Avenue Help Centre | Managing Wikis

Managing Wikis

Margarita Berezyanskaya

Last Update 6 days ago

A wiki is a course web page that students can create together.

Wikis start with one simple front page that students can edit. They can also add new pages and create links to them. This powerful tool enables students to construct the content of webpages collaboratively while completing tasks assigned by their instructor. Students can create these pages quickly because they do not need instructor approval to add pages or content. However, the instructor can remove content if needed. By using a wiki’s history function, it is possible to review all changes made to a page and revert to an earlier version if needed.

Wikis are used in some eUnits, especially at the LINC 5-7 levels, for web-based collaborative research. They are also used to prepare for group presentations and to brainstorm collaboratively.

Although wikis are group activities, only one user can edit a page at a time. This can make it challenging to do a wiki activity during computer lab time without some advance planning. This planning could entail adding multiple pages to the wiki before class begins. Using this more advanced courseware feature, wiki pages can be accessed by members divided into groups rather than by the entire class in the same wiki. This feature will be covered in the Stage 3 training.

Exemplar

There is a Wiki activity in the Stage 2/3 Exemplar Course. It is called Sample Wiki: LINC 4 - Job Search Wiki.

Students Creating a Wiki Page

1. Navigate to a wiki from the course home page.

The first time a new wiki is opened, users are prompted to create the first page.

2. Read the Wiki task instructions.

3. Choose the HTML format.

4. Click on the Create page button.

Parts of a Wiki editing page

The parts of the wiki editor are:

Page title
Wiki instructions
Wiki tools drop-down
Editor (TinyMCE)
Tags

Editing a Wiki Page / Adding a Table of Contents

1. Navigate to a wiki from the course home page.

Note: The first page of the wiki is displayed.

2. Choose Edit from the editing drop-down menu to reveal the editing tools menu.

Note: The tinyMCE editor appears.

3. Click on the Reveal or hide additional toolbar items icon to display more editing icons.

4. Type a title for the page, e.g., Introduction.

5. Select the title you typed.

6. In the TinyMCE editor menu, click on the Format option.

7. Click on Paragraph styles in the drop-down menu.

8. Choose a text format, in this case Heading 4.

Note: To ensure visual structural consistency and proper sequential navigation by accessibility screen readers, position headings in ascending order (H1 to H6). H1 is the largest heading level, and H6 is the smallest.

Note: If you use these heading styles in a wiki, it will automatically create a Table of Contents page.

9. Click on the Save button.

Note: The student view appears.

Adding a Wiki Page

New wiki pages are added by inserting text inside double square brackets, i.e. [[XXXX]].

1. Choose Edit from the editing drop-down menu to reveal the editing tools menu.

2. Type the new page name inside double square brackets.

3. Click the Save button.

The updated page is displayed in the View tab. The new link, Page 2, appears in red because the linked page does not yet exist.

4. Click the link to the newly added page.

The options for adding the New page appear. Enter the name in the New page title if needed. Use the default Format, HTML.

5. Click the Create page button.

The page editor for the new page, Page 2, appears.

6. Edit the new page. Avoid using the Heading styles on pages unless you want a separate Table of Contents for each page. Use the double brackets to create a link back to the first page. Put the name of the page you want to link to in the brackets.

7. Click on the Save button.

8. The View tab becomes active.

Note: Be aware that the new link is not red. This indicates that the link is active. If the link is red and you entered the page name, go back and ensure that the page name is spelled correctly. In the example below, the World Health Organization wiki page has already been created.

9. Click the (blue) hyperlink to go to the front page (named "World Health Organization") of the wiki. The front page appears.

Commenting on Wiki Pages

1. Navigate to a wiki page.

2. Choose Comments from the editing drop-down menu to open the comments screen.

Note: The Comments page is displayed. If any comments have been previously added by course participants, they are displayed.

3. Instructors cannot change student comments. They can only delete them.

4. If an instructor wants to respond to a comment, they should click on the Add comment link.

5. Type the comment and click Save changes to post it.

Using the Wiki's History Tab

1. Navigate to a wiki page.

2. Choose History from the editing drop-down menu to open the wiki history screen.

Note: A list of the wiki page Versions appears, including when each version was added and by whom. The Version numbers are hyperlinks to previous versions of the wiki.

3. Click a version to display it, e.g., Version 3.

Note: The page displays the selected version and the user who edited it. The (Restore this version) link restores the wiki to that version.

Comparing Wiki Versions

1. Click the Back button.

2. Use the radio buttons in the Diff (difference) column to select two versions of the wiki page.

3. Click the Compare selected button.

The two versions appear side-by-side.

The changes made in Version 5 (displayed on the right) are shown in red and green. Navigation links at the bottom can be used to display different versions.

The Map Tab

1. Navigate to a wiki page.

2. Choose Map from the editing drop-down menu to open the wiki map screen.

Note: The Map page appears. The Map menu drop-down can be used to filter/modify the Map page view. All of the pages in this wiki appear in alphabetical order in the in the map view.

The Files Tab

1. Navigate to a wiki page.

2. Choose Files from the editing drop-down menu to open the wiki Files screen.

Note: The Files page appears. It is used to display files uploaded into a wiki. One file has been uploaded to this wiki in the example shown.

The Administration Tab

1. Navigate to a wiki page.

2. Click on the View drop-down.

3. In the menu, choose Administration to open the wiki Administration screen.

4. Choose the Admin menu drop-down for options to Remove pages or Delete page version. By default, it shows orphaned pages, but you can click List all to view a complete list of the wiki's pages, with options to edit or delete them.

Resources

Moodle Documents: Wiki Activity

Moodle Documents: Wiki FAQ

Moodle Documents: Using Wiki