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General InfoEdit

The RAOGK wiki lets anyone either create an article (new page content) or edit existing content. This collaboration allows the RAOGK community to work together to create a database of volunteers who are willing to do local genealogy research.

RAOGK users can modify text on existing wiki pages by using the instructions in the sections below. The wiki has two ways to add/edit text:

• Graphical User Interface (GUI) ... defaults to the Visual tab
• Advanced Edit/Formatting (uses wiki "code") ... click the Source tab to access the Advanced editor

If you don't want to edit/add something yourself, just send an email to RAOGK and indicate what you want added/modified.

GUI Editor (for researchers/volunteers)Edit

Click the Edit link (pencil icon) beside a topic.

The user is taken to the Visual tab (the GUI editor) -- a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor. The Visual editor does not require you to know any "codes" ... you simply use the buttons at the top of the page, like you would in an email, instant message, or Word document.

To apply formatting to text you just type the text, highlight the text (that you want to be bold, italics, bullets, centered, etc.), and click the appropriate formatting button.

Note: If you can type emails/Word documents and use formatting buttons to bold, italic, underscore, do bullets/numbers, etc ... you're already a whiz at wiki editing! It's as easy as 1-2-3.

1. Login
2. Edit
3. Publish

Wiki editing is EASY!

The GUI editor has a button bar with buttons (left to right) for:

• Bold
• Italic
• Add a link
• Insert/remove bulleted list
• Insert/remove numbered list
• Increase indent
• Decrease indent
• Paragraph format – normal, heading 2, heading 3, heading 4, heading 5
• Align left
• Align center
• Align right
• Undo
• Redo
• + more –
  • Underline
  • Strikethrough
  • Signature
    

Note: Volunteers ... see Update Your Volunteer Information for instructions on:

• Adding a new volunteer's name and description of services
• Adding an email link for an existing volunteer
• Changing an existing volunteer's email
• Changing an existing volunteer's description of services
• Deleting an existing volunteer's information (for when the volunteer no longer wishes to perform research services)
  

To modify existing wiki text ... i.e., anyone can fix typos, punctuation, etc.

1. Sign in to the wiki ... notice your username appears in the upper right corner of the page.
2. Once in the GUI editor, locate the typo and fix it as you would in an email or a Word document. (You can change your description of services by simply typing/modifying the text.)
3. Click the Preview button (below the Edit Summary field and beside the Publish button). (if the preview looks good, proceed with the next two steps; if not, edit the info as necessary.)
4. Fill in the Edit Summary field, indicating why you are deleting your entry.
5. Click the Publish button.
   
   

See also: Modify your User page Your user page is a great place to play with adding/modifying wiki text.

Advanced Editing (for volunteers and admins)Edit

Click the Source tab to access the Advanced Editor. The Advanced Editor is similar to using Word Perfect and peering into the reveal codes.

The Advanced editor shows the coding applied behind the scenes when someone creates/modifies something with the GUI editor.

For anyone with HTML experience, you can also use most HTML codes.

The Advanced editor has the following buttons to assist in formatting:

• Bold (highlight your text and click this button)
• Italic (highlight your text and click this button)
• Internal link (links to a page w/n the RAOGK wiki)
• External link (links to an internet page)
• Level 2 heading
• Embed a file
• Link to a file
• Mathmetical formula
• Ignore wiki formatting
• Insert your username signature and timestamp (for signing an edit)
• Insert a horizontal rule (use very sparingly)
  
  

Note: Volunteers ... see Update Your Volunteer Information for instructions on:

• Hiding your row of information (to temporarily stop doing research due to vacation, family emergencies, etc.)
• Unhiding your row of information (when you're ready to start accepting research requests again)

User PageEdit

If you created an account on the RAOGK wiki, you can create your own user page by typing: "User:username" in the wiki search field.

• Your user page is linked in the top right. More importantly, others will see links to your user page from various places which assist wiki collaboration -- i.e., “Recent changes” and “page history” displays.
• You can also link to your user page within text of a wiki page, which is mainly useful on talk pages when you sign your name.

A user page is a page about a wiki user. Think of it as a “profile” page, where you can describe info about yourself, if you desire. You can also use your user page as a scratchpad to try your hand with wiki editing. (See Sample User Page)

• User Page(s) Tutorial

Sandbox Page(s)Edit

See the following pages about wiki editing. Wiki editing is NOT hard.

If you've used Word and created documents with Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, Heading 4 ... wiki uses the same thing for the major headings and subheadings.

Wiki editing is similar to using the GUI buttons in Word 2007.

• Help:Contents
• Wiki Tips and Tricks
• Wikipedia Cheatsheet