Navigating this wiki

What's a wiki?

A wiki is a website that evolves through additions and changes that users make themselves. With traditional web pages that solicit user feedback, users have to e-mail their suggestions to the site owner, who then posts the changes at their convenience. With a wiki, users can add information directly, and it immediately appears on the site.

A wiki shares many features with traditional websites: the fundamental unit is a page, pages may contain images and/or text, and pages are linked to one another in some way. Pages in a wiki are structured in a hierarchy: each page is a "child" of another page, and it too may have one or more "children"

How do I get around?

Just as there are many different ways that traditional websites structure their navigation, there is no standardized "wiki navigation". In this wiki, we've included four different ways for you to get around:Breadcrumbs, Quick Links, Reference, and Recently Updated.

• Breadcrumbs appear at the top of every page. They show the hierarchical path that will get you from your current page back to the top-level page (Bamboo Public Wiki if you're not logged in, Dashboardif you are.) Depending on how deeply nested your current page is, you may see an ellipsis at some point in the breadcrumb path. If you click on this ellipsis, it will show the entire path.
• Quick Links: Project Bamboo appears on the left side of every page. This is the main navigation for the site, and is broken down into three categories: About the Project - background on Project Bamboo and general links for related references, our "buzz" page, blog posts, etc; Timeline - showing the progression of the project; and Planning Wiki Tools - how-to guides for the site.
• Tables of Contents appear on pages where internal links to sections on the page facilitates navigability.  These appear, where included, in the upper right, above the Quick Links panels.
• Recently Updated appears on the right side of some pages, below the Quick Links panel. Recently Updated shows pages within a certain section of the wiki to which users have recently made changes. On the wiki's home page, Recently Updated shows what's been updated recently in all sections of the wiki.
• Search allows you to search the entire wiki for the keywords you enter in the search box.

Editing vs. Commenting

This wiki has specific conventions for when you should edit a page and when you should comment on it. Themes, directions, consortial models, and some theme collections are open for community contribution, and we encourage you to add your thoughts directly to the page using the conventions provided on those pages. If you have thoughts or feedback on non-editable pages (some theme collections, workshop 1 notes, or any administrative pages such as this one) you can comment by clicking on the Add Comment link at the bottom of the page. If you have a comment or complaint about content on a non-editable page, you can also let the "Wiki Gardeners" (who facilitate keeping the wiki in good order) know via e-mail: bamboo-wiki-gardeners@lists.berkeley.edu.

How do I edit?

To edit a page, click on the Edit tab directly above the text. A toolbar will appear with the same kind of icons you see in Microsoft Word, and they work the same way. The procedures for adding an image, adding links, and adding rows to a table may be different than you're used to; we've set up a Community Design Wiki How-To Guide to answer questions about these procedures.

How do I restrict editing?

As much as possible, we'd like to minimize editing restrictions so the entire community can weigh in on the topics provided here. The only possible exception is theme collections, which constitute a more personal grouping of the data. If you would like to prevent others from editing your theme collection, please say so in the collection definition.

What's the text in brackets?

The {text you see in brackets} is "wiki markup", a way of editing that provides advanced features. Unless you're familiar with Confluence wiki markup, we strongly suggest that you edit using the default toolbar. If you see wiki markup on a page you're editing, please don't modify or delete it. It won't show up when you save the page, and it's crucial for maintaining the navigation of the site.

How do I attach documents and images?

We ask that you link to external images or documents instead of attaching them directly to the wiki. You can find instructions for linking on the Wiki How-To Guide.

If you need to post an image or document on the wiki, please e-mail bamboo-wiki-gardeners@lists.berkeley.edu with the item and the URL of the page where you want it attached, and we'll do it for you.

Are there any other guidelines for the Bamboo wiki?

We've put together a Wiki Guidelines page for Bamboo community participation.

About Wikis

What kind of wiki software does Bamboo use?

The Bamboo Project uses Confluence, a wiki engine built by a company called Atlassian, located in Australia.

What web browsers can I use to access the Bamboo wiki?

As of the time this FAQ answer was last modified:  Firefox 2.0.x and Internet Explorer 6.0 and 7.0 are fully supported. Firefox 3.0 has not been tested by Atlassian, the vendor of Bamboo's wiki software, but is expected to work "without any major problems." Some versions of Safari and Opera are partially supported (no "Rich Text" editing). These are limitations of Confluence, the wiki software used by Project Bamboo. The vendor's browser-compatibility page is the best source of current information.

How can I learn to use the wiki?

Our local how to use this site page is an orientation to the wiki environment created especially for the Project Bamboo community. Atlassian's Confluence features page might be another good place to start.  On the Atlassian site you can see the many pieces of functionality offered by this wiki software; each feature is linked to a page that explains its usage.  Not all features are enabled in the Bamboo Planning wiki space.

Where can I learn more about specific editing tasks involved in the Project Bamboo community design process?

The Community Design Wiki How-To Guide describes several editing operations that are of special interest to Project Bamboo participants, and includes screen-shots for illustration.

How can I be notified of changes to a page in the Planning Wiki?

When logged in, you'll notice a star and an envelope icon in the upper left corner of wiki pages. Clicking the envelope icon adds the page to your watch-list. You will receive e-mail notification when the page on your watch-list is changed or when someone comments on the page. Clicking the star icon allows you to mark a page as a favorite; you can view a list of your favorites at the bottom of the right side of the dashboard page when you are logged in. 

How can I be notified of new blog posts (a.k.a. "News") on the Planning Wiki?

Our wiki cannot send e-mail notices of new blog posts (this is a limitation of Confluence, the software used to power our wiki). However, if you use an RSS reader you can create a feed for wiki content you wish to track by creating a custom feed from the Feed Builder (instructions). (Not familiar with RSS-readers? One convenient way to view news via RSS if you regularly visit the Google home page is to use the Google Reader widget on your iGoogle home page.) If you don't want to create your own feed, you can use this link to a pre-made RSS 2.0 feed URL - simply copy the link location / shortcut (using right-click in your browser) and paste the URL into your RSS reader to get a feed of the most recent 5 news posts of the past ten days in RSS 2.0 format. It is not necessary to log in (and therefore not necessary even to have an account on the Project Bamboo Planning Wiki) to receive an RSS or Atom feed of publicly viewable news posts.

How can I add an attachment to a page on the Planning Wiki?

We ask that you link to external images or documents instead of attaching them directly to the wiki. You can find instructions for linking on the Wiki How-To Guide. If you need to post an image or document on the wiki, please e-mail bamboo-wiki-gardeners@lists.berkeley.edu with the item and the URL of the page where you want it attached, and we'll do it for you.

I need to remove a page I added to the Planning Wiki. How can I do this?

If you need to remove a page from the Planning Wiki, please e-mail bamboo-wiki-gardeners@lists.berkeley.edu. Please include the URL of the page you would like to have removed. If others have contributed to the page, please include an explanation that will help us to understand how others' contributions will / should / should not be preserved.

What's a "personal space" and can I make one?

If you would like to create a Personal Space and the system is not permitting you to do so, please contact bamboo-wiki-admin@lists.berkeley.edu.

What are "Gliffy" diagrams?

Gliffy.com is a commercial company that has developed software for building diagrams on the web. They also developed a Confluence plugin, which was installed on the Bamboo wiki in May 2009. Check out the company's website for more info. The Gliffy macro - which is the way a Gliffy diagram is included on a wiki page - is described in the "Notation Help" guide available when editing in Wiki Markup mode. While we're on the topic, here is a step-by-step guide for exporting and importing Gliffy diagrams from one Confluence wiki instance to another (thanks to the Kuali Student team for providing this to their Bamboo colleagues):

1. From the page where the original Gliffy illustration is located, go to the attachments tab
2. Download the attached Gliffy file (it will want to save itself with an XML extension; that's fine)
3. Rename the Gliffy file (e.g. "My Original Gliffy") with no extension (if you want a second copy on the same page, save it with a new name and no extension)
4. Upload that new file to the attachments page of the page you'd like your new copied Gliffy to go
5. Click the Edit link for the new file
   1. Set the Content Type to text/xml
   2. Set the Name to how you want it to be accessed from your wiki (e.g. "My Copied Gliffy")
6. Insert the reference to the Gliffy on your page (e.g. {gliffy: name=My Copied Gliffy})

Bamboo Wiki Access

Why does the wiki use a secure connection? When did that start?

As of September 2008, all access to the Project Bamboo wiki is secured by https. This protects the passwords of users when they log in.

Why do I get a message from my browser if I use the original wiki URL?

Please use the new URL, which is the URL for which the Project Bamboo wiki's security certificate is issued. The correct URL to use is https://wiki.projectbamboo.org. If you use the old URL with https (wikibamboo.uchicago.edu) you will likely see a notice from your browser indicating that the URL does not match the site's security certificate; there's nothing harmful about this, but you may find it annoying. The remedy is to use the correct URL: https://wiki.projectbamboo.org.

What can I do on the Bamboo Planning wiki?

Anyone can view the wiki's content.  By signing up for an account (click the "Sign Up" link) and logging in, anyone may also comment on and edit the Community Design pages (see Contribute to the wiki).

What happened to the "Bamboo Participant" wiki?

As of August 2008, the "Bamboo Participant" wiki space was combined with the "Bamboo Public" wiki space to create the "Planning Wiki" space.

How do I change my password?

Navigate to the password-change screen (after you log in) by clicking Preferences in the upper right of the screen, clicking the Edit Profile tab, then clicking the Password link.  You will be asked to supply your current password, and to type your new password twice (the second time is to confirm that you typed what you think you typed...).

I lost my password!  What can I do?

Follow these steps:

1. Go to the login screen. 
2. At the lower right, click on the Forgot password? link. 
3. On the page that appears, enter your user ID (this will often be your e-mail address). 
4. Click the Send it to me button, and a new password will be sent to your e-mail address. 
5. After logging in, please change your password right away!  You can reach the password-change screen (after you log in) by clicking Preferences in the upper right of the screen, clicking the Edit Profile tab, then clicking the Password link.
6. After changing your password, click "Dashboard" in the upper left of the wiki page (on the "breadcrumb") to return to the page from which you can access the Planning Wiki space.

I forgot my user id!  What can I do?

Follow these steps:

1. Go to the login screen.
2. At the lower right, click on the Forgot password? link. 
3. On the page that appears, look for the link in the sentence that reads, If you have forgotten your username you can retrieve it here. 
4. Click the link.  You will be asked to supply your e-mail address. 
5. Click the Send it to me button.  Your user id (a.k.a. user name) will be e-mailed to you.  Note that logins created by the Project Bamboo program staff are likely to be your e-mail address, using all lower-case letters; the wiki is sensitive to case, so if you are using a PB-created login (as opposed to one you created yourself), please use all lower-case letters.

I got an e-mail telling me I have an account on the Bamboo Participant wiki.  How do I log in?

Unless the e-mail tells you otherwise, the e-mail address at which you received the notice is your "user ID."   No one knows your password when the account is first created; you gain access to the password by following these steps:

1. Go to the login screen (if already there, skip this step; if not, click "Log In" in the upper right corner of the page).
2. At the lower right of the login screen, click on the Forgot password? link.  (You didn't actually forget anything; this is how one can obtain an automatically-generated password).
3. On the page that appears, enter your username (this will be your e-mail address - the one at which the wiki-account notification e-mail was received - using all lower-case letters).  
4. Click the Send it to me button, and a password will be sent to your e-mail address.
5. Return to the login screen:  go to http://wikibamboo.uchicago.edu/display/BPUB and click "Log In" in the upper right corner of the page.
6. Enter username and the password you received in your email
7. After logging in, please change your password right away!  You can reach the password-change screen (after you log in) by clicking Preferences in the upper right of the screen, clicking the Edit Profile tab, then clicking the Password link.
8. After changing your password, click "Dashboard" in the upper left of the wiki page (on the "breadcrumb") to return to the page from which you can access the Planning Wiki space.