Wiki Special Pages

Background information on special Wiki pages

A number of pages have a special function with respect to the operation of the Wiki, see WikiSpecialPages. The following information is provided for Wiki editors who desire to modify the behavior of their Wiki web. Note that many pages currently apply only to the ConfigurableTemplate.

• Content specific pages: Main is the front or starting page that is being displayed if no specific page is requested. About and Contact contain pages informing about the content, scope, goals, etc of the current Wiki web and about responsibility for it. The About page is usually linked from the name or icon of the Wiki web (if the template is shows any of these). You might also want to change the WikiConfiguration for the current Wiki web, e. g. changing the icon or logo.
• Navigation pages: a) If you use a template configuration with a top menu, WikiTopMenu may be modified to add additional topic links. Avoid adding too many links there: many people may have a smaller display size or use a larger font size setting in their browser than you. b) If you use a template configuration with a side menu (left or right side), WikiSideMenu and WikiSideMenuFooter may be modified. Side menus support a larger number of entries (of limited width).
• Page footers: Some templates support footer elements below the main page content. These footers may support referring pages lists (customizable through WikiReferringPagesFooter) or other, especially search resources (customizable through WikiResourceFooter).
• Broadcast messages: These allow project editors or administrators to define a message text that is automatically shown at the top (WikiBroadcastHeader) or the bottom (WikiBroadcastFooter) of all pages of the current Wiki web. This feature may be used for short-term messages (e. g., informing about server down-times) as well as for permanent information (e. g., that a Wiki has become frozen and that work continues elsewhere).
• Legalities: (IPR, licensing, policies and disclaimers)
  • CopyrightNotice is displayed immediately below each page view. It is usually a short copyright and license notice, linking to a second page CopyrightDetails.
  • WikiPrivacyPolicy and WikiDisclaimers are usually linked at the bottom of the page. WikiDisclaimers may be included in Contact and therefore not shown as a separate link at the bottom.
  • WikiRetrievalNotice provides a text automatically added at the bottom of each page. It is normally invisible in most browsers, but appears in print or after the page is copied to, e. g., a word processor.
  • WikiAuthenticationPolicy may be displayed or linked during login In some templates to inform users of closed Wiki communities how to obtain a login and contribute.
• Editor: Two notes appear immediately below the editing area: WikiEditorQuickReference and WikiEditorSubmissionContract. Several help pages are provided through links at the very bottom (WikiHelp, WikiFormattingQuickReference, WikiAdvancedFormattingHelp, WikiCharacterMap). Note that WikiHelp informs on the Wiki web application; content authors may create other [Help] pages informing about usage of the content.
• Other pages: WikiSystemInfo linked behind the JSPWiki version number shown at the bottom of pages, WikiEmailSubscriptionPage is used in installations supporting email notifications (of page updates), WikiRejectedMessage is shown if a spam filter rejects the attempt to create or update a page, WikiEditingConflictMessage provides the template for the text that is displayed when two user have edited the same page concurrently. WikiSearchFormNotes is included at the bottom of the search form.
• Special system pages: FindPage and UserPreferences are usually redirected to JSPWiki-system pages (JSP pages). These pages are not accessible by content authors.
• Indirect Resources: The following pages are not used directly by a template, but indirectly by pages tied to the template: PageIndex, PageIndexComplete, PageIndex.Template, PleaseDeleteMe, PleaseRenameMe, RecentChanges, RecentChangesComplete, UndefinedPages, UnusedPages,WikiAdministration, and WikiSandBox. In addition, some template pages use a non-standard JSPWiki property variable jspwiki.DefaultResponsibility = Gregor Hagedorn ("ViSdP", German legal requirement)\\ Federal Biological Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry\\ Königin-Luise-Straße 19, 14195 Berlin, Germany''\\ ''name@bba.de'' (please replace ''name'' with ''g.hagedorn'').

See also WikiAdministration.