One great advantage of using a wiki as a club’s website is that information can be added to it by the members of the club. Understandably, some members may reluctant to do this because they are afraid they might “mess things up” or because they don’t think their contributions will be appropriate. For reassurance, consider the following.
• If you make a mistake you can always revert to the previous version of the page you are editing by clicking on the “Page history” button and pressing “Delete” by the top entry, which is labeled (Current Entry).
• Any contribution that is somehow related to nature and the environment or any objectives of the club should be appropriate. If you’re uncertain where your contribution should go, you can always contact a wiki administrator at jwillehman@gmail.com or donandvivhall@sympatico.ca.
Basic Editing
Note: If you don’t find what you need to know on this page you can refer to the PBworks Users Manual. Click on “Help” on the right-hand corner of any page, on the “Read the Manual” button that appears, and then on “Editing.”
In this context, to “edit” simply means to add new material or change existing material on a wiki page. As a rule, you shouldn’t change material that was contributed by another club member, but you can always edit any of your previous contributions to make additions or corrections.
Here are the steps to follow in order to edit a page.
1. If you are already authorized to edit the wiki, click on “Log In” (top right) and enter your e-mail address and the club password. If not, click on “request access” in the little box above the Navigator box; you will be informed when your request has been approved. (You can also request access by e-mailing a wiki administrator.)
2. Click on the “Edit” tab of the page you wish to edit.
3. Most pages have directions telling you where to enter your contribution. Just place the cursor there and start writing. Alternatively, you can write your contribution off-line with a plain-text word processing program such as Notepad (for a PC) or TextEdit (for a Mac), copy it, and paste it on the page you’re editing.
4. Click on “Save.” This takes you back to the “View” mode.
5. Check your entry for spacing, etc., and return to the Edit mode to make any necessary corrections. (Sometimes the spacing changes in going from Edit to View mode.)
6. When you're finished, click on "sign out" in the top right corner of the page.
Sometimes after you've started editing a page you may receive a message such as "Someone has stolen your lock on this page. You will no longer be able to save changes." Don't be alarmed—this just means that someone else is editing the page, and only one person can edit it at a time. You can always come back later and finish your editing.
Using the Text Tools
Note: You can practice anything described here by going to the SandBox page and clicking the Edit tab. After you’re done you can click “Cancel” at the bottom to leave the page as it was, or you can save your work if you like.
When you’re in the Edit mode, you’ll see a “toolbox” of icons representing various text-editing tools. Note that holding the cursor over an editing tool’s icon momentarily tells you what the icon is for; e.g. holding the cursor over B yields a little box with the word “Bold.” The first four tools in the top row allow you to change the appearance of your text.
B For changing the text to boldface.
U For underlining text.
I For changing text to italics.
ABC To strike through text. (You can also simply delete the text, but the strikethrough lets readers know what has been deleted, such as a cancelled outing.)
For example, if you select B, all of the text you write will appear in boldface until you again click on B. You can also change text you’ve already written to boldface by selecting the text and clicking on B.
The next two tools allow you to make numbered or bulleted lists.
• This is a bulleted list.
• Numbered and bulleted lists are indented.
• Clicking on the bulleted list tool stops the list.
• Subsequent text will not be indented.
You can change a numbered list to a bulleted list and vice versa by selecting the list and clicking on the appropriate tool. Other list-making options are described in the PBworks User Manual.
The next two tools (with left and right arrows) allow you to move a paragraph to the left (Decrease Indent) or to the right (Increase Indent).
For example, clicking on the Increase Indent tool has moved this paragraph one tab space to the right. Clicking on it again will move the paragraph another tab space to the right. Note that the whole paragraph has moved; if you just want to indent the first line, use the tab key on your keyboard. To return to the starting position click on the Decrease Indent key after you have terminated the indented paragraph with a Return.
You can also increase or decrease the indent of a paragraph by selecting the paragraph and pressing the appropriate key.
The next three tools control the justification of your text. This text is left-justified; that is, the text is aligned on the left margin. Most text is left-justified.
This text is center-justified, being aligned with the center of the page. Titles and images (photos etc.) are sometimes center-justified.
This text is right-justified, being aligned on the right margin.
The next two tools allow you (1) to copy text by selecting the text you want to copy and clicking on the “Copy” tool, and (2) to insert the selected text at the location of the cursor by clicking on the “Paste” tool. Text can be copied from a plain-text word-processor document (such as Notepad on a PC or TextEdit on a Mac) and pasted in a wiki page. If your text was written on another word processer such as MS Word, you should copy it and paste it onto a blank page of a plain-text word processor, then copy it again and paste it on a wiki page (with Text Edit, select the text you want to copy and then select "Make Plain Text" from the Format menu). Usually it’s easier to use keystrokes to copy and paste that to use the wiki tools. For example, on a PC you can use the Control key combined with C to copy text, and with V to paste it; on a Mac the “apple” key is used instead.
The tool with the curved arrow is intended to undo a previous editing operation. If it doesn’t undo as much as you want, you can click on it repeatedly. Again, undoing an action is easier with keystrokes, using Control-Z for a PC and Apple-Z for a Mac. Of course you can always deleted unwanted text by selecting it and pressing the “Delete” or “Backspace” button on your computer keyboard.
Following the next two tools (we’ll come back to them later) is a tool that draws a horizontal line at the location of the cursor. This allows you to separate different sections of text on a page.
After that is an icon that looks like a blackboard eraser, indicating the “Remove Formatting” tool. This tool changes the selected text back to the default formatting. It comes in handy when the text you’ve added isn’t formatted the way you want it. Once you have removed the formatting you can always add new formatting (font size and type, italics, headings etc.) as needed. Text that has been added from a word processor such as MS Word may contain undesirable formatting code that could affect the functioning of a wiki page, so the formatting of such text should be removed with this tool.
The “Check Spelling” tool, indicated by a checkmark with ABC, is used to identify spelling mistakes on a page with a red-dotted underline. Right-clicking on a misspelled word should yield a list of possible corrections. The spell checker doesn’t underline misspelled words as you write; you have to activate it when you finish writing a paragraph, for example.
On the bottom line of the Toolbox are two tools that allow you to control the color of your text and its background. Clicking on the first one, “Text Color,” yields a drop-down “palette” from which you can select the color you want (green, for example). It's best to select the text you want to color first and then select the color. Otherwise all subsequent text will be that color (unless you select the black box at the left of the second line of the Text Color palette.
You can use the next tool, “Background Color,” to highlight text with a color selected from its palette. Generally a light background color, such as yellow, is used. Select the text first and then select the color; otherwise all of the subsequent text will be highlighted (unless you select the white box at the bottom right of the Background Color palette).
Next is the drop-down Format menu, which provides different formats for normal text, text headings, etc. To use, select the text you want to reformat, then click on the down arrow at the right side of the Format box and select the heading type or other format you want. You can also select a format as you write; any text you enter after choosing a particular format will be entered in that format until you change to a different one. Sometimes you may want to use the Text Color palette to make a title stand out in color.
The Font menu currently offers seven different fonts, with Arial being the default font. Changing the font can add some variety to your contribution. For example, headings and captions of photos often stand out better when written is a font that is different from that of the other text.
The Font size menu is used to increase or decrease the size of the text. The default size is 100% and can be varied from 75% to 200% of the default.
The SandBox has more examples illustrating the uses of some of these tools.
Inserting Links
The Insert/Edit Link tool (a globe with a chain link in front) allows you to create links to other pages on the wiki, to other websites, and to e-mail addresses.
Links to Other Wiki Pages
Suppose you’ve just written an announcement about an upcoming event on the “Announcements” page and want to make sure it will be noticed by other Sault Naturalists. You can go to the “What’s New” page, click on the EDIT tab, and write a notice like the following just above the most recent previous notice (it’s a good idea to add the date of the announcement):
Go to the Announcements page for information about the Pawating Environmental Film Festival on April 30–May 2. (April 22, 2009)
Now select the word “Announcements” in your notice and click on the Insert/Edit Link tool. The resulting pop-up window should say “PBworks Page” in the first box (if not, scroll to that option). Click on the down arrow of the second box, select “Announcements” (you may have to scroll down to find the page you want) and click on OK. Now the word “Announcements” will appear in blue with a blue underline, and after you save the page, clicking on that word will take you the Announcements page.
Links to E-mail Addresses
Suppose you know of a botanist who would like to establish the distribution pattern of a certain rare plant and would like members of the club to notify him of any sightings. You could print a notification on the Announcements page and provide a live link to his or her e-mail. While in edit mode, place the cursor where you want the e-mail address to go, click on the Insert/Edit Link tool, and select “Email” in the Link Type box. Then enter the e-mail address in the next box and save the page. Now clicking on the link should allow a user to leave a message for the botanist.
Links to Websites
Suppose you are contributing an article that refers to peregrine falcons and want the readers to see some stunning photos of peregrines on the Encyclopedia of Life website. Simply go to the web page that has the photos (its URL is http://www.eol.org/pages/1049164), select the URL by clicking the icon on the left of the address line, and copy it. Then go to the page with your article (save it before leaving the SooNats site), click on EDIT, and select an appropriate word or phrase to use as a link. For example, you could write “See some great photos of peregrines!” and select the word “peregrines.” Now click on the Insert/Edit Link tool and, in the Link Type line, select URL. Copy the URL in the second line, click OK, and save the page. The word “peregrines” will appear in blue and clicking on it should take you to correct web page.
Uploading Images and Documents
Suppose you have written an outing report and would like to add a photo or two from the outing. Have the photo’s JPG file in a convenient place on your computer, preferably on the desktop; be sure you know its name or number. Click on EDIT on the wiki page and place the cursor where you want the photo to appear. Now click on the “Images and files” tab below “Insert links,” then click on Upload files. On the pop-up window that appears, select “Browse,” then select the appropriate JPG file, which will be uploaded automatically. When the upload is complete, the photo’s file name (or number) will appear below the Images and files tab, at the top of a list of other uploaded files. Click on the file name and the photo will appear at the position of the cursor. If the photo is too large, click on it and then click and hold the little box at the bottom right corner of the photo and drag it diagonally up and to the left. You may have to repeat this process to reduce the photo to a reasonable size (it's preferable to reduce the size of a photo before you upload it, if possible). Then you can reposition it as desired; for example, clicking on the Center Justify tool will center it in the page. Add a caption below the photo if you like.
To upload a document, you can follow nearly the same procedure. For example, if you have prepared a report and want to make copies available to the membership, you can go to the appropriate page, click EDIT, and write a notice such as the following (include an explanatory paragraph so the members will know what they’re getting):
Click on the following link to download a copy of Mushrooms of Algoma.
Select the word or phrase you want to use as a link (probably Mushrooms of Algoma in this example). Click on the “Images and files” tab, then on Upload files. Click on the Browse button in the pop-up window and select the appropriate file. When its name appears at the top of the list of uploaded files, click on it. When you save the page, Mushrooms of Algoma will become a link that anyone can use to download your report to his or her desktop.
Creating a Personal Page
Are you interested in some area related to natural science or the environment and would you like to give others the benefit of your knowledge? For example, are you knowledgable about nature photography, bird behaviour, plant identification, environmental issues, and the like? Would you like to share your opinions on nature-related issues or your creative writing endeavours with other club members? Would you like to keep an online log of your outdoor experiences? If so, you might wish to create your own Personal Page for the enjoyment and edification of others.
To create your page, click on Personal Pages here, then log in and click on the Edit tab. Enter the name of your page above the first blue page link, leaving a space between. Use the cursor to select the name of your page and click on "Insert a link to a new page" under the Pages tab on the right. The resulting blue link may be smaller than the rest but you can resize it using the "Size" box on the toolbar (135% should be about right). Click on "Save" and click on your page link, then click on "Create page" in the window that appears (you can change the name of your page at this time if you wish). Your page will now appear with the name you've given it. You can then use the methods described here to enter text, photographs, or other material based on your interests.
If you have trouble creating a page or would rather not try it yourself, contact jwillehman@gmail.com and provide the name you'd like to use for your page.
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