Editing and creating wiki posts

[Discourse]

This guide explains how to create and edit wiki posts, including their purpose, permissions, and best practices.

Required user level: All users (with specific permissions based on trust levels)

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.

You can see wikis in action in our Community wiki category

Recognizing a wiki post

Wiki posts have a unique icon and a different, more prominent, edit button (for those who can edit them) to distinguish themselves from regular posts:

You can also search for them using the in:wiki filter within the site’s search box

Editing a wiki post

By default, Trust Level 1 users can edit all wiki posts they have access to. To edit a wiki, navigate to the wiki post and click the edit button in the lower right corner. There is also an Edit Post button within the post’s edit history as well that serves the same purpose.

When the composer is opened to edit, it will allow you to edit all content of the post, though the title, category, and tag information is still only available to edit for those with the necessary permissions.

When an edit is made and the post is saved, a notification is sent to the post author making them aware of the edit.

The Wiki Editor badge is granted to users the first time they edit any wiki post.

Viewing edit history

To view the edit history of a wiki post, click on the edit indicator in the top right corner:

And the revision history and information is the same as for regular posts:

The edit history of wiki posts is visible even when edit history visible to public is disabled

Creating or removing a wiki post

To turn one of your own posts into a wiki post you need to be Trust Level 3 (default). Trust Level 4, moderators, and admins can convert any post into a wiki.

Any post within a topic can be converted into a wiki. It’s common to make the first post a wiki, but it isn’t a requirement.

How to create a wiki post:

To convert a regular post into a wiki, open the … menu at the bottom of the post, select the wrench icon, and then select the ‘Make Wiki’ option.

Remember that wiki posts can be edited by users who didn’t create the original post, as long as they have the required permissions.

How to remove a wiki post:

If a post is already a wiki, the Remove Wiki button will appear instead of the Make Wiki button.

Converting a wiki post back into a regular post will retain the edit history as normal.

Best practices

• Use wiki posts for content that benefits from collaborative editing, such as documentation.
• Respect other contributors’ work and make edits thoughtfully.
• Use the edit history to track changes and understand the evolution of the content.

FAQs

Can more than one person edit a wiki at the same time?

Simultaneous editing is not supported in wiki posts. If two users edit at the same time, the latest save will overwrite the previous save.

Can I prevent specific users from editing my wiki post?

No, wiki posts are designed for open collaboration. However, admins can adjust group requirements to limit who can edit wiki posts, or move topics to categories with more restricted access.

Can I lock a wiki post?

As a regular user this is not possible, but admins and moderators can lock a wiki post using the option in the post wrench.

Additional resources

• Configuring wiki settings
• Change the style of a wiki post

Last edited by @Lilly 2024-11-04T22:51:42Z

Last checked by @hugh 2024-06-18T03:33:48Z

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