Startup Guide

Please Note -- edit-password now required. Due to the amount of "comment spam" that has hit this wiki, a password is now required to edit the site. The edit-password is human.

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The CNU Commons is a wiki, a web site format that allows users to freely — and often collaboratively — create and edit web pages. Like other wikis, this one invites broad participation. The quality of advice grows as more members contribute their insights.

At the same time, this wiki has its own unique characteristics. Where a project such as the Wikipedia has created an entire encyclopedia collaboratively — with all contributors having relative freedom to post entries and edit each others' work — parts of the CNU Commons will likely retain some traditional editing practices designed to ensure that highly experienced practitioners have a role in reviewing and managing the content. If you see friendly "rules of engagement" in a prominent place in one of the CNU Commons project areas, please respect them.

If you don't see them, feel free to start contributing to the project immediately. Open wikis like the Wikipedia operate under the principle that a group of people working collectively from their own computers will work out disagreements and guide projects in a constructive way. Wikis have little in the way of formal etiquette except that you bring an attitude of respect towards the work of those who've gone before you -- and an attitude of open-mindedness to debate and to subjecting what you write to the scrutinty of others.

It's good to remember that you may want to introduce a complementary idea or take the conversation in a new direction by adding a link to a new page. For instance, in a section on zoning reform, you could create a new link to "Experiences with form-based codes in California." Creating a new page is easy. Just click the "edit" link in the upper left portion of any existing page, wait for the editing page to open up, and find the place in visible text where you'd like to insert a link to your new page. To create a new link from that point, merely insert double brackets around the name of your new page, Form-based Codes in California. To link to an existing web site, put brackets around the http address. To hide the http language, put the http address within brackets and then immediately after the address (and before the second set of brackets) insert a vertical line | and then type the link as you'd like it to appear, ie. Many people find the New Urban News to be a strong resource on urbanist topics.

For more help in getting started, please e-mail Steve Filmanowicz of CNU ( ) or Payton Chung ( ) or call them at 312-551-7300.

Last edited by TeganDowling. Based on work by Rob Snyder, Steve Filmanowicz, SteveFilmanowicz and JamesCarlson.  Page last modified on October 27, 2006