When working on a document in our Point-and-Click editor, we’ll automatically save a draft every 3 minutes. If your laptop runs out of battery, your cat closes your browser, or your new copy of Windows Vista crashes on you, no worries, you can now resume (close to) where you left off. We hope you will find this new feature useful and non-intrusive.

How does it work? Just edit your wiki as usual. If your browser crashes, resume editing and you’ll be prompted to resume the autosaved version.

Also, we built Autosave so drafts won’t clutter the Recent Changes or Wiki History.

The autosave feature is free for all PBwikis using the Point-and-Click editor.

You can read her bio here (http://jnthweb.pbwiki.com/MyBio).

PBwiki: Why’d you choose PBwiki?
Joan Vinall-Cox: I choose PBwiki because it was visually attractive. I saw a PBwiki being used by, I think it was, Chris Sessums, (who posts frequently on Elgg) and was impressed with how much cleaner and more attractive it looked than another, easier, wiki I was using. Its appearance impressed me so much, I was willing to go to the extra effort of learning some wiki write-up language – and even some HTML – to get the appearance I wanted. That point is moot now, because of PBwiki ’s new [Point-and-Click] editor.

PBwiki: What’s JNthWeb Consulting about?
Joan Vinall-Cox: It’s my business website, showing my area of expertise and interest – Web2.0 and its uses for businesses and education. (I am interested in the social and communication possibilities of the computer and the web, and am limited in my technical knowledge. I’ve taught myself a little HTML and have created websites and put them online before, but using wikis allows me to avoid a lot of the onerous technical work, and still have an online presence.)

PBwiki: How do you use your PBwiki?
Joan Vinall-Cox: It’s a collection of information that I can point people to. For example, I send my students to the AcademicPapers page and the AttractivePages page so they know what my expectations are and how to use the computer and Web2.0 to accomplish them. I also point clients and friends to pages focused on areas they are interested in.

PBwiki: How many people are active on your wiki?
Joan Vinall-Cox: Just me. I want to keep it as my website, not as a shared writing/editing space. Until the new [Point-and-Click] editor, I didn’t think the people who would be drawn to my wiki, largely technophobes and/or newbies, or my students, would be interested in trying to use the more complex wiki write-up language of the previous iteration.

PBwiki: Give us your insight on using the new Point-and-Click editor.
Joan Vinall-Cox: I love [Point-and-Click] editors because they allow me to set up more interesting and attractive web pages myself. More importantly (and why I think the time of the wiki has arrived), the [Point-and-Click] editor allows people who aren’t technologically skilled to add to wikis. This sharing can lead to the organic development of learning communities, which is great in education, and will become increasingly important in business. The [Point-and-Click] editor rocks!

PBwiki: What has been the biggest surprise for you in using PBwiki?
Joan Vinall-Cox: I really enjoyed figuring out how to create my title by using Word and taking a screenshot, and I was excited when I figured out how to use HTML code to change font colour and size. The greater flexibility of PBwiki surprised me.

PBwiki: Would you tell others about PBwiki?
Joan Vinall-Cox: Yes I would, especially now that there is a [Point-and-Click] editor, and more people are beginning to understand some of the possibilities of what can be done with a wiki. I think the time of the wiki is arriving.

A lot of you have been asking for an easier way to edit your wiki – we’ve listened and we’ve acted – Our new Point-and-Click editor went live to all of PBwiki earlier this morning.

What is Point-and-Click?

Point-and-Click is our new editor that allows the collaborators of your wiki to edit pages in a familiar easy-to-use word processing interface.

One of our new features in our Point-and-Click editor is the ability to load various plug-ins such as Google Gadgets, YouTube videos, calendars, chat rooms and more.

Ramit Sethi, co-founder of PBwiki has a 90 second video on the new features of our Point-and-Click editor. Check it out here:

Click To Play

Is it for you?

Everybody should definitely TRY the Point-and-Click Editor. I suggest trying it somewhere like this test wiki so that you can really test things thoroughly. See if you like the interface. Try some of the tips you’ll see below to see if you can get comfortable with them. Then, you can make an educated decision on whether the editor really does what you need it to. Ramit’s 90 second introduction is also a good place to start.

A few criteria will also help you think about whether the editor is for you:

• Are you more comfortable in a syntax driven layout or a visual layout? For those people who will never ever mess with the specifics of HTML, CSS, or other web coding standards, the P&C editor allows you to avoid learning new syntax and works as if you are in a word processor.
• How much are you going to micromanage your wiki formatting? If you need to have everything a certain way, then think about using the Classic Editor, as you’re not as likely to run into problems with code reformatting against your will. This direction is best for anybody who likes to directly fiddle with code and doesn’t like things changing “behind the scenes.”
• You don’t have to use the same editor in all wikis. In some cases, I need absolute control of my layout and I use the Classic Editor, but I also like the new editor on my private wikis because they’re fast and require minimal thinking. For example, I can take notes for a biology class in the P&C editor much more effectively than with the classic editor.

Now for some more practical advice…

Table of Contents

I get this question about making a table of contents for a page a lot, so I’m going to get it out of the way first. To create a table of contents, click Plugins -> PBwiki Magic -> Table of Contents. The table will populate based on the headers you choose (select headings in the Format box), so use them in an organized manner to make your table best match your page.

The Depth option refers to which headers will be scanned into the table. A depth of one will only scan for the largest headers, while a depth of three will show all three header sizes.

Lists

Another confusing point for some people is how to get in and out of a list in the new editor. To start a list, just click the icon for either the numbered list or the bulleted list on the upper-left side of the editing toolbar. Once you’ve started one, it’ll automatically take you down to the same level when you hit Enter.

To go to a deeper list level, use the Tab button or click the “Increase Indent” icon. To go up a level (move the bullet to the left), press Enter again on an empty row or click the “Decrease Indent” icon. Do it enough times and you’ll be taken out of the list to continue editing normally. To re-enter a list later, just place your cursor at the end of the previous line and hit enter: the editor will automatically make room for a new entry.

Shortcuts

In my opinion, the longer you can keep your hand on the keyboard and away from the mouse, the more productive you will be. Mousing is hard work, and it’s always nice to be able to avoid it. The P&C editor uses most standard shortcuts, so try them out. These include:

Copy, Cut, Paste – Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+V
Undo, Redo – Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Y
Bold, Underline, Italics – Ctrl+B, Ctrl+U, Ctrl+I

It also offers a special shortcut for the links window (Ctrl+L).

Conclusion

That’s part one of my short look into the Point-and-Click editor. Look out for part two next week as we dig into a few more technical issues.

If you have questions about the Point-and-Click editor or have suggestions for a future tip, please e-mail me. Thanks!

Jason Nguyen

oh pbwiki. just when i think you couldn’t make it any easier… there you go again. it is a beautiful editor and it couldn’t be simpler. thank you for your great work! i have started pbwikis for several of my jobs as a grad student and this new editor has only helped grow their popularity.

thanks again!

Yeah!!! And then this one:

I can’t stand it.

Hmm. Well, we do let you switch from the Point-and-Click editor to the Classic editor with just one click. Check the top-right corner of your page when you’re editing.

-Ramit

• Due to popular demand, we’ve added a strikethrough button on the toolbar
• Line spacing should be more consistent – no more misbehaving ‘enter’ keys
• For those conscious about the HTML that is generated, you will be happy to learn that the editor will produce leaner, cleaner, code, especially with attachments

The best part is we aren’t stopping the improvements any time soon. We’ll be improving the speed of the new editor and improving the usability even more over the next few weeks.