Help:Introduction for New Urban Earth Users
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ABOUT Urban Earth
What is a wiki?
A wiki is a type of web interface that allows users to quickly and easily access and edit web pages. Editable by anyone, wikis encourage input and collaboration amongst many users, facilitating the development of content that is greater than the sum of its individual parts.
What is the CISC Urban Earth wiki?
The CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities’ Urban Earth wiki is an on-line community and meeting space for students, educators and sustainability enthusiasts to exchange information and inspiration on the topic of cities and sustainability.
What are some ways in which students, educators and sustainability advocates can benefit from Urban Earth?
Urban Earth is a great resource for everyone interested in the life of cities and the people who live in them. It is a place to learn, discuss and build knowledge on the economic, environmental, social and cultural forces that shape the urban experience. Researchers can use Urban Earth to share and discuss their research findings. Educators and students can use it to work together on collaborative learning projects. Sustainability advocates can use it to broadcast and coordinate their advocacy efforts. Everyone can use Urban Earth to express their thoughts and feelings on urban sustainability
COMPONENTS OF Urban Earth
The Main Page:
The Main Page is the front page and welcome page of Urban Earth. You will be directed here upon entering the site’s URL above. To return to the Main Page from any page in the wiki, click the “Main Page” link under the “Navigation” menu on the left side of the page.
On the Main Page, you will find a welcome statement, a list of topic portals, and a table of contents containing some highlighted page categories, including “help,” “topic categories,” “student suggestions,” and “recent edits.”
The Topic Portals, as the name suggests, are directory pages to the various primary content and user components of Urban Earth, including the Student Space, CUNY Sustainability Directory, and Coursework portals.
CUNY Sustainability Directory
The CUNY Sustainability Directory will be a one-stop shop for directory information on all things sustainability related within the CUNY system. Information on academic departments, courses, student groups, individuals, and CUNY institutes having to do with sustainability will be listed here.
The Coursework Portal:
The Coursework Portal can be used by students as well as professors as a resource to discuss and collaborate with each other on coursework. Professors and students can create pages devoted to specific courses, and use them to post course information, as discussion boards, and as collaboration tools for group projects.
The Student Space Portal:
The Student Space is intended to be the main point of entry to Urban Earth for individual students and student groups both within the CUNY community and beyond.
Upcoming Events and Past Events Archive:
Students can use the pages in this section to get the word out on upcoming student group events as well as other sustainability related events that students should know about. Right now, there are separate pages that list events for the next three upcoming months. In addition to upcoming events, there is also a link to past student events here.
CUNY Students Group Directory:
Individual student groups within the CUNY system can use the wiki to set up a web presence here. Names of student groups are listed here. Feel free to add your group by entering your group’s name in the text box and clicking on the “add a student group” button. The individual student group pages can contain basic information on the group, including its mission, its members, and events. They can also be used as message boards, places to collaborate on projects – whatever functions the group needs.
Student Work:
Use this category page to contribute any writings that you’ve done as a student that you’d like to share with others.
GETTING STARTED
URL:
Access the Urban Earth wiki at: www.cunysustainablecities.org/wiki You will be at the Main Page.
Logging in / Creating account:
All users need to log in to edit pages and even to view some select pages. We strongly encourage creating a new account upon your first visit to Urban Earth.
To create a new account:
- Under the “personal tools” menu on the left side of the Main Page, click on the “log in / create account” link.
- On the “log in/create account” page, click on the “Create an account” link.
- On the “create account” page, you will be prompted to enter a user name, password, your e-mail address, and your real name.
In the interest building a community based on responsibility and accountability, we strongly encourage users to use their real names as their user name, and to provide a working e-mail address.
- Click the “create account” button.
- You should see a “login successful” confirmation screen if your account has been created successfully.
To log in:
- Under the “personal tools” menu on the left side of the Main Page, click on the “log in / create account” link.
- Enter your user name and password. Click the “log in” button.
- You should see a “log in successful” confirmation screen if you have logged in successfully.
Wikicode:
- All pages on the wiki are formatted either in wikicode or HTML. To format pages and add text flourishes such as bold and italics, it is necessary to know how to use some basic wikicode or HTML. Like HTML, wikicode is the markup language used to specify how pages (and especially text) are rendered.
- A "cheat sheet" guide to editing wikicode can be found in the help pages, under the “help: wikicode editing page.” See below for accessing the help pages.
- Don’t worry, wikicode is pretty simple! You can learn the basics and use it in a matter of minutes!
- Or else, just use HTML.
The Help Pages:
For further help in using the wiki, including information on creating and editing pages, and on wiki code, make sure to visit the help pages. From any page, click on the “Help” link under the “Navigation” menu.
WIKI USAGE GUIDE
To Create a New Page:
There are several ways to create a new page. These include:
- From a category page, type in the name of the new page in the “create a page in this category” text box, and click “submit.”
- At the bottom of the Main Page, type in the name of the new page in the text box provided for new pages and click on the “create a new page” button.
- Use the “Search” command and type in the name of the new page. The search results page will inform you that the page does not exist yet, but will offer you the choice to “create this page.” Click on this link and a new page will be created.
- While editing any existing page, insert a link to the new page by using the wikicode [[pagename]] command, where “pagename” refers to the new name you want to create. A link to the new page will be created in the page you were editing. Click on this link and you will be able to start editing your new blank page.
To Edit an Existing Page:
There are several ways to edit an existing page. These include:
- From any page you are viewing, click on the “edit” link in the “Views” menu on the right hand side of the page. This will bring you to the underlying wiki code of the page, which you can go ahead and edit. Note: The edit command on the views menu opens up the entire page you were viewing for editing.
- From any page you are viewing, you may choose to edit specific sections only. Every section header has a small, blue “edit” link next to it. Click on this link to enter the edit mode and edit the particular section in question.
To Add a Category to a Page:
There are a couple of ways to place a page within a category. These include:
- At the bottom of the existing page, enter the name of the category you want the page to belong to, and click on the “add category” button.
- While editing an existing page, use the wikicode [[Category:categoryname]] command, where “categoryname” refers to the name of the category you want the page to belong to.
To Add an Image to a Page:
In order to add images to a Urban Earth page you must
- Upload it (if there isn't already a suitable image)
- Add some wikicode to add the image to the page.
See the Image help page for detailed instructions.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
For further information or help on CISC’s Urban Earth wiki, please contact project managers Jason Nu or Peter Lenz at wiki@cunysustainablecities.org
