Topics

What are Topics and Webs?

On this page:
Figure: depiction of WebHome, ReferenceManual, ManagingTopics, ManagingWebs, MainFeatures topics contained in the System web

Topics are the basic building block of a Foswiki site. You may be more familiar with the term pages, documents or articles in other software; however, Foswiki's topics traditionally serve more purposes than the equivalent in other systems. Topics can only exist inside a web. The topic you're reading now is TopicsAndWebs.

A Web is a collection of topics (and other webs, known as subwebs). Webs are containers and by themselves cannot store information; only topics can do that. You may be more familiar with the term Namespaces in other wiki software, but Foswiki's webs are more like directories and folders in your computer's operating system. There is no common "root" web. The TopicsAndWebs topic you're reading now is contained in the System web (its complete, fully qualified name is System.TopicsAndWebs).

Anatomy of a Topic

Each topic has:

Creating and editing topics

Foswiki makes it easy to add and edit topics or link between them.

To edit: click Edit in the toolbar which should be present at the top and bottom of each page (assuming default PatternSkin). An edit screen appears. Use the Edit Help button if you need it.

To add a new topic there are three ways in the default PatternSkin:
  1. Create a link to the topic which doesn't exist yet, e.g. by editing a topic and typing a WikiName. When the topic is saved, the link will be shown with a ?: click the ? and a new edit window appears.
  2. Navigate to the topic which doesn't exist yet, e.g. by typing the name of topic in the JumpBox. Foswiki should display a screen which invites you to create the topic.
  3. Click the Create New Topic link in the WebLeftBar links down the left side of the page (assuming default PatternSkin). Foswiki should display a screen which invites you to create the topic.

Topic Names

The best strategy is to use WikiWords for your topic names. In this way, linking is automatic. However, if non- WikiWord names are required, you can use [[bracketed links]] to force a link to a non-standard topic name (see EditingShorthand). Forced links are subject to some restrictions and the actual topic name may not be identical to what was entered into the forced link.

Example: If you enter [[my special-topic @here]], you will see my special-topic @here, but the actual topic created will be MySpecial-topicHere.

Note that if you use the Topic Creator, WikiWord rules are strictly enforced and the resulting topic name would be MySpecialTopicHere For more details on forced links, see EditingShorthand

IDEA! The naming rules may be different for your installation; ask the wiki administrator who may have customised the {NameFilter} expert option under Security and Authentication in configure -> Security and Authentication tab, -> Environment sub-tab

Revision numbers

Topic and attachment versions are identified by positive, non-zero, integer numbers. Versions start with 1 and are sequencial.

Reverting, renaming, moving and deleting topics

See FAQDeleteOrRenameATopic and ManagingTopics

Anatomy of a web

If a user navigates to a Foswiki site without specifying a web, the default Main will be displayed.

Each web has:

Renaming, moving and deleting webs

See ManagingWebs

Related Topics: UserDocumentationCategory, AdminDocumentationCategory, ManagingTopics, ManagingWebs