Writing Wiki Wednesday: wikEd

So you want to build a Writing Wiki? You may have seen my previous post on the matter:
'Bricked Laptops and Data Backup'. There I discuss the value of the Writing Wiki and why I started one.
To sum:
The entire setup fits on a USB drive, is portable, and designed to be run through any web browser, thanks to the Modular Webserver System, MoWeS for short, from CH Software.
You can track anything you write and link it all together using Wikilinks. Wikilinks and wikitext are the code that determines how a wikipage (or article) will appear. Wikitext is analogous to HTML only much simpler to write, and sometimes much more powerful. Mediawiki Software is built on a database, this allows for dynamic generation of pages based on the content of that database.
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One example of that would be the Category tag for content, and the ability for content to be associated with multiple categories. Some of my categories are: Ideas, Research, Story, Work In Progress, Submitted, etc. To include an article in a specific category just put [[Category:Story]] *change 'Story' to any Category name - into the wiki page's code. I actually use Templates with pretty graphics that automagically put my documents into the right category, but that's for another day. In the meantime Categories are the easiest way to keep track of Wiki Pages as you create them. Each Category will have it's own page that tracks all articles associated with it, this page is dynamically generated everytime you go to it, and always up to date. I find categories very useful for quick access to documents.

To get started go to the CH Software page and follow their instructions, make sure to select the Mediawiki software and related packages. This can all be done with the free version of their software. CH Software has also packaged other interesting software (Moodle, Taskfreak, Joomla, Wordpress...) if you want to play around.

Now that you have your Writing Wiki, what do you do with it? Well lets start on tweaking it to make it more suitable for writing in. That's right, writing in. I don't open up a word processor to compose a new story or note. Instead I log on to my writing wiki and create a new page within it.

* If you have never used a wiki before I would suggest that you check out some of the excellent documentation on Wikimedia. In fact a great first project may be to build your own "Help Pages" within your wiki. I started that way, and as I make changes or add new functions to my wiki I create/update my help pages.


If you have edited any documents on your wiki by now you will have noticed the simple editing interface offered by the Mediawiki Software. What no 'find and replace'? How do I make a 'bulleted list'? Don't worry, there are ways to do pretty much anything in your wiki that you can do in a normal word processor. The first step is to get some more buttons to make editing easier.

Install WikEd, an externsion developed by Wikipedia User Cacycle. On the Installation Instructions Page there is a Section detailing how to install the full program onto your local wiki. This is the best way to install wikEd if you are like me and don't always write where you have an internet connection. The disadvantage is that once in a while you may have to update the wikEd software to keep up with bug fixes and features. How often is up too you as long as it works ;).

Now you have access to features like:

# Wikicode syntax highlighting
# Pasting, import, & conversion of formatted text from Word Processors and web pages
# Regular expression search and replace
# Edit preview and show changes on the same page without reloading
# Fullscreen editing mode
# Single-click fixing of common mistakes
# History for summary, search, and replace fields
# Jump to selected heading
# Type-ahead find
# Support for many languages
# Improved diff display
# Follow links and wiki-links (ctrl-click)

Missing, of course, is Spellcheck. There has been a lot of debate on how to implement something like spellcheck on a wiki. I personally sidestep the whole issue by putting the spellcheck in my browser. I run Firefox with the "Check my spelling as I type" option selected (Under Tools->Options->Advanced->General). I've also installed the Canadian English Dictionary add-on because I like 'u'. (not much of a joke I know)