| | 1 | = The Trac Wiki Engine = |
| | 2 | [[TracGuideToc]] |
| | 3 | |
| | 4 | Trac has a built-in wiki engine, used for text and documentation throughout the system. WikiFormatting is used in [wiki:TitleIndex wiki pages], [wiki:TracTickets tickets], [wiki:TracChangeset check-in log messages], [wiki:TracRoadmap milestone] and [wiki:TracReports report] descriptions. It allows for formatted text and hyperlinks in and between all Trac modules. |
| | 5 | |
| | 6 | Editing wiki text is easy, using any web browser and a simple [WikiFormatting formatting system], rather than more complex markup languages like HTML. The reasoning behind its design is that HTML, with its large collection of nestable tags, is too complicated to allow fast-paced editing, and distracts from the actual content of the pages. Note though that Trac also supports [WikiHtml HTML], [WikiRestructuredText reStructuredText] and [http://www.textism.com/tools/textile/ Textile] as alternative markup formats. |
| | 7 | |
| | 8 | The main goal of the wiki is to make editing text easier and ''encourage'' people to contribute and annotate text content for a project. Trac also provides a simple toolbar to make formatting text even easier. |
| | 9 | |
| | 10 | The wiki itself does not enforce any structure, but rather resembles a stack of empty sheets of paper, where you can organize information and documentation as you see fit, and later reorganize if necessary. |
| | 11 | As contributing to a wiki is essentially building an hypertext, |
| | 12 | general advice regarding HTML authoring apply here as well. |
| | 13 | For example, the ''[http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style Style Guide for online hypertext]'' explains how to think about the |
| | 14 | [http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/Structure.html overall structure of a work] |
| | 15 | and how to organize information [http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/WithinDocument.html within each document]. One of the most important is “make your HTML page such that you can read it even if you don't follow any links.” |
| | 16 | |
| | 17 | Learn more about: |
| | 18 | * WikiNewPage creation, which can be configured to start from a [PageTemplates page template] |
| | 19 | * WikiFormatting rules, including advanced topics like WikiMacros and WikiProcessors |
| | 20 | * How to use WikiPageNames and other forms of TracLinks which are used to refer in a precise way to any resource within Trac |
| | 21 | |
| | 22 | If you want to practice editing, please use the SandBox. |
| | 23 | |
| | 24 | Before saving your changes, you can ''Preview'' the page or ''Review the Changes'' you've made. |
| | 25 | You can get an automatic preview of the formatting as you type when you activate the ''Edit Side-by-side'' mode. '' There is a [wiki:/TracIni#trac-section configurable delay] between when you make your edit and when the automatic preview will update.'' |
| | 26 | |
| | 27 | Some more information about wikis on the web: |
| | 28 | * A definition of [http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki Wiki], in a famous wiki encyclopedia |
| | 29 | * The [http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiHistory History] of the original wiki |
| | 30 | * A wiki page explaining [http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?WhyWikiWorks why wiki works] |
| | 31 | |
| | 32 | ---- |
| | 33 | See also: TracGuide |
