Using Wikimal

A brief introduction to content creation and edition on Wikimal.

Your profile

On your first login, you will be asked to create a profile. First chose a name (the name that will be displayed on the website). If you leave it blank your login name will be used.

For your avatar - as for most pictures on Wikimal - you can either upload a picture from your computer, load it from the internet (Remote URL) or use the File Browser to see your previously uploaded files. Click File browser, then browse.

At this point you should have no file, but you'll typically see a window like this

Once you have selected a picture on the list, you can either click "Insert file" or click the preview on the bottom.

You can add tags to your profile (and to any other content).

On your profile, they will appear as your skills. For example if you're a Processing and Kinect specialist:

You can type those, seperated by a comma, then press the + sign to add the tags.

If you start typing the name of an existing tag, Wikimal will suggest to complete it for you. For example, type "pro", it will suggest "processing".

If you type a new tag, it will be created and added to the list of existing tags. Try, as much as possible, to use the existing ones.

Content types

Once you have saved your profile, you can create a new content. Most users will manage 3 types of contents:

Howtos, typical, collaborative tutorials on a topic (for example "How to communicate from Processing to PureData with OSC")
Projects, on which one or more persons are working, and that usually relate to a series of Howtos and Ressources (see below), and maybe to a Workshop too.
Your own profile, as a contributor on the Wikimal.

Some handpicked users will also manage

Resources, that are basically like Howtos but can only be edited by those trusted users (instructions on the safe use of the laser cutter, for example)
Workshops, like Projects, will gather Howtos, Ressources and Projects related to a Workshop

Creating a content

To create a new content, click on the wrench icon on the top-left corner

It will show a tabbed interface that allows you to manage your user settings, profile, and to create new content.

Let's for example create a new Howto.

Most fields are self-explanatory, and there's always some help/explanation (in green). A red * indicates a mandatory field.

The Related Pages field allow to link other Wikimal contents to the current page.

Like tags, the field auto-completes.

Unlike tags, you can only type one page per line, but you can always add more lines for more pages by clicking "Add another item".

Most of that information (tags, related pages, links, difficulty rating, etc) will appear in a sidebar next to your text.

At the bottom of your page, you can add images and videos that will appear in a gallery.

Images Gallery works just like the Avatar field I mentioned above, except that you can add an infinite number of images, and that they can have a title (useful for credits information).

Videos can be linked from Vimeo and Youtube

You just have to type the video address (for Youtube, both the long youtube.com or the short youtu.be links work).

Rich text edit

Finally, for the main content!

This shouldn't be much of a problem if you've already used a word processor.

The chain icon allows to add a link.

The "T" icon allows to paste a text (you previous copied, for example from a web page) without the formating. It's usually the safest way to paste text in Wikimal.

The film icon is for inserting Youtube and Vimeo videos directly in the body.

The marker is for inserting code:

Select the right language (for Processing, pick Java), and your code will appear properly formated and highlighted in your text:

void setup(){
  size(200,200);
  print("hello world");
}

Finally, the blue-square-with-a-green-thing-on-bottom-right called WysiwygImageField is (of course) for inserting images.

Its interface is similar to other image fields (like Avatar or Gallery), but in a pop-up. One difference, there's a special file browser, through Reference Existing.