Wikis

Overview

Collaborative web site tool. Users write pages with easy markup syntax; the wiki system turns them into HTML. First developed by Ward Cunningham (1994). Named for Wiki Wiki airport shuttle; "wiki" is Hawaiian meaning "quick."

Most famous wiki: Wikipedia

The OncourseCL Wiki Tool

Main tools
- Home (the wiki main page)
- View (view the page)
- Edit (make changes to the page)
  - Easily damaged, easily repaired
  - Implications for quality (e.g., Wikipedia)
- Info (what pages link to or from here)
- History (who edited, comparison of versions, revert)
- Watch (notification of changes to the wiki)

Editing wiki pages

Open page, click on "Edit", make changes, "Preview", then "Edit" again or "Save"
To create a new page, just make a link to it from an existing page, then click on the link and edit the newly created page.

Most important markup syntax

Headings:

h1 Heading Level 1
h2 Heading Level 2
...
h6 Heading Level 6

Bullet lists:
```
* Level 1 item
** Level 2 item
...
```
Numbered lists:
```
# Level 1 item
## Level 2 item
...
```
__bold__ and ~~italic~~ text
Internal links (within wiki):
```
[pagename]
[title|pagename]
```
External links (off wiki):
```
{link:url}
{link:title|url}
```
Escaping from markup:
```
\[ brackets \]
\* asterisks \*
etc.
```
Edit tools—for common or difficult markup:
- Super/subscripts
- Table
- Link (not as versatile as the markup)
- Image (Image file must first be uploaded to Oncourse Resources.)