Wiki Getting Started

About Wikis

A wiki is a website that uses wiki software, allowing the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked Web pages, using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor, within the browser. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites, to power community websites, and for note taking. The collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia is one of the best-known wikis. Wikis are used in business to provide intranet and knowledge management systems. Ward Cunningham, the developer of the first wiki software, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as "the simplest online database that could possibly work."

"Wiki" (English pronunciation: /wiːkiː/) is a Hawaiian word for "fast". "Wiki" can be expanded as "What I Know Is," but this is a backronym.

Editing wiki pages

Editing most wiki pages is easy. Simply click on the "edit this page" tab at the top of a wiki page (or on a section-edit link). This will bring you to a new page with a text box containing the editable text of the original page.

To see how the page looks with your edits, press the "Show preview" button. To see the differences between the page with your edits and the previous version of the page, press the "Show changes" button. If you're satisfied with what you see, be bold and press the "Save page" button. Your changes will immediately be visible.

Notable wiki areas

These are some of the big areas of the Dreamwidth wiki.

• Category:Getting Started -- guides on how to get started working on Dreamwidth
• Development -- work on the Dreamwidth code base
• Documentation -- how to write great documentation for users
• Styles -- currently documenting the heck out of S2
• From LJ Suggestions -- features people wish Dreamwidth included

If none of these interest you, or you are looking for something specific, check out Category:Index.

Questions/problems

Please address any questions or problems with the wiki to User:Foxfirefey, who's in charge of it. The best way to contact her is emailing skittisheclipse@gmail.com, but saying "wiki" in IRC sometimes works. You can also see dw_wiki if you want to ask questions or discuss the wiki!