Here you'll find directions for some of the most common things people want to do as they are working on their projects.  If you haven't already created your initial page and archived it somewhere, start with the Directions for Adding Pages.  If you need help locating the perfect text to use for your project, start with Tips for Adding Content to this site.

How to upload files, documents or illustrations

• click on the "Upload Files" quick link at the very top of the sidebar
• on the page of files and folders that appears, click the "upload files" button on the upper left part of the page
• a second screen will open, showing you the files/folders on your computer
• locate the file you would like to upload, and double click on it

If you are uploading images, please be aware that .bmp and .pdf (including Adobe Acrobat) files will appear as a link rather than an image in your text.  Your readers will be able to click on those links and get to the images you want; however, if you want to embed an image of any kind in your text, so that readers don't have to click away to view it, you need to save the image as a .jpg (JPEG) file before you upload it.  

PLEASE NOTE: Images wider than 700 pixels will not be visible in their entirety without scrolling horizontally across the page, which makes taking in the entire image very difficult.  This is particularly a problem for cartoons, which need to be seen in their entirety at once in order to make sense.  To fix this problem: Once you upload your image, click on it, so that a black border appears around the image. You will see a tiny box in each corner of the image.  Click and drag one corner box to rescale the image.  Pixel measurements will appear as you size the image up or down.  When the first number (horizontal pixel measurement) is close to 700, you are at the maximum size for your image.  If it is tall, your image may need to be less than 700 wide in order for people to view it clearly. Play around with the image size until it is viewer-friendly.

How to create a link to another page within this wiki

• be sure you are in "edit" mode on your page
• highlight the words that you want to use as your link
• if the page has been recently accessed, it will show up in the short list of links in the sidebar under the "Pages" tab; if it does, simply click on that link, and you are done
• if the page you want does not show up on that list, click on "Insert a link to a new page" under the "Pages" tab
• choose "PBWorks page" for the link type
• select the particular page to which you want to link from the drop-down menu on the next line
• click "OK"

How to create a link to a page outside of this wiki

• copy the URL to which you want your link to point
• highlight the words on your page that you want to use as your link to this URL
• click on "Insert a link to a new page" under the "Pages" tab in the sidebar
• choose "URL" for the link type
• paste the destination URL into the space provided
• check the box that offers the option to open the link in a new window
• click "OK"

How to insert an illustration

• first, upload the illustration to the wiki (see directions above for uploading a file); be sure you upload the illustration as a jpeg (.jpg) file
• position your cursor where you want to illustration to be inserted
• choose the "Images and files" tab under "Insert links" in the sidebar
• click on the title of the image you would like to insert
• once the image loads into your document, click "Save"
• resize your image, as needed, to be sure that the whole thing is viewable without your reader having to scroll horizonatally (see directions above)
• be sure to save the page again after resizing the image

*** ADVANCED, but very cool, TECHNIQUES ***

(not required, but things you may want to try if you aren't afraid of HTML coding)

How to create pop-up definitions or glosses on terms

• first, copy down the url of your page when you are looking at it in "view" mode (NOT the url for "edit" mode)
• then, switch to "edit" mode
• click on the "<>Source" button, and you will be switched to the HTML editing mode
• locate the word or phrase for which you want to write a note
• insert the following HTML code before the term you are annotating (be sure to use the <> and " " marks as shown and to keep the spacing as indicated below):

<a title="whatever you want your note to say" href="/url of your page">

• immediately after the term you are annotating, and before any other code that follows that phrase, you need to complete your HTML code by inserting this:

</a> 

• click the "save and continue" button
• then, click the "<> Source" button again to switch back to the regular editing mode 
• Your pop-up will show up, even in "edit" mode, or you can switch to "view" once you've saved all changes to see how the whole page will look to readers.

You can see above several examples of how this kind of pop-up will look. Here is how their HTML versions look, to produce those pop-ups (the pink words are all that shows on the final version of the page itself):

1. How to create <a title="you know, those nifty boxes full of information that show up when your reader puts a cursor over a word" href="/How-To+Guide">pop-up definitions or glosses on terms</a> 
2. click on the "<>Source" button, and you will be <a title="don't be afraid; there will be a lot of code there" href="/How-To+Guide">switched to the HTML editing mode</a>

You may find (as you can see in the two numbered examples above) that PBworks automatically shortens your url if it refers to the page on which your term is located. Don't worry about that.

On the other hand, if you would like to create not just a pop-up annotation but also a link to an external page -- say, for example, you want to provide a brief definition as well as a link to more information -- you can insert the url of an external website instead of the url of your own wiki page.  At the following site, for example, you can find more information on all sorts of HTML coding.  (You wouldn't need most of this HTML information for any project on this wiki, but it could be useful in other contexts.)

This technique requires that you not be afraid to write a little bit of HTML code.  If it makes you nervous, you can always practice on the Practice Pages before doing this on your real page.

Pop-ups certainly makes it easier for your reader to locate the annotations you are including for your text.  Their only drawback is that the little box only stays open for a short time, so if you have a long note, your reader will have to keep reopening the box, which can be annoying.  For short annotations, however, they can be wonderful.