Hi, I'm a new Tiki user. Here are some of my Tikis:

• http://www.keycontent.org — Completely custom theme
• http://www.noah-noelle.com — My eBay-esque store
• http://www.hawkinsrun.org — Based on Kubrick

I will be updating my How Did They Do It page — it is quite out of date. If you will be in the Raleigh, NC, USA area on July 27-29, I will be giving a presentation at the 2006 TriXML Conference on Developing a wiki-based community portal. I'll be feturing TikiWiki and my site: KeyContent.org.

In the meantime, here's my contribution to the Tiki community:

Things You Won't Find in the Tiki Docs

or
Several Things I Wish I Could Have Discovered on my Own Instead of Having to Clog the Forums with Numerous Postings and Looking Like an Idiot

While I am far from a Tiki expert, here are some things I've discovered...

Add <title> information for all Tiki PHP Pages

Did you ever notice that there is no title information for any of the "base" tiki pages? For example, look at your browser's titlebar for the tiki-listpages.php page. This means that users who bookmark your pages, or search engines that spider your site will not be able to correctly identify the page. Here's how I added the <title> information to all pages on my Tiki.

Edit the PHP file for the page (such as tiki-listpages.php) and add the following information:

$smarty->assign('headtitle', 'List of wiki pages');

Here's the page on my site.

Calendar Notifications

1. Want to get an automatic email everytime someone adds a new event to a calendar? Simply add this code in your calendarlib.php file:

$notifyto = "your email address";
 $notifysubject = "message subject";
 $notifymessage = "The following item has been added to the Calendar ";
 $notifymessage .= "by user:" . $user; 
 $notifymessage .= "\n Event Title: " . $data['name'];
 $notifymessage .= "\n Description: " . $data['description']." \n ";
@mail($notifyto, $notifysubject, $notifymessage, 
"From: Your return address \r\nContent-type: text/plain;charset=utf-8\r\n");

You'll need to include this code inside the else loop that ends with:
$calitemId = $this->GetOne("select `calitemId` from `tiki_calendar_items` where `calendarId`=? and `created`=?",array($data%22calendarId%22,$now));

Hiding Minor Edits from Modules

I asked if it was possible to exclude edits identified as minor from appearing in the list of last_modif_pages module. Here's how I did it:
1. In tiki-editpages.php manually set the COMMENT to a known string, if the user has selected the MINOR field:

if ($minor == 'true') {
	$smarty->assign('commentdata','minor edits only');
	} else {
	$smarty->assign('commentdata',$_REQUEST["comment"]);
}

2. Edit the query in the last_pages function (in tikilib.php) to exclude pages with the known comment text (in my case "minor edits only"):

$query = "select `pageName`,`description`,`lastModif`,`user` from
 `tiki_pages` where `comment` != 'minor edits only' order by 
".$this->convert_sortmode('lastModif_desc');

Displaying Specific Directory Site

(instead of simply linking to it).
For my site, I wanted to slightly change the _-mod-directory_last_sites__ module... I wanted to show the full directory entry instead of linking directly to it. Here's how I did it:

Basically I changed the link in mod-directory_last_sites to a search submission. I search the directory for the site's full name. Since it is the only match, the search result shows only the site.

Edit mod-directory_last_sites as follows:

1. Find the {section name=ix loop=$modLastdirSites} loop.
2. Add the following form tag: <form action="tiki-directory_search.php" method="post" name="search_{$modLastdirSitesix.name|truncate:2:false}">
3. Add the following before the closing {/section} tag:

<input type="hidden" name="how" value="and" />
  <input type="hidden" name="words" value="{$modLastdirSites[ix].name}" />
  <input type="hidden" name="where" value="all" />
</form>

Now, clicking on the directory name in the module will bring up the directory search screen, with only the selected site show.

Last "X" Comments from Anything

I wanted to modify the mod-wiki_last_commentsmodule to display comments from my site's articles as well as wiki. Here's how I did it:
1. Modify mod-wiki_last_comments.php as follows:

• Change the $query to include the article objectType:

$query = "select `object`,`title`,`commentDate`,`userName`,`objectType`,`threadId` 
 from `tiki_comments` where `objectType`='wiki page' or 
`objectType`='article' order by `commentDate` desc";

• Set two new variables (we'll use them later, in the TPL):

$aux["type"] = $res["objectType"];      
$aux["thread"] = $res["threadId"];

2. Modify mod-wiki_last_comments.tpl as follows:

{if $comments[ix].type eq 'wiki page'}        
          <a class="linkmodule" href="tiki-index.php?page={$comments[ix].page|escape}" 
title="{$comments[ix].commentDate|tiki_short_datetime}, {tr}by{/tr} 
{$comments[ix].user}{if $moretooltips eq 'y'} 
on page {$comments[ix].page}{/if}">
            {$comments[ix].title}
{else}
{* if not a wiki, must be an article *}
<a class="linkmodule" href="tiki-read_article.php?articleId=
{$comments[ix].page}#threadId{$comments[ix].thread}"
title="{$comments[ix].commentDate|tiki_short_datetime}, {tr}by{/tr} {$comments[ix].user}">
            {$comments[ix].title}
{/if}

To also include comments from blogs, faqs, and forums, simply add additional OR statements in the query, and additional IF statements in the TPL.

Reading a Single DB Value

I needed a way to grab a single value from database a database and display it on a TPL page in Tiki. In this example, I displayed the value of the lastModif field for blog with ID 1 on my custom-home.tpl page.

Here's what I did:
1. Edit the TPL's associated PHP file to:

• Include the necessary library:
  
  Copy to clipboard

  include_once ('lib/blogs/bloglib.php');

• Assign the necessary value.
  
  Copy to clipboard

  $blog_data = $tikilib->get_blog(1);
  $smarty->assign('lastModif', $blog_data["lastModif"]);

2. #Simply call the lastModif in from the TPL file as: {$lastModif}
To get the date to display properly, i added {$lastModif|tiki_short_date}.

Directory Notifications

1. Want to get an automatic email everytime someone submits a new directory item? Simply add this code in your tiki-directory_add_site.php file:

// send notification
$mailto = 'youremail@foo.bar' ;
$subject = "Directory submission notification" ;
$messageproper =
	"The following directory item has been submitted and is 
awaiting your approval:\n\n" .
        "\n\n" .
	"Name: ".
              $_REQUEST['name'] .
        "\n\n" .
	"Description: " .
              $_REQUEST['description'] .
        "\n\n" .
	"URL: " .
              $_REQUEST['url'] .
        "\n\n" ;

@mail($mailto, $subject, $messageproper, 
"From: your site name Automated Mailer\r\nContent-type: 
text/plain;charset=utf-8\r\n");

Search Function

1. The search function will return results regardless of group or security settings. This means that the first few lines of every page are avaialbe to any user who searches. See this forum posting for details). Hopefully this will be included in 1.9.
2. Searching the Entire Site doesn't. Or rather, HTML pages are not shown in the search results. You must manually re-do the search routine. (See this forum posting for more information).
3. Searching the Entire Site will find text in modules and features you have disabled. (See this forum posting for more information.) Hopefully to be fixed in 1.9?

QuickTags

1. Want to logically group the QuickTag links together by function (for example, keep all the text formatting buttons together)? Tiki orders the links by inverse Z-A, based on the description. See this forum posting for more information.

Stats

1. Despite its inclusion in the tiki-stats.tpl page, the usage chart is not functional. See this forum posting for more information.

Tiki Emails

1. Instead of having the emails that your Tiki sends out using a subject such as "Tiki information", you can change it to fit your specific site. See this forum posting for more information. Hopefully will be fixed in 1.9.

Templates

1. When you select the Edit Templates Admin function, you can only edit the TPL files in the base templates directory — not the templates of the style you're currently using. See this forum posting for more information. 😑

Articles

1. If an anonymous (or un-logged in) user submits an article, after aproval,the article "disappears." The only solution is to ensure that users are logged in before submitting an article. See this form posting for more information. My solution? I added this code to tiki-edit_submission.tpl:

{if $user}
.
.
.
{else}
Please <a href="tiki-page.php?pageName=KC+Login" 
title="Login now (members)." class="wiki">login</a> 
before submitting a Key Article.

Here's my site if you want to see it in action.

...page... Wiki page pagination has not been enabled.

Proposed new home page for tw.o:

...page... Wiki page pagination has not been enabled.

Rick's Tiki Walkthrough

This walkthrough will introduce you to some of the main features in TikiWiki.

After completing this walkthrough, you'll learn how to:

• Turn on (or off) specific TikiWiki features
  • Enble articles, forums, blogs, and site identity
  • Disable top and bottom bar, hotwords, and image gallery
• Change the look and feel (theme) of your TikiWiki
• Specifying your site's identity
• Assign user and group permissions
• Create custom menus
• Customize TikiWiki's modules

Prerequisites — Installing Tiki

Before starting this walkthrough you must already have:

1. Created your database
2. Copy the Tiki files to your server
3. Run the tiki-intall.php installaiton program.

After successfully installing Tiki

Welcome to TikiWiki

After successfully installing TikiWiki, you'll see the home page:

Currently, your home page is a wiki page (named ))HomePage((, but we'll change that later. By default, TikiWiki is configured to include:

• Top Bar
  Currently, the Top Bar simply shows the version number, copyright information, and current date. We'll customize it later to include our site's logo.
• Modules (Menu, TikiWiki Assitant, and Login)
  The left and right columns can contain Modules,
  • Menu — This is the main menu, we'll customize it later.
  • TikiWiki Assistant — This is a quick guide to getting started. Later, we'll replace it with other modules.
  • Login Box — This is required for users to login to your TikiWiki
• Bottom Bar
  By default, the Bottom Bar contains:
  • "Powered By" buttons for all of TikiWiki's partners
  • RSS Feeds for currently active features
  • Debugging and performance information.

Now that you're familiar with the screen, let's get started...

Logging in for the first time

In order to make any changes to your TikiWiki, you must be logged in as the Admin. Use the Login module to login.

By default, your initial Admin login is:

• User: admin
• Pass: admin

Note that usernames and passwords are case-sensitive. Since this is your first login, TikiWiki prompts you to change your Admin password.
Select a new password and click change. You're now logged in as the Admin. Notice that:

• The Login module has changed. It now shows your user name. Because you are the site Admin, you can quickly login as any other user.
• Both the Menu and TikiWIki Assistant modules have changed. They now includes options for you (as the Admin) that were previously unavailable to an Anonymous user..

Now let's get started customizing your TikiWiki...

Turning on (and off) Tiki's Features

By default, TikiWiki has the following features activated:

• MyTiki
• Wiki
• Image Gallery

To enable other features:

1. Expand the Admin menu by clicking its folder icon. The menu expands, showing the full Admin list.
2. Click the Admin home option. The Administration: Administration screen appears.
3. Click the Features button. The Administration: Features screen appears.

Before configuring any TikiWiki features, you must enable them on this screen. For this walkthrough, select the following features:

• Articles
• Forums
• Site Identity

...and disable the following features:

• Top bar, Bottom bar icons, and Bottom bar debug
• Hotwords
• Image gallery

Click change preferences (at the very bottom of the page) to save your changes. TikiWiki saves your changes, then displays the home page. Notice that:

• The TikiWiki logo and search bar have been added to the top of the screen (as part of the Site Identity feature)
• The top bar (with the version number and date) has been removed
• All items on the Bottom bar (except the RSS feeds) have been removed.
• The Menu module has been changed:
  • The Image Gallary option has been removed
  • The Articles and Forums options now appear.

Refer to the tikiwiki docs for complete information on all the available features.

Now that we've enabled the features, it is time to configure them...

Configuring the Wiki

To configure the wiki:

1. Expand the Admin menu by clicking its folder icon. The menu expands, showing the full Admin list.
2. Click the Admin home option. The Administration: Administration screen appears.
3. Click the Wiki option. The Administration: Wiki screen appears.

Configuring the Articles

To configure the wiki:

1. Expand the Admin menu by clicking its folder icon. The menu expands, showing the full Admin list.
2. Click the Admin home option. The Administration: Administration screen appears.
3. Click the Articles option. The Administration: Wiki screen appears.
4. In the CMS Features area, enable the Submissions option and click Change preferences.

Configuirng the Forum