Contents

Introduction

Introduction

A wiki is a web site which anyone can edit and expand upon. This sort of freedom enables a unique form of expression to emerge and helps foster a community of interesting and new ideas in an organic and very dynamic way. We thought it would be a good way for a city guide to emerge, one created by the people who for the most part live in the city, so we started Auckland.Wiki.

Auckland.Wiki is different than all those other web based city guides out there because it's written by the people who live in, love, or possibly hate, Auckland. Other city guides are basically paid-for reviews by businesses; Auckland.Wiki on the other hand makes no money from businesses in Auckland. If a business wants to write themselves up here, they're free to do so. If, you on the other hand, want to talk about that fly that was in your soup, or how rude that waiter was, then you're free to do so (and please do!)

A wiki basically works like this: if you see something you think is inaccurate or incorrect, you have the power to change it. If you see that something is incomplete, you can add more information. You can also create completely new content and tie it into the rest of the site. Likewise, others have the power to kind of veto your changes. It's a delicate balance but one which ultimately leaves users with the content they most want. For more information on all this potentially beautiful chaos see WhyWikiWorks

Most of all don't be afraid to change something or try something new!

Editing (Text)

To edit any page hit the edit (TEXT) link at the top or bottom of any page. This will display a form area with the raw wiki text inside it where you can add or edit content. There are many possible options for formatting your text (i.e. making the page look pretty) but mostly Wikis focus on quality and content rather than presentation.

There are though some basic formatting options outlined below:

Basic Formatting

To italicise something, surround the content in 2 single quotes, like this ''I am italicized''

To make something bold surround the content in 3 single quotes, like this '''I am BOLD'''

To make something bold and italicized surround the content in 5 single quotes, like this '''''I am BOLD and italicized'''''

The above examples will look like this:

I am italicized
I am BOLD
I am BOLD and italicized

Headings

Headings can be made by surrounding the text you wish to be a heading by = signs, like this:
= Title 1 =
== Title 2 ==
=== Title 3 ===
==== Title 4 ====
===== Title 5 =====

Lists

Lists can be made by inserting one space from the left margin, then preceeding your list items with an asterisk, like this:

 * list item one
 * list item two
 * you get the picture

Smileys and Icons

Here is a list of all the Smileys and Icons that can be inserted into your wiki text:

Markup	Display	Filename	Markup	Display	Filename	Markup	Display	Filename
`(!)`		`idea.png`	`(./)`		`checkmark.png`	`/!\`	$/!\$	`alert.png`
`:(`		`sad.png`	`:)`		`smile.png`	`:))`		`smile3.png`
`:-(`		`sad.png`	`:-)`		`smile.png`	`:-))`		`smile3.png`
`:-?`		`tongue.png`	`:D`		`biggrin.png`	`:\`	$:\$	`ohwell.png`
`:o`		`redface.png`	`;)`		`smile4.png`	`;-)`		`smile4.png`
`<!>`		`attention.png`	`<:(`		`frown.png`	`>:>`		`devil.png`
`B)`		`smile2.png`	`B-)`		`smile2.png`	`X-(`		`angry.png`
`{*}`		`star_on.png`	`{1}`		`prio1.png`	`{2}`		`prio2.png`
`{3}`		`prio3.png`	`{OK}`		`thumbs-up.png`	`{X}`		`icon-error.png`
`{i}`		`icon-info.png`	`{o}`		`star_off.png`	`\|)`		`tired.png`
`\|-)`		`tired.png`

Inserting Images

see: /InsertingImages

Editing (GUI)

If you'd rather not learn the wiki syntax you can also try using the Edit (GUI) link to edit a page using a word processor style toolbar. This feature is a little experimental but still works quite well. See: HelpOnGraphicalEditor for more info on using the GUI. Remember that for the most part it's about content not presentation.

Linking

The most important syntax to learn though in Auckland.Wiki land is how to make links. The traditional wiki way is something called CamelCase or WikiName and is created by joining two or more words and capitalizing the first letters of the world, something like this: AucklandAirport. This will, as you can see, automatically make a link to a page called AucklandAirport, which may or may not exist. If it doesn't exist, you can make it. If it already exists, you can just leave it or even edit it. Some people don't like CamelCase and think it doesn't make for a good look (and sometimes you can't always make a real WikiName anyways); in that case you can make a wiki link from a single word or even a series of words. To make a wiki link this way surround the word you would like to be a link/page in brackets and quotes, like this:

["Sailing"] or ["Swimming with Dolphins"] or ["Not Just a JAFA"]

To make a link to a page outside the wiki, write the link like [http://auckland.wiki.org.nz/ this] which displays as this. Or you can also just write http://auckland.wiki.org.nz/ if you don't want any alternative text.

More information on editing can be found over at HelpOnEditing. In general, just looking at how existing pages do things (by clicking on Edit and looking at the "raw" content) should let you figure out the markup — which is very simple! (Always make sure you "Preview" before you "Save Changes", otherwise you might end up editing a page several times)

Creating New Pages

To create a page, first think about where you want this page to be linked from. Say you want to create a page about your favorite local band. Ideally, there should be a link to this band in Music or perhaps other pages as well. You would go edit Music to add a link to your page — even though your page hasn't been made yet. Once you save your changes and click on the new link, you'll be given the opportunity to create the page.

TIP: If you can't think of a page to create, look over the WantedPages. It is a list of pages which have been linked but have not been created. Perfect candidates for a write-up!

If this is unclear, just view the source by selecting "Show Raw Text" from the actions pulldown, or if you're lazy, just by clicking "Edit" of some pages. It will become perfectly clear after a few minutes. Some pages on Auckland.Wiki are immutable, ie. they cannot be changed. They are mostly system information pages related to the Wiki software. We do not as a policy create very many immutable pages ... the point is to be as open as possible.

It is possible to create a page without making a link to it first, simply type the name of the desired page onto the end of the Auckland.Wiki url, like this http://auckland.wiki.org.nz/Dogs and hit enter. You should then be prompted with the option of creating the Dogs page. But remember: because you made the page without first making a link to it, it might get lost in the sea of pages. Linking is very important for this reason — If you don't link your new page from existing pages, then no one will be able to find it. Spend some time thinking about good places where you should make a link to your new page. Using the search box is very useful for finding phrases and material where you might want to provide a link.

Adding Categories

It is often useful to add a category to pages you create; this groups like pages together. To add a page to a category put the page into editing mode then use the Add to: pulldown menu at the bottom of the page to select the appropriate category.

Comments

Some pages have a comment box where you can add comments to a page without having to edit the page itself. If you create a new page and would like to add the comment box to it add the comment macro to the bottom of the page like this (in Edit(Text) mode):

[[PageComment2]]

or use the Insert/Edit Macro button on the Edit(GUI) toolbar and select PageComment2

for more info and attributes for the Comment Macro, see: MacroMarket/PageComment2

Stubs

This article is a stub and could use some expanding. If you're willing, why not leap in there and flesh it out?

CategoryStub

If you see this on a page it means that the author or editor considers this an incomplete article that could use some help. Be nice ... see if you can add anything. To designate an article a stub add this to the bottom of the page:

[[Include(Stub)]]

Following Changes

Use the RecentChanges tab to check out what's happening on Auckland.Wiki. This will give you a quick overview of what has changed. Clicking on the blue moin-info icon next to a change will take you to the info page where you can compare versions of a page to see what specifically has changed. If you're the type of person who likes RSS you can also subscribe to an RSS feed of all the Rechent Changes by clickin on the icon.

User Accounts

You don't have to create a user account to edit information on Auckland.Wiki but doing so gives you a few benefits not available if you're not logged in.

Creating an Account

To create an account go to the UserPreferences page and fill out Name, Password, Password repeat and Email.

Your email is needed for you to be able to get notifications on page changes and to recover lost login data.

If you click on Create Profile, a user profile will be created for you.

Benefits of Logging in

Creating an account and logging in allows you to 'subscribe' to pages. Pages that you are subscribed to will email you notice when they are changed, nice eh? Logged in users also see a breadcrumb trail of places that they've recently visited on the wiki as well as being able to permanently add links to pages they frequent often.

Once you've logged in once to the wiki you shouldn't have to login again (as long as we can set a cookie in your browser.)