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A tool to collaborate on projects

•What does Collaborate mean?

•To work together

A Wiki is . . .

•An open, collaborative Website where anyone can contribute

•Each page on a wiki has an Edit button. If you want to change something on the page, click the button, and the wiki will display a simple editing screen.

Simple to Edit . . .

• The editing is done as WYSIWYG. What does this mean?

• When you finish making changes, submit them by clicking a “save”button, and, Your changes show up on the Website instantly.

Simple to Edit . . .

You do not need to know html or how to write code…the wiki does it for you.

Simple to Edit . . .

• If you make a mistake, don't worry. Plenty of old copies of your pages are saved in the “history” tab and you can revert to an older version of a page VERY EASILY.

Wikis record document histories . . .

• Wikis store all your Website's content in an internal hypertext database. The wiki knows about every page you have and about every link you make. You can upload files and pictures both.

Creating Links is Simple

• You don't have to worry about the location of files or the format of your tags. Simply name the page, and the wiki will automatically create a link for you. The wiki will list all the files you have uploaded.

Creating Links is Simple

you can organize your page however you want: You can organize using “categories”, tables, horizontal bars, etc.

Traditionally, whomever happens to be reading the wiki could click the Edit button and change the Website. While this may seem odd, many wikis are able to do this successfully without major issues in terms of vandalism.

• This is because the wiki This is because the wiki stores the history of each stores the history of each page. For each vandal, page. For each vandal, there are probably ten there are probably ten people who actually need people who actually need the information that was the information that was there before, and who will there before, and who will take the time to click the take the time to click the button and reset the page button and reset the page to its former contents.to its former contents.

Our Wiki Site:

• Is restricted: only a given set of usernames are allowed to edit.

• I know the identity of those usernames.

Now that you know how a wiki works, I will treat profanity on the wiki the same as if it was spoken aloud in class.

Wikis are becoming known as the tool of choice for large, multiple-participant projects.

• Use a wiki to keep notes and share ideas among a group of students.

• Organize your group’s wiki page so it is easy for group members to add “thoughts” or ideas and to encourage creativity.

The REAL Challenge of a Good Wiki

• We all can appreciate a joke and humor.• But when it comes to vandalism and

profanity or inappropriate material, the GREAT thing about a wiki is that this material can be immediately removed so that … to make your Changes REALLY mean something…it is like a survival-of-the-fittest: "You need to generate real content . . . Otherwise anything else will be removed. So anyone can play, but only good players last."

• Blogs and wikis are opposites in many ways... A blog tends to reflect the biases and opinions of an author, while a wiki is more like an open conversation among friends. In a wiki you try to speak without a strong voice, seeking approval to create something permanent that won’t be deleted by the group, while on a blog you're developing your own voice and it's very much about just “you.” (Usually – that is not very interesting!)

What if someone erases large parts of the site?

• Revision control: Easy to revert back to a previous good version.

• If it is done intentionally, the editor can be tracked by their username

• Only certain usernames are allowed access to our wikis.

What if someone erases large parts of the site?

• The purpose of the wiki is to WORK TOGETHER to get a good grade on this project. Most students want a good grade and would prefer to use a computer rather than writing a 10 page report.

• However, I can accommodate anyone who would rather do this project as a written 10 page report.

Rules• No obscene language• Do not use the wiki space for

anything other than creating the project about firearms, planning for the project and necessary information between group members.

• Be polite and courteous• Do not delete an entire wiki page or

sections of the wiki that does not require deletion.