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TWiki Pages

Each page in a TWiki web is called a topic, defined by its meaningful, descriptive WikiWord title.

Page Features

A TWiki topic is a self-contained information unit rich in features:

• a WikiWord title that lets you:
  • instantly identify what the page is about
  • automatically link to it from other pages
• an edit-anywhere collaboration area where you can:
  • enter plain or fully-HTML formatted text
  • work with simple TWiki editing shorthand (that includes HTML mark-up and special TWiki functions)
  • include Web links, images, anything else you can put on a Web page
• an extra forms input option:
  • store structured info alongside the free-form page content
  • use text fields and boxes, radio buttons, pulldown selector menus, checkboxes
  • select from one or many different input forms, with all data preserved
• a FileAttachment feature that lets you:
  • upload files through your browser to the TWiki server
  • attach any type of file (documents, images, applications) for viewing or downloading
  • make changes and update existing files
• TWiki Skins to customize the look of headers and footers:
  • apply skins across an entire TWiki web level, or to a single page
• browser-based controls for renaming, moving, and deleting pages:
  • rename a page and automatically update all the references to it, site-wide
  • move a page from one TWiki web to another
  • safely delete a topic to a special Trash web (invisible, but accessible to the TWiki administrators if needed)
• flexible access control:
  • independently determine who can see, edit, rename, move or delete topics
  • set permissions by individual users and user groups
• revision control automatically saves topic changes:
  • uses the established standard RCS (Revision Control System)
  • efficiently stores every change made to the original version
  • allows comparison of changes between any two versions, and review of any version, as formatted or raw text
• referred-by searches that list all topics in a web or site wide that link to a particular page
• hierarchical parent-child topic navigation:
  • automatically links a new page as the "child" of the page it was created from
  • allows manual assignment of parent page from a list of all topics in the local web
  • offers navigation displays, by topic parent, or by related topic

The configuration of your TWiki site and your own user account determine which of these features you can use.

How to create and edit a page

Adding and editing information on existing pages, and creating new pages, is TWiki's main function.

• To modify a topic, click the [Edit] link at the bottom left of every page. An editing window appears. Type away. Use the GoodStyle and TextFormattingRules links to get pop-up window help.
  • Click [Preview Changes] to see how your edit looks.
  • Click [Save Changes] to save.

• To add a new page, the simplest way is to type a new WikiName on an existing page. When the page is saved, the new name will appear highlighted, with a ? at the end: click the ? and a new edit window appears. Enter, preview and save as usual. The new page now exists.

How to attach files and use other features

The color-coded control strip at the bottom of every page displays a series of links, including [Attach] (for attachments), [Ref-by] (to display referring pages), and [More], which opens a new screen of additional controls).

• Most controls are self-explanatory, and also include explanatory text and help links.
• Experiment. You can always cancel or go Back whenever you like.
• Get in-depth info from the complete documentation, including the User's Guide and Reference Manual.

How to rename, move or delete a page

You can now rename, move and delete individual topics from your browser. All three options are available by clicking More on the control strip at the bottom of every page. The access settings for a topic, web or entire site may be disabled for one or more of the three options. In any case, all three are similar and extremely self-explanatory.

1. On the topic you want to change, click More > Rename/move
2. To move or delete: select the target web (Trash for delete)from the pull-down menu; otherwise, leave on the current web
3. To rename: fill in a new WikiName (otherwise, leave the current topic name)
4. To update occurrences of the topic name on other pages: From the list of pages that link to the topic, check or uncheck each entry as you desire - only checked links will be updated;
5. Click Rename/move: the topic will be renamed and links to the topic updated.
   • Any problems are listed ; you can change them later.
   • If a referring page can't be update because it's locked (ex: someone's editing), it appears on an alert. You can missed pages later by again pressing Rename/move.

Deleting means moving the topic to the Trash web. Since all webs share the one Trash, name conflicts may come up.

NOTE: Keep in mind that moving a topic from a view-restricted web to a public web or the Trash web will compromise security.

See: ManagingTopics for more details.

Last updated: MikeMannix - 30 Oct 2001