I am running out of ideas for daily tips - if anyone wants to add one, please do so, or contact me with a suggestion of what is needed, and I'll do what I can
Thanks Dave Foord
www.a6training.co.uk
Tuesday 1st May
Updating an old PBwiki to the new visual editor
Anyone who was using PBWiki more than about 6 months ago, would be aware that the editing could be a little bit clumsy - whereas the new version of PBWiki is much better - if you want convert an old version to the new - go to the top right corner of the wiki, and there should be a link allowing you to switch between the 2 modes.
Monday 30th April
Using numbered lists
Although not as sophisticated as packages like Microsoft Word, you can easily create numbered (or bulleted) lists in PBWiki - which can help with the layout of the page, and the students understanding of the information
- Highlight the text that you want to be numbered
- Select the Numbered List Icon
This will number all of the items in your list
If you highlight a second sequence to number, by default it will start back at 1, you can chage this by
- Right Click on the text that you want to renumber
- Select the Numbered List Properties Option
- Enter the new Starting Number
Note - that the numbers won't automatically update if you change the list above.
Friday 27th April
Changing the 'appearance of the wiki'
If you create PBwiki from scratch by default you get a greenish background, and the headings get converted into Times New Roman - you can change this, and at present there are 5 different 'skins' that you can choose from.
- Over on the Right Hand side there is a button for 'Settings' - I assume that only the wiki adminstrator gets to see this.
- Then on the left, amidst a variety of wiki options, is the word Skins
- This then gives a drop down list containing the 5 options - choose the desired option and Save - you have to save each option in turn to view them - there isn't a preview option
This Wiki has been produced using the skin called Minimalist - which I think is the clearest to read, and hopefully the most accessible. All of the skins rely use CSS - so if a student uses something like the TechDis toolbar - then they can change the colours and fonts with this anyway.
Thursday 26th April
Inserting a Table of Contents on a page
If you have a wiki page that has a lot of content, with lots of headings, and sub-headings etc - there is a tool within PBwiki - that allows you to insert a Table of Contents for that Page - probably high up on the page.
- Select the Insert Plugin icon at the top of the page
- Select the option of 'PBMagic'
- Select 'Table of Contents'
- Click OK
Wednesday 25th April
Inserting a 'Smiley' into a wiki 
One of the problems of typed communication, (e.g. email, discussion boards or wikis) is you don't get the advantages of body language,or changes in tones of voice etc. This can cause problems as people may type something that is rhetorical, or tongue in cheek - which if spoken in person, would be obvious, but when typed isn't and can lead to people taking offense, or missing the point.
One way to reduce this problem is by using smileys - little characters - usually yellow balls with facial features - to provide some 'body lanaguage' about what you are trying to convey.
-
Positions the cursor where you want your smiley to appear
-
Select the 'Insert Smiley Icon'
-
choose the desired smiley
-
OK
Tuesday 24th April
Embedding a video clip from YouTube, GoogleVideo, VideoJug or similar
Return to your PBWiki, Move the cursor to where you want the video to appear
If you then choose the 'Video' option - it gives you the option of YouTube Video - you can use this for any video it doesn't have to be from YouTube.
Paste the code into the box, and click OK - and thats it!
Monday 23rd April
Receiving email notifications when the wiki is edited
If you are using a PBWiki with your students, it is helpful to receive
notifications when the wiki is edited (especially if you have many wikis, it
is very tedious to trawl through each wiki and find nothing has happened).
The Wikis do come with RSS feeds built in which you can use if you want to,
but for those not yet using RSS - if you go and edit the wiki once created,
it gives you the option of entering your name and email address - if you do
this, and you leave the box about email notifications checked, whenever
someone else edits the wiki, you'll get an email telling you. To some the
thought of even more emails is not a good one, but as the emails will have a
standard format, it is very easy to create a rule, which at the very least
will move the email into a folder for you.
Friday 20th April
Creating a new page in the wiki
- Type in the text that you want to be the link to the new page
- Select the 'Hyperlink' Icon
- Leave the options as they are, and select OK
- Save the page you are editing - the new link will appear with a red line underneath it this tell you that the page has no content at this poin
- Click on the link - select the option to create the new page and start editing
Thursday 19th April
Inserting an Image into the Wiki
It is very easy to add an image into the Wiki
- Position the cursor where in the wiki, that you want the image to appear
- Select the 'Insert Image' icon
- You can then browse for the file, an select upload.
- Click OK
- If you then right click on the image, it gives you an option to enter the 'image properties' - select this
- You can then enter some 'Alternate Text' to describe the image
Note when you resize images in PBwiki - even if you use the corner handles - the image can distort, so you may need to do any resizing in another package.
Wednesday 18th April
Converting text into a heading
When you enter information into the wiki - you can convert text into headings, using the format Styles
- Highlight the text that you want to become the heading
- Select the 'Format' option in the editor
- Choose the desired Heading level (e.g. Heading 2 is a subheading of Heading 1, Heading 3 is a sub heading of Heading 2)
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