(Return to The Art And Technique Of Wikis)

Setting Up a Wiki

Using WikiSpaces

What is a Wiki? A wiki is a web page that can easily be edited by anyone, or by anyone in a predefined community. You go to the page, click edit, enter a password if asked, and then start editing the content.

  1. Point your browser to WikiSpaces – http://wikispaces.com/
  2. In the form that appears in the upper right of the page, enter a unique username (first letters of your first and middle names and your last name will often work), a smart password, your e-mail address, and a title for your wiki site. The title should include only letters, numbers, and hyphens).
  3. The page that appears will be the front page of your new wiki site. It will include some introductory text and instructions. However, the first time you edit your page that text will go away.
  4. To begin editing you wiki page, click the Edit This Page button above the page content. editbutton.gif
  5. When you click to edit a WikiSpaces wiki page, you will see a large scrollable textbox and two single-line textboxes. The scrolling text box is for entering and editing the content for your page. The first single-line textbox, labeled A not about this edit for the page history log. This is a way for keeping notes on why each edit was made. The second single-line text box is for entering tags. These are a type of keyword that can be used to find this page.
  6. Entering and editing content.
    1. Start typing. Text is entered by typing the text into the larger textbox.
    2. You will see a formatting tool bar above the content window. From here you can: bold, italicize, and underline text. You can set heading sizes. You can create a numbered list or a bulleted list. You can also create a horizontal line on your page to separate content types and topics. You can also create hyperlinks, add images and other media, create a table and enter special characters.
    3. Most of these formatting features are self-evident. Hyperlinks, however, require some explanation. There are two types of hyperlinks that can be added to a WikiSpaces wiki.
      1. To create a hyperlink to another page, highlight the text that will be clicked to move to the new page.
      2. A small web page will appear with two basic choices, Wiki Link (linking to a new or existing page in your wiki space) and External Link (linking to a web site outside of your wiki space.
      3. If you want to create a link to, say, the Wikipedia, then click the radio button by External Link, and then enter the URL (wikipedia.org) of the site in the textbox beneath. Finally, click the OK.
      4. If you want to create a link to another page in your wiki space, then click the radio button by Wiki Link. Usually you will leave the Space textbox as it is. The Page Name drop down will list all of your existing wiki space pages, if you have any yet. If not, and you want to create a new wiki page as part of your wiki space, then select New Page. The text that you highlighted will be in the New Page Name textbox. You can leave it the same ore enter another title that you want for the new page. Click OK and then the Save button. The hyperlink will appear, and when you click it, you will go to the existing page, or WakiSpace.com will create a new page for you to populate.
  7. For ideas about using wikis in your classroom, visit Vicki Davis’ classroom wikis site:

http://westwood.wikispaces.com/