique, customized page

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