What is a WikiWord?

A WikiWord consists of two or more words with initial capitals, run together. WikiWords are topic names. A TWiki topic name always has a fixed format: two or more words with initial capitals, run together. Like the name of the current topic: WikiWord. When you type the name of a topic, you create a link to that topic. You type WebHome and on saving the page this becomes WebHome. It's as easy as that.

When you type a WikiWord, you establish a hyperlink. It's as easy as that.

WikiWord linking is easy to use:

• You don't have to know the full path to where the topic is stored - you just type the name
• You don't need to write HTML
• Without HTML, the topic text is easier to read when editing
• Easy linking leads to interesting texts with links placed in context

WikiWords are styled like this because:

• It makes Wiki hyperlinks instantly recognizable
• It leads to interesting Wiki topics
• It avoids the need to fiddle with HTML tags
• It avoids over-general topics because at least two words are required

Syntax of a WikiWord

• Uppercase letter(s)
• Lowercase letter(s)
• Uppercase letter(s)
• Optional lowercase or uppercase letter(s) or number(s)

Good examples of WikiWords

• WikiWord
• GoodStyle
• VersionFiveDotThree^?
• ReleaseVersion5dot3^?
• AVeryLongWikiTopicNameIsAlsoPossible^?: wherever an uppercase or lowercase letter is allowed, a group of letters of the same case is allowed
• YearTwoThousand^?

Bad examples of WikiWords:

• Web: Name without the uppercase letter(s), lowercase letter(s), uppercase letter(s) sequence
• T5Wiki: Name with number before the uppercase, lowercase, uppercase sequence
• Md5sumsAfterBurning: Name with number before the uppercase, lowercase, uppercase sequence
• Know-How: Name with dashes in between

Variations in linking

When you write the name of a topic, it becomes a link. There are more ways

• To write a custom link label, use bracket notation: [[TWikiAccessControl][access control]] - this becomes: access control
• To link to a topic in another web, write: Sandbox.WebSearch - this becomes: WebSearch
• To show the web name in the link use bracket notation: [[Sandbox.WebHome]] - this becomes: Sandbox.WebHome
• To link to a topic on another Wiki site, use: TWiki:Main/WebHome - this becomes: TWiki:Main/WebHome (sites are defined in the InterwikiPlugin)
• To link to a part on the same page, write a dash and the name of the header, with spaces replaced by underscores (and ! removed): [[#Good_examples_of_WikiWords]] becomes: #Good_examples_of_WikiWords. You can also link to a part on another page: TWiki.WebHome#Disclaimer becomes: WebHome#Disclaimer.

Hints

• Insert WikiWords wherever you can. Rich linking helps to make a Wiki successful.
• Be specific. All topics in a web share one name space. For example, instead of FunctionalSpec write BreadSlicerFunctionalSpec because other projects might also have a functional spec topic.
• To stop a WikiWord from being turned into a hyperlink, insert an exclamation point immediately before the WikiWord. For example, write !SunOS to get SunOS.
• Create topics with singular names. Plural WikiWords are automatically linked to the singular topic, i.e. the link WikiWords links to the topic WikiWord.
• Sometimes you have to be creative to find a good WikiName. Examples:
  • To create a topic about the the Bread Slicer 1.2 product, use BreadSlicer1dot2 or BreadSlicer1pt2, but not BreadSlicer1.2.
  • To create a topic about year 2000, you could go for YearTwoK or YearTwoThousand, but not Year2K or Y2K or Y2000.
• Turn acronyms into WikiWords, i.e. take FaqIndex for a "FAQ index" topic.
• It is possible to turn off the auto-linking of WikiWords and to rely only on the bracket notation. See NOAUTOLINK setting in TWikiPreferences#Default_Web_Preferences.
• When linking to a WebHome topic in another web, the link will be rendered as the name of the web, e.g. Sandbox.WebHome becomes Sandbox.

Related Topics: WikiSyntax, TextFormattingRules