Setting Up and Using the Wiki

  1. Enter your course.
  2. Look to the top right and ensure that your Edit Mode is ON. If it is Off, click the word Off once to turn it On.
  3. Click on the area of the course where you wish to place the wiki, such as Assignments (or perhaps a new area that you create called Wiki).
  4. Hover over or click on the Add Interactive Tool menu. Choose Wiki from the drop-down menu.
  5. In Step 1:
    • Click to choose Link to a Wiki.
    • Click the Create New Wiki button.
    • In the new set of steps that appear, enter a name for the wiki and in the larger text field type your instructions for student use of the wiki.
  6. In Step 2, choose whether to make the wiki available at this time. Leave the Limit Availability section blank unless you need to restricts dates and times for access to the wiki.
  7. In Step 3, choose Open to Editing if you want students to be able to edit the wiki. Closed to Editing makes the wiki visible but inaccessible for editing.
  8. In Step 4, click to choose whether to assign a grade to the wiki (which will generate a Gradebook item).
  9. Click Submit. You will now return to the original numbered page. Notice that the new wiki is now listed on this page, and it is should be highlighted to show it is selected.
  10. Click the Next button at the top or bottom right.
  11. In the Link Name line, type the name you want to give to the link to the wiki. It could be the same name as the wiki itself. In the larger text box, you may add descriptive text about the wiki you are linking to.
  12. Click Submit. You have set up the wiki.
  13. Click on the name of the wiki to enter the wiki.
  14. Click on Create Wiki Page to begin creating pages. Often, the page that contains introductory materials is titled Home.
    • New pages may be created by clicking the Create Wiki Page at any time.
    • To edit a page, click on Edit Wiki Content at the top right of the wiki page.
    • To move among pages, use the page index at right. Click on the page you want to view or edit.
    • Type your text and use the buttons much as you would in a word processor. The third row of buttons will help you place and embed media in the wiki. The button in the second row that looks like a globe is the Hyperlink button for inserting URLs.
    • To view the History of a wiki page, look at the index of pages at the right. Click on the down arrow to the right of each page name, and choose History.

TIP: When placing photos in the wiki, if you do not choose a size option, you can resize the photo when editing the wiki by clicking and dragging from the corner of the photo. You can also set the width and height (see second tip, below).

TIP: When placing video in a wiki, it will be too small unless you enter the pixel size you desire. A good size is 420×300. To add the video: Click on Add MPEG/AVI Content or on Add Quicktime Content (these are the third and fourth buttons in Row 3). Choose your video, and for Set Width type 420 and for Set Height type 300. (This also works for photos.) Click on Submit, click Submit again in the next window that appears. You will need to save (click Submit) to see it (the portion with the video will look blank until you do).

Create Link within Wiki Page

While either creating or editing a wiki page, you can create links to not only other pages you have created, but to pages you want to create.

To do this, either type in the text or insert the image that you want to link from, then highlight and select the Insert Link button on the bottom left tool bar of your wiki page (the icon looks like a chain).

You can insert a link to a new page by selecting its radio button and inputting the page name that you want to create, insert a link to an existing page by selecting its radio button and choosing the page from a list of pages that have already been created, you can link to an external web site by selecting its radio button and pasting or typing in the URL, or you can link to an anchor (a section of a wiki page that has already been created) by selecting its radio button and choosing the Anchor name from a drop-down list (this option will only be available if you have already anchored a section title of a wiki page).

Add Comment to Wiki Page

To comment on a Wiki, first make sure that you are in the course you would like to work in and then select the Content Area in which the wiki is located.

Once in the Content Area page, find the wiki for which you would like to add an entry comment and select View. Next, find the wiki page you would like to add a comment to and select Comments to the bottom right of its body. A text box will appear in the Wiki page for you to type or copy/paste any text you wish. When you are finished, select Add Comment to post the comment below the wiki page.