20-Minute Tutorial

This step-by-step, guide will make you feel like an an expert in minutes...

NOTE: It will probably seem strange at first to be able to change other people's postings. This is because we are all used to separating individual messages on the Internet, eg. as e-mails, message board postings etc. Don't worry about it. You can't accidentally delete important stuff - everything gets recycled here - you can always check previous versions, and copy-and-paste from them if you want to undo any changes.

After a short while, this free-form of online communication becomes second-nature. You may even want it and expect it everywhere you go on the internet !

1. On your marks...

Open two windows (or TABS) in your browser, so that you can refer to this page in one, while trying out some stuff in the other - you know how to do that - right ?

2. Get set...

This website is divided into different sections eg. YogaPlaces.Hatha

• Each section is made up of different Topics, these are the pages displayed on your computer screen - just like this one.
• Some pages contain highlighted links called WikiWords (sometimes called BumpyWords, because they comprise two or more words with initial capitals, joined together). See how they are active links ?
• You can follow this link to the WikiWord topic to learn more about them if you like.
• If you know the name of a topic you want, (eg. MahaKala ) you can jump directly to it by typing its name (eg. MahaKala) into the Topic Jump field at the top right of each page and then pressing enter on your keyboard - see that ?
• You can type WebSearch to jump to the search topic. Hint: Topic Jump is not the same as a search.
• You can search each section separately. Enter some words into the Search field on each topic and then pressing enter on your keyboard. The standard search will search for an exact match.

3. GO !

To edit and create new topics, you need to have registered with the website. Just go to the WikiRegistration page to create your account. Fill in a couple of lines and thats it !

Who is here?

• Go to the WikiUsers topic; it has a list of all users of this website. Your WikiName will be in this list after you register.

Page editing...

You will find (at the bottom of the page) a collection of links like this:-

• Edit - add to or edit the topic (discussed later)
• Raw View - show the source text without editing the topic
• Attach - attach files to a topic (discussed later)
• Backlinks - find out what other topics link to this topic (reverse link)
• Printable - goes to a stripped down version of the page, good for printing
• History - topics are under revision control - History shows you the complete change history of the topic, for example, who changed what and when
• r3 > r2 > r1 - view a previous version of the topic or the difference between two versions
• More - additional controls, such as rename/move, version control and setting the topic's parent.

Change a page, or create a new one...

• Click the Edit link. You are now in edit mode and you can see the source of the page.
• Notice how WikiWords are linked automatically
• Now, create a new topic - your ownpage:
  1. In edit mode, enter a new text with a WikiWord, for example:
     This is WikiGuestMyTestPage topic.
  2. Save the topic. notice how the name appears, highlighted, with a linked question mark at the end. This means that the topic doesn't exist yet.
  3. Click on the question mark. Now you're in edit mode of the new topic.
  4. Type some text, basically, like you write an e-mail.
  5. A signature with your name is already entered by default. NOTE: The YogaSources. in front of your name means that you have a link from the current web to your personal topic located in the YogaSources? web.
  6. Preview and save the topic...
• Learn about text formatting. You can enter text in WikiShorthand, a very simple markup language. Follow the WikiShorthand link to see how, then:
  1. Go back to your test topic end edit it.
  2. Enter some text in WikiShorthand: bold text, italic text, bold italic text, a bullet list, tables, paragraphs, etc. Hint: If you need help, click on the TextFormattingRules link located below the text box in edit mode.
  3. Preview and save the topic.

Uploading files such as images and documents as attachments to the page...

You can attach any type of file to a topic - documents, images, programs, whatever - where they can be opened, viewed, or downloaded.

• Attaching files is just like including a file with an e-mail.
  1. Go back to your sandbox topic and click on the [Attach] link at the bottom.
  2. Click [Browse] to find a file on your PC that you'd like to attach; enter an optional comment; leave everything else unchecked.
  3. Click [Upload file], then scroll to the end of the page to see the new attachment listing.
• Do this again - this time, upload a GIF, JPG or PNG image file.
  • Check the [Link:] box to Create a link to the attached file at the end of the topic. The image will show up at the bottom of the topic.
  • To move the image, edit the topic and place the last line (containing %ATTACHURL%) anywhere on the page.
• If you have a GIF, JPG or PNG image of yourself, your cat, your sprawling family estate...why not upload it now to personalize your account page WikiGuest?

Get e-mail alerts whenever pages are changed...

WebNotify is a subscription service that automatically notifies you by e-mail when topics change in a TWiki web. This is a convenience service - for many people, checking e-mail is easier than checking the Web.

• If you're collaborating on a topic, it's important to know when anyone on your team posts an update. ALso, if you're following a specific discussion, it's convenient to know when there's new input.
• Alerts are e-mailed as links to individual topics that've been changed in a set period: usually every month.
• It's strongly recommended that you try out the service by subscribing to any sections that are relevant to you. You can subscribe and unsubscribe instantly, on a per section basis using the WebNotify within each section.

That's it! You're now equipped with all the essentials. You are ready to roll.

Related Topics: UserDocumentationCategory