2,153
edits
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
''This hands-on session for non technical users emphasizes the "need to know" aspects of Web publishing, wikis, information design and Semantic Mediawiki for flexible, structured, practical re-usable content that fits into the Web of Data. It is not expected participants will become experts in all these topics, but will be able to create a site, and have an overview of what can be done as a basis of progressive learning.'' | |||
[[Category: | = Acronyms = | ||
* SMW = Semantic Mediawiki | |||
* MW = Mediawiki | |||
* CC = Creative Commons | |||
= Web publishing = | |||
== Access models == | |||
* Fully open, no login required | |||
* Require login for editing | |||
* Require created accounts to edit (closed editing) | |||
* Require created accounts to access (fully private) | |||
** Encryption to avoid snooping | |||
Access models can be changed over time; avoid starting a wiki with jargon or unsympathetic content. | |||
== Site users == | |||
* Levels | |||
** De-emphasize control, make it as flat as possible | |||
** Bureaucrats still exist - edit site-wide content and styles, block pages and users | |||
* OpenID signin | |||
{{Practice|Create an account and sign in}} | |||
== Accessibility == | |||
''Here, accessibility refers to supporting people with vision, keyboard control or cognitive difficulties.'' | |||
* Making sites accessible generally increases usability | |||
** Works on more devices from text browser to handheld | |||
** Typically more straightforward navigation | |||
** Accessible hot keys can be used by any expert user | |||
** [http://asyourworldchanges.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/using-the-curb-cuts-principle-to-reboot-computing/ The curb cuts principle] | |||
* Mediawiki is accessible, SMW has issues (forms) | |||
* Value content over appearance | |||
* Good tags for images, image maps | |||
[[File:Copright continuum.jpg|right|500px|Copyright continuum, from traditional copyright to public domain]] | |||
== Terms of use == | |||
* Creative Commons - share with options for attribution, non-commercial, changes | |||
** [http://creativecommons.org/choose/?jurisdiction=ca Choose your license] | |||
* Traditional copyright - by permission only | |||
* Re-using content | |||
** [http://search.creativecommons.org/ Find CC media] | |||
<br class="cleared" /> | |||
= Using Mediawiki = | |||
[[File:MediaWiki_logo_without_tagline.png|right]] | |||
''Mediawiki is the underlying software of Wikipedia. It is robust, supported by a large community and supports hundreds of useful extensions.'' | |||
== Progressive uses == | |||
* Basic site with pages and categories | |||
** You just need to know a few things for your wiki to be as useful as most Web sites | |||
* Add widgets for more interactivity | |||
* Wiki gardening to reorganize content | |||
* Add semantic classes for reusable data | |||
* Guide users of the site | |||
** Viewer | |||
** Casual editor | |||
** Advanced editor, gardener | |||
** Semantic coder | |||
== Creating pages == | |||
* How to name pages | |||
** One topic per page | |||
* Short, avoid special symbols, sentence form | |||
* Code and matching brackets | |||
=== Basic markup === | |||
[[File:Sky_Clouds_13.jpg|right|400px|A picture of clouds with the sun poking through in case people start to panic]] | |||
''Rather than using a rich text editor, Mediawiki uses a progressively learned set of markup, that's designed to be human-readable, consistent and enforces meaning over appearance. It's not dependant on special programs, and could be carved into a park bench and retain its meaning.'' | |||
* <nowiki>''Italic'', '''Bold'''</nowiki> | |||
* <nowiki>* List heading level one</nowiki> — use # for numbered list | |||
** <nowiki>** List level two</nowiki> — ## for numbered list | |||
*** ... | |||
* <nowiki>=Heading one=</nowiki> | |||
** <nowiki>==Heading two==</nowiki> | |||
*** ... | |||
* <nowiki>[[Mypage]]</nowiki> — A wiki link | |||
** <nowiki>[[File:Mypicture.png]]</nowiki> — Media (inline or link) | |||
** <nowiki>[[Mypage|This is my page]]</nowiki> Alternate link text (using pipe symbol) | |||
* <nowiki>[http://theirsite.com]</nowiki> — A non-wiki link | |||
** Use a space after the link to use your own link text. <nowiki>[http://theirsite.com Their site]</nowiki>. | |||
* <nowiki>{{My Template}}</nowiki> — A template (reusable content, function or variable) | |||
** Don't Repeat Yourself | |||
** Pipe symbol is used to pass parameters — <nowiki>{{Show Something|Something}}</nowiki> | |||
* <nowiki>{{ #geocode: Montréal, Quebec}}</nowiki> — Template function, in this case geocode turns a place name into geographic coordinates | |||
* <nowiki>{{{1}}}</nowiki> — SMW variable, in this case the first value passed to a template | |||
* Finding pages | |||
* Starting new pages | |||
* Proactive linking | |||
** Brainstorm using links | |||
{{Practice|Create a new page that's a unique generally recognized placename, include a link to another page and another site.}} | |||
* Categories | |||
** Subcategories | |||
{{Practice|Put your page in a category, put that category in a sub-category}} | |||
* Uploading images and files | |||
* Moving pages | |||
** Moving preserves the original link, can be useful for "also known as" | |||
{{Practice|Move your page to a more specific location (Placename, Region), observe [[Special:RecentChanges]]}} | |||
{{Bonus practice|Add an image, place it on the right and include a caption.}} | |||
* Deleting pages | |||
* Templates - used for consistently reused content | |||
=== Making pages look good === | |||
''CSS is the style system of Web pages and can also be used in Mediawiki. Like wiki markup, learning can be progressive.'' | |||
[http://www.placeography.org/index.php/Main_Page Placeography] | [http://genozymes-ge3ls.ca/wiki/Bioenergy Biofuel Visions] | |||
* Re-using CSS styling <nowiki><div style="background: orange">Hello world</div></nowiki> | |||
** Avoid losing meaning (don't use <nowiki><big></nowiki> for headers), keep it simple | |||
* Re-using styles [[MediaWiki:Common.css]] | |||
* Possible to hide MW's menus and change the 'skin' | |||
{{Practice|Add <nowiki><div class="noticebox">...</div></nowiki> to some page content}} | |||
= Semantic Mediawiki = | |||
[[File:SMW_logo_180px.png|right]] | |||
''SMW is an extension ecology of MW that allows marking up content for re-use and creating easier to use forms and views.'' | |||
* Meaning through annotations and relationships | |||
** You define the relationships for your application | |||
** Triples — subject, predicate, object | |||
*** Subject — what we're talking about | |||
*** Predicate — the relationship type | |||
*** Object - what the subject is being related to | |||
** Combine them and you can flexibly describe anything | |||
** Montréal ''is a'' place | |||
** Montréal ''has population'' 1,906,811 | |||
** Montréal ''has geographic'' coordinates 45.5088889, -73.5541667 | |||
* What properties does your content need to be useful? | |||
== Inline property annotation == | |||
''Single instances of data can be marked-up using annotations.'' | |||
<nowiki>[[Date::Jan 1, 2011]]</nowiki> | |||
Or combinations: | |||
<div class="noticebox" style="background: #FFB04C"> | |||
'''Page: Montreal''' | |||
* <nowiki>[[A::Place]]</nowiki> | |||
* <nowiki>[[Population::1,906,811]]</nowiki> | |||
* <nowiki>[[Geographic coordinates::45.5088889, -73.5541667]]</nowiki> | |||
</div> | |||
{{Practice|Add a population annotation to your place.}} | |||
* [http://semantic-mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Properties_and_types#List_of_data_types Built-in types] | |||
* Geographic coordinate | |||
* [[Special:Properties|Viewing all properties]] | |||
* Subtypes | |||
== Queries == | |||
* [[Special:Ask|Queries]] | |||
** <nowiki>{{ #ask: [[A::Place]] }}</nowiki> | |||
** <nowiki>{{ #ask: [[Category:City]] }}</nowiki> | |||
== Classes == | |||
''Instead of using inline property assignments, semantic classes use templates.'' | |||
{{Practice|Change your page so it's a an Entity.}} | |||
<div class="noticebox" style="background: #FFB04C"> | |||
'''Page: [[Montréal]]''' | |||
<nowiki>{{Entity</nowiki> | |||
<nowiki>|A=Place</nowiki> | |||
<nowiki>|Population=10000</nowiki> | |||
<nowiki>}}</nowiki> | |||
</div> | |||
* [[Special:CreateClass|Creating a class]] (template, properties, forms) | |||
** One topic per page | |||
** Formlink <nowiki>{{#formlink:Comment|comment||Comment[Topic]={{PAGENAME}}}}</formlink></nowiki> | |||
* Class templates will often contain queries that show linked classes | |||
{{Practice|Create your own semantic class with template, properties, form. Add pages to it [{{PSITE}}/Special:Forms] }} | |||
== Views == | |||
<div style="float: right"> | |||
{{ #ask: [[Geographic coordinate::+]]|format=map}} | |||
</div> | |||
* Format= parameter to queries | |||
** <nowiki>{{ #ask: [[Geographic coordinate::+]]|format=map}}</nowiki> | |||
* Timeline, Calendar, Map, Facet browser | |||
<br class="cleared" /> | |||
== Basic inference== | |||
''Inference is used to derive information from basic information.'' | |||
<nowiki>{{#ifexpr: {{{Population|}}} > 50000 | |||
| [[Category:City]] }} | |||
</nowiki> | |||
''If the page's population is greater than 50000, then put it in the category of city.'' | |||
This is a simple form of artificial intelligence, that be very useful for large sets of pages for arbitrary classifications. | |||
== Future directions== | |||
* Relating ontologies | |||
* Reusing content | |||
* Creating a big picture where anyone can ask questions and add their data | |||
<br class="cleared" /> | |||
= Mediawiki Widgets= | |||
''[http://www.mediawikiwidgets.org/Main_Page Mediawiki Widgets] allow embedding third-party site content for rich media (Youtube, photo sites, etc) and interactive discussions (DISQUS, Twitter, etc) without needing to set it up or host it on your site''. | |||
* DISQUS discussion | |||
** Register with DISQUS | |||
** Get key | |||
** Create [[Widget:DISQUS|widget]] | |||
** Embed widget on pages | |||
= Converting content or sites = | |||
* [http://johnmacfarlane.net/pandoc/ Pandoc] | |||
* Convertors for [http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Convert2MediaWiki Open Office], [http://wikieducator.org/Microsoft_Launches_Open_Source_Filter_for_Mediawiki Microsoft Word] | |||
= Hosting = | |||
* Export a site, modularize by category | |||
** Complete site export | |||
* [[Special:Version]] | |||
* Free light/startup hosting | |||
* Inexpensive Mediawiki with SMW option | |||
* Wikia | |||
* Self-hosting | |||
= Getting help = | |||
* View source of pages | |||
* Mediawiki help sites and community | |||
* Semantic mediawiki help sites and community | |||
* If it's for an open cause, ask me | |||
** Let's form a user group | |||
[[Category:SemWeb]] |