Adding/editing a wiki

This page will detail the settings which are possible with a Moodle wiki activity.

The teacher must first add/create a wiki activity and like other activities the teacher will check the settings. After saving the settings, someone will be ready to add the first page (Viewing a wiki). Here are just the steps to add/create a Moodle wiki and adjust different settings.

Adding a wiki

Adding a new wiki in Moodle 1.7

To create a wiki:

1. Click the "Turn editing on" button.
2. Select Wiki from the "Add an activity" dropdown menu in the course section where you would like to add the wiki.
3. On the Adding a new wiki page, give the wiki a descriptive name.
4. In the summary field, describe the purpose of the wiki and what you expect students to contribute.
5. Select the wiki type - groups, student or teacher. The wiki type interacts with the groups setting for your course, resulting in 9 options, as shown in the type help pop-up.
6. Click the "Show Advanced" button (in Moodle 1.8 onwards) to display additional options (see below).
7. Select the common module settings (see below).
8. Click the "Save changes" button.

Adding and editing wiki pages

After you've created a wiki, it's available for editing. Viewing a wiki contains information on adding and editing wiki pages.

Advanced options

Print wiki name of every page

If you select this option, the top of each page will have the name of the wiki.

HTML mode

There are three options: No HTML, safe HTML or HTML only. 'No HTML' will display all HTML tags as tags. 'Safe HTML' will allow certain tags to be displayed. 'HTML only' enables the HTML editor to display in WYSIWYG.

Allow binary files

Binary files are graphics, audio, video, and other non-text resources. If you want students to be able to add files as attachments, set this to Yes.

Wiki auto-linking options

A new page can be created in the wiki by typing a word using CamelCase i.e. with a capital letter at the beginning and a capital letter somewhere else in the word. It's called CamelCase because the two capital letters resemble a two-humped camel. CamelCase combines all the words for the link into one word. Each word in the link is capitalized. When a word is added in CamelCase, the wiki automatically creates a new page and makes the word a link. You can disable this feature if you wish, so that typing a word enclosed in square brackets is the only way of creating a new page.

CamelCase is not always desirable, as some text is written in it. For example a file name might be MyFile_2007_Feb.jpg.

Student admin options

When students can edit a page, you can allow them certain administrative privileges in the wiki (see Wiki administration).

Page name

You may wish to seed the wiki with a page name for the first page.

Choose an initial page

This can be the first wiki page that is created, or a way to switch to a different front page. Other files in the same directory as the first wiki page you select will also become part of the initial wiki - see: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=8501

Common module settings

The Common module settings section appears in many modules besides wiki. It sets Groups interactions levels and the ID number.

Creating a Wiki with Groups (Step by Step Instructions)

Create a Wiki with Groups Tutorial (Subject: American War Battles)

Create Groups

1. On the course page select “Groups” under “Administration”.

2. On the groups page click the “Create group” button.

3. Fill in the following info for this group:

    - Group name: civil
    - Group description: Civil War Battles Group Project
    - Enrollment key: civil

4. Click the "Save changes" button.

5. On the group page, make sure the civil group is selected and click the “Add/remove users” button.

6. Add users to the civil group (move them from the right box to the left box by clicking the “Add” button). When finished, click the “Back to groups” button.

7. Repeat steps 2-6 to create three additional groups (vietnam, world1, world2). Make sure to make the appropriate changes to Group name, Group description, and Enrollment key.

8. Return to course page.

Create the Wiki

1. Turn editing on.

2. Click the drop-down menu for “Add an Activity”. Select “Wiki”.

3. On the “Add a Wiki” page fill in the following:

    - Name: American War Battles
    - Summary: American War Battles Group Project
    - Type: Groups
    - Print Wiki name on every page: Yes (optional)
    - HTML mode: HTML only
    - Allow Binary Files: Yes
    - Disable CamelCase linking: Yes
    - Group Mode: Visible Groups
    - Visible: Show
    - Grade Category: Uncategorized

4. Click the “Save and return to course” button.

5. On the course page click on the Wiki link.

6. This is where you need to stop for a moment and get yourself oriented. Most likely you are on the “Groups wiki for civil” page in the “American War Battles" Wiki since this was the first group you created (this will be shown on the top-left of the page). If so, you are ready to begin created your Civil War page Wiki. If you would prefer to start with another war, simply click the drop-down on the top-right of the page labeled “Other Wikis:” and choose the wiki group you want to start with.

7. On the lower portion of the page you should see a bold header: Edit this page ‘American War Battles’. (I chose to start with the civil group so I will begin editing for the Civil War). Type the following:

[The Battle of Shiloh]

[The Battle of Gettysburg]

[The Battle of New Orleans]

8. Click the “Save” button

9. On the top-right of the page choose the world1 group from the drop-down menu.

10. Repeat steps 7-8 but replace the battles with battles from World War I.

11. On the top-right of the page choose the world2 group from the drop-down menu.

12. Repeat steps 7-8 but replace the battles with battles from World War II.

13. On the top-right of the page choose the vietnam group from the drop-down menu.

14. Repeat steps 7-8 but replace the battles with battles from the Vietnam War.

15. Now the Wiki is ready for students to work in!

Student Access to Wiki

1. Go to course page.

2. Click on the “American War Battles” Wiki.

3. Select your group from the top-right drop-down menu.

4. Use the Enrollment key that was given to you by your teacher.

5. Click the ? to the right of the battle you want to begin working on.

6. Get to work!

7. Note: Students will only be able to edit within their group. Because the Group Mode was set to “Visible Groups” by the teacher, students will be able to view every groups work but will only be able to edit their own.

See also

• Wiki permissions