The look-and-feel is highly configurable, through use of templates
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A "plugins" interface eases
customisation
extension
application integration
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A "plugins" interface eases
customisation
extension
application integration
Applications of basic TWiki
Basic TWiki can be used as:
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A whiteboard
A document repository
A collaborative authoring environment
A notebook / scrapbook
A chat room
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A whiteboard
A document repository
A collaborative authoring environment
A notebook / scrapbook
A chat room
Extended applications
TWiki-with-extensions has been used as:
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A Content Management System (CMS) for websites
A presentation development tool
A Blog
A database
A project management system
A tracking tool
(truth is, we don't really know its limits!)
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A Content Management System (CMS) for websites
A presentation development tool
A Blog
A database
A project management system
A tracking tool
(truth is, we don't really know its limits!)
Structure of a TWiki page
TWiki pages are usually organised into three parts:
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A header
A body
A footer
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A header
A body
A footer
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The header and the footer are generated by the system
The body contains the text of the page, as entered by you
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The header and the footer are generated by the system
The body contains the text of the page, as entered by you
TWiki is very configurable, and the look can change. However the essentials will all be there on the page (somewhere!)
The Page Header
The header of a TWiki page is generally highlighted in colour, and will usually contain an icon that gives you an idea of where you are, such as a company logo.
The other links invoke other, more complex, functions, mainly to do with revision tracking - they can safely be ignored for now
Editing Pages
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You've read a page, and you disagree with it violently! It says: Everyoneknows that the world is an OblateSpheroid But you know for a fact it is flat!
You've clicked the edit link, and an edit page has appeared. But it doesn't look much like what was on the page before - it's full of strange hieroglyphics!
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You've read a page, and you disagree with it violently! It says: Everyoneknows that the world is an OblateSpheroid But you know for a fact it is flat!
You've clicked the edit link, and an edit page has appeared. But it doesn't look much like what was on the page before - it's full of strange hieroglyphics!
_Everyone_ *knows* that =the world= is an OblateSpheroid
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Now what?
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Now what?
What's in a page
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The hieroglyphics are what's known as "TWiki Markup" or "formatting"
They are a really simple way of telling the browser how you want the page to look
You don't have to use them
TWiki understands pages in plain text just fine.
Actually it is perfectly and absolutely flat
appears as
Actually it is perfectly and absolutely flat
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The hieroglyphics are what's known as "TWiki Markup" or "formatting"
They are a really simple way of telling the browser how you want the page to look
You don't have to use them
TWiki understands pages in plain text just fine.
Actually it is perfectly and absolutely flat
appears as
Actually it is perfectly and absolutely flat
Formatting just makes pages prettier
... and easier to read
_Actually_ it is *perfectly* and __absolutely__ flat
The best thing to do is just to type until you get stuck
then follow the link on the edit page to the help.
Commonly used formatting
TWiki understands pages in plain text just fine, but you can jazzthemup using some simple formatting shortcuts. Here are some of the more commonly used ones:
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---+ indicates a heading. Add more +'s for a deeper heading.
You type
You see
---+ This is a heading
This is a heading
---++ And so is this
And so is this
%TOC% will insert a table of contents
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---+ indicates a heading. Add more +'s for a deeper heading.
You type
You see
---+ This is a heading
This is a heading
---++ And so is this
And so is this
%TOC% will insert a table of contents
More common formatting
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A blank line gives a paragraph break
--- on a line of its own gives a horizontal bar
Text in stars *like this* looks like this
Text in underscores _like this_ looks like this
Text in equals signs =like this= looks like this
Bulleted lists use three spaces followed by an asterisk (*) at the start of the line
The depth of the bullet is given by the number of spaces, in multiples of three
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A blank line gives a paragraph break
--- on a line of its own gives a horizontal bar
Text in stars *like this* looks like this
Text in underscores _like this_ looks like this
Text in equals signs =like this= looks like this
Bulleted lists use three spaces followed by an asterisk (*) at the start of the line
The depth of the bullet is given by the number of spaces, in multiples of three
You type
You see
* Bullet * Sub-bullet
Bullet
Sub-bullet
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Numbered lists use a number in place of the *. The list is numbered automatically, so you can just use a 1
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Numbered lists use a number in place of the *. The list is numbered automatically, so you can just use a 1
Even more.....
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You can create a table using vertical bars:
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You can create a table using vertical bars:
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Cat
Feline
Bear
Ursine
Wolf
Vulpine
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Cat
Feline
Bear
Ursine
Wolf
Vulpine
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appears as
Cat
Feline
Bear
Ursine
Wolf
Vulpine
%RED% .... %ENDCOLOR% will change the colour of the enclosed text. Lots of colours are available (%RED%, %GREEN%, %BLUE% etc)
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appears as
Cat
Feline
Bear
Ursine
Wolf
Vulpine
%RED% .... %ENDCOLOR% will change the colour of the enclosed text. Lots of colours are available (%RED%, %GREEN%, %BLUE% etc)
WikiWords
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One special hieroglyph that is very important is a BumpyWord
a word that starts with uppercase, then some lowercase, then more uppercase (a.k.a CamelCase)
This has a special meaning to TWiki; if it matches the name of another topic, TWiki will automatically create a link to that page for you.
If there is no such page, then the word is highlighted and a question mark is put after the word, LikeThis
If you click on the question mark, then TWiki will invite you to create that page.
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One special hieroglyph that is very important is a BumpyWord
a word that starts with uppercase, then some lowercase, then more uppercase (a.k.a CamelCase)
This has a special meaning to TWiki; if it matches the name of another topic, TWiki will automatically create a link to that page for you.
If there is no such page, then the word is highlighted and a question mark is put after the word, LikeThis
If you click on the question mark, then TWiki will invite you to create that page.
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This lets you enter the names of topics you think should exist, but don't yet
You, or someone else, can always come along later and click on the question mark!
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This lets you enter the names of topics you think should exist, but don't yet
You, or someone else, can always come along later and click on the question mark!
[[http://www.google.com/][Google]] appears as Google
Use %SEARCH. This is an interface to a sophisticated search engine that embeds the results of the search in your page. See TWikiVariables for full details.
[[http://www.google.com/][Google]] appears as Google
Use %SEARCH. This is an interface to a sophisticated search engine that embeds the results of the search in your page. See TWikiVariables for full details.
Attachments are simply files, in whatever format you want.
TWiki recognises some file formats, notably image files (.gif)
Write %ATTACHURL%/myco.gif to see this:
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Attachments are simply files, in whatever format you want.
TWiki recognises some file formats, notably image files (.gif)
Write %ATTACHURL%/myco.gif to see this:
Wiki Culture
Enough about mechanics; how is a wiki actually used ? Well, that's really up to you, but there are a number of tricks that the wiki community has developed for collaborative writing that work pretty well:
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What can I edit?
Anything. But it's good etiquette to sign your contributions
If someone doesn't want you to edit a page, it's up to them to say so, clearly, on the page
But what if somebody doesn't like my edits?
In TWiki, they can always recover the old revision and re-instantiate it if they really want to
Otherwise they should regard your changes as an opportunity for discussion
Pages in wiki are (usually) in one of three "modes"
DocumentMode
ThreadMode
StructuredMode
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What can I edit?
Anything. But it's good etiquette to sign your contributions
If someone doesn't want you to edit a page, it's up to them to say so, clearly, on the page
But what if somebody doesn't like my edits?
In TWiki, they can always recover the old revision and re-instantiate it if they really want to
Otherwise they should regard your changes as an opportunity for discussion
Pages in wiki are (usually) in one of three "modes"
DocumentMode
ThreadMode
StructuredMode
TWiki doesn't automatically distinguish between these modes; they are purely semantic.
DocumentMode
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A page in DocumentMode usually comprises a contribution which is written in the third person and left unsigned.
The piece of text is community property
It may have multiple and changing authors as it is updated to reflect the community consensus.
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A page in DocumentMode usually comprises a contribution which is written in the third person and left unsigned.
The piece of text is community property
It may have multiple and changing authors as it is updated to reflect the community consensus.
ThreadMode
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Thread mode is a form of discussion where the community holds a conversation
The discussion usually starts out with a statement, at the top of the page, that is subsequently discussed
The page may be periodically "refactored" (edited) to remove some of the comments
As long as the comment is accurately reflected in what replaces it, nobody usually minds.
Remember to always maintain a complete list of contributors, though!
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Thread mode is a form of discussion where the community holds a conversation
The discussion usually starts out with a statement, at the top of the page, that is subsequently discussed
The page may be periodically "refactored" (edited) to remove some of the comments
As long as the comment is accurately reflected in what replaces it, nobody usually minds.
Remember to always maintain a complete list of contributors, though!
You may see a comment box on a page in ThreadMode that makes it easy to quickly add your inputs. Typing in a comment and adding it to a page this way is known as "blogging"
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ThreadMode is rather like an e-mail thread
Except that new comments are usually added to the end
ThreadMode pages often get refactored into DocumentMode
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ThreadMode is rather like an e-mail thread
Except that new comments are usually added to the end
ThreadMode pages often get refactored into DocumentMode
StructuredMode
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A page in StructuredMode follows some predefined structure for example
An agenda
A set of meeting minutes
A requirement description.
Pages in StructuredMode will usually have rules governing how they are edited.
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A page in StructuredMode follows some predefined structure for example
An agenda
A set of meeting minutes
A requirement description.
Pages in StructuredMode will usually have rules governing how they are edited.
Other Wiki tricks - Categories
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A Wiki trick for grouping pages together
Example: to group together a set of pages all relating to the weather:
Create a page called 'CategoryWeather'
Put a SEARCH that contains the word 'CategoryWeather' into it
Put the BumpyWord 'CategoryWeather' on all the pages relating to the weather (usually at the bottom, below a horizontal bar)
Contributed features
Basic TWiki is rich with features, but is enriched even further by the addition of optional plug-in modules that may (or may not!) be installed in your TWiki. These are classified as either skins (modules that change the look-and-feel) and plugins (modules that enhance functionality).
Here's a brief description of some of the more common plugins, together with the tags you might expect to see in topics if they are used. You can find out more by visiting the plugin pages.
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ActionTrackerPlugin: Support action tags in topics, with automatic notification of action statii %ACTION...
CalendarPlugin: Show a monthly calendar with highlighted events %CALENDAR...%
CommentPlugin: Support rapid entry of short comments (also known as blogging) %COMMENT...
ChartPlugin: Create PNG or GIF charts to visualize data in TWiki tables%CHART...
EditTablePlugin: Edit TWiki tables using edit fields and drop down boxes%EDITTABLE...
InterwikiPlugin: Define shortcuts for links to common external sites
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ActionTrackerPlugin: Support action tags in topics, with automatic notification of action statii %ACTION...
CalendarPlugin: Show a monthly calendar with highlighted events %CALENDAR...%
CommentPlugin: Support rapid entry of short comments (also known as blogging) %COMMENT...
ChartPlugin: Create PNG or GIF charts to visualize data in TWiki tables%CHART...
EditTablePlugin: Edit TWiki tables using edit fields and drop down boxes%EDITTABLE...
InterwikiPlugin: Define shortcuts for links to common external sites
More plugins
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RenderListPlugin: Render bullet lists in a variety of formats%RENDERLIST...
SlideShowPlugin: Create web based presentations based on topics with headings %SLIDESHOWSTART...
SpreadSheetPlugin: Add spreadsheet calculations like "$SUM( $ABOVE() )" to tables located in TWiki topics %CALC...
TablePlugin: Control presentation and sorting of tables%TABLE...
TWikiDrawPlugin: Add quick sketches to pages %DRAWING...
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RenderListPlugin: Render bullet lists in a variety of formats%RENDERLIST...
SlideShowPlugin: Create web based presentations based on topics with headings %SLIDESHOWSTART...
SpreadSheetPlugin: Add spreadsheet calculations like "$SUM( $ABOVE() )" to tables located in TWiki topics %CALC...
TablePlugin: Control presentation and sorting of tables%TABLE...
TWikiDrawPlugin: Add quick sketches to pages %DRAWING...
myco.gif
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