I have mentioned in passing a few times my desire for a wiki that we could use for our Project Pages and help articles and my wishes are finally being granted! Over the next few days we will be implementing the beta version of our wiki so instead of being led to the project pages you will soon be linked to articles for each project.
Here are the two main reasons why I am so excited, and why we decided to make this change.
- We have help resources located in many different places – project page, help article, message boards, other online sites, etc and the wiki provides a one stop solution where we can compile information.
- In the wiki contributors can add their own images, findings, helps, etc. It is a pretty simple platform to use and it allows everyone to access the same information in one location.
The project articles will be automatically generated after a project has been launched. After the article has been created you will be able to link to it through the Dashboard or find it by searching for the project, by title, in the wiki.
Throughout the articles you will see Edit links on the right hand side of the text or images. (If you are prompted to login use your Ancestry username and password to access the edit tools.) Clicking on the edit links will lead you to a source version of the page where you can make changes. See the instructions below for how to make basic edits.
Editing Text: Locate the area where you want to add/clarify/delete information, and click there. Start typing. When you are done editing the page make sure you scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the Save page button – this will save your edits and bring you back to the main article page.
Adding an image: This is a little more complicated so I’ve compiled step by step directions.
- Save the image you want to use in the article somewhere on your computer.
- Click on the Upload file link found in the toolbox on the left had side of the page. Follow the instructions to upload the file. (3rd option down in the toolbox)
- Copy the link to the image – highlight the link then click on Ctrl+C
- Back in the article click on Edit and find the location in the article where you want to add the image.
- Use this “code” to insert the image [[File:copy_the_name_of_the_file_here]]
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Save page.
For additional help in adding/editing see the Help resources within the wiki.