The official FAQ is at PBwiki: F.A.Q.
Please don't reorder these - some people refer to them by their number
Please don't reorder these - some people refer to them by their number
How can I find out more? My question isn't here.
Got more questions? - http://pbwiki.com/faq.php
Need experienced users to talk to? - http://forums.pbwiki.com/
See some wild wiki coding? - http://pbwikifanclub.pbwiki.com/About
How do I make my wiki Public or Private and what is the difference?
Go to your Settings page, then click on Public/Private. You can figure out the rest.
Now lets describe the differences between them.
A private wiki can only be seen by those who have been invited by the owner (administrator) with one of three things, a password, a "magic url", or an invitation through the pbwiki identity system. A private wiki does not have any advertisements on it. Anyone without access to a private wiki will only see the logon page, nothing else.
A public wiki can be seen by anyone surfing there. All pages are visible, except in certain premium wikis. There are advertisements posted by pbwiki there. Even though everyone can see the wiki, only those with who have been given access as described above, can edit the pages or make any changes to it.
Only the owner (administrator) of a wiki has control over the master password (wiki-wide password). That control is maintained by his unique email address. Names aren't that important, only email addresses are really important.
How do I change the name of my wiki?
Send an email to support@pbwiki.com using your administrator email address. Be sure to include the current name of your wiki and the new wiki name that you want.
How do I change the administrator email address for my wiki?
(pass the ownership)
Send an email to support@pbwiki.com using your administrator email address. Be sure to include the current name of your wiki and the new email address you want to use.
How do I let certain people edit my wiki, but not others?
For free wikis, share your password with others and they'll be able to edit your wiki. For premium wikis — which get advanced access controls — see the Access Control FAQ and also FAQ #28 below.
How can I add pages?
See http://pbwiki.com/videos/NewPage.swf
How do I delete or rename pages?
Log in as the administrator or moderator.
To delete or rename pages and click on the link "Show all pages" at the bottom of the wiki.
Now open up the page revisions by clicking on the plus sign next to page title.
Now you will see delete and rename buttons next to the page revisions.
Just click on the button you need.
How can I change a page back to an earlier version? (revert)
Follow these steps to revert to an older revision of a wiki page.
- Log in as administrator or moderator.
- Click on the link "Show all pages" at the bottom of the wiki.
- Find the page you want to revert.
- Expand the revision list by clicking on the plus sign.
- Open the revision you want to revert to.
- Finally click the "Revert page to this revision" button.
How do I upload pictures or files? How do I link to them?
See adding pictures.
See adding files.
More generally, the steps are as follows:
- Upload the file
- The "Files" button at the top of most pages will take you to a page where you can upload files and manage them.
- Use the "Browse..." buttons to locate the file(s) on your computer.
- Once you've located and selected all the files you want to upload, upload them using the "Upload" link at the bottom of the "Upload Files" section.
- Grab its URL
- If you want to link to a file from somewhere else on your wiki, you'll need its URL. You'll find the newly uploaded file listed in the "Manage Files" section.
- Right-click on the file name and choose the copy location option (this option is variously worded depending on the browser you are using--"Copy Shortcut" in Internet Explorer, "Copy Link Location" in Firefox, "Copy link address" in Opera, etc.). There are certainly other ways to get the file's URL, but this is perhaps the simplest.
- Link to the file
- Now that you have the URL, navigate to the page where you want the link to be.
- Edit the page and paste the URL.
- If it's a picture that you would like to be displayed as a picture (not as a link), simply enclose the URL in square brackets ( [ ] ).
- If you would like to describe the link (like "Cool Story") so that the description shows up instead of the URL (or, in the case of pictures, instead of the picture), enclose the URL in square brackets, insert a vertical bar (|) after the URL, and type your description. For example, if we uploaded a file called "Fun.txt" to PBwikiCentral, we could link to it using the phrase "Cool Story" like this: [http://pbwikicentral.pbwiki.com/f/Fun.txt|Cool Story].
How do I delete or rename files or pictures?
To delete files and images, go to the Files page. (Button at top of wiki)
All your files and pictures will be listed.
Click on the "X" to delete or click on the "R" to rename them.
How can I add java-script or HTML to my wiki?
Pbwiki doesn't actively support users who add java script and HTML to their website. It can be done, but if you need help with it, please post a question in the user forums for advice from more experienced wiki owners.
http://forums.pbwiki.com
Tips on HTML can be found in PBwikiTips.
How can I get rid of the extra tabs in my wiki's sidebar?
To remove parts of the SideBar, click "All Pages" at the bottom of your wiki, and delete "Quickstart" and "RecentActivity." (You can delete wikipages by clicking on the "+" (plus sign) next to each page, then click "Delete").
These pages get special handling on PBwiki. The contents will be shown as part of the sidebar drawn on all standard pages. If all 3 special pages (SideBar, QuickStart, RecentActivity) are deleted or otherwise don't exist, the sidebar is not shown.
How can I log into my wiki without a password?
You can use a "magic url" as a bookmark in your browser. This "magic url" looks like the one below but has your wiki name in the address.
http://xxxxxxx.pbwiki.com/?aph=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Keep this "magic url" in a safe place. You can use it to get in at any time, unless you change the password. You can also share your "magic url" with your friends or associates. Be careful, they'll have the same powers that you do when they use it.
You can always find a copy of this "magic url" in your Settings under Sharing. Whenever you change the password, you'll have to get a new copy of the "magic url".
How can I turn on or turn off emailed change notifications?
You can enable or disable notifications when you login to a wiki. Just keep an eye on the 'check box' under your email address when you login.
If it's checked; you will get notified of changes.
If it's not checked; you will not get notifications.
_
Change how often you want 'Email Notifications' :
At the footer bar of your page, click on "Notification Settings".
Then, click on the pulldown menu to select how often you want notified via email. That's it!
_
Editor 'notifications' is through the "Settings" link, at the top of the page :
Then, check or uncheck: 'Send notifications to the user making the edit'.
How does upgrading to premium help me?
With a premium wiki, you get gigabytes of space, no ads, more customization, advanced sharing capabilities, and more. All for just a few bucks.
You can upgrade by going to your wiki and clicking on the upgrade button in the bottom right corner of the wiki page.
How can I cancel a monthly premium account with PayPal?
To downgrade your wiki, log into your Paypal account at PayPal. PayPal handles our billing, so you can easily change your payment options by visiting them. See these images below for a look at what to do.
Once you are logged into your PayPal, clicking on this link (below) will help you find the Coceve transactions.
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_subscr-find&alias=paypal%40coceve%2ecom
Here's a close up of how a pbwiki subscription appears in PayPal.
If you have any questions, let pbwiki support know.
support@pbwiki.com
How do I get my lost password back?
Please go to your wiki, put in your wiki administrator email address and click the "Lost password" link, which is just under the login boxes. You will then receive an email telling you how to recover your password. If you are not the owner of that wiki, you will have to get the password from the owner.
Don't put in the wrong address like I did below. Make sure you put in the administrator's email address. It's the one you used when you signed up for this wiki. If you get an error after a couple of tries, then email support at support@pbwiki.com
It says I have the wrong email address when I click on Lost Password
Did you get this error message? (below)
Here are some tips when you get this message
- Make sure it's spelled correctly.
- Make sure you don't get any extra spaces in it.
- Did you use a different email address when you signed up?
If you get this message after a second or third try, then email support@pbwiki.com with the name of your wiki and tell them the error message you are getting.
How can I back-up my wiki
Pbwiki makes constant backups of your data, but you'll want to hold your precious data close! You can download a ZIP file of your wiki pages from your Settings page.
How do I delete my wiki?
Just so you know, you can rename a wiki to any name you wish. You can also pass the ownership of the wiki to anyone you wish.
To delete your wiki, simply go to your Settings page (link at top of page)
Click the link at the very bottom called "Delete" and this should allow you to remove your wiki.
How do I find earlier versions/revisions of pages?
Click the link that says "Show all pages" at the bottom of the wiki.
How do I prevent a word from becoming a link?
Put ~ in front of the word. For example, McDonald is a link, but McDonald is not because the second instance is proceeded by ~.
Why don't bullet points work?
When you put an * at the beginning of a line to make a bullet point, make sure there's a space after it.
How do I use brackets ( [ ] ) or other wiki formatting characters
without them doing weird stuff?
To use a special wiki character normally, put <raw> before the character and </raw> after it.
Who is trying to change my password?
Possibly no one. Some or all of the password change requests emailed to the wiki administrator may be/have been sent as a result of a spider tripping the "Forgot your password?" link. This is/was a bug in PBwiki.
More Questions and Suggestions
These are some questions a user asked. I and others will attempt to answer as many as we can. Some of these suggestions will have to wait until the Developers have time to address them.
From Rob Prentice, Jan 2006
I promised to generate a list of questions which reflected my experience in creating a "wiki" with "pbwiki".
Rather than a list of Q's alone, I submit a list of "Things I Would Like to See" when creating a wiki. This reflects gaps in the current FAQ and things I have had trouble in understanding. I have been helped enormously by Jim English who has answered many of the problems. Here's the (unordered!) list.
- A "Help" section available from every page (preferably context-sensitive to that page) once the user has logged in.
- A "pbwiki" syntax page of all wiki commands --- what they do, how to use them and how they differ from HTML. For instance, can you mix "wiki" and HTML commands? Can you nest them?
- A definition of "private" and "public" wikis which includes statements about what visitors will actually see.
- An analysis of the basic wiki page which describes what the links( 'tabs') lead to and what the content does.
- Better details of 'the Space' character and what it does with various commands and when used in various situations. (I am still getting to grips with this). The basic FAQ needs to be changed to indicate clearly which symbols need a space and which don't.
- For premium users, the Access Control FAQ does a good job of describing the various levels ---but needs information on "How To Get Them" .
- I would like to get rid of the Sidebar Header (which simply says "SideBar"). I imagine I am not alone in wanting a side-bar that allows another header, such as "Menu' or 'Where to Find Things'. Or maybe it would be enough to just hide it?
| SideBar header can be hidden by Premium users by creating a wiki.css file and uploading it to the "Files" area. See CssSnippets. |
- It would be 'nice' to be able to apply Access Controls to individual pages (particularly for groups).
- I would like holders of 'admin. rights' to be able to delete comments --- otherwise what happens when you get web. graffiti artists?
- If the 'sandbox' is to be useful, surely it should be linked to the Edit page. (Although it performs much the same function as preview). I've noticed that many wiki owners use the file as a page on their own wikis. The invitation to edit (or play) becomes largely meaningless as if you don't have *their* wiki's password, you don't get to play!
I think a good "pbwiki" could be made even better if you could find time to implement the above!
[Top]
How to organize pages in a wiki
What if people have trouble finding pages you make
I have a cardinal rule that I rarely violate in wikis. Every page in a wiki should link to at least one other page. This makes an unbroken chain of pages so that if you do this, you shouldn't have to use the "Show all pages" link to find a hidden or orphan page. Naturally, once you reach a certain number of pages, you will have to use the search box to find them. I have nearly 1000 pages in my wiki and I use the search box all the time.
Use the Front page to communicate where you want people to go. This is the first page they see after logging in.
On the front page a Teacher might say:
Students, please see RecentActivity page, or the SideBar page in the tabbed navigation bar on your right. The RecentActivity page will show you the most recent changes to the wiki. The SideBar will show you important pages you need to see. If you have any questions, you can always ask me or look for help in the ClassRoomIndex page.
Create plenty of "index" pages that group links to similar topic pages together. Placing index pages in the SideBar is a great help for navigation.
Place links to important pages in the SideBar by clicking on it's tab and clicking on the Edit link at the bottom of the SideBar. (Older wiki SideBars without the tabs are edited by clicking on the word "SideBar".)
In editing mode, you'll see the recent pages you created on the right side. Click on the page name on the side and it'll create a link in the SideBar page you are editing. You can also create a link to the page manually. See WikiStyle and AdvancedWikiStyle for page link tips.
Finally, I'll give you one more piece of advice for keeping a wiki organized so no pages are lost.
Never use the New Page button unless you need a template from there.
Create new pages by forming links to them by editing an existing page. If I want to create a page "Cool Stuff" I'll edit an index page or the Side Bar and type in [Cool Stuff] or CoolStuff (as an example).
Either of these will create a red link in the existing page when you save it. To finish creating the page, just click on the new link you created. The new page will open and you can now edit it.
Following this advice makes certain that you can always follow links from one page to another in your wiki.
To find "orphan pages" or those that are not linked to any other page, go to the bottom of your wiki and click on "Show All Pages".
References:
See my wiki's Side Bar: http://freewarewiki.com
How to create pages: http://pbwiki.com/videos/NewPage.swf
How to upload files and link to them: Upload and Link
Help for all things: http://pbwiki.com/faq.php
Additional help from fellow users: https://pbwikicentral.pbwiki.com/PBwikiFAQ
Interactive help from users: http://forums.pbwiki.com/
How do I create a classroom wiki so students can't see each other's work?
You cannot do this with one wiki. However, it can be easily done.
Let's say you have 5 teams (or students).
- Create 5 free wikis yourself. This makes you the "owner" of them.
- Now make sure you assign a different password for each wiki.
- Mark each wiki as "Private" or leave the "Public" box unchecked during sign up.
- Assign each team to it's own wiki.
- Give the password for each wiki, to only the team it is assigned to.
- When it's time to share results, then go into the wikis and make them "Public" or share the passwords.
How do I set up different access levels in a premium wiki I want to share?
First you will have to create passwords for each level of access that you want to create.
1. Log into your wiki as administrator (as you normally would)
2. Click on Settings at the top right of your wiki
3. Go to Passwords and Access
4. Use the pulldown menus and the password entry fields to create passwords for each level of access you wish to have in your wiki
Now when you later click on "Share this Wiki" you will see the additional levels of sharing that you have created.
You can find out more about the different access levels in the official Access Controls FAQ.
How do I share a free wiki without letting people (or students) go crazy in it?
Easy answer, you can't. However, you can limit the damage anyone can do by making some addition wikis for a kind of backup. Here's what I told a teacher.
I recommend that you create a special (free) wiki for only your students. If you allow them to edit your free wiki, they will have the same administrative rights as you do.
Actually, three wikis might work better for you.
1. One for yourself that is marked Private and that nobody can see.
2. One for the class that is marked Public, that the whole world can see, but only you have the password for.
3. One for the class marked Private, that they have the password for.
You can always copy pages back and forth between their wikis and yours if you want to keep those pages "safe".
See another example of how you might run a group of wikis for class.
See #27 at http://pbwikicentral.pbwiki.com/PBwikiFAQ
How do I know my wiki is secure?
I never have to type in a password, why would anyone else have to?
I need our wiki to be private. When there was an option to say if I wanted a private or public wiki, I asked for it to be private but I don’t really see where it says that.
To be sure your wiki is private, go to your Settings page, it's a link at the top of your wiki on the right side. Look in "Public/Private". It tells you plainly there what your status is.
A private wiki can only be viewed by a person with the password or who has already logged in and set a cookie.
If some random person comes to my wiki won’t they also be able to access the wiki?
I can assure you that nobody but you can edit your private wiki, except in one case. I'll cover that next.
I don’t understand why we need a password. When I access the wiki, I can change or make pages and do whatever I want without ever typing in a password. Will this be different for other people I invite? Do you somehow know that it’s me (the wiki creator) using the wiki?
Every time you access a website that requires a login like pbwiki does, they send a cookie to your computer (a small text file) that is stored in your computer. This cookie is used by pbwiki to identify you. This is why you do not need to log in. Your co-workers do not have this cookie. They and everyone else in the world cannot login to your wiki unless you share the password or invite them in another fashion.
Caution: If you leave your computer unattended, anyone can sit at your PC and get into your wiki. I recommend you lock your PC when you are away. Most businesses also recommend this for anyone using their computers.
Advice: Do not lose your password even though you don't use it often. Cookies can be deleted by accident or on purpose and more than likely you will have to login the normal way some day.
Can you please explain how I stop people from stumbling across our wiki?
If your wiki is private, anyone "stumbling" across your wiki will see a login page. They will see nothing else to help them break into your wiki unless you put it in the wiki title or wiki description.
To share this wiki, do I just give my co-workers (friends, students) the url?
They will need the URL of your wiki and the password. There are two other methods to share access to a wiki and they are covered elsewhere.
How do I pay for more than one year of pbwiki at a time?
The easiest way to renew a wiki for more than one year is to send the normal yearly subscribtion times the number of years you want the wiki. Go to PayPal.com and send the payment to paypal@coceve.com. Please be sure to include your wiki name in the Paypal memo, and once you've sent the payment, let pbwiki know by sending an email to support@pbwiki.com .
You can usually find a link to the pricing for your wiki by clicking on the upgrade link at the bottom right corner of your wiki.
What are page tags and how can I use them?
Page tags are a new feature here, and I'm just beginning to use them in my wiki. I'll try to explain what I've figured out so far.
Tags are another way to help you search for pages in your wiki. Putting a tag on a page is like putting it into a folder or category that you can look in later to find it. You can also place as many different tags on a page as you think it needs.
When you see "No tags yet" on the bottom of a page, there is a plus sign next to it. If you want to tag a page, just click on the plus sign and type in a word or series of words. You have just created a tag there.
When you click on an existing tag showing at the bottom of a page, then Pbwiki will do a quick search to see if there are any other pages having the same tag. If it finds more pages with the same tag it will show you all of them in the search results. Once the search results are displayed, you should notice that there is now a link underneath them that says "See all pages and tags". If you click on the link, it will show you all the tags that are listed in your wiki and the pages that have those tags.
If you use a lot of tags, as I plan on doing, you might want to create a tags page for yourself and write them all down on it. Take a look at my tags page. I've only created a few so far, but I'll only use tags that I first create on this page. I have over a 900 pages so I've got lots of work to do.
http://freewarewiki.com/TagPage
What are Pbwiki Identities and how can I use them to control membership at my wiki?
Yes, you can get a list of your users and easily manage them by using the Pbwiki Identity system.
1. Go to my.pbwiki.com and sign up for your identity.
2. You will get an email to the address you use to confirm it's a valid address.
3. Click the link in the email to validate the email address you are using.
4. Fill out your password and profile settings at my.pbwiki.com
Now you have an identity. The next steps will allow you to add wikis to your identity.
5. If you are logged into your identity, and also at your wiki, you may find your wiki is already listed as being available for use. If it is not listed, just add it by typing in the wiki name (leave off the pbwiki.com part) and then put in the password for administrator.
Now that your wiki is listed, in the future, you should always login at my.pbwiki.com instead of going directly to your wiki.
Next, adding other users ...
6. Log in at my.pbwiki.com and click the link to enter your wiki.
7. Go to Settings
8. Go to Users
9. Now you can add and remove members of your wiki.
What will your members see when you add them here?
11. They will get an email asking them to confirm the address by clicking a link in the email.
12. The link will take them to my.pbwiki.com where they will set up an identity just like you did.
13. Your wiki will be listed in their personal my.pbwiki.com page as a wiki they have access to.
How do I promote, demote, or remove members?
14. While logged in at my.pbwiki.com, go to your wiki and click on Settings.
15. Then click on Sharing.
16. You will see a list of your members.
17. Use the pull down beside the member to set their status.
Final Note: If you give anyone one of your wiki-wide passwords for Reader, Contributor, Moderator, or Administrator, then they will always have access until you change those passwords and remove them from the membership list in the Sharing section. Just removing them from your membership list in the Sharing section won't keep them out, nor will just changing the password. You must do both in order to boot them for good. A free pbwiki has only one password.
By using identities, you will never have to give anyone a password. Your wiki can be very secure using Pbwiki Identities.
Done!
Let me know if you run into any snags. This is the first time I typed up complete instructions for this.
Clif - support@pbwiki.com
How do I notify people when new files are uploaded to the wiki?
Here's the problem.
1. You upload a file.
2. You want to tell everyone what the file is.
3. There is no option for that.
In this case, I recommend that you enable "Email Notifications" in your Settings. Then you can do the following to register each person for being notified when a page is added to the wiki. (I'll get to file notification later)
To add each person (email address) to the notification list ... Login with the password, but use each person's email address there instead of yours, and make sure the notification check box under the email address field is "checked".
Repeat the above for each email address. Remember that if they do not wish to receive these emails, they can unsubscribe by clicking a link that is contained in every notification email that we send. Otherwise, you could consider it spam.
Now, on to file notification.
For each file you upload, create a page in your wiki with the name of the file. On the page, include a description of the file and a link to it. Now every time you upload a file, when you have finished creating the page, the people in the notification list will get an email from notification@pbwiki.com. There will be a link in the email that leads directly to the page you just created, and if you created a link, the page will lead them to the file.
This is the best way to notify people about newly uploaded files and it's also a good way to help you keep track of them. You might consider naming the file pages a little differently. For example a page for checkbook.xls might be called [File checkbook.xls] so that all the pages about files start with the same word.
Clif
support@pbwiki.com
How to re-invite users so they will use the PBwiki Identity system
One of the newest features is PBwiki Identities, which is a security feature, where you do not need to share passwords to your wiki. Instead, share URLS via email, which are password protected. PBwiki Identity Users cannot log into your wiki without email verification. This is a very popular feature with our teachers, to help keep students in line.
Our biggest login issues are the two logins. So, to simplify things, with the soon to be conversion of using only PBwiki Identities, you should instruct users to create a PBwiki Identity AND to log in with a PBwiki Identity when they visit: http://my.pbwiki.com
First of all, you need to be logged in with your PB wiki Identity before you remove the users that cannot get into your wiki, and then re-invited them, adding these instructions...
If you DO NOT have a PBwiki Identity, visit http://my.pbwiki.com and click on 'Create a new account' to create a NEW PBwiki Identity.
Then, after creating a PBwiki Identity, you should ALWAYS login through http://my.pbwiki.com (where you can add other wiki's that you have access to.)
Every time you access a website that requires a login like pbwiki does, a cookie is saved on your computer (a small text file) that is stored in your cookie folder. This cookie is used by pbwiki to identify you. This is why you do not need to log in during future visits. Your co-workers do not have this cookie. They and everyone else in the world cannot login to a wiki-website unless you share the password or invite them in another fashion.
NOTE: A path uses arrows ">" to be interpreted as 'then'. (i.e. > = then)
YOUR INVITED USERS ARE LISTED IN... 'Settings' > 'Users' > view your list of people.
(NOTE: If you see "No PBwiki Identity?" at the bottom of your 'USERS' page then you are not logged in to your own PBwiki Identity.)
1) Uninvite everyone, or uninviting those with <uninvite> beside them.
2) Click on 'Passwords and Access' > click on 'Change Wiki Password' button > then change the password.
3) Click on 'Sharing' > click on 'here' (Check out the new features here!) > then scroll down to the bottom of "your list of 'USERS' page" to "Add Users".
4) Invite or re-invite people, entering their email address. They will receive a 'magic URL' in their email, and they will not see your wiki password in that URL.
How can I make a picture smaller on my wiki page?
This is one of the most important things most of us learn as a new webmaster (or wiki master). Don't upload big pictures unless you really need to.
1. Shrink your picture to a reasonable size before you upload it. You can find lots of software that'll help you do this. For Windows users, here's a free one I recommend. http://freewarewiki.pbwiki.com/PixResizer. Mac users may want to try ImageWell at http://www.xtralean.com/IWOverview.html.
2. If you do want to keep a full size picture on your website, upload a small thumbnail size of the same picture and show it instead. Then provide a link to the full size picture. (example? click on the picture in the wiki page I sent you to above)
Comments (1)
piotrus said
at 2:26 pm on May 11, 2006
A good quetion to address is 'what is the difference between pbulic and private wikis'.
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