A Simple Guide To Wikis

A wiki is an editable text-based website. But you don't need to understand any complex HTML, or anything like that to use a wiki. A wiki is really only a little bit more complex than a word-processor, but MUCH more powerful, because instead of only being 1 page, it can be lots of pages, all linked up together.

I'll show you how easy it is to use a wiki later, but first I'd like to tell you why wikis are so useful.

Wikis are useful, because they let you setup any data you want, in any way that you want. Rather than constrain you with a specific way of structuring things, you can link things together in any way that you want. This means you can set things up as simple, or as complex as you like.

Because they are so flexible, there are literally millions of uses for wikis. Some uses include:

• Keeping a daily journal
• Brainstorming
• Managing investment properties
• Implementing a GTD system (As described by David Allen)
• Research
• Running a business.

Some wikis also let multiple users share an edit the same data. An interesting example of this online is the Wiki Encyclopedia where a group of people are collaborating to make a free online encyclopedia.

Perhaps the best way to show how a wiki works is with an example. Let's say you have a page, called "HomePage" that says "Hello, this is my first wiki page."

We want to change it, by making the word "first" in bold.

Start by clicking the edit button. You will see the following: Hello, this is my first wiki page.

Using the keyboard, change the text to look like this: Hello, this is my *first* wiki page.

When you save the changes, you will see that the word first has become bolded. That's because any text surrounded by '*" becomes bold.

Now, we'd like to add a new page with a link. In HTML this can be quite complex, but in a wiki, it's really easy.

Click edit, and change the text to this: Hello, this is my *first* wiki page. And this is a link to my [second page]

When you save, you will see that the words "second page" have become a link. That's because any text surrounded by square brackets becomes a link.

To change "second page", just click on the link. If "second page" already existed, we would now see the contents of that page. But it doesn't exist yet, so the wiki makes a blank page called "second page" for us, and then shows us that page. We can change that page by clicking edit, like before.

Lets change "second page", to say this: And a link to a page about [oranges]

When we save, there will be a link to an "oranges" page. Click on the oranges link, and click edit to say: My favorite fruit.

We have now created three pages:

• The first page, called "HomePage"
• The second page, called "second page"
• The third page, called "oranges".

Lets add a link from the HomePage to the oranges page.

Go back to the HomePage, and click edit. You will see: Hello, this is my *first* wiki page. And this is a link to my [second page]

Now, lets add a third line, so the page becomes: Hello, this is my *first* wiki page. And this is a link to my [second page] And, don't forget the [oranges] page.

When we save, we now have a link to the oranges page from the HomePage. If we click on the "oranges" link, this time it doesn't take us to a blank page. That's because there is already a page called "oranges". It takes us to the existing "oranges" page that says "My favorite fruit."

See how simple it is! In no time at all, we have made 3 pages. It's really that simple, just use square brackets to create links!There is a lot more to wikis, but the fundamental concept is the link creation.

Dan Fletcher is a developer at dogMelon.

They make NoteStudio, an easy-to-use wiki-tool, being used on Palms, PC's, and Macs.

---

Review of TikiWiki Content Management System

TikiWiki is open source software - it is written in... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Distribution, Barcoding, Consignment ? overview for consultant

Microsoft Great Plains ? ERM from Microsoft Business Solutions and... Read More

Why Java RDBMS?

It is a well known fact that Java as a... Read More

Brand Your Websites URL With a Favicon

Have you ever noticed that when you look at your... Read More

Lotus Domino/Notes - Microsoft Great Plains Tandem as ERP with Documents Workflow - Overview for IT

Lotus Domino/Notes ? Microsoft Great Plains tandem as ERP with... Read More

IT Department Skills to Support Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft CRM

Microsoft Great Plains as ERP and Microsoft CRM as... Read More

Beware of Spyware

One day, you suddenly realize that your computer started to... Read More

The Secret of the Layer Styles Dialogue

When you double-click a layer in the Layer Palette, you... Read More

Spyware - The Internet Devil Of Our Times!

Spyware and Adware infest over 90 percent of computers in... Read More

Popular Fleet Maintenance Programs

Some companies that are in need of fleet management may... Read More

Software Engineering: An Introduction

Software Engineering is the Systematic Approach for analysis design implementation... Read More

The Truth about Colossus: Are You Just A Magnetic Image?

What is Colossus?Colossus is software licensed to about twenty-five insurance... Read More

Five Reasons for Using an O/R Mapping Tool

So, why should you use any O/R mapping tool? I... Read More

Review on QuarkXpress 6.0

After almost two decades of existence, Quark has become the... Read More

Great Plains Dexterity Development: FAQ

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is Dexterity-written application and currently... Read More

Importance of Coding Standards

Programming Help for BeginnersWe write programs to instruct computers. When... Read More

10 Programming Tips

(1) Avoid using the same variable again and again for... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains as ERP and Microsoft CRM as CRM

If you have Microsoft Great Plains and support it for... Read More

Top Questions to Ask Before Buying a Help Desk & Asset Management Software

#5 All your hardware components like Printers, PCs etc come... Read More

SSH (SCP) Send Files from Windows to Your Linux Box

Not all of us have the luxury of working both... Read More

Lowering The Risks In Developing Do-It-Yourself Software Projects

Mike Dunville* had a decision to make. As the new... Read More

Microsoft CRM Conversation Gateway: VoIP - Implementation & Customization

Microsoft CRM is winning market share step-by-step from such the... Read More

10 Things You Can Do With Photoshop CS2 That You Couldnt Do Before Now

Is Photoshop CS2 worth the upgrade? You bet it is!... Read More

How To Develop Software For Your Business

Software development is a risky business.Many software developers are barely... Read More

HelpDesk & Asset Management Software - Choosing The Right One

If you are to buy a HelpDesk & Asset Management... Read More

Microsoft CRM or Siebel

Siebel is traditional CRM market leader, however and mostly due... Read More

How To Identify, Cure and Prevent Spyware/Adware Infections

Just when you thought you were Web savvy, one more... Read More

The Importance of Timely Timesheets

Whether you are a small consultancy firm, a medium sized... Read More

Unofficial Windows 98 SE Service Pack 2.0 RC2

Microsoft has never released a service pack for Windows98 SE,... Read More

OLAP, An Alternative Technology Over Spreadsheets

Are Spreadsheets Robbing your Enterprise of Competitive Advantage?'90% of "average"... Read More

Groupware and Online Collaboration: Collaboration Series #4

This article is the fourth of a series of articles... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: Manufacturing or Bill of Materials - Overview for IT Specialist

Microsoft Great Plains is main Microsoft Business Solutions product, targeted... Read More

Exactly What Does FTP Stand for and What Can it do for Me?

FTP stands for "file transfer protocol". FTP is basically a... Read More