FAQ General

General questions about JSPWiki

How recent are Recent Changes?

Janne : We just basically look at the modification time of each file, then show them in reversed order. Currently the cutoff point is at 60 days, but you can see a full list of all changes at FullRecentChanges.

Really, a better solution is needed, since if a page gets modified twice, it can only be seen once. This should be solved when we move things under version control anyway.

Asser: I thought that you hide other modifications on purpose :) I like this current feature since it keeps the list more compact.

Janne: Well, I'll keep it then that way, even though we've moved to version control anyway. :-)

How do I delete a page?

Simple. Just put a link to the page DELETEME as the first item on your page, and at some point the administration will delete these pages. Proper deletion support is available in 2.2. (do not use the normal DELETEME Link, because this page should not be shown in the delete wish list)

What happens if two people try to edit and save concurrently? Last one to save wins?

First one to save wins, the next guy gets a warning and a note telling that you should check what changed and try a re-edit.

Where do I find the source code?

You can download the JSPWiki distribution package, including a war-file and the source code from JSPWiki:JSPWikiDownload.

How do I add a new Wiki page?

Create a link that points to a new (not existing) page using its WikiName. Click question mark (?) after the new link and you will get an editor for the new page.

The reason for this is that linking between WikiPages is the way how people find to these pages. If a page is not linked to, nobody can find it and it is thus useless. By forcing people to create a link first, you encourage people to link more and more. In fact, whenever you write something that you think someone could write an explanation for, just make it a hyperlink. Someone will pick it up, someday.

How does JSPWiki compare to other java based Wikis?

I am pondering the possibility of installing a Wiki on a site I run. Well, I actually have already decided I will, so now I am looking at different implementations. My hosting provider supports perl, python, php and java, so I can really use anyone. However, since the rest of the site is JSP based I prefer to use a JSP based Wiki if possible. I'd like to know which are the advantages or features of JSPWiki as compared to other JSP WikiWikiWeb:WikiWikiClones. How easy is it to modify the editing markers, for example? --VictorJalencas PS: BTW, I have just seen all the RPC hooks in the JSPWikiDevelopment page... seems like I am almost decided ;)

JSPWiki:MahlenMorris: I hope you aren't expecting to get some sort of unbiased answer from the people who hang out here. :)

Well, the reasons I chose to use JSPWiki over others were:

• It's in Java. I'm currently most adept at Java coding, so any modifications i might need to make would be easier in Java. Admittedly, i haven't actually coded any modifications to JSPWiki, but I have tracked down a bug or two.
• It's under active development. None of the other Java-based Wiki Clones that i could find were. It means you don't have to fix/add every new feature yourself.
• I like the Wiki syntax of JSPWiki. It hasn't been allowed to get too convoluted, which is important to me, since my user base is somewhat naive and easily bewildered.

Since I adopted it, the XML-RPC server stuff that Janne put in has grabbed my brain and shook it like a wet kitten, inspiring me to start my first FreeSoftware project, Hula. I haven't even had time to implement some of my wackier ideas using that, but stay tuned.

Plus, hey, Janne's been a joy to intercontinentally work with. So that's why I'm using JSPWiki.

JSPWiki:MahlenMorris: One of my former co-workers saw this page in his install of JSPWiki and objected to being referred to as "somewhat naive and easily bewildered" by association. So, to be clear, I wasn't talking about him ;)

Why is RecentChanges very slow?

Are you using RCSFileProvider or VersioningFileProvider? If yes, then the reason is that JSPWiki has to go and find the author for each page separately. Especially with RCSFileProvider, this can take some time.

The solution is to enable the CachingFileProvider, which keeps a list of recently used pages and author information in memory. In JSPWiki 2.0 this is enabled via the 'jspwiki.usePageCache' configuration option.

Would creating folders and subfolders for the contents translate into a hierarchy?

No. JSPWiki uses an entirely flat file structure for pages. The different PageProviders may use subdirectories, but these are not visible to the user.

This is actually a conscious decision: Wikis are flat by nature, and if you want to have a hierarchy, then what you need to do is to define the pages by hand. This is actually very useful - for example, see JSPWikiDevelopment for a page that contains all pages that have something to do with JSPWiki development.

Dot based page names, and pattern based index/search could bring this kind of service :
ex. of page name : Projects.RocketLauncher.UserStories.us_1, ... --AlainRavet

Yes. You can easily "simulate" hierarchies by using dots, but JSPWiki in itself does not limit the structure in any way. --JanneJalkanen

See IdeasSubPages for more discussion.

How do I see an Index of all the pages which exist?

Go to PageIndex. It is in fact just a regular WikiPage which has just the IndexPlugin from AlainRavet embedded.

How do I change the colour of the edit screen to something other than pink?

The background color is determined in three locations:

1. Edit the CSS files (jspwiki_ie.css, jspwiki_ns.css, and jspwiki_mac.css) and change the "BODY.edit" color
2. Edit the "EditTemplate.jsp" file (see WikiTemplates)
3. Make your own stylesheet, and redefine "BODY.edit" in it, then use your browser's facilities to force that stylesheet.

Besides, it's not pink. :-) And it was changed to light blue in 1.9.2something...

--JanneJalkanen

What is a plugin?

A: Does JSPWikiPlugins answer that? If not, let us know.

Dates

Q: Is there a wiki notation to add the current date and time in a wiki page?
Is there a plugin for that?
Thanks! (ch)

A: You mean like 03:55:57 06-Jan-2009 Greenwich Mean Time? See JSPWikiPlugins for more information (such as how to format it). --MichaelGentry

How to open links within a new browser window

It is possible to have links opened in a new window by defining an interWikiRef like:

jspwiki.interWikiRef.NewHttp=http:%s" TARGET="_blank

-- KarlHeesch

Can subpages be made?

Is it possible to make SubPages?

I'm afraid this is a feature that has been planned for JSPWiki 2.4, but there has not yet been any work towards it. --JanneJalkanen

How can I have synonym pages?

In order to maximize cross linking, I would like to have some pages have several names (or at least appear to have). For example, being able to define that ThisCamelCaseLink and ThisOtherCamelCaseLink are actually pointing to the same page. This way if users type either of those keywords, this would create a link to the same page. In VeryQuickWiki, I believe it was possible to add a special tag in the page so that the user is automatically forwarded to the other page. I am not sure how to do that in JSPWiki. I see a very dirty hack using symlinks coming, but I was hoping there is a better soluton.

--JC

A: In 2.1 it is possible to say [{SET alias='OtherPage'}] so that one page can be automatically redirected to another page.

How do you handle unreachable page containing SET alias?

How can you edit and remove it?

A: You can type in the URL for edit in the browser's address bar, eg. http://yourdomain.com/Edit.jsp?page=...

What's to stop somebody from blowing away all the content on a Wiki site?

Q: I'm new to this, and I'm just wondering... Is there ANY kind of security that stops a malicious person who comes across a Wiki from wiping out all the content, simply by editing the pages and removing all their content?

Q: Nope. None whatsoever. See WikiWikiWeb:WhyWikiWorks for a more detailed discussion, but essentially it's the fact that there are far more good-willed users than malicious users, and that restoring destroyed content is roughly as easy as destroying the content. If everyone could remove graffiti from the buildings with a flick of a wrist, we wouldn't have much of it.

Actually, newer versions of JSPWiki do have content protection built-in, but they do also restrict the "good" users.

Linking to UNC Paths

Q. How does one link to a UNC path? IOW, I would like to do something like

    [Go To Location|\\some-machine\some-location]

A: The correct syntax appears to be

    [Go To Location|file://///some-machine/some-location].

Note that Firefox, by default, will disable file:// URLs on pages from a network (http:, https: or ftp:) source, for security reasons. To modify this setting, type about:config in the address bar of Firefox. This gives you access to the config. Alter the security.checkloaduri value to false. -- NigelCharman