Extension:EtherEditor/How to Use

EtherEditor is an extension for MediaWiki that allows collaborative editing of wiki pages. This document explains how to use it.

Getting Started
To get started, log into a MediaWiki instance that has the extension installed. If you want to install it on your own instance, see the main extension page for more information. Once you're logged in, you will have a "Collaborate" button near the usual "Edit" one on the top-right of the page.

Clicking on the "Collaborate" button will bring you to the main interface for EtherEditor. You'll see a text input area, some formatting buttons, a chat tab, and a few function buttons that may need some explanation.

Pad
The main text input interface is referred to as a "pad". This is the primary data unit in Etherpad Lite, and we preserved the use of that term. You can type into it like you would a normal text editor, or a normal wikitext editor. There are many formatting buttons that will output wikitext formatting characters, helping you to write well-formatted wiki pages.

There are also several tools in the top-right area of the screen. Probably the most useful is the list of current pad users. There's a quick count in the upper right, but you can click on that count to see a list of names.

Chat
The chat interface inside of the pad can also be rather helpful. It should be represented as a tab in the lower-right of your screen on first load. If you click on it, you can expand the chat interface. Because it can be obstructive, there is a resize handler on the top-left corner of the chat window. Typing messages here will send messages to other users in the pad.

Copy this Pad
If you are in a collaborative session with others, and you want to copy their current work and start your own separate session, you can click the "copy this pad" button. This will not create a private session, but it will give you a separate work space you can use with a different group.

List of contributors
There is also an automatically-updated list of contributors on the current pad inserted into the edit summary. It updates every five seconds, but it's not currently possible to turn it off.

Admin panel
If you created a pad, using the "Copy this Pad" function, then you will have extra controls available in an admin bar. The two controls currently are "delete this pad" and "kick user". If you want to delete the pad, you can click the button. To kick a user, enter their username into the text box and click the button.

Special Page
On a wiki with EtherEditor installed, there's a new page called Special:EtherEditor. That page will have a list of all etherpads created on the wiki, which might be rather large. You can also go to Special:EtherEditor/Page_Title to see all of the pads for Page_Title.