Wikis

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 like 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 icon in the course page or its 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 are several 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 (like 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, you can see other groups and what they have written, but you can only 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.

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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 you to see changes made by all users. So, if something accidentally 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 download files to share with others in the group. Simply click the file link to download.

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