Configuring wiki settings

[Discourse]

This guide explains how to configure wiki settings to meet your community’s needs, including how to determine who can create and edit wiki posts.

Required user level: Administrator

What is a wiki post?

@Discourse

Wiki posts in Discourse are special types of posts that can be edited by multiple users which allows for collaborative editing and knowledge sharing within a community. They are particularly useful for documentation, FAQs, and other content that benefits from community input and regular updates.

Configure who can edit a wiki post

Users can edit wiki posts when they meet the following requirements:

• The user must belong to at least one of the edit wiki post allowed groups (This site setting is configured to trust_level_1 by default).
• The user must be allowed to reply to posts in that category.

Users with the edit all posts permission can edit wiki posts regardless of the above settings.

Configure who can turn a post into a wiki post

Users can convert their own posts into wiki posts when they meet the following requirements:

• The user must belong to at least one of the self wiki allowed groups (This site setting is configured to trust_level_3 by default).
• The post must be converted into a wiki within the edit windows specified in the post edit time limit site setting that is relevant to the user’s current trust level.

Admins, moderators, and Trust Level 4 (TL4) users can convert any post into a wiki post.

Category defaults for wiki posts

Admins (and moderators if the moderators manage categories and groups setting is enabled) can configure categories to make the first post of new topics a wiki by default.

Navigate to the category and open the category wrench menu:

On the ‘Settings’ tab, enable the Make new topics wikis by default option:

Important notes about this setting:

• It is not retroactive. Existing topics within the category must be converted to wiki manually.
• Topics created in a different category and then moved to a category with this setting enabled will not be automatically converted to wiki.
• Topics created in a category with this setting enabled and later moved to another category will remain as wiki posts.

Locking wiki posts vs. removing wiki status

Admins and moderators have two options for pausing edits to wiki posts:

1. Locking the post: This prevents further edits from non-staff users, including from users who normally have permission to edit all posts. To lock a post, use the post wrench and select “Lock Post”. This is useful when you want to completely halt edits while preserving the post’s wiki status and edit history.

2. Removing wiki status: This reverts the post to a regular post, removing the ability for most users to edit the content, while still allowing those with permissions to edit all posts to make changes. To remove wiki status, use the post wrench and select ‘Remove Wiki’. This is useful when you want to restrict editing to a smaller group of users with higher permissions.

Choose the appropriate action based on whether you want to prevent all user edits (lock) or restrict editing to users with higher permissions (remove wiki status).

Customizing wiki post appearance

Admins can change the styling of wiki posts using CSS. For detailed instructions, see Change the style of a wiki post.

Best practices

• Clearly communicate your wiki post policies to your community members.
• Regularly review wiki posts to ensure they maintain high-quality content.
• Consider using categories with default wiki settings for collaborative projects or frequently updated information.
• Use the locking feature or wiki status removal judiciously based on your specific needs for each post.

Additional resources

• Editing and creating wiki posts
• Change the style of a wiki post

Last edited by @JammyDodger 2024-07-10T11:32:37Z

Last checked by @JammyDodger 2024-07-10T11:17:20Z

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