Wiki Edit

Frequently Asked Questions

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Q: I have a question about your product that’s not covered in this FAQ.  How do I contact you?

A: There are four good ways to reach Wiki Edit.

• You can send an e-mail to “Don” at “WikiEditApp.com”  I am the owner and developer.
• If you use Twitter, you can direct message to @WikiEdit, or visit Wiki Edit on Twitter and Follow us.
• If you use Facebook, you can visit Wiki Edit on Facebook and send us a message or “Like” us.
• And finally, you can leave a message under any of the Support, or Requests topics at this site.

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Q: I read about Themes but can’t find the “setting” to change them.

A: To change themes, just swipe your finger across the top of the browser tool bar when viewing any article or web page.  Swipe left to see the next theme, swipe right to see the previous theme.

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Q: I tap on [edit] links, but I just get a screen labeled “View Source” and a cancel button.  Why can’t I get into the editor?

A: Many Wiki’s require you to be logged in before making changes. Even if you logged in to the wiki on Safari, you need to make sure you’re logged in on Wiki Edit.  Wiki Edit doesn’t share cookies or login information with Safari.

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Q: My wiki isn’t public, and I use a self-signed SSL certificate.  Will Wiki Edit be able to access it?

A: Starting with version 1.2 and later, Wiki Edit supports self-signed SSL certificates. In version 1.2 a warning box was displayed and you needed to tap “ok”. After hearing feedback from folks, I’ve removed the warning box on version 1.5 and later.

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Q: My Wiki is a private wiki, and we use Apache Authentication (Basic Auth, or Digest Auth).  Will Wiki Edit be able to access it?

A: This feature was also added in version 1.2. Wiki Edit will display a login box and ask for your user name and password once per “session”. A session lasts until Wiki Edit is removed from memory, or the password is changed on the server.  NTLM and other types of authentication are not supported at this time.

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Q: I like the new keyboard accessory bar in version 1.5.  Is there a way I can add my own symbols or shortcuts to it?

A: Not at this time. If I get enough requests, I’ll add that functionality in at a later date.

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Q: I’ve tried everything, but Wiki Edit doesn’t seem to work with my private wiki.

A: Private wiki’s are hard to troubleshoot – as I normally can’t access them for testing.  (Although a few kind folks have allowed me access in the past.) Typically the trouble involved modified skins, especially ones that use a lot of Javascript to rearrange the editing pages, watch lists, etc. Try going to your use preferences and selecting one of the standard skins to rule out a problem with skins. Some editing extensions have also caused problems. The experimental “Google Gears” extension can prevent Wiki Edit from editing pages. Many extensions can be enabled or disabled from the User Preferences screen. Try disabling any editor assistant, off-line, or rich text extensions one by one until you get Wiki Edit working. If you still want those skins and extensions when you use your Wiki from the web, consider creating a separate user name for use with your iPad. You can redirect your “User:” and “Talk:” pages to your main user name using MediaWiki’s #REDIRECT [[pagename]] tag.

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Q: I’ve tried everything, but Wiki Edit doesn’t seem to work with my public wiki.

A: I will do everything within reason to make Wiki Edit work with every publicly accessible MediaWiki. Please share the URL with me via e-mail, twitter direct message (@wikiedit), on the Wiki Edit Facebook page or as a comment under any of the support topics.

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Q: I want to upload a file to my Wiki. Will Wiki Edit allow me to upload?

A: Uploading from the photo album was added in version 1.7.  If you have an older version, go to the Apple App Store and update.  If your wiki uses a multi-part “Wizard” for file uploading, you may need to upload using the Wiki Edit menu at the top right corner of the screen.   Select “Upload from Photo Library” to by-pass the wizard and upload directly.

Tip: You can capture images from other websites by browsing to the website in Safari and doing a “long press” on a photo.  Press and hold the image until the “Save Image” pop up appears.  This will save the image to your photo library where you can upload it from Wiki Edit.

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Q: I want to upload other types of files to my Wiki. Will Wiki Edit allow me to upload spreadsheets, pdf, etc?

A: At this time, Wiki Edit only supports uploads from the iPad’s photo library and camera roll.

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Q: Does Wiki Edit work on my iPhone, or iPod Touch?  Will you be making a Universal App?

A: I intend to make Wiki Edit a Universal App. There will be no need to “re-purchase” the app for your iPhone or iPod Touch. The browser and parts of the editor work on my iPhone currently. The small screen is not ideal to edit text, so I am experimenting with different interfaces and features to make the application as suitable for small screen use as possible.

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Q: Can I get Wiki Edit on my Android or webOS tablet?

A: At this time, Wiki Edit is exclusively on the iPad. I am a registered developer for Android, webOS, and iOS and will port the application if there is sufficient demand.

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Q: My wiki uses FCKEditor, CKEdit, or some other “rich text” editor, and Wiki Edit isn’t working with it.

A: The Mobile Safari webkit engine in the  iPad is not capable of  using this type of browser based editor. It is possible that some future version of iOS will support the feature. Current versions of the CKEditing extension detect that you’re using an iPad and revert to the standard MediaWiki editor. The Wikia version of CKEdit uses an extra parameter to turn off rich text.  Wiki Edit is aware of these extensions and will work around them if possible. Older versions, and heavily modified versions of these rich text editors may not work. Either upgrade your mediawiki to the latest version of the extension, or disable the extension in your user preferences. If neither of those work, please let me know and I’ll try to assist.

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Q: How can I tell if my Wiki is running MediaWiki software?

A: Most “skins” for MediaWiki have a small logo at the bottom right of the page that says, “Powered by MediaWiki”. Some custom skins remove this logo. For those sites, you can check by viewing the HTML source of any article using your PC. From the web browser on your PC, open the Wiki you’re interested in, and browse to an article page. Under the “View” menu of your browser, pick “View Source” (in Firefox it’s called “View Page Source”). You’ll see a lot of HTML code. Within the first 10 lines or so of most MediaWiki articles you’ll find the content generator tag. For MediaWiki it will read something like:

<meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.17wmf1" />

If you see that tag, you know the site is running MediaWiki.

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Q: Does Wiki Edit support DokuWiki, TikiWiki, FosWiki, Apple OS X Wiki Server, PBWorks, WikiSpaces, etc.?

A: At this time, Wiki Edit only supports Wiki’s based on MediaWiki wiki software. This includes many of the most popular public wikis like Wikipedia. It also supports most wikis running on Wikia (which is based on MediaWiki.)

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Q: Will you be adding support for other Wiki software soon?

A: The volume of requests has been very low for other platforms. The small amount of revenue from App Store Sales doesn’t support building special versions for other Wiki engines at this time. I would consider adding support for other wiki engines if a group or company paid an advance. I am also open to licensing the source code for a company to build their own editing suite.