How to use a wiki

What a wiki is

A wiki is a website that anyone can edit! See Wikipedia's article on wikis for more information: Wikipedia:wiki

How to use a wiki

The OLPC wiki uses a wiki "engine" called MediaWiki. Writing wiki pages can be much easier than coding in HTML, but it has its own rules and syntax. For information on how to contribute on our wiki, please visit Wikipedia:How to edit a page

How to be nice, on this wiki

We may notice that nobody knows exactly what behavior is expected of us on this wiki. Or, at least, if someone does, they have not posted the rules in a way that let me find them. We can, perhaps, take some clues from Wikipedia, see the link above, which seems to have done pretty well at developing a cooperative culture. Please edit and re-edit this page whenever you see a way to make it better.

What to sign, and how

In order to make the wiki maximally useful, the general rule is to leave signatures off of main articles. This lets the content stand on its own, without injecting ad hominem features. On the other hand, additions to Talk: pages are signed, which may facilitate successful communication. The best signature is four tildes, the "~", repeated. It has this result: Nitpicker 23:28, 15 December 2006 (EST).

How to agree, publicly

Usually, a note of agreement will not improve the reading experience for others, so it seems to be wise to express yourself on the talk page of the relevant article.

How to disagree, publicly

When you are confident that your view or wording will improve an article, JUST MAKE THE CHANGE. That is why wikis can be edited so easily. We want the articles to be improved very rapidly. If you are not quite so confident, it is always appropriate to express your concerns and preferences on the Talk: page. There it should be signed, with the four tildes.

If two authors hold incompatible views, the first effect may be that a change gets made and unmade. Do not let that continue, unabated. Instead, either leave both views in the article, or move one to a second page with links both ways. Other creative approaches are clearly possible and perhaps we will learn what works well over time.

Remember, we are in this together because everyone here, or at least the ones we care about, wants to see this become a valuable resource for readers. The aspect that separates wikis from other public fora is that wikis do not necessarily just get longer as more readers add their input. Instead, some of us can contribute our editing and wordsmithing skills toward condensing, clarifying, and otherwise improving the content.

Do not shy away from correcting someone else's words. You are explicitly encouraged to do that. This can be done without being cruel or even impolite. Usually it works better that way.

How can the wiki framework be improved?

There are some pages which should be easy to find wherever you are in the wiki. Surely someone is responsible for revising the content of the navigation bar on the left. Perhaps another person has the authority to change the boilerplate text at the bottom of each page and in particular at the bottom of every editing page. These are places to put things that everyone needs to know. Links to etiquette and methods articles would be appropriate, in my view.

Where should we provide feedback about the wiki itself?

Rule of thumb: Every page should display ways to give feedback on various aspects of this wiki.