20-Minute TWiki Tutorial

This step-by-step, hands-on tutorial gets you up to speed with all the TWikiSite basics, in mere minutes...

1. Get set...

• If you're using TWiki to collaborate on a project, it's important to know when anyone on your team posts an update. If you're following a specific discussion, it's convenient to know when there's new input.
• Alerts are e-mailed as links to individual topics that've been changed in a set period: each day, every hour, whatever is configured for your system.
• It's strongly recommended that you try out the service by subscribing to each TWiki web that's relevant to you. You can subscribe and unsubscribe instantly, on a per web basis using WebNotify.

NOTE: When first using TWiki, it will probably seem strange to be able to change other people's postings - we're used to separating individual messages, with e-mail, message boards, non-Wiki collaboration platforms. Don't worry about it. You can't accidentally delete important stuff - you can always check previous versions, and copy-and-paste from them if you want to undo any changes. After a short while, TWiki-style free-form communication becomes second-nature. You'll expect it everywhere!

20-Minute TWiki Tutorial

20-Minute TWiki Tutorial

• Go to the TWikiRegistration page to create your TWiki account. Fill in a couple of lines and you're set!

• Go to the TWikiUsers topic in the TWiki.Main web; it has a list of all users of TWiki. Your WikiName will be in this list after you register.

5. Test the page controls...

6. Change a page, and create a new one...

• Look at the text in edit mode and compare it with the rendered page (move back and forth in your browser.)

• Notice how WikiWords are linked automatically; there is no link if you look at the text in edit mode.
• Now, create a new topic - your own test page:

1. 1. Preview and save the topic. The name appears, highlighted, with a linked question mark at the end. This means that the topic doesn't exist yet.
   2. Click on the question mark. Now you're in edit mode of the new topic.

1. 1. A signature with your name is already entered by default. NOTE: The Main. in front of your name means that you have a link from the current web to your personal topic located in the Main web.
   2. Preview and save the topic...

1. 1. Go back to your sandbox topic end edit it.
   2. Enter some text in TWikiShorthand: bold text, italic text, bold italic text, a bullet list, tables, paragraphs, etc. Hint: If you need help, click on the TextFormattingRules link located below the text box in edit mode.
   3. Preview and save the topic.

7. Use your browser to upload files as page attachments...

1. 1. Go back to your sandbox topic and click on the [Attach] link at the bottom.
   2. Click [Browse] to find a file on your PC that you'd like to attach; enter an optional comment; leave everything else unchecked.
   3. Click [Upload file], then scroll to the end of the page to see the new attachment listing.

• Do this again - this time, upload a GIF, JPG or PNG image file.
  • Check the [Link:] box to Create a link to the attached file at the end of the topic. The image will show up at the bottom of the topic.
  • To move the image, edit the topic and place the last line (containing %ATTACHURL%) anywhere on the page.

• If you're using TWiki to collaborate on a project, it's important to know when anyone on your team posts an update. If you're following a specific discussion, it's convenient to know when there's new input.

• It's strongly recommended that you try out the service by subscribing to each TWiki web that's relevant to you. You can subscribe and unsubscribe instantly, on a per web basis using WebNotify.

20-Minute TWiki

5. Test the page controls...

• [Attach] - attach files to a topic (discussed later)
• [Ref-By] - find out what other topics link to this topic (reverse link)
• [Printable] - goes to a stripped down version of the page, good for printing

20-Minute TWiki

• [More] - additional controls, like [Rename/move], version control and setting the topic's parent.

6. Change a page, and create a new one...

• Look at the text in edit mode and compare it with the rendered page (move back and forth in your browser.)
• Notice how WikiWords are linked automatically; there is no link if you look at the text in edit mode.
• Now, create a new topic - your own test page:

20-Minute TWiki

1. Get set...

Open two browser windows, so that you can follow these steps in one window, while trying things out in the other.

• Each web has hyperlinked topics, displayed as pages in your browser.
• The home page in each web is the WebHome topic.

• Follow the WikiWord link and learn what it is.
• If you know the name of a topic, you can jump directly to it by typing its name into the Go field on the top of the page. Type WebSearch to jump to the search page. Hint: Do not confuse the Go field with search.

• Look at the text in edit mode and compare it with the rendered page (move back and forth in your browser.)
• Notice how WikiWords are linked automatically; there is no link if you look at the text in edit mode.

1. 1. Type some text, basically, like you write an email.
   2. A signature with your name is already entered by default. NOTE: The Main. in front of your name means that you have a link from the current web to your personal topic located in the Main web.

1. 1. Go back to your sandbox topic end edit it.

1. 1. Preview and save the topic.

1. Get set:

• The home page in each web is the WebHome topic.
• To browse a TWiki web, just click on any highlighted link. These links are called WikiWords and comprise two or more words with initial capitals, run together.
• Follow the WikiWord link and learn what it is.

• You can search each TWiki web. Enter a search string in the WebHome topic or the WebSearch topic accessible from the Search link on each topic. TWiki searches for an exact match; optionally, you can also use RegularExpressions.

3. Open a private account page:

• Go to the TWikiRegistration page to create your TWiki account.

4. Check out TWiki Users, offices and groups:

• Go to the OfficeLocations? topic in the TWiki.Main web; it has a list of corporate offices already entered into TWiki.
• Go to the TWikiGroups topic in the TWiki.Main web; it has a list of groups which can be used to define fine grained TWikiAccessControl in TWiki.

6. Change a page and create a new one:

• Look at the text in edit mode and compare it with the rendered page (move back and forth in your browser.)
• Notice how WikiWords are linked automatically; there is no link if you look at the text in edit mode.

7. Upload files as page Attachments:

• Go back to your sandbox topic and click on the Attach link at the bottom.
• Browse for any file you would like to attach; enter an optional comment.
• Upload and attach the file.

• If you have a GIF or JPG image of yourself, why not upload it now to your personal topic?

8. Get email alerts when topics change:

• WebNotify (one per TWiki web) is a subscription service to be automatically notified by email when topics change in a TWiki web. This is a convenient service, so you do not have to come back and check all the time to see if something has changed.
• It is strongly recommended that you subscribe to the TWiki web(s) relevant to your work.

20 Minute TWiki

• Attach : Attach files to a topic (discussed later)
• Diffs : Topics are under revision control. Diffs shows you the complete change history of the topic, e.g. who changed what and when.
• r1.3 | > | r1.2 | > | r1.1 : Allows you to see a previous topic revision or the difference between revisions.

6. Change a page and create a new one:

• Go to the Test? topic of the TWiki.Test web. This web is the sandbox where you can make changes at will.

• Do this again with a JPG or GIF image file.
• Checkmark the box "Create a link to the attached file at the end of the topic."
• Upload and attach the image file.

• If you have a GIF or JPG image of yourself, why not upload it now to your personal topic?

8. Get email alerts when topics change:

20 Minute TWiki

• To edit topics, you need to have a TWiki account.
• Go to the TWikiRegistration page to create your TWiki account.

• Go to the TWikiUsers topic in the TWiki.Main web; it has a list of all users of TWiki. Your WikiName will be in this list after you register.
• Go to the OfficeLocations? topic in the TWiki.Main web; it has a list of corporate offices already entered into TWiki.

5. Test the Topic controls:

• Go to the WebHome topic to learn what we can do with a topic.

• • TWiki is divided up into webs; each one represents one area of collaboration. The webs are accessible at the upper right corner of each web page.
  • Each web has hyper-linked topics. A topic is one web page in your browser.
  • The home page in each web is the WebHome topic.

• • If you know the name of a topic, you can jump directly to it by typing its name into the Go field on the top of the page. Type WebSearch to jump to the search page. Hint: Do not confuse the Go field with search.
  • You can search each TWiki web. Enter a search string in the WebHome topic or the WebSearch topic accessible from the Search link on each topic. TWiki searches for an exact match; optionally, you can also use RegularExpressions.

• • To edit topics, you need to have a TWiki account.
  • Go to the TWikiRegistration page to create your TWiki account.

• • Go to the TWikiUsers topic in the TWiki.Main web; it has a list of all users of TWiki. Your WikiName will be in this list after you register.
  • Go to the OfficeLocations? topic in the TWiki.Main web; it has a list of corporate offices already entered into TWiki.

• • Go to the WebHome topic to learn what we can do with a topic.
  • The bottom of the page has some links:
  • Edit : Allows you to edit the topic (discussed later)

• • Diffs : Topics are under revision control. Diffs shows you the complete change history of the topic, e.g. who changed what and when.
  • r1.3 | > | r1.2 | > | r1.1 : Allows you to see a previous topic revision or the difference between revisions.

• • Go to the Test? topic of the TWiki.Test web. This web is the sandbox where you can make changes at will.
  • Press the Edit link. You are now in edit mode and you can see the source of the page. (Go to a different topic like TestTopic3? in case you see a "Topic is locked by an other user" warning.)
  • Look at the text in edit mode and compare it with the rendered page (move back and forth in your browser.)
  • Notice how WikiWords are linked automatically; there is no link if you look at the text in edit mode.
  • Now let's create a new topic, your own sandbox topic:
    • In edit mode, enter a new text with a WikiWord, i.e.
      

• • • Preview and save the topic.
    • You can see a linked question mark after the topic name. This means that the topic does not exist yet.
    • Click on the question mark. Now you are in edit mode of the new topic.

• • • Enter some text in WikiSyntax: bold text, italic text, bold italic text, a bullet list, tables, paragraphs, etc. Hint: If you need to look up the WikiSyntax, click on the TextFormattingRules link located below the edit field.
    • Preview and save the topic.

• • You can attach any file to a topic, not unlike attachments to an email.
  • Go back to your sandbox topic and click on the Attach link at the bottom.
  • Browse for any file you would like to attach; enter an optional comment.

• • The image will show up at the bottom of the topic. To move the image, you can edit the topic and move the last line (starting with <a href="%ATTACHURLPATH%/...) to anywhere you like.
  • If you have a GIF or JPG image of yourself, why not upload it now to your personal topic?

• • It is very important that team members are kept in sync of changes.
  • WebNotify (one per TWiki web) is a subscription service to be automatically notified by email when topics change in a TWiki web. This is a convenient service, so you do not have to come back and check all the time to see if something has changed.
  • It is strongly recommended that you subscribe to the TWiki web(s) relevant to your work.

• • Go to the OfficeLocations? topic in the TWiki.Main web; it has a list of corporate offices already entered into TWiki.

• Operations on topics:

• • The bottom of the page has some links:
  • Edit : Allows you to edit the topic (discussed later)
  • Ref-By : Find out what other topics link to this topic (reverse link)

• • r1.3 | > | r1.2 | > | r1.1 : Allows you to see a previous topic revision or the difference between revisions.

• Editing a topic and creating hyperlinked pages:

• • Press the Edit link. You are now in edit mode and you can see the source of the page. (Go to a different topic like TestTopic3? in case you see a "Topic is locked by an other user" warning.)
  • Look at the text in edit mode and compare it with the rendered page (move back and forth in your browser.)
  • Notice how WikiWords are linked automatically; there is no link if you look at the text in edit mode.

• • To browse a TWiki web, just click on any highlighted link. These links are called WikiWords and comprise two or more words with initial capitals, run together.
  • Follow the WikiWord link and learn what it is.
  • If you know the name of a topic, you can jump directly to it by typing its name into the Go field on the top of the page. Type WebSearch to jump to the search page. Hint: Do not confuse the Go field with search.

• Create your account:
  • To edit topics, you need to have a TWiki account.

• TWiki Users and offices:

• • Go to the OfficeLocations? topic in the TWiki.Main web; it has a list of corporate offices already entered into TWiki.

• Operations on topics:

• • Learn about text formatting:
    • You write text in WikiSyntax, a very simple markup language. Follow the WikiSyntax link and learn how to write text.
    • Go back to your sandbox topic end edit it.

• • • Preview and save the topic.

• Attaching files to a topic:

• • If you have a GIF or JPG image of yourself, why not upload it now to your personal topic?

• Getting notified of topic changes:

• • WebNotify (one per TWiki web) is a subscription service to be automatically notified by email when topics change in a TWiki web. This is a convenient service, so you do not have to come back and check all the time to see if something has changed.
  • It is strongly recommended that you subscribe to the TWiki web(s) relevant to your work.

This concludes the tutorial. Now you are ready to roll.

• Navigation and search:
  • TWiki is divided up into webs; each one represents one area of collaboration. The webs are accessible at the upper right corner of each web page.
  • Each web has hyper-linked topics. A topic is one web page in your browser.

• • To browse a TWiki web, just click on any highlighted link. These links are called WikiWords and comprise two or more words with initial capitals, run together.
  • Follow the WikiWord link and learn what it is.
  • If you know the name of a topic, you can jump directly to it by typing its name into the Go field on the top of the page. Type WebSearch to jump to the search page. Hint: Do not confuse the Go field with search.

• Create your account:
  • To edit topics, you need to have a TWiki account.
  • Go to the TWikiRegistration page to create your TWiki account.

• TWiki Users and offices:

• Operations on topics:

• • The bottom of the page has some links:
  • Edit : Allows you to edit the topic (discussed later)
  • Ref-By : Find out what other topics link to this topic (reverse link)

• • r1.3 | > | r1.2 | > | r1.1 : Allows you to see a previous topic revision or the difference between revisions.

• Editing a topic and creating hyperlinked pages:

• • Press the Edit link. You are now in edit mode and you can see the source of the page. (Go to a different topic like TestTopic3? in case you see a "Topic is locked by an other user" warning.)
  • Look at the text in edit mode and compare it with the rendered page (move back and forth in your browser.)
  • Notice how WikiWords are linked automatically; there is no link if you look at the text in edit mode.

• • • You can see a linked question mark after the topic name. This means that the topic does not exist yet.
    • Click on the question mark. Now you are in edit mode of the new topic.
    • Type some text, basically like you write an email.

• • • Preview and save the topic.
  • Learn about text formatting:
    • You write text in WikiSyntax, a very simple markup language. Follow the WikiSyntax link and learn how to write text.

• Getting notified of topic changes:
  • It is very important that team members are kept in synch of changes.

• • It is strongly recommended that you subscribe to the TWiki web(s) relevant to your work.

This concludes the tutorial. Now you are ready to roll.

A side note: Initially it can be intriguing to change text someone else wrote. Please do not worry, nothing gets lost, because previous versions are always accessible (and also recoverable by the TWiki administrator if needed.)