wikispaces

Tips and Tricks: Create Templates for Your Wiki Pages

August 28th, 2009 by Sarah

Maybe you’re an educator looking to set up a project for each student in your class and you would like each student to follow a similar format as they present their research. Or you’re a manager who would like your employees to fill out weekly expense reports on the wiki. Instead of formatting pages for each person or occasion, you can save time by using our page template tool.

To create a page template, go to “Manage Wiki” and “Templates.” There’s an option to either create a template from a blank page or from a page you have already built. You can edit your template further as you would any other wiki page. Once you save the page, your template will be created. You can edit it later by returning to “Manage Wiki” and “Templates.”

To create a new page from a template, click on “New Page.” Choose a name for your page and the template you would like to start from. Then all you have to do is click “Create” and you have your newly templated page.

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31 Responses to “Tips and Tricks: Create Templates for Your Wiki Pages”

  1. on 29 Aug 2009 at 10:41 pm1 Michele McCracken

    Do I have to buy a premium membership to use templates?

  2. on 30 Aug 2009 at 10:42 am2 John Farmer

    Is it possible to share a template file with another wikispace user?

  3. on 30 Aug 2009 at 8:01 pm3 Wikispaces Blog » Blog Archive » Tips and Tricks: Create Templates for Your Wiki Pages « Tune In and Teach

    [...] Wikispaces Blog » Blog Archive » Tips and Tricks: Create Templates for Your Wiki Pages [...]

  4. on 31 Aug 2009 at 7:47 am4 Liz Johnson

    The green background on these websites really ruined my vision. Please change that hideous color.

  5. on 01 Sep 2009 at 2:56 am5 Frode

    Templates made in Safari doesnt show in Firefox. In firefox uou just see the imageadress.
    Do you have any fix for this

  6. on 01 Sep 2009 at 5:59 am6 Heather Taylor

    Great! Thank you!!!

  7. on 01 Sep 2009 at 3:19 pm7 Debbie

    Hi Michele,

    You can use page templates on all of our plans from our free Basic plan, to our K-12 Plus plan, to our Super and Plus plans.

    Cheers,
    Debbie

  8. on 01 Sep 2009 at 3:20 pm8 Debbie

    Hi John,

    Anyone who has the ability to view your wiki and get to the Manage Wiki page can view your templates. You can also copy the templates to another wiki by copying and pasting the page template content into the other wiki.

    Cheers,
    Debbie

  9. on 02 Sep 2009 at 4:26 pm9 Donna

    Your directions seem circular for someone who is very new to using a wiki. First of all, I cannot find a list of templates to choose from. Second, I do not know how to build a page from an existing template.

    A related issue – is this:
    We migrated a lot of pages from another wiki. Our GAAHome page was a long page that we had to scroll down to read. I just edited the page by copy pasting the widget – and now I only get a short page that basically fits on the screen without scrolling. I do not see a vertical scroll bar. I go back and check the html code contained in the widget – and the code is all there. It only displays about half the original page. What is going on?

  10. on 08 Sep 2009 at 5:53 pm10 Oladipo

    Ok. Umm… can students blog about theyre own events or can only teachers

  11. on 09 Sep 2009 at 7:49 am11 Debra

    I love the idea of creating a template but when I go to “new page” it does not show an option of choosing from the templates. How do you create a new page and choose the template at the same time?

  12. on 10 Sep 2009 at 2:10 am12 Ushasewpaul

    Thanks for the template. I need to figure out how to use it

  13. on 10 Sep 2009 at 4:08 am13 cole negronida

    owww that is nice to know

  14. on 15 Sep 2009 at 2:06 pm14 Debbie

    Hi Frode,

    Can you send us a bit more information at help@wikispaces.com? You should be able to use templates in all browsers by going to your wiki, selecting Manage Wiki, and selecting Templates.

    Cheers,
    Debbie

  15. on 15 Sep 2009 at 2:09 pm15 Debbie

    Hi Donna,

    We do not give you any default templates, however you can make a template out of any page on your wiki. To create a template please sign in, go to your wiki, select Manage Wiki, and select Templates.

    Did you add all of the text to the widget? Could you please send us the text, the widget, and a link to your page at help@wikispaces.com?

    Cheers,
    Debbie

  16. on 15 Sep 2009 at 2:10 pm16 Debbie

    Hi Oladipo,

    Depending on your wiki’s settings your students can add to it with their information. You can check your settings by signing in, going to your wiki, selecting Manage Wiki, and selecting Permissions. With some permissions your students will need to become members of your wiki before they can add to it.

    Cheers,
    Debbie

  17. on 15 Sep 2009 at 2:11 pm17 Debbie

    Hi Debra,

    The template option will appear after you have created a template. To start, you first need to go to your wiki, select Manage Wiki, and select Templates to create your template. Once you are done you can select the New Page link and you will see an option to select a template to use for the page.

    Cheers,
    Debbie

  18. on 20 Sep 2009 at 9:14 am18 Merrilee

    I am having problems with templates. I have read the above questions and answers (where there were some) but still don’t understand how to create a template. I think my defination is different than yours. I am thinking a template is a premade section (for want of a better word) that information can go on. For instance how do I get to type in the left hand column. How can I make columns in the main area, I saw one that is layed out very well and is easy to use. But I can’t seem to do it. Please help!
    Thanks

  19. on 20 Sep 2009 at 10:43 pm19 Gordon

    I still don’t understand what is a template.

  20. on 22 Sep 2009 at 7:42 am20 Liz

    Is there a way to create a template that participants can “type” on to provide their responses to questions–that all could then view?

  21. on 25 Sep 2009 at 5:15 am21 jeanne

    I’m new at this. What is the BEST use of Wiki for an educator?

  22. on 28 Sep 2009 at 1:10 pm22 Jaclyn

    I want to use a glogster on my home page, when I install it as a widget it’s very small. Any suggestions out there how to install my glog to my wiki and make it full size?

    That sounds so crazy all of these terms are new to me. I’m excited but getting frustrated…. :)

    Thanks in advance.

  23. on 28 Sep 2009 at 3:27 pm23 mcronrod

    I am a kindergarten teacher and just signed up. I am wondering how I could use this tool to enhance my teaching. Any ideas?

  24. on 28 Sep 2009 at 6:17 pm24 Michelle

    Help.. I need to set up a wiki page for class, but don’t know how.

  25. on 06 Oct 2009 at 12:42 pm25 Debbie

    Hi Merrilee,

    A page template is something that you create from a page already on your wiki. You can use it as a default when creating new pages. We do not automatically provide any templates for you. To create your own page template please sign in, go to your wiki, select Manage Wiki, and select Templates.

    To enter information in the navigation bar on the left of your wiki please go to your wiki and select the ‘edit navigation’ link at the bottom of it. For more information about editing your navigation bar and putting your pages in columns e-mail us at help@wikispaces.com

    Cheers,
    Debbie

  26. on 06 Oct 2009 at 12:43 pm26 Debbie

    Hi Gordon,

    Please see my response to Merrilee above, if you still have questions let us know at help@wikispaces.com

    Cheers,
    Debbie

  27. on 06 Oct 2009 at 12:44 pm27 Debbie

    Hi Liz,

    That is exactly what a template is – you first create the page you want people to respond to. Once you are done you turn it into a template. You then instruct the participants to create their own page and use your response template for it. Then all they need to do is go in and answer the questions on their new page.

    Cheers,
    Debbie

  28. on 06 Oct 2009 at 12:45 pm28 Debbie

    Hi jeanne,

    It depends on what exactly you would like to do.

    Check out http://www.wikispaces.com/help+Teachers for some teacher tips and http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/ for some great wiki examples.

    Cheers,
    Debbie

  29. on 06 Oct 2009 at 12:46 pm29 Debbie

    Hi Jaclyn,

    The size of your glog is usually set on the Glogster site. However, if you are having trouble changing the size there, you can change the size on your wiki page by going in to edit the page, selecting the Glog widget, selecting the widget properties box, and using the + button to increase the size.

    Cheers,
    Debbie

  30. on 06 Oct 2009 at 12:48 pm30 Debbie

    Hi mcronrod,

    Sure, you can use the template feature to create a base page that you want all of your students to use. For example you can create a profile page for your students to fill out. On the page you have something like this:

    Name:

    Favorite Food:

    Picture:

    Etc. Once you are done creating the base page you can turn it into a template as mentioned in this blog post. Once it is a template your students can go to your wiki, create a new page, and use the template. Then all they need to do is fill out the template with their information.

    Cheers,
    Debbie

  31. on 06 Oct 2009 at 12:48 pm31 Debbie

    Hi Michelle,

    Please e-mail us at help@wikispaces.com for full Getting Started information.

    Cheers,
    Debbie

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