Help:Contents

School of Biomedical Sciences Wiki

What is a wiki?

A wiki is an online book - think of wikipedia - and a wiki is only as good as the people who use it and participate.

Searching the wiki (aka finding stuff)

Go to the wiki at the above address. On the left hand side of the screen you will see a navigation section. You can either find material by typing the search term in the search box and clicking on ‘Go’, or you can look in the ‘Table of Contents’ (just click the link).

If you cannot find the term in the ‘Table of Contents’ try typing it in to the search box and running a search. This will result in three possible outcomes:

1. You find a page on the term
2. You find pages that contain the term
3. You find no pages and are given the option to create a new page.

Creating a new page (or editing an existing page) and adding links

To create or edit a page you need to be logged in to the wiki (details sent by email).

Creating a new page:

You have run a search, no pages are returned, and you are presented with a message “There is no page titled "XXXXX". You can create this page.” To create a new page just click on ‘create this page’ and on the page that appears start entering the text. Don’t forget to click ‘Save page’ when finished.

Editing a page:

If you have found a page and think you could improve it, or add additional links, then it can be easily edited. On the top of the page there is a little ‘Edit’ tab, just click on it and start editing. Don’t forget to click ‘Save page’ when finished.

Adding links:

The real power of a wiki is in linking material. If you are writing/editing a page and you have a term/phrase/word you would like to point to another page that explains it, then you create a link. To create a link just select the word or phrase and click on the ‘Insert/Edit Link’ button on the toolbar of the editor. In the pop-up window that appears type in the name of the link (usually the word or phrase you have selected). If there are any pages in the wiki that may already be a match then these will be suggested, if one is suitable you can select it from the list. Once you have set the link name click ‘OK’. Don’t forget to click ‘Save page’ when you have finished editing the page.

Video Help

Videos explaining how to perform specific tasks on the wiki are available and cover:

Search

You have come to a wiki to find information, so you need to know how to search it. This video explains how to search the School of Biomedical Sciences wiki - video

Login

You can search and read a wiki without logging in. To create new pages, or to edit existing pages, you need to login. This video walks you through the login process. - video

Page creation

A wiki is only as good as its content and the level of participation of its users. This video explains how to create a new entry in the wiki. - video

Page editing

In a wiki you can create pages and edit existing pages (once you are logged in). This video explains how to edit a page in the School of Biomedical Sciences Wiki. - video

Uploading files/images

Wiki entries can be greatly improved by adding figures or images. This video explains how to add an image to a wiki entry. - video

Advanced editing and wiki management

A wiki contains a number of very advanced features. It is impossible to cover and explain all the features here, and this video just covers some to the features you may wish to try. - video

Additional Help

For further help please visit the ‘Help’ page on the wiki, or email: Dr Nick Morris

Help with formatting (advanced): general - links - images - tables

Additional information can be found at: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Contents