Working with other people

A wiki with one person needs no rules. With three, two questions arrive: who may change what, and what happens when somebody changes something they should not have.

The four roles

Roles are a ladder. Each one can do everything the one below can, plus more.

The line between editor and admin is drawn around reach. An editor changes one page. An admin changes things that affect every page at once.

That is why a shared layout is admin-only: one save changes every page built from that table. Give people the lowest role that lets them do their job, and raise it when it pinches.

Reviewing edits

A wiki can accept edits straight away, or hold them for review. With review on, a save from somebody without auto-accept becomes a proposal instead of going live.

Proposals wait in Manage › Moderation, where you see what changed and accept or send it back. Trusted contributors can be given auto-accept individually.

Turn review on the moment the wiki is open to people you have not worked with. Leave it off while it is you and one other person: it only pays for itself when there is something to catch.

History, and why mistakes are cheap

Every save is a version. A page keeps its history, you can see what a previous version looked like, and you can put it back.

The worst outcome of a bad edit is a few minutes and a rollback. So the answer to “can I let this person edit?” is usually yes, with review on if you are unsure.

It also makes the reviewer’s job smaller. Accepting an imperfect edit is not a commitment, it is a version like every other version.

Setting it up

1. Invite people and give each the lowest role that fits.
2. Decide whether edits need review, and turn it on if the wiki is open.
3. Give auto-accept to the people you already trust.
4. Keep admin small. It is the role that can change everything at once.

Contributors who only translate need none of this changed. The translation screens have their own path through the same review. See Translations.