Wiki+How-To

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=First things first= To edit and create pages at the Wayne Elementary wiki, you must first be logged into Wikispaces (if you can view this page, then you already are logged in). A quick way to tell if you're already logged in or not, is to visit wayneelementary.wikispaces.com. If you see the option to Edit pages or Create New Page, then you are logged in. These options will not be present if you are not.

Once you click on the Wayne link, you'll be taken directly to the Wayne Elementary wiki, which resembles this:


=Creating a New Page=

You will then be taken to the edit screen, which looks like this. There is a toolbar to explore!


=Pasting Content! And Important Keyboard Shortcuts= A note on copying and pasting content from an outside source (such as a Microsoft Word doc) into a Wiki page: You should be able to select all (ctrl + a) and copy (ctrl + c) content using the right-click menu of your mouse, **__but for pasting__** into Wikispaces, **__only the shortcut, ctrl + v, will work.__**

Remember, to paste content into Wikispaces, you MUST use the keyboard shortcut, **ctrl + v** Hold the ctrl button down, then press V.

Other Important Keyboard Shortcuts
While holding the "ctrl" button down, you can press

and
 * Z for undo
 * X for cut
 * C for copy
 * V for paste
 * A for select all

These commands only work for text editing, not for saving images, etc. If you are on a Mac, //instead// of the ctrl key, use the ⌘/command key (used to be the apple key).

=Linking=

===Clicking on the Link button allows you to link to pages within the wiki, external web sites on the World Wide Web, as well as anchors, which are linked-to sections within larger web pages. Anchors are handy for lengthy web pages, such as your students' reports, which have numerous sections. To get started, click the Link button. A window like this will appear:===

Notice how it has three tabs for the different types of links. If you want to link to a page within the wiki, use this first tab.
 * 1) The first box is what your link will be called. If you're linking to a wiki page on tigers, it will be called "tigers" and show up as such.
 * 2) The second box wants to know which wiki you are linking to. Since we're only working on one wiki (and not, say, Ithan's wiki), don't worry about changing this.
 * 3) The third box wants to know if you're linking to a page that already exists. If it does, select it from the dropdown. If not, that's okay, because by creating the //link//, you will inadvertently create a new page!

If you have a lot of pages on your wiki, the dropdown list will be a little long when you try to find a page you want to link to, as seen below.


===For external links (meaning any web page on the World Wde Web, outside of the wiki), use the second tab. In the Address box, paste the URL (web address) of the web site you want to link to. Check the "New Window" box so that the link will open in a new browser window. Doing this prevents the user for being directed away from the wiki.===

===Linking to anchors involves an extra step. First, put your cursor where you want the anchor to be. Then, use this screen to name your anchor. Click "add link." Now an invisible anchor will be in place to link to! Next, click the Link button again, and using the Wiki tab, link to the anchor you just named. Usually you link to anchors within the page you are working on, but you can also link to anchors on other pages as well.===

As an example, this very section on linking has an invisible anchor next to the section header, and at the very top of this page is a link to that anchor spot!

=Adding Images=

First, figure out where you would like your image to be by placing your cursor there. Then, click the File button to add images to your wiki page. This window will appear.

 * To add images saved to your computer, you must first click the "Upload Files" button.
 * Once you've selected your files, they will upload to the files browser on the left-hand side. They may take a moment to appear.
 * Once your file has uploaded, double click it, and it should appear in your editing space.


 * If you want to use an image that is not on your computer but online, click the External Image tab.**
 * Paste the URL (web address) of the image file itself into the box. This URL should end in an image file name such as .png, .jpg, .gif, etc.
 * Click the load button and wait for a thumbnail of the image to appear.
 * Once the thumbnail appears, double click it, and it should appear in your editing space.


 * A note about linking to external images:** Since an external image is hosted on an outside web site and does not live within the wiki file system itself, there is always a chance that the image can disappear when the outside web site changes. To prevent this, it's always better to save the image to your computer, then upload it to the wiki.

The following image is what it looks like once you've added an image to your wiki page.

===Image files have their own toolbars too! The image toolbar is fairly straight forward. It includes image alignment, size, adding a caption, and adding a link. It's a good practice to add a link to your image if it was found online. Remember, if you link to the site an image is from, link to the web address of the web page itself, and not to the image file.===

=Using Widgets!= ===Widgets on Wikispaces are useful and varied. This page is using a Table of Contents widget to automatically generate a navigation section up top! You can use widgets to add other convenient navigational sections, embed video and audio content, offer polls, post documents, etc etc. The best way to find out what widgets can do is to play around with them. Each widget option includes instructions on what it's used for and how to implement it. Here are just a few views of your options===







That's all for now. This page will be updated as needed. Thank you for reading!