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.

Session
The main text input interface is referred to as a "session". This is basically a way of interfacing with other people who are also editing the page. 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, and you can use them as you would normally.

Session List
You can also access the list of available sessions for the page in the session menu, which is right next to the collaborate switch. Clicking on a session in the list will load that session. The list also has several helpful controls.

Split Session
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 "split session" button. This will not create a private session, but it will give you a separate work space you can use with a different group. You can only split from the session you're currently in, so if you want to work with a different base material, you can switch between sessions to find the right one.

End Session
If you created a session (with the split session button) and want to end it, you can do so with the End Session button. You cannot end a session you did not create, however.

User List
You can also access the list of users in the session with the user list, which is directly next to the session list. If you are an administrator (i.e., you created the session you're currently in), you can kick a user by clicking the button next to their name.

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.

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.

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