User Manual
Table of contents
- 1. Table of Contents
- 2. User Documentation
- 3. Welcome
- 4. Content Creation
- 4.1. Editing a Page
- 4.2. Insert Image
- 4.3. Commenting
- 4.4. Linking
- 4.5. Creating a Page
- 5. File Attachments
- 6. Managing Content
- 6.1. Deleting Pages
- 6.2. Delete Files
- 6.3. Move Page
- 6.4. Move File
- 7. Content Versioning
- 7.1. Page Versioning
- 7.2. File Versioning
- 8. Search and Discovery
- 8.1. Search
- 8.2. Linking
- 8.3. Hierarchy
- 8.4. Chronology
- 8.5. User Contributions
- 8.6. Watch List
- 8.7. Tags
- 9. Alerts and Notifications
- 10. Advanced Access Controls
This is an out-of-date manual! A more complete version is HERE
Are you running the latest version:
Table of Contents
- 1. Table of Contents
- 2. User Documentation
- 3. Welcome
- 4. Content Creation
- 4.1. Editing a Page
- 4.2. Insert Image
- 4.3. Commenting
- 4.4. Linking
- 4.5. Creating a Page
- 5. File Attachments
- 6. Managing Content
- 6.1. Deleting Pages
- 6.2. Delete Files
- 6.3. Move Page
- 6.4. Move File
- 7. Content Versioning
- 7.1. Page Versioning
- 7.2. File Versioning
- 8. Search and Discovery
- 8.1. Search
- 8.2. Linking
- 8.3. Hierarchy
- 8.4. Chronology
- 8.5. User Contributions
- 8.6. Watch List
- 8.7. Tags
- 9. Alerts and Notifications
- 10. Advanced Access Controls
Welcome
Congratulations on your decision to deploy MindTouch Deki Wiki, the new standard for ease of use, speed and functionality in business wikis! While so easy to use that you can start without any training, this guide will accelerate your learning and point out the many features and benefits of the product. The product is so flexible and rich in features that you will most likely find more uses for it after playing with it for a while. So without out any further delay, let's dive in.
Intuitive and Familiar User Interface
If MindTouch Deki Wiki's user interface looks familiar, you're right because it's basically a word processor in a web browser. You get all of the benefits of a lightweight word processor and the properties of a webpage in one package. Thus, any wikipage you or your colleagues have created can be accessed 24/7 via the Internet or internal network. Once you understand this concept, everything in the product will make sense to you.
.jpg)
Content Creation
When you're using MindTouch Deki Wiki, pages are the most fundamental component. Pages are like any other web page, but in this case you can create, edit, and process them in a variety of ways. Let's further investigate all of the operations that one can perform on a page.
Editing a Page
Browse to the page of interest and click Edit Page on the page toolbar.
Page editing is only a click away
You will now see a simple, but very sophisticated rich text (WYSIWYG) editor.
The rich text editor has all the features you need to create rich content
Changing the content of the page is as simple as typing your text and clicking Save in the editor's toolbar (top left). This will save your changes and close the editor. You may also use quick save, which allows you to save your changes without closing the editor. This is useful if you plan on making more changes to the page. You can find the quick save button on the editor's toolbar, which is the disk icon identical to the Windows save icon and located just down and to the right. Currently not available in Mindtouch Deki.
If you wish to create richly formatted text you can do so by changing the text style, color or background color, and much more. There are many options available to you in the editor. If you're using it for the first time explore all the options available to you.
The rich text editor provides you with many ways to style your content
Notice you can edit in full screen mode by selecting the Toggle Full Screen Mode icon. When in full screen editing mode the user only sees the editor. This is more comfortable for some users because it is exactly like the experience in word processors.
Full screen mode simplifies the interface
Insert Image
Adding an image to a page is easy. You can insert an image that you've attached to a page or insert an image from external resource. To insert an image first click Edit page then select Insert image from the editor toolbar.
One of the many ways MindTouch Deki Wiki stands out is the ability to browse all pages and their contents, just like a word processor. In the insert image dialog box, browse to the location of the image you wish to insert. You browse by double-clicking the pages and navigating the page hierarchy. When you single-click to select an image you will be presented with a preview of the image in the right most pane. When you've selected the image you wish to insert you can then change aspects of how it is inserted. These include alignment, text wrap, and image size.
Inserting an image is easy
If you're inserting an external image you can provide the URL in the link field. Keep in mind, if the image is removed from this external resource or the address is changed, the inserted image will no longer be viewable.
When you're using MindTouch Deki Wiki, pages are the most fundamental component. Pages are like any other web page, but in this case you can create, edit, and process them in a variety of ways. Let's investigate all the operations one can perform on a page further.
Linking
Linking is another way MindTouch Deki Wiki excels. Adding links to pages, files, or external resources is pleasantly simple. Click Edit page, highlight the text you wish to link, select Insert/modify link from the editor toolbar.
Browse to the location of the page or file you wish to link by double-clicking. When you see the page or file you wish to link single-click it to select it. Finally, click Update link to commit your change and click Save in the Editor.
Creating links to pages or files could not be easier
If there is a new version of a linked file, MindTouch Deki Wiki will version the file (we'll discuss this more later) and the link will point to the most recent version of the file. Similarly, if a linked page is later moved or renamed, your link will be redirected to the page's new location or name.
If you wish to link to an external web page or file simply paste the URL in the link field and click Update link. Any resource external to MindTouch Deki Wiki that is moved cannot be found, therefore updated, in the new location.
There are other ways you can make links. If you don't want to use the Create or modify link dialog you can do it with a simple syntax. For example, if you wish to link to a page titled "A Page" type this into the editor: [ [A Page] ] (Note: you must use "[[", where the brackets do not have a space between them) and then Save the page. When the page saves you'll see that you just made a link to the page titled "A Page". Alternatively you can type "A Page" into the editor, select the text, and on your keyboard hold down the control key and the w key, Save. You've just created a link to the page titled "A Page". The same can be done for subpages with [ [A Page/Subpage] ] or "A Page/Subpage".
Whether you're linking to pages or files internal to MindTouch Deki Wiki or external ones, do so liberally because links make it easier to understand meaning and relevance of content.
Creating a Page
Creating a new page can be done with a single click. On the page toolbar click New page.
Creating a page is just a click away
You have just created a sub-page of the page you were previously viewing. This new page is titled Page Title and you see the editor is already open for you to change the contents of this page. You can now click Save or add the content you desire and then click Save.
Let's assume you were viewing a page titled "Project" and you decide to add a new sub-page. You create a page titled "Jim's Seed Company” and click save. What you just did was create a sub-page, or a child page, to the page titled "Project". This is a hierarchy. We'll discuss this more later.
A sub-page makes it easy to organize information in a logical manner
There is another way to easily create a new page too. If you create a link to a page that doesn't exist you are created a wanted page. This page is denoted by the link being in red text with an underline as you see above. If any user clicks on a link to a wanted page they will browse to the new page and be presented with the editor as if they just created a new page. If the user clicks Save they have just created a new page from the wanted page.
File Attachments
MindTouch Deki Wiki allows users to easily attach files to any page. This is significant because it makes capturing and sharing information quick and easy and the consumption of that information quicker than traditional methods. Let's see how this would work.
Attach File or Image
At the bottom of every page you see a Files section. To the bottom right click Attach file or image.
Now you'll see the Attach file dialog. Click Browse. This opens a dialog that allows you to browse your computer locally for the file(s) you wish to attach. You can select as many files as you like, but you must do so one at a time. Click the + sign to add more rows if you have more than three files you wish to attach. Once you've selected all of the files you wish to attach you may opt to add a Description. When you are satisfied click Upload now.
Wait until your files have uploaded. Depending upon the number of files and their size this can take up to several minutes. After you've completed uploading your files you will be presented with the attached files on the page. Notice you are shown the size of the file, the date it was attached, by whom it was attached, and the attached files' descriptions. An attached image is presented as a thumbnail in the image gallery section.
Attached images are shown as thumbnails in an image gallery section
If at any point you attach a file with the same name to the same page, MindTouch Deki Wiki interprets this as a new version of the file and saves it as a new revision, replacing the old. However, old versions of the file are available by clicking the [+] button next to the file name, allowing you to access and revert to old versions of the file.
Clicking the name of your uploaded files will initiate a download of that file to your desktop. Click on your uploaded pictures and you can browse through them in our lightbox.
- Show being able to view attached documents on the wiki using think free
Managing Attachments
After a file is attached you can move it to another page or change the description by using the file action menu. If you wish to change the description select Actions adjacent to the file in question. Click Edit description to add the description and click Save description. Likewise, if you wish to move a file, select Actions adjacent to the file in question, Move, then using the Move file dialog navigate to the page you wish to move the file.
Attached files can be moved using the File Actions menu
If you wish to delete a file, you may do so by selecting Actions > Delete > Ok.
Bulk Upload or Download of Attachments
See our Desktop Connector tool that enables you to upload and download files in bulk.
Managing Content
MindTouch Deki Wiki makes it pretty easy to manage pages and files. Here we'll look at how this is done.
Deleting Pages
Browse to the page you wish to delete, click “More” on the page toolbar and then select “Delete.”
Delete Files
Files or images that have been attached to a page can also be deleted. Just like with pages though, an administrator can restore deleted files. To delete a file, scroll to the Files section at the bottom of the page. Click the Actions menu to the right of the attached file or image. Select Delete, confirm the deletion with Ok.
Move Page
Browse to the page you wish to move, click “More” on the page toolbar and select “Move.”
When you move a page, you also move that page's sub-pages
A dialog box will prompt you to choose the new destination. You may browse all pages of MindTouch Deki Wiki by double-clicking and single-clicking to select. If you move a page, you also move all its sub-pages. When you've selected the page you wish to be the new parent of the page(s) you're moving click Move page.
You can browse all pages of MindTouch Deki Wiki in the Move dialog
Content Versioning
We have discussed how easy it is to create and edit a page and you've seen how easy it is to attach a file or image. Now let's take a look at another easy to use, but very powerful, feature of MindTouch Deki Wiki: versioning.
Page Versioning
Whenever you edit a page you are creating a new version of that page. Every version of every page is retained as part of MindTouch Deki Wiki's audit log, as is the person who edited the page, and the date and time that it was edited. To view any page's history, select the link that dynamically tells you the last time the page was modified (located in the page information box to the top right of the page). Let's look at a page's history and see how easy it is to revert a page to a previous version. Click the last modified date on a page.
A page's history is just one click away
You are presented with the history of the page. You can see when it was edited and by whom. You can also walk backward in time and view each version individually.
Every edit on every page is retained and acts as an audit trail
Or you can view a comparison between two pages by clicking Revision comparison, which will present you the differences between these two page versions.
Comparing versions of a page is as easy as it is to revert to an older version
Finally, you can Revert to the older of these two versions by clicking the button.
File Versioning
If you attach a file with the same name to the same page more than once you are creating a new version of this file. MindTouch Deki Wiki by default retains every version of the file and the links that point to it. MindTouch Deki Wiki always point to the most recent version of the file. You'll know there is another file if you see a plus icon adjacent to the file.
If you wish to view every version of a given file click the [+] sign adjacent to the file in question. You'll be presented with every version of this file attached to the page you're viewing. You can also see each version's original file details.
Page links to files always point to the most recent version of the file
Search and Discovery
We've seen how easy it is to capture information and files in MindTouch Deki Wiki. Now let's take a look at how easy it is to organize information so anyone can find and discover useful content that has been contributed.
Search
Searching is as easy as providing your query in the search field at the top left of MindTouch Deki Wiki. Your result set can include pages, the contents of many types of attached files, and the descriptions of files and images. When you're presented with your result set those that rank at the top are determined by relevance and how recent they are. You can view only pages, only files, or only images if you wish to narrow the result set.
Linking
A great way to organize content is by linking. When you create links to pages or files you're creating relationships in the content that make it easier for users to understand and establish relevance. This is one of many ways MindTouch Deki Wiki excels. It is really easy to link pages and files, making it really easy to see how content relates. When these relationships in data are established, it makes it very easy to consume the information. This allows users to understand if and how something is relevant to them and their work.
Chronology
How recent information is often impacts how important or relevant it is. With MindTouch Deki Wiki there are many ways to determine how current content is. The most obvious way is to look at the top right of a page at the page information bar. This tells you when the page was last modified. For files and images you can see how recently they were attached as well by reviewing the date and time stamp.
You can also look at a page's history by selecting Recent Changes from the menu bar. This give you a global view of which pages have been edited or had files attached, and by whom, in order of newest to oldest. This is a commonly used method of tracking what's going on in an organization and is a powerful discovery tool. At a glance you can see what your colleagues are working on and quickly realize if there is content you can benefit from.
User Contributions
In Recent Changes you can also elect to see changes on a per user basis in order of newest to oldest. To do this, select the user whose contributions you wish to see from the drop down menu at the top of the page. You may then walk backward in time through these contributions using the Next 100 >> control at the top and bottom of the table that contains the contributions.
By reviewing other users' contributions chronologically you are able to very quickly find information that can benefit you. For example, if you are working on a project and know a colleague has experience that could benefit you from their work months ago you can quickly find that information. Or, in the event you’re new to a position you can quickly get up to speed by reusing established content.
Watch List
Every user is able to create a list of watched pages. Then they can see whenever changes are made to these pages. This is useful in monitoring projects or topics of interest. To add a page to your watch list, click More from the page tool bar.
Adding a page to your watch list is easy
To review your watched pages click Tools, then Watched Pages. This shows you all the pages you are watching, when they were last modified, and by whom. This is a great way to discover information and topics of interest.
Tags
In MindTouch Deki Wiki you can Tag pages.
- explain organizing tages
- Special Tags...Date:, Define:, etc
Tag overview: http://wiki.opengarden.org/Deki_Wiki/Features/Tags
Alerts and Notifications
In addition to the web interfaces for content changes, watch lists, and user contributions, MindTouch Deki Wiki provides a plethora of feeds that can be consumed by any RSS reader. To access the RSS feeds select Tools then RSS feeds. To subscribe to the feed simply right-click (option click on Mac) the link to the feed you wish to subscribe to and select Copy Link Location (in Firefox) or Copy Shortcut (in IE). Then launch your RSS reader and paste the URL to the feed.
If you aren't sure what RSS is, it's a way for you to be notified of changes on webpages of interest and be provided with these changes. To really understand this, you should probably run an Internet search for "What is RSS" and you'll find many resources to explain this further. If you don't have an RSS reader, don't worry because there are dozens of free RSS readers you can download and install.
Advanced Access Controls
There are many ways to grant access to Deki Wiki including integration with a current authentication server, HTTP authentication against the Web Server, or using Deki Wiki's Authentication Settings.
- LDAP
- HTTP
- Internal Auth
Restrict Pages and Hierarchies
Any user can easily restrict access to a page and subpages. To do this, select the More menu from the page bar and select Restrict access.
Then select the people (using control or Apple key to select multiple users) and level of permissions you wish to give them. Finally, select Restrict access.
Any sub-page of the page just restricted will inherit the permissions of this page, but sub-page permissions can be altered in the same way as shown above. If you wish to restrict an entire hierarchy you can do so by restricting the parent page and all its sub-pages.
Note: Administrators override all page permissions, meaning they have access to all pages regardless of the page's restrictions. Be very careful to whom you grant administrator access.
- Tag page
- What links here
The toolbar is already pretty crowded and the keyboard shortcuts are really faster once you get use to them. Think of the X as scissors for cutting, "C" for copying and the "V" as a finger pasting something down. Plus all three keys are together in a row so they are easy to use. These are the same commands for every word processor I know of.