The Wiki tool within UR Courses is a useful group work and collaboration activity. It allows students registered in the same course to work individually or together (in groups or as a class) to create documents such as a paper or project. All members of a group can work on the same wiki. It is possible to format wiki pages in a manner similar to other word processing software (i.e. Microsoft Word). It is also possible to create multiple wiki pages and link these pages together, as well as add pictures and links to uploaded files.


Accessing a Wiki


  1. Click on the Wikis link on the Activities block.
  2. Choose the wiki you want to open if more than one is available

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Adding Text & Editing a Wiki


A wiki will usually display either a start page that is empty or a description area with text that has been inserted by the instructor with instructions or questions for students to answer. Below the description text there will be a number of tabs: view, edit, comments, history, map, and files. The View tab will be selected by default.

Below the tabs you will see a Separate groups or Visible groups box (similar to that found when using groups in Forums). If separate groups are used in the course you probably won’t be able to change the group unless you belong to more than one group. If the instructor has set the groups to visible then you will be able to see other groups and what they have written but you will only be able to edit your own group’s wiki. If you are not using group wikis then you won’t see a groups list at all.

Once you have selected your group (if applicable) you can click the Edit tab to edit the contents on your wiki page. When in edit mode a toolbar will appear and you will see a cursor allowing you to type/edit text as you wish.

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Comments/History and Files Tabs


  1. The Comments tab allows you and your group (if this is a group wiki) to share comments between each other. Think of it as forum to post questions/comments pertaining to your wiki content. This is useful so your wiki does not get cluttered with content and comments.
  2. The History tab allows every change Saved made by all users to be recorded. So, if something accidently gets deleted users of a group can compare two different versions with each other and then restore an older version so it can become the master copy.
  3. The Files tab allows users to upload files to share with others in the group. Simply drag and drop the file from your computer to the files area. The file(s) get(s) saved with the wiki.
  4. Exporting your wiki Once the wiki activity is finished, the wiki text can be copied and pasted to a word processor and submitted for grading. Note: The wiki content will be deleted after the course has ended so you may also want to keep a copy as a backup or just to have for future reference.

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