Reading the Wiki In-Game

The game’s wiki holds its longer writing: the setting, the theme, the house rules. It is read in the web portal at /wiki, and with the Wiki Reader package it is read in the game too. +wiki lists what is there, opens an article laid out for your screen, searches, and browses by category, without leaving your client. Staff get one more command, +wiki/audit, which finds pages nobody has filed in a category.

You are	You want to	Read
A player	see what the wiki has	Finding articles
A player	read an article	Reading an article
A player	find a page by what it says, or by subject	Searching and categories
Staff	find pages that are hard to reach	The editorial audit
Staff	install the reader	Running the Wiki Reader

In the game, +help wiki has the same commands in short form. +wiki only reads: writing and editing articles is done with @wiki or in the portal, described in editing wiki pages.

The examples follow Tobin, a player, and Cole, a staffer, on a game with two articles of its own: Harbour Town, a short setting page, and House Rules. Their categories (Setting, Policy) are set by staff along the way.

Finding articles

+wiki on its own shows the wiki’s sections, called namespaces, and how many pages each holds:

> +wiki
═══════════════════════════════════╡ Wiki ╞═══════════════════════════════════
Namespace  Holds                                                         Pages
main       Articles                                                          3
help       Help pages                                                        1
character  Character biographies                                             0
system     Staff pages                                                       0
category   What each category is for                                         1
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+wiki <page> · +wiki/info <page> · +wiki/search <text>
+wiki/list [<namespace>] · +wiki/category [<name>] · +wiki/recent [<n>]
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

+wiki/list lists every published page, and +wiki/list <namespace> one namespace’s:

> +wiki/list main
════════════════════════════════╡ Pages: main ╞═══════════════════════════════
Page               Title
main:harbour_town  Harbour Town
main:home          Home
main:house_rules   House Rules
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
3 entries - page 1 of 1
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

A long listing is split to fit your screen. The page number goes last, as a switch: +wiki/list/2 main is the second page. Asking for a page past the end says how many there are:

> +wiki/list/2 main
[WIKI] Warning: There is one page — you asked for page 2.

+wiki/recent shows the ten pages edited most recently, and +wiki/recent <n> up to 50:

> +wiki/recent 3
══════════════════════════════╡ Recently edited ╞═════════════════════════════
Page               Title                                               Edited
category:setting   Setting                                             35s ago
main:house_rules   House Rules                                         38s ago
main:harbour_town  Harbour Town                                        41s ago
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
3 entries - page 1 of 1
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

In a client that takes clickable links, such as the portal’s terminal, every page and category in these listings is a link that opens it.

Reading an article

+wiki <page> opens an article. Type its title or the name in the Page column; case and the underscore do not matter, and a page in main needs no main: in front:

> +wiki harbour town
════════════════════════════╡ Harbour Town (main) ╞═══════════════════════════
Harbour Town

A fishing town on a cold northern coast. The harbour freezes in deep winter,
and the town lives on what the boats bring in before it does.

Places
* The Old Mill by the river
* The Harbour Tavern on the quay

New here? Start with House Rules.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Categories: Setting
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
rev 1 [en] - 29s ago
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Headings, lists and bold text are drawn for your client and wrapped to your screen width. Under the article are its categories and its revision, language and when it was last edited. A link to another page, like House Rules here, is highlighted, and a client that takes clickable links opens that page when you click it.

> +wiki house_rules
════════════════════════════╡ House Rules (main) ╞════════════════════════════
House Rules
1. Ask before you involve someone else's character in a scene.
2. Keep OOC talk on the OOC channel.
3. Staff decisions can be appealed with +request.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
rev 1 [en] - 28s ago
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

A name main has no page for is looked for in the other namespaces, so a page such as help:markdown_guide opens with +wiki markdown_guide. A page that does not exist says so:

> +wiki lighthouse
[WIKI] Warning: No such wiki page: lighthouse

+wiki/info <page> shows a page’s details instead of its text, including who wrote it:

> +wiki/info harbour_town
═══════════════════════════════╡ Harbour Town ╞═══════════════════════════════
Title:      Harbour Town
Namespace:  main
Revision:   1
Locale:     en
Categories: Setting
Author:     Cole (#21)
Updated:    43s ago
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+wiki harbour_town · +wiki/category
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Drafts

Drafts never show up in +wiki. While Cole is still writing a Winter Festival page, it is invisible to Tobin until Cole publishes it:

> +wiki winter festival
[WIKI] Warning: No such wiki page: winter festival

Searching and categories

+wiki/search <text> finds pages whose title or text holds the words. * and ? are wildcards:

> +wiki/search freezes
══════════════════════════════╡ Search: freezes ╞═════════════════════════════
Page               Title
main:harbour_town  Harbour Town
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
1 entry - page 1 of 1
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Staff file pages under categories, such as Setting. +wiki/category lists every category and how many pages it holds, and +wiki/category <name> the pages in one:

> +wiki/category
════════════════════════════════╡ Categories ╞════════════════════════════════
Category                                                                 Pages
Help                                                                         1
Policy                                                                       1
Setting                                                                      2
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
3 entries - page 1 of 1
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
> +wiki/category setting
═════════════════════════════╡ Category: Setting ╞════════════════════════════
Page                  Title
main:harbour_town     Harbour Town
main:winter_festival  Winter Festival
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
2 entries - page 1 of 1
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Winter Festival is the page from Drafts, now published and filed under Setting.

Any switch can be cut short to a beginning no other switch has, so +wiki/c is +wiki/category. A switch the reader does not know lists the ones it does:

> +wiki/x
[WIKI] Warning: +wiki has no /x switch. Switches: /list /search /category /recent /info

The editorial audit

A page in no category can only be found by name or by search, which gets harder as a wiki grows. +wiki/audit counts the published pages and lists the ones without a category. Only wizards and royalty can run it; anyone else is told Staff only.

> +wiki/audit
════════════════════════════════╡ Wiki audit ╞════════════════════════════════
Published pages:    5
Without a category: 3
═══════════════════════════════╡ Uncategorised ╞══════════════════════════════
Page              Title
category:setting  Setting
main:home         Home
main:house_rules  House Rules
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
drafts are invisible to softcode - use @wiki/list
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

File a page with @wiki/category <page>=<name>, <name> and run the audit again:

> @wiki/category house_rules=Policy
WIKI: 'House Rules' categories: Policy.
> +wiki/audit
════════════════════════════════╡ Wiki audit ╞════════════════════════════════
Published pages:    6
Without a category: 3
═══════════════════════════════╡ Uncategorised ╞══════════════════════════════
Page              Title
category:policy   Policy
category:setting  Setting
main:home         Home
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
drafts are invisible to softcode - use @wiki/list
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

House Rules has left the list, and the new category’s own page, category:policy, has joined it. Filing a category’s page under another category makes it a subcategory of that one (see wiki categories).

The audit sees published pages only. @wiki/list shows drafts as well, marked (draft), and @wiki/publish <page> puts one live.

Running the Wiki Reader

The Wiki Reader ships with the server but is not installed on a new game. Installed, it puts a Wiki Reader object in the master room. The wiki itself, @wiki and the portal’s /wiki, work without it.

To install it, an administrator opens Packages in the portal’s admin area, chooses Browse and installs wiki-reader. It needs plus-help, which a new game already has, and adds its +help wiki topics there. See Softcode Packages for how installing, upgrading and rolling back work.

The package has no settings of its own. What a player sees follows the wiki: who may edit a page, and which pages are published, are set with @wiki and in the portal’s admin area under /admin/wiki.