Viewing a Wiki

Viewing a wiki site works very much like viewing any web site - use links on any of the pages to go to another page (these links will need to be created by the page editors). The gray task bar on the right side also allows access to all pages in the wiki - they are listed alphabetically under "site navigation".

 

Editing a wiki page

Users who have editing privileges to a wiki will see an edit link in the page section of the task bar on the right. Clicking this link will open the current wiki page in editing mode. Enter text into the text box, and format it with the editing toolbar located above the text box. Pausing the mouse over each toolbar button will bring up a brief description of the button's functionality. It is important to click Save at the bottom of the page at the end of each editing session.

Only one user can edit a given wiki page at a time. Other users trying to edit the same page will see a message that the page is currently being edited by someone else (the name is included in the message).

Creating a New Page

Empty wikis start out with a blank home page, but every wiki can have multiple pages - a wiki isn't just a web page, it is a web site. To create a new page, click on new in the page section of the gray task bar on the right. This will open up a blank page in editing mode.

 

Adding External Links and Linking Pages

To add a link to a wiki page, open the page in edit mode by clicking on edit in the page section of the gray task bar on the right.

1. Highlight the text that will be linked.
2. Click the Insert Link icon in the tool bar above the text box.
   
   
   A small window with the "Insert link wizard" pops up.
   1. Click on "Link to a new page" radio button if you plan on linking to a page that hasn't been created yet. Then enter the page name in the "Page name" field, or
   2. Click on the "Link to an existing page" radio button and then select the wiki page that you want to link to, or
   3. Click the "Link to external site" and type or paste the URL for the page that you want to link to in the "URL:" form field.
   4. Then click the [Insert] button to create the link.
3. Click the [Save] button located on the bottom right-hand-side of the screen to save the page edits.

Inserting Images

To add an image to a wiki page, open the page in edit mode by clicking on edit in the page section of the gray task bar on the right.

1. Then, click the Insert Image icon in the tool bar above the text box. An "Insert image wizard" window will be displayed.
   
   
   
   
   1. If you want to upload a display image to Blackboard click on the "Upload an image" radio button, then click the [Browse] button and navigate to the image on your local computer. Once the image is selected the "Insert image wizard" will be redisplayed with the "Image file" field populated.
   2. If you want to link to a web accessible image click on the "Include an image from an external web site" radio button, then type or paste the image address into the "URL:" field.
2. Click on the [Upload] button to retrieve the image.
   
   Notes: It is good practice to include a brief alternate description of the image, for users who cannot access images. It is important not to upload images which are too large, especially in width. Large images mean that users looking at the wiki on a small monitor will need to scroll in order to see all of the image. Page width is also dictated by the widest image on a page - this means that a wide image will force some users to scroll sideways to read any text on the page.
3. An "Insert image" popup window will be displayed. Click on the [Insert] button to add the image to the page.
4. Click the [Save] button located on the bottom right-hand-side of the screen to save the page edits.