NOTE: This is a
DistributionDocument.
- Please help maintain high quality documentation:
This is a wiki, please
fix the documentation if you find errors or incomplete content.
Put questions and suggestions concerning the documentation of this topic in the comments section below.
Use the Support web for problems you are having using TWiki.
Use the Sandbox web to evaluate & test TWiki.
TWiki Topics
The basic building block of a TWiki site is called a
topic, identified by a unique, hopefully descriptive,
WikiWord title. It may seem easier just to call them pages, but specifically a topic is the content of a page. The distinction seems small but will become more important as your skill using TWiki increases.
TWikiSites are built using topics.
Characteristics
A TWiki topic is a rich information unit.
Each topic has:
- Name:
- Instantly identify what the topic is about
- Link to it from other topics just by typing in its WikiWord
- Content:
- Edited by simply clicking the
[Edit]
link
- Enter plain text, leaving a blank space between paragraphs like e-mail (all you need)
- Enter simple TWiki shorthand to represent complex HTML and special TWiki variables
- Enter HTML if you are familiar with it
- Include links to other topics, URLs, Web sites, files, images, sounds, or anything else you can put on a regular Web page
- Handy pop-up quick reference
- Do all of this through whatever web browser you are familiar with
- Access control:
- Independently determine who can see, edit, rename, move or delete topics
- Set permissions by individual users and user groups
- Over-ride topic, TWiki web or site
- Revision control:
- Topic changes are automatically saved
- Efficiently stores every change made to the original version
- Lets you compare and retrieve changes between any two versions, or review them all
- Displays any previous version as a regular web page or as raw topic text
- TWiki web:
- A TWiki organizational unit to which the topic belongs
- Relevant when searching for a topic, referencing it or typing in its URL
- Meta-data:
- Hidden contextual data stored within each topic.
- Parents:
- Automatically links a new topic as the "child" of the topic it was created from
- Hierarchical, parent-child navigation
- Allows manual assignment of parent topic from a list of all topics in the local web
- Offers navigation by topic parents
- Backlinks:
- Named referred-by (Ref-By)
- Lists all topics that reference the current topic
Features that can be used by topics and sites include:
- TWiki skins to customize the look of headers and footers when topics are converted to Web pages for display:
- Default and user selectable per session
- Fully configurable look and feel
- Apply skins across an entire TWiki web, or to a single displayed page
- Use included skins and easily create new ones
- Try the
[Print version]
skin below: stripped down headers and footers suitable for clean hard copy
- Plugins:
- New feature packages
- Developer community evolving existing and new capabilities
- Add-ons:
- enhanced capability without an interface to users
- File attachments:
- Upload files through your browser to the TWiki server
- Attach any type of file (documents, images, applications) for viewing online, storage or sharing downloads with others
- Upload revisions of existing files with automatic backup of all previous revisions
- Formatted search:
- Embedded searches of topics, data and meta-data, optional regular expressions
- Custom formatting for outputting lists or tables, optional layout, headings, summary, etc.
- Variables:
- Similar to a command line context with site wide and locally defined variables
- Over-ride topic, TWiki web or site
- TWiki forms:
- Store database-style info alongside the free-form topic content
- Accesses meta-data
- Use text fields and boxes, radio buttons, pulldown selector menus, checkboxes
- Create your own forms to tag topics to later search, sort and display
- Renaming, moving, and deleting topics:
- Rename a topic and automatically update all of the links to it, site-wide
- Move a topic from one TWiki web to another
- Safely delete a topic to a special Trash web (invisible, but recoverable from the Web server if necessary)
- Many more features...
The configuration of your TWiki site, skins and your personal user account can modify the way these features are used and presented to you.
Creating and editing topics
A primary purpose of TWiki is to make it incredibly easy for you to add and edit information on existing topics, create new topics, and link between TWiki topics.
- To modify a topic click the
[Edit]
link in the toolbar at the top or bottom left of every page. An editing window appears. Type away as in any text editor. Use the Edit help links to get pop-up window help.
- Click
[Save]
to save your changes.
- To add a new topic type a new WikiName in an existing topic, while you're in edit mode. When the topic is saved, the new name will appear highlighted with a red-link: Click the red-link and a new edit window appears. Enter text and save as usual. The new topic now exists.
- Go back to the topic where you started, and you'll see that your WikiWord changed from a red-link to a regular blue hyperlink. Type it anywhere on any topic in that web, and it will be turned into a link.
- One little links rule: Each topic, and its WikiWord link, belong to one unique web only. To link between webs, you must first enter the topic's web name.
Example: This is TWikiTopics, in the TWiki
web, so that's all you need to type on any topic in this web. But to link to TWikiTopics from a topic in the Main
web, you have to type TWiki06x01.TWikiTopics
, e.g. Webname.TopicName
. It's easy.
Another way to add a topic is to type a new topic name in the
JumpBox or an unknown topic URL. You can type in either a
WikiName to create the topic in the current web or Web.TopicName to create a topic in a different web than the current page. Topics created with the Jump Box or URLs are orphaned, e.g. do not have parent meta-data defined.
Other features
The color-coded toolbar at the bottom of every topic displays a series of links, including:
-
[Attach]
- pops a new screen for FileAttachments
-
[Print version]
- shows a stripped down version of the topic without headers and footers suitable for clean hard copy
-
[History]
- generates a page showing every change made to the current topic, with names, dates, and changes made (diffs)
-
[r3] > [r2] > [r1]
- view most recent revision and changes
-
[Backlinks]
- displays all the TWiki topics with links to the current topic
-
[Raw view]
- displays the source text of the topic
-
[Raw edit]
- allows you to edit the source text of the topic using TWikiShorthand
-
[More topic actions]
- opens up a new screen containing additional controls
It looks complicated, but the basics you need to begin with are very simple to use. The flexible and optional features are ready when you care to learn about them - the only way to confuse yourself or your site set-up and users is by using features you really don't need. Unlike the usual expensive, complex collaboration and project management packages, TWiki is fully functional and effective just by typing in text and making
WikiWord links. All the additional features are there, but only if you need them!
- Some controls are self-explanatory and also include instructions and help links.
- Experiment. You can always
[Cancel]
an edit or (using revision control) go Back whenever you like.
- Get in-depth info from the complete documentation, including the User's Guide, Configuration Manual and TWiki Reference.
Renaming, moving or deleting topics
You can rename, move and delete individual topics by clicking
[More topic actions]
on the control strip at the bottom of every page. The access settings for a topic, web or entire site may be disabled for one or more of the three options, depending on your site set-up and access permissions.
- Go to the top you want to change, click
[More topic actions] > [Rename/move]
- To move or delete select the target web (
Trash
to delete) from the pull-down menu (otherwise, leave on the current web)
- To rename fill in a new WikiName (otherwise, leave the current topic name)
- To update links in the rename screen, uncheck each entry (backlink) you DON'T want to update - only checked links will be updated;
- Click
[Rename/move]
to rename and/or move the topic, as well as fixing topics containing backlinks to the renamed topic.
- Any problems are listed - take note, and you can fix them later.
- If a linked topic can't be updated (it may be locked because someone's editing it), an alert will appear. You can update missed topics later by pressing
[Rename/mov]=
again.
Note: Deleting means moving a topic to the Trash web. Since all webs share the one Trash, name conflicts may come up.
Reviewing and Reverting
RCS revision control automatically saves all topic changes. To look at earlier versions of a topic, click on the
[History]
link in topic commands. If you would like to revert to an earlier version, just click on the
[More topic actions]
link, at "Restore topic", enter the version number you would like to revert to and click
[Restore]
. You get to another edit window, where you can verify (and maybe modify) the required version before saving it.
If you just want to reclaim part of an earlier version, copy from the old topic revision to the current topic revision. This is a step by step set of instructions:
- In the
[History]
view, take note of what version of the topic you want to reclaim and then return to [View topic]
.
- Select
[More topic actions]
in the topic commands.
- Under "View previous topic revision," enter the version number you want to reclaim and check "in raw text format." Then click on
[View]
.
- Select the portion of that version you want to reclaim and copy it into the clipboard.
- Return to the most recent version of the topic and select
[Raw Edit]
from the topic commands.
- Paste in the portion of the topic you wish to reclaim.
-
[Save]
the topic.
See
managing topics for more details.
Related Topics: UserDocumentationCategory,
AdminDocumentationCategory
--
Contributors: TWiki:Main/MikeMannix,
TWiki:Main/GrantBow,
TWiki:Main/PeterThoeny,
TWiki:Main/SebastianKlus
Comments & Questions about this Distribution Document Topic
- attach files section, separate other features at end
Why does TWiki use the terms
topic and
page interchangeably? The rest of the world calls them pages; shouldn't we? But if we're going to use a different term, let's be consistent and not call them pages as well. --
JonReid - 13 Feb 2002
I would agree to call them
topic if we really refer to one of the
TWikiTopics, and use the term
page when we really need to refer pages out of a
TWikiSite. But, then again, are we really in need to make that disctinction? --
AntonioVega - 02 Mar 2002
I checked
http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=topic. Topic is a
subject or
theme. So (web-)page might have multiple topics, or there might be multiple pages about same topic. And you can change topic in same page. Or edit page without changing topic. What about make it simple and call web-page a just a
page, as rest of the world does? --
PeterMasiar - 04 Mar 2002
Yeah, this page isn't the most seamless pseudo-merging of the two terms. Actually, it can be written so that the distinction between
topic and
page is clear, and yet, for a simple user's guide, we can use the easier
TWikiTopics... Anyhow, see my note, this date, in
TWikiGlossary that at least explains this topic-page issue...
--
MikeMannix - 12 May 2002
After wondering about how to rewind to earlier revisions and looking through some of the support docs on this question, I offer up the following guideline which, upon review and refinement, might be added to this section of docs. This seems like a pretty basic function that users will want to know how to do sooner or later. My intention here is to provide step by step instructions for reverting to an earlier version or reclaiming part of an earlier version without resorting to undocumented commands nor losing change history. - LB
Reviewing and Reverting to earlier versions of a topic
RCS revision control automatically saves all topic changes. To look at earlier versions of a topic, click on
Diffs
link in topic commands. If you would like to revert to an earlier version or reclaim part of an earlier version, just copy from the old topic revision to the current topic revision. This is a step by step set of instructions:
- In the
Diffs
view, take note of what version of the topic you want to reclaim and then return to View
.
- Select
More
in the topic commands.
- Under "View previous topic revision," enter the version number you want to reclaim and check "raw text format." Then click on "View revision."
- Select either the portion of that version you want to reclaim or the entire text of the topic if you want to revert completely to that version. Select
Copy
under your browser's Edit
menu.
- Return to the most recent version of the topic and select
Edit
from the topic commands.
- Either paste in the portion of the topic you wish to reclaimed or replace the entire text with the text you copied from the earlier version.
- Preview and save the topic.
--
LynnwoodBrown - 25 Jul 2002
Just a slight modification to
LynnwoodBrown's comments above, to hopefully make the instruction serve for both a newbie and someone not so newbie.
--
RandyKramer - 11 Jan 2003
Major changes, re-arranging and integration of
LynnwoodBrown's section.
--
GrantBow - 17 Jan 2003
Grant, you have good editing skills!
--
PeterThoeny - 01 Feb 2003
Merged the two "Skins" bullets.
--
BruceMcKenzie - 09 Apr 2003
in
http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/TWiki04/TWikiAccessControl, the doc says "You can define these settings in the
WebPreferences topic, preferable towards the end of the topic" , it needs to say that "You can define these settings in the topic that you want to restrict access" not
WebPreferences.
--
QiangLi - 10 Nov 2006
Thanks, this is fixed in the docs of the upcoming TWiki 4.1 (and also in
TWiki04/TWikiAccessControl.)
--
PeterThoeny - 12 Nov 2006
Just updated some parts so that they fit for TWiki 4.2.
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SebastianKlus - 02 Aug 2008
I dont know what Twiki is. Our teacher mr.Marek ordered us to registration here. I don't have idea what i'm doing.
--
Michalina Gruner - 2014-05-28
So do i Michalina. I dont know what im doing here. Please help me :((. Where can i write a new topic and article ?
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Krystian Szczsny - 2014-05-28