Using the NW Coast Archaeology Wiki

The Wiki is essentially a content-based encyclopedia. Each week in ANTH 420A we add three new entries to the data base. The Wiki feature is both a host for this content and an organizational platform that allows:

  • multiple user editing (all of us can add new content and change existing content)
  • user commenting (you can post a reply to an entry or comment)
  • hyperlinking (new entries can be linked to existing entries both hierarchically and laterally, just like Wikipedia)

Currently, our entries are modest, but they are growing. With a large database of entries, lateral hyperlinking becomes increasingly important. In the future, other 420A classes will build on this.

Logging On

In order to access the Wiki, you need to register and log on. Registration is simple: go to http://wiki.elearning.ubc.ca/UserSettings and choose a user name and password. You will also have to provide an email address. Your username can be anything, although remember that this is a scholarly endeavour. Mine is AndrewMartindale.

In order to edit and comment on our pages, I need to give you permission. To do so, I need your username. Please let me know what it is.

Finding the NW Coast Archaeology Wiki

The 420A Wiki is hosted by UBC though its elearning project. Thus, our Wiki is a subset of all UBC Wikis. You can find our pages by searching for NWCoastArchaeology. Our main page is here. You can navigate through the wiki entries by using the main page list or by linking pages laterally.

Creating and Editing Pages

In order to create your pages off of our main page, I need your username and to give you permission. Once this is set, you can create pages by editing existing entries (including the Main Page) and highlighting a new link term in double square brackets. So, take the first sentence of the Main Page entry: "This page is the portal to a collective project of the students of ANTH 420A (NW Coast Archaeology)."

And change it to: "This page is the portal to a collective project of the students of [[ANTH 420A]] (NW Coast Archaeology)."

I will have created a new entry with the title ANTH 420A. I can then save the edit and click on the new highlighted term. This opens a blank page with the title (ANTH 420A) which I can then add content to.

You can also link existing pages to new pages by using the same syntax. Thus, each new entry should contain the line: This entry is part of the [[NWCoastArchaeology]] Wiki Project.

Which will create the line with the hyperlink: This entry is part of the NWCoastArchaeology Wiki Project.

Formatting Pages

I have followed a simple formatting system in which the title of any entry is highlighted and we have one smaller level of sub headings plus regular text. Regular text is the default.  Creating a heading or a subheading is possible by placing the text in equal signs (=). The more equal signs, the bigger the heading. We use three equal signs for the main heading, so  "===Main Heading===" Is the syntaxt. Smaller headings have 2 equal signs on either side: "==Subheading==".

Other formatting codes are explained in the entry FormattingRules, which can be found off the HomePage entry (these are UBC wide Wiki entries).

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