Wiki Tutorial

What is a Wiki?

It is pronounced wee-kee.

Wiki is a shortened form of wiki wiki, which means quick in Hawaiian.

A wiki is a web-based software tool that can be used to create shared documents and/or examine recent changes made to documents. A wiki looks like a normal web site, but unlike a normal web site everyone can and is encouraged to edit the web pages and contribute both their questions and their knowledge. Documents are never final -- within a wiki every document is continuously available for comments or corrections. Over time, each wiki page is edited to incorporate all points of view and will eventually reflect the consensus.

How is it used?

Within this web site, a wiki is used to:

• document the DigitalRockArt application.

• provide a discussion area for enhancements to the DigitalRockArt application.

• document terms and procedures used for web-based rock art recording.
• provide a discussion area for improvements to the terms and procedures used for web-based rock art recording.

Building a shared rock art database requires standards. Standards require the creation of a lot of documentation. Definitions of terms, procedures, tutorials, FAQs, attributes used to describe rock art designs, etc., must be created and reworked until a consensus is achieved. New ideas must be discussed and incorporated.

With contributors potentially scattered around the world and working at different hours, what are the alternatives? Quarterly meetings, teleconferencing, email, news groups, assign topics to a committee, wikis, something else? For the moment, a wiki seems to be the best method available for creation and distribution of this documentation.

Wiki Examples

If you are skeptical about whether a wiki is a useful tool, you can read more about wikis from the worlds largest wiki at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

Login IDs

While some wikis allow anonymous contributions,¹. This wiki does not allow anonymous updates on any page except the WikiSandBox.

Learning the Ropes

The advantage of hypertext-linked documents is having many links to additional information only a mouse clink away. This can lead to frustration as a new user can easily roam far away from the original topic. When encountering a page with many interesting links to additional information, a common technique is to open each link in a new window. This can be done with most browsers by holding down the shift key while clicking on the link. An alternative is to right-click the link and choose Open in new window from the menu.

This web sites has many hyperlinks that are designed to open in new windows automatically. These links are marked with the new window icon:

The tutorial topic below has links to everything you need to know about contributing to this wiki. Try opening each topic of interest in a new window -- read as much as you like, then simply close the window to return to this page and select the next topic of interest.

Tutorial

The recommended approach for newcomers is to review each of the topics below, and then practice your wiki editing skills in the WikiSandBox. Most of the pages below are "system help pages" that are distributed with the wiki software. Rather than update each page with page with every release to reflect local customizations, a summary of the customizations is presented below under Wiki Hacks.

• HelpOnSiteEtiquette - you may update any page you are authorized to update

• HelpOnNavigation - explains the navigational elements on a page (see Wiki Hacks below)

• HelpOnFormatting - general text formatting rules

• HelpOnHeadlines - section headings

• HelpOnRules - horizontal rules

• HelpOnLists - lists and indented sections

• HelpOnSmileys - how to insert a

• HelpOnTables - how to create a table

• HelpOnMacros - how to create footnotes, table of contents, anchors, and force line breaks

• HelpOnLinking - external hyperlinks and inline images

• HelpOnPageCreation - how to create a new page, and how to use page templates

• HelpOnUserPreferences - how change your wiki user preferences

If you have finished the above list and are interested in contributing:

• Practice your editing skills in the WikiSandBox (if you mess this up, nobody cares -- it is automatically restored every evening!)

• If you do not already have a DigitalRockArt login ID, go to SignUp and follow the instructions to obtain one.

• Go to the FrontPage to explore the rest of this wiki.

• Click on RecentChanges to discover the recent activity.

These are topics you may wish to review for extra credit:

• HelpMiscellaneous/FrequentlyAskedQuestions - answers to frequently asked questions, MoinMoin version.

• HelpIndex - an automatically generated index of all help pages

Wiki Hacks

The wiki software used on this site is MoinMoin. Local customizations include the following:

Theme

The default theme is a fixed left sidebar. All of the theme parts (except for the dynamic message box) discussed in HelpOnNavigation are located on the left side. A "Page Contents" panel has been added to the sidebar. You may choose between 4 themes (drafixedleft, drafixedleftcms, drafixedlefticonbar, and dramodern) by clicking on Settings, Preferences, and selecting a theme from the drop-down box.

Note that drafixedleft and drafixedleftcms are the default themes. Users who are not logged in see drafixedleftcms and logged in users will see drafixedleft. Choosing either theme will result in the same effect as the default.

Preferences

Some of the settings discussed in HelpOnUserPreferences have been removed. The GUI editor is not available at this time (has many bugs and does not display images).

Local Macros

Several macros have been created to display data and images from the database. These are documented in HelpOnDraMacroSyntax.

Local FAQ

See DraFaq for frequently asked questions (and answers)