The secret behind TWiki is that each page has a special name: the name is a WikiWord. A WikiWord is two or more capitalized words without spaces between them, for instance GettingStartedGuide.

The trick is that anything that is written like this is treated like a hyperlink, and spaces are added to it, so that when you write WikiWord it is shown as WikiWord! In fact, anything that is written like uppercase+lowercase+uppercase works, so even CompuTer would be a WikiWord – but not a very good one!

A normal WikiWord follows the pattern of:

(one or more UPPERCASE letters) 
+ (one or more lowercase letters) 
+ (one or more UPPERCASE letters) 
+ (zero or more lowercase and uppercase letters, and digits).

You should always try to find good names (WikiWords) for your pages. It's easy if you follow this guideline:

• Treat it as a headline for your page.
• Use at least two real words, and choose words that make sense.

So for instance, a page could be called HowToCreateGoodWikiWords and everybody would know what it contains. A shorter example would be IntroductionToInternetExplorer; you still know what to expect when you click that hyperlink.

If you write a WikiWord then it will be automatically hyperlinked to the page if it exists, or show a ? if the page does not exist.

So be careful to think of good WikiWords. A poor WikiWord leaves others uncertain about what it refers to.

Summary:

1. Think of a descriptive headline for your page. Use at least two words. More are better.
2. Capitalize each word in your "headline" and then remove the spaces. Write all-uppercase words as Isdn or Ftp, for instance FtpServer or IsdnVersusAdsl.
3. This is the WikiWord for your page.

• Back to GettingStartedGuide
• Next: HowToModifyAnExistingPage

Advanced tips:

1. Here's an article about good names: Microcontent: How to Write Headlines, Page Titles, and Subject Lines
2. Use singular case rather than plural: Write PhoneNumber rather than PhoneNumbers.
   Unimportant technical explanation: If the singluar PhoneNumber page exists and you write PhoneNumbers, then your word will link to the singular page (unless another page exists that has the plural name). It does not work the other way round: If the singular PhoneNumber page does not exist and you write PhoneNumber, then it will not link to a plural page called PhoneNumbers.

You write:	page exists:	Link becomes:
singular	only singular exists	correct: singular
plural	only singular exists	correct: singular
singular	only plural exists	no link
plural	only plural exists	bad: plural
singular	both exist	correct: singular
plural	both exist	bad: plural
singular	neither exist	no link
plural	neither exist	no link