Freespire:How To Use the Wiki
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Home --> How to use the Wiki
What is a "wiki"?
A wiki is a type of website that allows users to easily add, remove, or otherwise edit all content, very quickly and easily. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for collaborative writing. You have probably heard of Wikipedia? It is a huge encyclopedia that millions of people have contributed to and is an excellent example.
Using a wiki
There are two main areas for using a Wiki that you'll want to know about:
1. Browsing a wiki
This one is super easy. Simply browse the wiki like you would any web site. You can click links, go backwards with your browser's back button, and so on. You can also use the Search box to find all pages containing a reference to what you are searching for. For example, enter "vision" in the Freespire Wiki search box and see what the results are. Anyone can browse the Freespire Wiki without logging into a Freespire account.
2. Adding to or editing a wiki
The best part about a wiki, is that any member of the community can add to or edit the wiki content. It's through the community contributions that make a wiki a powerful informational resource.
As stated above, anyone can browse the Freespire Wiki. However, before you can add to or edit the wiki, you will need to log in with your Freespire account name and password. (Most areas of the wiki can be modified by any community member who is logged in. There are, however, a few areas of the wiki which are maintained by wiki moderators and protected from editing by anyone else.)
While browsing the wiki, if you want to edit anything you see on a page, simply click the Edit tab along the top, make your changes, then click the Save button. Be sure to click Save and not just go back to the Article tab, or your changes will not be stored and will be lost.
Wikis use their own special "language" for bolding text, adding italics, creating links, including images, adding headings and sub-headings, and so on. You can visit here for lots of good information and tips on editing wiki pages. (See the Quick Examples below as well.)
Some Quick Examples
For example, this is how you...
==Create a Main Heading==
===Create a Sub-Heading===
====Create a Sub-Sub-Heading====
Note: Single equal signs give the highest level heading, like the page title; usually projects have the convention not to use them.
'''Put text in BOLD''' (You can use the tool bar to do this if you like.)
''Put text in Italics'' (You can use the tool bar to do this if you like.)
'''''Put text in Bold and Italics''''' (You can use the tool bar to do this if you like.)
[[Main Page|Create an Internal Link]] with a different name
[http://www.freespire.org Create an External Link] with a different name
[[Image:Wiki.png]] Insert an image
Insert a Horizontal Line (below)
----
<span style="color:red">This is how you make colored text</span>
A table with three rows, three columns and colored backgrounds:
{| border="1"
|- style="background:wheat"
|Column 1
|Column 2
|Column 3
|- style="background:red"
|Column 1
|Column 2
|Column 3
|-
|Column 1
|Column 2
|Column 3
|}
Experiment with the Wiki
The best way to learn how to use the Wiki is by playing around with it. For example, if you are logged in, you can visit this test page and practice some editing.
Also, since Freespire uses the exact same Wiki software (i.e.,MediaWiki) as that used by Wikipedia, a great way to play around and learn how the Freespire Wiki works is to visit Wikipedia and search on a topic you know something about (Linux, Debian, Fly Fishing, SCUBA, etc.), and contribute to the content there.
