TWikiTutorial < TWiki

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---## 20 Minute TWiki

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

---+++ 1. Get set:
   * Open two browser windows; arrange them so that you can follow these steps in one window, while trying things out in the other.

---+++ 2. Take a tour around:
   * %WIKITOOLNAME% 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 %HOMETOPIC% topic.
   * To browse a %WIKITOOLNAME% 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.
   * You can search each %WIKITOOLNAME% web. Enter a search string in the %HOMETOPIC% topic or the WebSearch topic accessible from the =Search= link on each topic. %WIKITOOLNAME% searches for an exact match; optionally, you can also use RegularExpressions.

---+++ 3. Open a private account page:
   * To edit topics, you need to have a %WIKITOOLNAME% account.
   * Go to the TWikiRegistration page to create your %WIKITOOLNAME% account.

---+++ 4. Check out %WIKITOOLNAME% Users and offices:
   * Go to the %MAINWEB%.%WIKIUSERSTOPIC% topic in the %WIKITOOLNAME%.%MAINWEB% web; it has a list of all users of %WIKITOOLNAME%. Your WikiName will be in this list after you register.
   * Go to the %MAINWEB%.OfficeLocations topic in the %WIKITOOLNAME%.%MAINWEB% web; it has a list of corporate offices already entered into %WIKITOOLNAME%.

---+++ 5. Test the Topic controls:
   * Go to the %HOMETOPIC% 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)
   * =Ref-By= : Find out what other topics link to this topic (reverse link)
   * =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.%HOMETOPIC% topic of the %WIKITOOLNAME%.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 Test.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. <br>
      * =This is <nop>PaulsSandBox topic.=
      * 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.
      * Type some text, basically like you write an email.
      * A signature with your name is already entered by default. __Note:__ Please note the =%MAINWEB%.= in front of your name. This means that you have a link from the current web to your personal topic located in the %MAINWEB% web.
      * 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.
      * Go back to your sandbox topic end edit it.
      * 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.

---+++ 7. Upload files as page Attachments:
   * 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.
   * Upload and attach the file.
   * 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.
   * 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 =&lt;a href="%<nop>ATTACHURLPATH%/...=) to anywhere you like.
   * 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:
   * It is very important that team members are kept in sync of changes.
   * %NOTIFYTOPIC% (one per %WIKITOOLNAME% web) is a subscription service to be automatically notified by email when topics change in a %WIKITOOLNAME% 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 %WIKITOOLNAME% web(s) relevant to your work.

That's it! You're now equipped with all the TWiki essentials. You are ready to roll.

__A side note:__ Initially, it can be daunting to modify text someone else wrote. Please do not worry, nothing gets lost, because previous versions are always accessible (and also recoverable by the %WIKITOOLNAME% administrator if needed.)

-- Main.PeterThoeny - 28 Dec 2000 <br>
-- MikeMannix - 29 Aug 2001
This topic: TWiki > TWikiTutorial
Topic revision: r5 - 2001-08-29 - MikeMannix
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