Wiki getting started: Difference between revisions

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We started our Beijing tour by taking the subway to the front entrance to tiananmen square. On the way of Beijing travel to the square we passed by Mao's Mausoleum, which was closed. A little background on the forbidden city in most Beijing tours: It received its name because it was off limits for 500 years. It is the largest and best-preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China, home to two dynasties of emperors, the Ming and the Qing, who didn't stray from this pleasure dome unless they absolutely had to. The various sights i saw that go from the south of the city to north are: the palace of heavenly purity, the hall of union, the hall of supreme harmony, the hall of middle harmony, the hall of preserving harmony, and the imperial garden is in the very back.
[[Category:Help]]
== What is this wiki? ==


(Adapted from [http://wikipedia.org Wikipedia]:) This [[OLPC]] website is a wiki. A [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki wiki] is software that allows users to create, edit, and link web pages easily - in this case, information and projects surrounding the [[Home|One Laptop Per Child]] initiative. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites like the one you see here.
Once we made it inside the palace, which turned out harder than we imagined due to a variety of different ticket booths (the first ticket we bought sent us into some egyptian mummy museum...which was weird), the sight of the palace buildings seemed to go on forever. It is huge. Its amazing to believe that all of this is right in the heart of beijing. Also, more than a few other tourists, mostly local Chinese citizens, wanted pictures with me. at first i thought they all wanted me to take a picture for them but then they would just put their arm around me have their partner take pictures. I dont know who they think i am, but this is not the first time this has happened in china. The city is amazing. Look at the pictures.


The OLPC wiki is completely open; generally speaking, anyone can edit any page if they think they can improve it in some way. Wikis are generally designed with the philosophy of making it easy to correct mistakes rather than making it difficult to make them. A handful of active, experienced wiki editors act as wiki [[OLPC:Administrators|administrators]] reverting and blocking vandalism while also helping new users get started.
Once we made it to the north entrance we decided to exit the city and cross the street to see Jingshan park. I almost recommend going here over the forbidden city. The 'mountain' was erected using the dirt dug up to build the moat around the forbidden city. At the top of this rather mystical mountain is a wonderful view of beijing and the forbidden city itself. you can see everything. The russet roofing of the forbidden city has never looked cooler than from this angle. Beijing travel service and Beijing tour guide offered mainly by local travel agent in beijing On the eastern side of the park a locust tree stands in the place where the last of the Ming emperors, Chongzhen, hung himself as rebels swarmed at the city walls.

Watch this video to get a clear understanding of how a wiki works and how it differs from a webite, blog or email.

at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY (Youtube)

== Learning to use the wiki ==

=== Jumping in ===

<b>Edit</b>
*Structure and formatting of wiki pages are specified with a simplified markup language, known as "wikitext".
*Click on '''edit tab''' at the top to see the wikitext of a page.
*Type your changes straight into the page and then click the '''save''' button at the bottom. (First-time editors should probably try editing in [[Sandbox]] first.)

<b>Discussion</b>
* Wiki pages are usually reserved for more public-facing, settled-down information.
* There are discussions on attached wikipages called '''talk pages''' (also known as "discussion pages") for meta-discussions about the content of the pages themselves.
* Click the '''discussion''' tab at the top of a page (next to the "edit" tab) to get to the discussion pages. (You can try it now on the [[Talk:Wiki getting started|talkpage of this page]].)
* Some wikipages don't have a discussion page yet, but if you have something to say about a page, feel free to be the first to comment in a discussion page and start the conversation.

In notes, chats, and emails, OLPC community members often use a shorthand when referring to wiki pagenames and titles. (For instance, the name/title of this page is "Wiki getting started.") '''<nowiki>[[Page name]]</nowiki>''' translates to '''<nowiki>http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Page_name</nowiki>'''.

<b>Watch</b>
* Members will often '''watch''' pages they're interested on, which means they want to be notified whenever that page is updated without having to go back and manually check it every day themselves.
* The tutorial linked below covers this and other topics in more detail.
** First, you'll have to [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Special:Userlogin create an account], which we'd love for you to do in any case - it helps us figure out who's writing what on the wiki so we can give the proper attribution to you for all your help.

Pages with the green banner at the top, like the following line,
<div style="width:30em">
{{OLPC}}
</div>
are monitored by the OLPC team and are representative of the current state of the project; other pages may be slightly less up-to-date. You are '''welcome''' to edit and add information to OLPC-monitored pages. Use the associated Talk pages for discussions topical to the monitored page.

=== A more structured path ===

Some people like learning how to use wikis in a more structured manner. If you're looking for resources, we recommend you start by:

# [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Special:Userlogin Creating an account]
# Reading through the [http://www.wikieducator.org/Wikieducator_tutorial Wikieducator tutorial] and working through as many of the exercises as you like. [http://www.wikieducator.org Wikieducator] uses the same software we do, and they maintain an excellent tutorial on how to get started editing.

It usually takes people about 30 minutes to get comfortable using the wiki. Of course, you can do things in any order - you can even practice editing without creating an account first, if you'd like.

Once you do create an account, check your [[Special:Preferences|preferences]] and be sure you verify your email address and turn on email notification if you'd like it -- you can find out when your talk page, or any page on your [[Special:Watchlist|watchlist]], is modified. You may want to upload a photo or information about yourself to your userpage (see [[User:Lauren|Lauren's]], [[User:Mchua|Mel's]], and [[User:Xavi|Xavi's]] pages for some examples).

== Getting help ==

=== Wiki mentors ===

There are a number of active volunteers who are always willing to help new users get started. No question is too small; we're here to help point people in the right direction. Contact information should be on their userpages; just click on a name to get started.

* [[User:Mchua|Mel Chua]]
* [[User:Nlee|Nikki Lee]]
* [[User:Cjl|Cjl]]
* Add yourself here if you're willing to mentor. Make sure contact information is on your userpage.

=== Live chat ===

The '''#olpc-content''' channel on '''irc.freenode.net''' is usually a good place to find people and ask questions about using the wiki. Instructions on using [[IRC]] can be found [[IRC#How_to_use_irc_channels|here]], or just visit the web chat on http://olpc.osuosl.org/chat and type the words '''"/join #olpc-content"''' (no quotes) once you sign in.

== Next steps ==

Once you're comfortable with using the wiki in general, you might...

* Upload some notes you've taken - see the [[Wiki notes tutorial]]
* Read the [[Style guide]]
* Help with [[Wiki cleanup]]
* Grab a page on a topic you're interested in and start editing/adding - or make a new one!

Revision as of 15:35, 5 August 2008

What is this wiki?

(Adapted from Wikipedia:) This OLPC website is a wiki. A wiki is software that allows users to create, edit, and link web pages easily - in this case, information and projects surrounding the One Laptop Per Child initiative. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites like the one you see here.

The OLPC wiki is completely open; generally speaking, anyone can edit any page if they think they can improve it in some way. Wikis are generally designed with the philosophy of making it easy to correct mistakes rather than making it difficult to make them. A handful of active, experienced wiki editors act as wiki administrators reverting and blocking vandalism while also helping new users get started.

Watch this video to get a clear understanding of how a wiki works and how it differs from a webite, blog or email.

at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY (Youtube)

Learning to use the wiki

Jumping in

Edit

  • Structure and formatting of wiki pages are specified with a simplified markup language, known as "wikitext".
  • Click on edit tab at the top to see the wikitext of a page.
  • Type your changes straight into the page and then click the save button at the bottom. (First-time editors should probably try editing in Sandbox first.)

Discussion

  • Wiki pages are usually reserved for more public-facing, settled-down information.
  • There are discussions on attached wikipages called talk pages (also known as "discussion pages") for meta-discussions about the content of the pages themselves.
  • Click the discussion tab at the top of a page (next to the "edit" tab) to get to the discussion pages. (You can try it now on the talkpage of this page.)
  • Some wikipages don't have a discussion page yet, but if you have something to say about a page, feel free to be the first to comment in a discussion page and start the conversation.

In notes, chats, and emails, OLPC community members often use a shorthand when referring to wiki pagenames and titles. (For instance, the name/title of this page is "Wiki getting started.") [[Page name]] translates to http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Page_name.

Watch

  • Members will often watch pages they're interested on, which means they want to be notified whenever that page is updated without having to go back and manually check it every day themselves.
  • The tutorial linked below covers this and other topics in more detail.
    • First, you'll have to create an account, which we'd love for you to do in any case - it helps us figure out who's writing what on the wiki so we can give the proper attribution to you for all your help.

Pages with the green banner at the top, like the following line,

  This page is monitored by the OLPC team.

are monitored by the OLPC team and are representative of the current state of the project; other pages may be slightly less up-to-date. You are welcome to edit and add information to OLPC-monitored pages. Use the associated Talk pages for discussions topical to the monitored page.

A more structured path

Some people like learning how to use wikis in a more structured manner. If you're looking for resources, we recommend you start by:

  1. Creating an account
  2. Reading through the Wikieducator tutorial and working through as many of the exercises as you like. Wikieducator uses the same software we do, and they maintain an excellent tutorial on how to get started editing.

It usually takes people about 30 minutes to get comfortable using the wiki. Of course, you can do things in any order - you can even practice editing without creating an account first, if you'd like.

Once you do create an account, check your preferences and be sure you verify your email address and turn on email notification if you'd like it -- you can find out when your talk page, or any page on your watchlist, is modified. You may want to upload a photo or information about yourself to your userpage (see Lauren's, Mel's, and Xavi's pages for some examples).

Getting help

Wiki mentors

There are a number of active volunteers who are always willing to help new users get started. No question is too small; we're here to help point people in the right direction. Contact information should be on their userpages; just click on a name to get started.

  • Mel Chua
  • Nikki Lee
  • Cjl
  • Add yourself here if you're willing to mentor. Make sure contact information is on your userpage.

Live chat

The #olpc-content channel on irc.freenode.net is usually a good place to find people and ask questions about using the wiki. Instructions on using IRC can be found here, or just visit the web chat on http://olpc.osuosl.org/chat and type the words "/join #olpc-content" (no quotes) once you sign in.

Next steps

Once you're comfortable with using the wiki in general, you might...

Retrieved from "http://wiki.laptop.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Wiki_getting_started&oldid=150058"