wiki_instructions

=Introduction to Wikis: What's This "Wiki" Thing, and How Do I Use It?=


 * __Before you do anything else__, take a few moments to familiarize yourself with wikis and Wikispaces by reading below. **

** Wikis & Working with Wikispaces **

 * View this [|3-minute video] that explains the concept of wikis in plain English ... and humor. (Turn up your sound to hear it, and be aware that it takes a minute to load.) A wiki is simply a collaborative web page that multiple users can edit, a simple technology that's ideally suited for collaborative writing--unlike Word, unlike discussion threads, unlike typical HTML (web) pages.
 * View this [|brief tutorial on using Wikispaces] (this particular "brand" of wikis). Turn up your sound, and pay close attention when he starts talking about editing pages--30 seconds into the "tour."
 * Get comfortable with the Wikispaces help page. The instructions there are easily searchable and clearly written.
 * To add files or pictures to any page, [|view this brief tutorial].



** How to Begin Our 13 Ways Project Activities **
First, open your wiki page in a new window, so you can view that page and these instructions at the same time.

The most important feature for you will be the “**Edit**” button, which appears at the top of the screen on your wiki page. You’ll find that editing in the wiki is very similar to using a basic word processing program. By selecting the "Edit this page" button, you will be able to add and delete material from the page, format material, reorganize existing material, and even add links and images if necessary. **//__ WARNING :__//** Do not copy and paste into your word processor, work on it there, and then paste it back into the wiki. Wikispaces doesn't like that, and it'll end up messing up your formatting at some point. Trust me! Do your work within the wiki.

Play around on your project page by typing some text and using some of the formatting functions. Make some text in different heading styles, different colors of font, centered and aligned left, etc. Add a link to any [|external web page]. Add an anchor to navigate from one place in your page to another place in your page. (I've added more info on inserting anchors below.)

When you are editing your page, //**please remember to hit "Save" before exiting**//. You can also select **Preview** to see how your work appears, but //the __Preview button does not save your work__//, //__so remember to click Save__!//

Get familiar and comfortable with the "Help" button at the top of the page. When you have questions about how to do something in the wiki, you'll find the answers there. (If you ask me, I'll send you there anyway because that's where I look.)

At the end of the semester, your final document will be a single, polished page that your classmates and I will see. By the end of this assignment, delete any notes that aren't part of your final, polished document. For help with other tasks, visit the Wikispaces help page.


 * To insert an anchor from a word or phrase in your 13 Ways Project text to your interpretative comments below**, do the following:
 * 1) Click "Edit" to edit your page.
 * 2) Click "Text Editor," which will change your editing screen to funny codes.
 * 3) Insert the following where you want to link FROM, //but without any spaces//: [ [ PageName#AnchorName|DisplayText ] ] //(I had to insert spaces to get the coding to display, rather than perform its function, so make sure to delete all spaces.)//
 * 4) In the above code, replace "PageName" with the name of your wiki page (your name, written precisely as it appears in the URL). Make sure to type the # symbol. Replace "AnchorName" with whatever you want to call the place where you insert your interpretive comment, like "one" or something logical (without quotation marks). Replace "DisplayText" with whatever will appear/display on the page as the link itself (the word of phrase you're linking FROM). This code will then look something like the following: [ [ JohnSmith#anchorone|rose by any other name ] ] //(Make sure to delete the spaces everywhere but in your display text, where spaces are fine.)//
 * 5) Insert the following where your interpretive comment is--where you want the link to take your reader, //again, with no spaces//: [ [ #AnchorName ] ]
 * 6) In the above code, replace "AnchorName" with whatever you used as your anchor name in number 4 above. My sample would be "anchorone," so my code would look like this, without the spaces:
 * 7) Click "Visual Editor" to get back to the familiar editing screen.
 * 8) Click "Save" and test your anchor. If it doesn't work, go through numbers 3 and 4 above. It has to be absolutely precise.

//Here's a sample anchor.// //Now just click your "back" button in your web browser to get back to where you were. (See the// 13 Ways Template //for info on anchors.)//