Monday, March 12, 2012

Week 7, Things 11 & 12 - Wikis, Wikipedia, and the U of S Wiki

Welcome to Week 7, Things 11 and 12!

After completing Things 11 & 12, you will...
Be familiar with the U of S Wiki Tool, and have contributed to the 23 Things Wiki.

What is a Wiki?
A wiki is a Web site that allows users to add and update content on the site using their own Web browser. This is made possible by Wiki software that runs on the Web server. Wikis end up being created mainly by a collaborative effort of the site visitors. A great example of a large wiki is Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia in many languages that anyone can edit. The term "wiki" comes from the Hawaiian phrase, "wiki wiki," which means "super fast." I guess if you have thousands of users adding content to a Web site on a regular basis, the site could grow "super fast." (techterms.com)





The U of S Wiki Tool
The wiki is available to "anonymous" (non-registered) users as well as to "members" (U of S Members and Guests). By using your NSID username and password, or your guest username and password, you can log in as a member of the wiki service. As a U of S member, you will have more editing and contributing access than an anonymous user. Guests will require additional access privileges from wiki owners.

Step-by-step instructions
1. Go to https://wiki.usask.ca/

2. Log-in with your NSID and PASSWORD (top right side of the page)

3. Go to the Wiki documentation home page and browse the various tutorials. The guided introduction to Confluence Wiki software contains some very useful tutorials and instructions.

4. Enter the 23 Things Wiki page and familiarize yourself with the layout. Then, add it to your favourites: Click on Favourite (so the star becomes yellow) under the Tools drop-down menu.

5. Click on the “How Might the U of S Wiki Benefit You? Round 2” child page

6. Contribute to the page by "Edit".

7. Once you have shared some thoughts, remember to click on SAVE.

Now blog! Blog about your experience with the U of S Wiki Tool. Tell us what you particularly liked – and didn’t like - about it. Do you think you will use the tool in the future?

Optional extras
Have a look at Wikispaces or Wikidot to see what they may offer you that's different.


Don't forget to mark this week's activity as complete in the 23 Things Work Completed Spreadsheet so you can qualify for our grand prize draw.

4 comments:

  1. Is this only thing 11? Are we going to be doing something else with Wikipedia?

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  2. This is it for the week. Thing 11 is just a description of wiki's and uses Wikipedia as an example for you to explore on your own time. Thing 12 is the U of S Wiki tool. :)

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  3. I'm a bit confused in navigating the 23 Things Wiki. Where/how can I see what others have posted to it? What's the difference between the child page & the main page?

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  4. Child pages are just a way of organizing multiple pages or documents on the main page. For example, if you were on a team, each person can post their own document for viewing and editing by others. Alternativly, you may just have one page or document that each person contributes to. By clicking on the link to a child page, you will be able to read what others have contributed.

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