Difference between revisions of "Tips for editors"

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''This page is a repository of suggestions, tips and tricks for editors (i.e., all users!) of AIRWiki.''
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''This page is used to collect suggestions, links to help pages, tips and tricks for editors (i.e., all users!) of AIRWiki.''
  
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== Resources ==
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== Tips for MediaWiki users ==
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These resources (internal to AIRWiki or not) can be handy when you are trying to figure out how to do something:
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AIRWiki is based on [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki MediaWiki]. MediaWiki is a free software wiki package written in PHP, originally developed for Wikipedia: its very interesting combination between usability and possibilities makes it a widely used tool. One of the benefits of this is the fact that once you have learned to work with AIRWiki, you have also acquired the ability to work with Wikipedia and all other MediaWiki-based wikis.
  
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* [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Contents MediaWiki help]: general help for users of wikis.
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The main source for help and information about MediaWiki are the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Contents MediaWiki help pages]. One of the most useful help pages is the one describing the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Formatting basic formatting syntax] in MediaWiki.
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* [http://semantic-mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:User_manual SMW help]: help on the semantic tools provided by the Semantic MediaWiki (SMW) extension used by AIRWiki.
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* [[SMW_Project_Workflow]]: description of the complete lifecycle of a project in AIRWiki, from proposal to closure. Useful if you are setting up or coordinating a project.
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* [[Dynamic Page Generation]]: guidelines for the creation of semantic queries within AIRWiki. A collection of useful examples.
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* [[AIRWiki_Ontology]]: this is the structure of the ontology behind the semantic elements of AIRWiki. Useful to keep in mind when writing queries.
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* [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Semantic_MediaWiki SMW extension]: official page of the SMW extension for MediaWiki. It provides a list of the features of SMW.
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* [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Semantic_Forms Semantic Forms extension for SMW]: official page of the extension providing SMW with semantic forms functionality, listing its features.
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Also, don't forget that the [[Special:SpecialPages | list of special pages]] includes many useful tools.
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== Editing the Sidebar ==
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The Sidebar is the vertical strip on the left of the text area of the AIRWiki, shown whatever page you are looking at. You ''can' modify its content, of course, though it's not easy to find out how. Well, simply go to [[Mediawiki:Sidebar]] and edit that page.
  
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== Tips for inexperienced Semantic MediaWiki users ==
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== Embedding videos ==
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AIRWiki includes semantic elements based on the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Semantic_MediaWiki Semantic MediaWiki (SMW)] extension to the established [http://www.mediawiki.org/ MediaWiki] system. The use of SMW enables the user with the possibility of using '''queries''' to extract specific content from the wiki; [[http://airwiki.elet.polimi.it/mediawiki/index.php/Dynamic_Page_Generation | here]] you can find some examples of queries.
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You can embed videos from different websites (such as YouTube) inside the wiki, thanks to the MediaWiki EmbedVideo extension. If you want to embed a video inside your wiki page, check the extension documentation [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:EmbedVideo here] or open a page already containing videos (such as the one describing the [[Lurch]] project) and check its wikitext.
  
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AIRWiki also uses the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Semantic_Forms Semantic Forms] extension to make semantic-level editing of pages easier through the use of customized [[Special:Forms | forms]].
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== Tips for Semantic MediaWiki users ==
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To help MediaWiki users to get to grips with SMW and Semantic Forms, we set up a [[SMW tutorial | '''tutorial page''']]. (If you are not reasonably sure of how a wiki works, it's probably better if you practice that for a while before delving into SMW...)
  
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Below you find some tips that should help MediaWiki users to get to grips with SMW. If you don't even know how MediaWiki works, it's better if you take a look to its [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Contents | help page] before reading on.
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== AIRWiki policy ==
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The following guidelines represent decisions about the structure of AIRWiki that have been taken. You should comply with them when editing the AIRWiki.
  
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=== For newbies ===
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* All reasonably ''static'' information about the AIRLab should be published in the [http://airlab.ws.dei.polimi.it/ AIRLab website]. All information which need to be modified more frequently (say: at least twice a year) should instead be put into the AIRWiki. The AIRWiki also offers the possibility of building pages which are automatically updated.
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[http://semantic-mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Introduction_to_Semantic_MediaWiki This webpage] gives a short introduction to what SMW is and why it is useful.
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* The [http://airlab.ws.dei.polimi.it/ AIRLab website] should mention ''all'' the research areas active in AIRLab; but some of these could be absent from AIRWiki, since their researchers decided not touse it..
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=== About the names of semantic properties ===
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When writing queries, beware! The name of a property can be DIFFERENT from the name used in the semantic part of the wiki pages describing the objects of your query. For instance, any project page includes something like
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<nowiki>{{</nowiki>Project
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| [...]
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| restopic=SomeTopic
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| [...]
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<nowiki>}}</nowiki>
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But if you are writing a query to select the projects with topic SomeTopic you should NOT use
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<nowiki>[[</nowiki>restopic::SomeTopic<nowiki>]]</nowiki>
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Instead, you have to use the name of the property corresponding to the "restopic" field in the project page. This name is "prjResTopic": therefore your query should use
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<nowiki>[[</nowiki>prjResTopic::SomeTopic<nowiki>]]</nowiki>
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How can you find out the right name for the properties associated to (the content of) a page? When a page includes semantic information, clicking the "''Browse properties''" link in the toolbox on the left  gives you a list of all the properties defined for that page.
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''Note 1: the correspondencies between properties and field names in the semantic code of a page are set by the relevant [[Special:Forms|semantic form]]. For instance, for a project they can be seen (and altered, if you know what you're doing...) by editing the [[Form:Project]] page.''
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''Note 2: in some cases the name of a property is preceded by "Foaf:": this means that such property complies with the framework set by the [http://www.foaf-project.org/ Friend-Of-A-Friend project] (but such property is used exactly in the same way of the others).''
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== AIRWiki special pages dedicated to semantic content ==
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The [[Special:SpecialPages]] page includes many interesting tools for the management of the semantic elements of AIRWiki. Below are those which are most useful to non-expert users.
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=== Browsing existing elements ===
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* [[Special:Categories]] list of categories
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* [[Special:Properties]] list of properties
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* [[Special:Templates]] list of templates (the interesting ones are those which define a category)
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* [[Special:Browse]] browse the semantic content of pages
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* [[Special:SearchByProperty]] search for pages having a specific value for a property
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* [[Special:Ask]] use your own semantic query to search through AIRWiki
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=== Creating new elements ===
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* [[Special:AddPage]] create a new page with (also) semantic content, using one of the available forms
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* [[Special:CreateCategory]] create a new category or subcategory
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== Basic ideas behind AIRWiki ==
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The following guidelines represent decisions about the structure of AIRWiki that have been taken. You should always comply with them when editing the AIRWiki.
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* All reasonably static information about the AIRLab should be published in the [http://airlab.ws.dei.polimi.it/ AIRLab website]. All information which need to be modified more frequently (say: at least twice a year) should instead be put into the AIRWiki. The AIRWiki also offers the possibility of building pages which are automatically updated.
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* The [http://airlab.ws.dei.polimi.it/ AIRLab website] should mention ''all'' the research areas active in AIRLab; but some of these could be absent from the AIRWiki.
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* AIRWiki DOES NOT include a "Projects" page (where the projects of AIRLab are listed). Projects are listed in the pages of the relevant [[Research Areas | research area]].
 
* AIRWiki DOES NOT include a "Projects" page (where the projects of AIRLab are listed). Projects are listed in the pages of the relevant [[Research Areas | research area]].

Latest revision as of 15:48, 29 June 2012

This page is used to collect suggestions, links to help pages, tips and tricks for editors (i.e., all users!) of AIRWiki.

Tips for MediaWiki users

AIRWiki is based on MediaWiki. MediaWiki is a free software wiki package written in PHP, originally developed for Wikipedia: its very interesting combination between usability and possibilities makes it a widely used tool. One of the benefits of this is the fact that once you have learned to work with AIRWiki, you have also acquired the ability to work with Wikipedia and all other MediaWiki-based wikis.

The main source for help and information about MediaWiki are the MediaWiki help pages. One of the most useful help pages is the one describing the basic formatting syntax in MediaWiki.

Editing the Sidebar

The Sidebar is the vertical strip on the left of the text area of the AIRWiki, shown whatever page you are looking at. You can' modify its content, of course, though it's not easy to find out how. Well, simply go to Mediawiki:Sidebar and edit that page.

Embedding videos

You can embed videos from different websites (such as YouTube) inside the wiki, thanks to the MediaWiki EmbedVideo extension. If you want to embed a video inside your wiki page, check the extension documentation here or open a page already containing videos (such as the one describing the Lurch project) and check its wikitext.

Tips for Semantic MediaWiki users

To help MediaWiki users to get to grips with SMW and Semantic Forms, we set up a tutorial page. (If you are not reasonably sure of how a wiki works, it's probably better if you practice that for a while before delving into SMW...)

AIRWiki policy

The following guidelines represent decisions about the structure of AIRWiki that have been taken. You should comply with them when editing the AIRWiki.

  • All reasonably static information about the AIRLab should be published in the AIRLab website. All information which need to be modified more frequently (say: at least twice a year) should instead be put into the AIRWiki. The AIRWiki also offers the possibility of building pages which are automatically updated.
  • The AIRLab website should mention all the research areas active in AIRLab; but some of these could be absent from AIRWiki, since their researchers decided not touse it..
  • AIRWiki DOES NOT include a "Projects" page (where the projects of AIRLab are listed). Projects are listed in the pages of the relevant research area.
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