Guide
From boards.ie Wiki
This is a guide to using the Biki. Biki is based on the same MediaWiki software that Wikipedia uses. Its help pages might be of interest. Note that you may use the Biki SandBox to try your hand at coding Biki pages. The SandBox is the play area of the Biki.
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Getting Started with the Biki
All URLs of the Biki entries are in the following format:
http://boards.ie/wiki/index.php/guide
If you replace "guide" with a word that does not yet have a Biki page, one will be created automatically for it, which you will then be able to edit.
You can access the Biki page for a user while browing the boards forum by clicking their name on any post they made. A pop up menu appears, with an option "View boardsWiki article".
While it works to use [URL] tags to link to Biki pages in posts on Boards.ie, it is not neccessary to do so. To link to a Biki entry on Boards, the custom tags [wiki] may be used. So, instead of having to type:
[URL=http://www.boards.ie/wiki/index.php/guide]Guide[/URL]
or similar, the code:
[wiki]Guide[/wiki]
may be used.
Note that the Biki is very case sensitive. If you have problems with a Biki page, case should be the first thing you check. For an example of the case sensitivity, note that the link Main Page works, whereas the link Main page does not because the "P" is lowercase. (Links to non-existant Biki articles are directed to the edit page of that article).
The headings below describe the functions of the various tabs at the top of this page.
Article
The article tab shows the entry in its current state. This will be the most recent by default, however if unwanted changes have been made, the entry may have been reverted to a previous state. Words in blue indicate a link to another Biki entry.
Discussion
This opens a page where you can make and read comments on the article. A " " tab appears at the top which can be used to add a comment with a title. Alternatively, you can click the edit tab and edit the talk just like any other Wiki page. Likewise, clicking the "History" tab from here opens the history of the conversation, rather than the article. if there are no comments entered yet, the history tab will not be shown.
Edit
Selecting this tab allows anyone to edit the entry in the Biki. You do not need to be the original author of the entry to edit it, but you do need to have an account and be logged in. If the 'Edit' tab is not present, the thread may have been locked. This is described in the next section of this article.
View Source
If the page has been locked, a 'View source' tab will be present in place of the 'Edit' tab. The markup of the article can still be displayed, but it cannot be edited. Articles are generally locked if they do not require further editing and are being messed up by muppets.
History
This shows all the different versions of the entry, and allows you to select two for comparison. If a logged in user made the changes, then their username is shown beside the corresponding version. If anyone else makes changes then the IP address is shown instead. A bold M beside the version indicates that it was a minor edit.
To compare two versions, select the appropriate radio boxes and click the compare button. To view any version, click the date of the revision.
Move
This allows you to change the title of the entry. You will need to check all the incoming links to the entry if you do this.
Watch
This will only be present if you are logged in. The page will be added to your watchlist, and you will be informed of any revisions made to the page in that.
Basic Wiki Codes
This is an incomplete list of wiki codes which may be used to edit Biki pages.
For more information, go to Wikibooks: Help:How_to_edit_a_page
There are some wiki codes which may be included by clicking the buttons at the top of the edit page. While these may be useful, it is an incomplete set of buttons, and does feature many of the necessary tools required to create Biki entries. Much like BBcode, it will be useful to have a grasp of the workings of the codes. For the sake of familiarity, BBCode equivalent codes are included where applicable.
Headings and Contents boxes
You can make a heading by enclosing the appropriate text within two pairs of equals signs (==):
==Heading==
If you create several headings, a table of contents will be created automatically. A contents tree such as the one at the top of this page may be created where appropriate by using sub-headings. Sub-headings are created by enclosing the appropriate text within three equals signs(===) on each side, or similarly, sub-subheadings may be created using (====).
===Sub-heading===
====Sub-subheading====
This may be continued up to six equals signs, although it will usually not be neccessary to to so.
Text Formatting
====Bold==== In wiki code, text may be bold formatted. To insert the line This is bold text, type:
'''This is bold text''' -or- <b>This is bold text</b>
BBcode equivalent:
[b]This is bold text[/b]
Italic
In wiki code, text may be italic formatted. To insert the line This is italic text, type:
''This is italic text'' -or- <i>This is italic text</i>
BBcode equivalent:
[i]This is italic text[/i]
====Underlined==== In wiki code, text may be underline formatted. To insert the line This is underlined text, type:
<u>This is underlined text</u>
BBcode equivalent:
[u]This is underlined text[/u]
Combining format tags
Just like in BBcode, wiki text formatting tags may be combined for any piece of text. For example, to insert This text is double formatted, type:
<u>''This text is double formatted''</u>
BBcode equivalent:
[u][i]This text is double formatted[/i][/u]
Linking to other pages
Links in Biki pages may be links to other Biki entries or external links to other URL's.
Linking to other Biki pages
To link to another Biki entry, the tags "[[" and "]]" should be put either side of the entry in order to link to it. Most Biki pages will have a great deal of these tags. For example, the code for the line:
A Super Moderator is a Moderator that has to do more work, read more posts, and put up with more abuse than a normal Moderator.
A ''Super Moderator'' is a [[Moderator]] that has to do more work, read more [[posts]], and put up with more [[flaming|abuse]] than a normal Moderator.
Note that the article being linked to does not need to exist prior to linking to it. Links to Biki pages which already exist will show up in blue, whereas, if the article does not already exist, the link will be red.
Close BBcode equivalent:
[URL]www.boards.ie[/URL]
Note the use of the code [[flaming|abuse]]. It is possible to link to a Biki page called "flaming", but force the text "abuse" to be used on the page.
Close BBcode equivalent:
[URL=www.boards.ie]Boards.ie Homepage[/URL]
Linking to external urls
There are several options available to link to external (ie non-Biki) urls.
- To put the full URL on the page, simply type the URL including http:// with no other formatting. For example,
The feedback forum is located here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=82
The feedback forum is located here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=82
BBcode equivalent:
[URL]http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=82[/URL]
- In pages where there are many external links on a single subject, the URL's may be put inside [ ] tags to make numbered links. This can be useful when linking to multiple threads. For example:
There are many threads stared by users who want custom avatars. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
There are many threads stared by users who want custom avatars.
[http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=286213] [http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=118397] [http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=95330] [http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=87586] [http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=39261] [http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=32481]
BBcode equivalent: none.
- It is also possible to link to an external URL, but use alternative text by putting text inside the [ ] tags after the URL. For example,
The feedback forum is located here.
The feedback forum is located [http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=82 here].
BBcode equivalent:
[URL=http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=82]here[/URL]
Images in Biki pages
- To insert an image to a Biki page, simply copy the URL on the page. Image URL's are automatically replaced with the images they link to. For an example of this, see Boardsmen.
BBcode equivalent:
[IMG]http://homepage.eircom.net/~cullenm/board3d.jpg[/IMG]
- It is also possible to upload images to Biki webspace, and then use [[Image:imagename.png]] to link to the image. Example:
[[Image:John_breslin.jpg]]
Note case sensitivity of the filename.
BBcode equivalent: none.
Code boxes in Biki pages
To put a box around code in a Biki page, simply put a space in the line preceeding any other text. Examples are numerous on this page. Typing " Text with a box" without the "'s produces:
Text with a box
This may be used to add quotes or code to pages. To simplify the task of adding a box to a large amount of text, use the <pre> tag. Simply put <pre> at the beginning and </pre> at the end of the block of text.
Using categories and templates
It is possible to put category links at the bottom of Biki articles by using the code:
[[category:technical]]
where technical is the name of the category that the article belongs to.
Other useful Biki codes
- <nowiki> tags
This tag may be used when needed to force the Biki not to wiki-format a piece of text. This will most likely not be common on most Biki pages, but is used extensively in the coding of this page to display code used. The necessity can be seen below.
<nowiki><b>This is bold text</b></nowiki>
gives
<b>This is bold text</b>
while
<b>This is bold text</b>
gives
This is bold text
Close BBcode equivalent: PHP code preserves the code between the tags when used on boards.ie.
[PHP][b]This is bold text[/b][/PHP]
- Redirects
To create a page that automatically redirects you to another page, such as manual, use the following format:
#REDIRECT [[guide]]
- Comments
Just like any other computer language, comments may be put in Biki code which don't make up the page, but remain in the source. Comments are made by enclosing the appropriate text in the tags <!-- at the beggining, and --> at the end. An example can be seen in the source of this page.
