Introduction

A wiki is a linked set of pages which anyone can edit and expand. This freedom allows for unique expression and helps foster interesting and new ideas in an organic and very dynamic way. DentonWiki is a wiki devoted to Denton, as noted by its Mission Statement.

If you see something you think is inaccurate or incorrect, you have the power to change it, as do all of the other editors. If you see that something is incomplete, you can add more information. You can also create completely new content and tie it into the rest of the site. Likewise, others have the power to veto your changes. It is a delicate balance, but one which ultimately leaves the users with the content they most want.

Never be afraid to change something or try something new! However don't be surprised if information you remove is restored by other editors.

IMPORTANT: You don't need to create an account to edit most pages, but you may want to. An acount helps start the process of establishing identity here with other editors, so if you've made good edits in the past other users will trust your future contributions more. It is a really good idea to use your real name when signing up because this ties your online identity to your IRL one, and shows that you are taking responsibility for what you do here.

Making an account is as easy as clicking a button and choosing an appropriate name (like BobSmith). If you would like to be able to retrieve a forgotten password, you should also enter a valid email address. That's it. After making an account you should check out the People page and make a homepage for yourself.

Editing

Editing a page is as simple as clicking on the "Edit" tab at the top of the screen.

Hover the mouse over the toolbar to reveal what each button does.

Linking

The most important concept, though, is linking. The idea is to have all pages linked together in a logical and intuitive way. To make a link to a page, highlight the word, and hit ctrl+L or hit the link icon in the toolbar, and type in the name of the page you want it to link to.

If you're linking outside of the wiki, type in (or copy and paste) the full URL.

New pages

To create a page, first think about where you want this page to be linked from. Say you want to create a page about your favorite local band. Ideally, there should be a link to this band in Music Scene or perhaps other pages as well. You would go edit Music Scene to add a link to your page — even though your page hasn't been made yet. Once you save your changes and click on the new link, you'll be given the opportunity to create the page!

Info Tab / Revision History

The wiki tracks all the changes made to all the pages, and this information is available in the Info tab at the top of the screen. Every edit of a page accounts for a new version, and clicking "Difference" once in the Info tab allows you to see differences between two selected versions. Clicking the "revert" button next to a version in the change history reverts the current version of the page back to that particular version.

Pictures

To add a picture, just click on the "image" icon in the toolbar in edit mode.  It automatically gives you the option to caption the image.  If you double click on the image, you can right or left align it also.

Now what?

After you've made an account, you should go ahead and make a home page for yourself! To make a homepage, simply click on your user name in the upper right hand corner (the easy way), or if you want to do it manually, make a page in the wiki with the same name as your login name, but with "Users/" in front of it. This means if your name is PhilipNeustrom (it's not), you simply make the page with the title Users/PhilipNeustrom and fill it with whatever you want. After making your homepage, head over to People and add your page to the list.

Mapping

Every page in the wiki can have some map information associated with it. Obviously, this is only a good idea in some cases (when the page can be given a geographic location).

Tips

• Link link link! After you've made a page you should search the wiki looking for places to add links to your new page. After all, if you make a page, shouldn't you make sure everyone else can see it? Occurrences of the page name are immediately candidates for links. Beyond this, you can get creative and link relevant text accordingly.

more tips can be found in Quick Wiki Tips

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Check out FAQ for the FAQ stuff!