YWAMKnowledgeBase:FAQ

How can I find what I'm looking for?
There are many ways of accessing the material:


 * 1) Type a word(s) into the search box on the top right and click search.
 * 2) Click on Categories in the box on the left and chose the one you need.
 * 3) Click your way around starting with the nine main categories on the right top of the main page. (We have tried to make it intuitive, if you don't like the structure please make suggestions on how to improve it.)
 * 4) Do a Google search, adding "ywamkb" to your search request.
 * 5) look at the list of all the pages. Click on "Index" in the box on the left.
 * 6) Advanced: You can also add the KB to the list of browser search engines: click on the arrow and 'Add "YWAM KnowledgeBase (en)"'.

How can I add some material?
First of all you must register. To do that, click on the top right of the screen where it says 'log in'. Then follow the directions to start a new account. Now some more tips to get you started:


 * Go to the Main Page and click on the box that says, "Start Here". There are many helpful articles in our help section.
 * You can also do a Google search for Mediawiki... and come up with something like this "How to edit a page"
 * Why not print off this and stick it up next to your computer!
 * If you want a WYSIWYG editor like a standard Wordprocessor you might be a little disappointed as there are not many but look at this page for some possibilities.
 * If you want to you can always email an article to Kevin or Steve and we will post them for you. However you contribution will be logged under their user names! Don't worry about posting badly formatted articles - someone will help you out! JUST ADD YOUR STUFF!

How will others find what I've added?
By adding categories to your material.

''... Categorization is not happening automatically. There are not "category bots", as we have interwiki bots.''

''You have to categorise pages yourself. And you should definitely not give up on that, as '''categories are one of the central means to keep a wikipedia edition organised. Without them, everything becomes a mess.'

(found here)

Adding a category to an article is really simple.
 * Activate My preferences > Gadgets > HotCat
 * Click on the Plus sign beneath the article. The box suggests the already-existing categories.

How can I edit a page?
Only registered users can edit a page. So log in, find your way to the page and click on the edit tab at the top of the page. Editing is done in the box.

I like to have a couple of explorer/firefox tabs open so I can look at a couple of things at a time and one of the pages I often have open is the page How to write in wiki. It tells how to make headings, change font size, make a table, include a picture or a pdf file and more.

It helps to regularly click on the Show Preview button at the bottom of the page to make sure you are doing it right.

Then you must MUST must click on Save Page when you are happy with it and before you move on or it won't be and all the work will be for nothing. Bon chance --steve

Who should add or edit the material?
All of us. This is our resource to capture all that we know about training. Everything can be improved, everyone has something to add. In this way, we can learn from each other!

What about other languages?
We are not Anglo-centric here. The concept of "Mind the Gap" is very important to us and we are aware that very soon YWAM will be staffed by a majority of non-westerners. So multiple language support is vital for the future of the wiki. Our current vision and plan is available in the Community Portal section. Please have a look and help out. We need Dutch, German, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese and French KB's!

We know that having the articles on the Wiki available in other languages would greatly widen the appeal of the Wiki. The proposed solution is to handle multiple languages in the same way Wikipedia does - they have parallel sites and the country code changes to a comparable article (they don't translate articles, as much as write their own versions)

We use the same Mediawiki software that Wikipedia uses so it should be very possible to implement parallel language sites like this. If you are interested in helping set up other languages then please get in touch!

There are no specific plans to go forward with translations although you could change that!

What if someone hacks the site and changes it and we don't like it?
It is just not a problem. I you ever find anything you feel is vandalism please report it, and undo the damage if you can.

Since we started running the wiki this has happened only once. And that was by a spam software program and not a human being directly. Kevin simply blocked the user and with one click, reverted to the previous version. And we included a 'captcha' extension that will exclude bots logging on and changing things -- cool eh!

If there is persistent vandalism then the offending user can be blocked. If that is not sufficient the IP address that they edit from (as close to their physical location of their computer as you can get) can be permanently blocked.

Security, help, can't everyone read this?
Yes, anyone can read this and, if they register, they too can add to and edit what's there.


 * Is that not a potential a problem?
 * Not really

If you have anything that must not be seen by others please do not post it here! We want this KnowledgeBase to be very accessible to all everyone in YWAM. We want to remove barriers to collaboration so every YWAMer can add to and improve it. There is little to lose and much to gain by having it very freely accessible. The things we find helpful probably will be helpful to others. Thus having this site on the Internet where the general public can read and access it could be a blessing beyond our organisation limits.

The security policy is thus very simple:
 * Everything on this site is exposed to the General Public. Please consider that when contributing content.
 * There is no secure part of this site. Thus please do not put anything here that you would not like the General Public knowing!
 * Do not post and then later seek to have the edit removed. We can remove content, however in the duration between posting and removal the YWAM KnowledgeBase can not prevent search engines and archiving services from indexing new material. If you are unsure about posting please send your thoughts to one of the key administrators, who would be delighted to assist you.
 * It is our contention that the vast majority of our YWAM knowledge is suitable for the general public. For knowledge that is not suitable there are other ways to share that information within International YWAM movement. Please use them and not this site!
 * Items almost always unsuitable for publication here:
 * Contact names and addresses (unless specific permission is given)
 * Confidential information about individuals such as personal pastoral details and stories, political and sexual preferences. If a user chooses to submit personal information about themselves that would be their own choice.

If people put untoward things on it, Kevin and Steve (and other administrators) can rollback the changes to remove them.

Can I use Word as my wordprocessor (or Wordpro) to prepare material for the wiki?
The short answer is NO and YES! Generally there is no easy way at the moment in MS Word to generate the Wiki Markup text we use on this site. However, that is not always a problem...

It may well be that you find Openoffice a viable and cheaper solution for your word processing and other needs.
 * 1) I'll tell you what I do. In Wordpro (or Word) I am very careful to use the style sheets consistently - the main headings are called Heading 1, sub headings are Heading 2, if I have sub sub headings they are called Heading 3. And then I use bullets and number lists and for everything, default text. I am very consistent with this; if you aren't then I suggest you do so.
 * 2) Next, download the free and superb open office from OpenOffice.org and start OpenOffice Writer. (This is the free and terrific word processor).
 * 3) Open your document in OpenOffice
 * 4) Choose File/Export. From the menu at the bottom of the screen there is a list of ways to export it. You want "Mediawiki". Save the file perhaps with an extension of .wiki or .txt (if it isn't there then please install it from the Extensions section.)
 * 5) Open this new file with any editor (or OpenOffice)
 * 6) Now go to the page in the KnowledgeBase you want and cut and paste the document into that page.
 * 7) And then click 'Show Preview' or 'Save page' and see how good it looks. You may need to fiddle a bit with it but it should have worked.
 * 8) Currently the main problem is that uploading of embedded images like this is not supported. You will need to save each image separately and upload them one at a time.

As an example this look at the following page and read the discussion on that page. God's Government

How do I delete a page?
You must send a message to Kevin or Steve. Only sysops can delete a page. But we are happy to do what you suggest. You can also mark the page for deletion by adding to the text.

I would say however that this limitation irks me but we are stuck with it, sorry. Feel free to email us: [mailto:kevin@thecolyers.net kevin@thecolyers.net] [mailto:stephenrsullivan@gmail.com stephenrsullivan@gmail.com]

I made some notes in a lecture, can I upload them to the knowledge base?
Yes. As I understand it, the notes I make in a lecture are in the public domain. They are my notes and not the speakers. Handouts during a lecture are probably not in the same category and I ought to ask the speaker if I can post them. Kevin and I will keep and eye on this and see if the situation changes.

How can I make tables?
Best place I've found is on this page on the mediawiki site Help:Tables

I forgot my Login and I can't log in! What can I do?
Contact one of the Help Desk folks and they will help you retrieve it! Look at the User list page tool it has an Alphabetical list of users. (Special:Listusers)

How do I make a complaint?
We are sorry that something on this site has caused problems. We invite complaints and criticism. You can find out who to contact here: YWAMKnowledgeBase:Complaints