Week 3: Wikis

Read

7 Things You Should Know About Wikis (PDF), by Educause Learning Initiative

View

Wikis in Plain English, by Common Craft

Do

1. Use your browser to go to www.pbwiki.com


2. Sign up and create a free PBWiki account and wiki. Tips:
   
   
   
   • It will be less confusing to use the same name that you used for your blog (samename.pbwiki.com, samename.blogspot.com, etc.), but that's up to you.
     
   
   
   • Make your wiki public for now. You can change this later.
   
   
   • Click the link that allows you to use the free version. No need to upgrade.
   
   
   
   
3. Edit the front page of your wiki. Write whatever you like, perhaps a brief bio.


4. Edit the sidebar of your wiki to include a link to your blog.



5. Use the Contact the owner form to have your PBWiki account linked to the course wiki. Please include the same email address you provided in step 2.


6. Add a link to your personal wiki from your blog with a post and any thoughts you have about wikis.

Please note that the main purpose of wikis is for collaboration with others. The exercises you are completing here just show that you can do basic editing in PBWiki. This might not make a lot of sense now, is what I'm saying. But it will...Stay tuned.

Explore

PBWiki.com isn't the only site for setting up a free wiki. You could also try:

• Wetpaint


• Zoho Wiki

Wikipedia is perhaps the best known and largest wiki out on the Web. But did you know that a number of libraries are using wikis, too? These include:

• The University of Minnesota Libraries Staff Website


• The St. Joseph County Public Library Subject Guides

There are literally hundreds of types of wikis out there. Some are Web-based (like PBWiki) and others require installation on a server (like MediaWiki, which is used by Wikipedia).

• Use WikiMatrix to compare features and find a wiki for your next project