Creating Links in MediaWiki - categories transcript

From Extension Collaborative Wiki

Following is a transcript of the screencast:

The third type of linking we’re going to look at is use of categories. Because wikis are flat, you won’t see a menu structure. Instead, categories can be used in the wiki to help you find items. They’re a key method of navigation. Use categories to organize and group content.

To determine the appropriate category, go to the National Ag Library Thesaurus, and research the topic of your article. Pick the best category.

To add a category to an article, click Edit. The wiki mark-up for a category is typically added to the bottom of the edit text. Click at the bottom of the article text. Type: category colon communications technology (ex: Category:communications technology). When I check the National Ag Library, the best category for this article was communications technology. Select the line of text, and click the internal link icon on the toolbar. You’ll see the double bracket before and after the category information, just like an internal link. Add the summary comment, and save.

At the bottom of the article, it displays the categories an article is in. You’ll remember that when you see red colored text, you know that’s an empty page. Click the red text link to go to that category’s page. Since this category has no descriptive text, it displays an edit page. Scroll down to the edit box, and type a description for that category. For communications technology, I’ll type: a tool for the sharing of knowledge and information. Add the summary comment, and save.

Here you see the description for the category. And any articles with that category are listed below.