Wiki top tips

Use your wiki as a central information repository (for example an intranet or a project wiki) and include signposts and links to documents stored elsewhere, for example in Google Shared Drives and on websites.

Plan your wiki before you start creating it. This Wiki Planner outlines some of the things you might like to think about.

Spend an hour or so working through this beginners' exercise to familiarise yourself with some basic techniques for putting together a wiki.

Whilst drafting your wiki pages, restrict access to yourself and any co-editors. When ready, you can then give access to your approver if needed, before making your pages visible more widely.

Use the wiki in conjunction with the Google Suite and create a wiki front-end menu for Google Drive folders and docs to improve navigation and make searching easier.

Give your wiki a logical, hierarchical, structure by adding ‘child’ pages to ‘parent’ pages in the appropriate places.

To make your page more attractive and easier to read, use the Page layout button to divide it horizontally into columns or vertically into sections.  

Use the ‘Expand’ macro to save space on your page, for example when compiling a list of questions and answers.

Create a simple team directory using the ‘Panels’ macro. See the Enterprise Projects Team Profiles for an example.

Use the Coolors website to generate colour schemes and get html colour codes for pasting into panels.

Explore other non-restricted York wiki ‘spaces’ for ideas - try browsing the Space Directory for examples.

Use the ‘Watch’ option to see when collaborators have updated sections of your wiki space.

Include a search function and restrict it to your wiki space - see macros for different search options. If you need to know your Space Key you can find it at Space tools ! Overview.

Include a Google Form on your wiki to collect feedback or queries to help users and build in ongoing user-directed improvements.

Ensure that your wiki pages are accessible - use features such as the built-in header and paragraph styles, and use colour with care. See the Creating Accessible Documents page for more information.

Occasionally when inserting a URL for a web link, the Insert button is greyed out. Pressing Return at the end of the URL should resolve this.