Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness Wiki
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RAOGK main page        Find a Volunteer (USA / Worldwide)        Latest Wiki News        Take Wiki Poll

This page is "under construction" (to make it easier to use)

The wiki has two ways to add/edit text:

  • Graphical User Interface (GUI) ... defaults to the Visual tab
  • Advanced Edit/Formatting (uses wiki "code") ... click the Source tab to access the Advanced editor

GUI editing (for researchers and volunteers)

Click the Edit link (pencil icon) beside a topic. The editor defaults to the GUI editor / Visual tab.

The GUI editor has a button bar with buttons (left to right) for:

  • Bold
  • Italic
  • Add a link
  • Insert/remove bulleted list
  • Insert/remove numbered list
  • Increase indent
  • Decrease indent
  • Paragraph format – normal, heading 2, heading 3, heading 4, heading 5
  • Align left
  • Align center
  • Align right
  • Undo
  • Redo
  • + more –
    • Underline
    • Strikethrough
    • Signature


To modify your email info ... i.e., to change the volunteer's information and/or display name.

  1. Sign in to the wiki ... notice your username appears in the upper right corner of the page.
  2. Once in the GUI editor, find your name in the table.
  3. Right-click the link for your name.
  4. A dialog box opens with two lines to fill in: Target Page or URL and Text to Display
  5. Change ONLY your email address (leave everything else on the line as is and NO spaces between any characters):
mailto:your-email-address@provider.xxx?subject=RAOGK-Req%20Research%20Request%20&body=Your%20Request%20Here
  1. Leave the second line (Text to Display) as is (unless you want to change the name researchers see).
    At the end of Step 5, the text should look like:
    Line 1 (Target Page or URL): mailto:your-NEW-email-address@provider.xxx?subject=RAOGK-Req%20Research%20Request%20&body=Your%20Request%20Here
    Line 2 (Text to Display): Your Display Name
    The above "code" will open an email form, fill in the TO: line with the volunteer's email address, and fill in the Subject line with RAOGK-Req Research Request.
  2. Click the Preview button (below the Edit Summary field and beside the Publish button. (if the preview looks good, proceed with the next two steps; if not, edit the info as necessary.)
  3. Fill in the Edit Summary field, indicating why you are deleting your entry.
  4. Click the Publish button.


To modify existing wiki text ... i.e., to fix typo or change volunteer's description tex.

  1. Sign in to the wiki ... notice your username appears in the upper right corner of the page.
  2. Once in the GUI editor, locate the typo and fix it as you would in an email or a Word document. (You can change your description of services by simply typing/modifying the text.)
  3. Click the Preview button (below the Edit Summary field and beside the Publish button. (if the preview looks good, proceed with the next two steps; if not, edit the info as necessary.)
  4. Fill in the Edit Summary field, indicating why you are deleting your entry.
  5. Click the Publish button.

Advanced Editing (for volunteers and admins)

Click the Source tab to access the Advanced Editor. The Advanced Editor is similar to using Word Perfect and peer into the reveal codes.

The Advanced editor shows the coding applied behind the scenes when someone creates/modifies something with the GUI editor.

For anyone with HTML experience, you can also use most HTML codes.

The Advanced editor has the following buttons to assist in formatting:

  • Bold (highlight your text and click this button)
  • Italic (highlight your text and click this button)
  • Internal link (links to a page w/n the RAOGK wiki)
  • External link (links to a internet page)
  • Level 2 heading
  • Embed a file
  • Link to a file
  • Mathmetical formula
  • Ignore wiki formatting
  • Insert your username signature and timestamp (for signing an edit)
  • Insert a horizontal rule (use very sparingly)

To add a row in a Volunteer table ... i.e., if you want to volunteer for research.

  1. Sign in to the wiki ... notice your username appears in the upper right corner of the page.
  2. Once in the GUI editor, find where your county/name/description should go.
  3. Right-click the line.
  4. Select Row ... from the "pop-up" menu
  5. Select either Insert Row Above or Insert Row Below. (A new row appears in the table.)
  6. In the first cell, type the County Name(s) you do research in.
  7. In the second cell, click the Add a link button (3rd from left ... looks like 2 links of chain).
  8. A dialog box opens with two lines to fill in.
  9. Fill in the first line (Target Page or URL)as:
    mailto:your-email-address@provider.xxx
  10. Paste the following at the END of the email address (NO spaces): ?subject=RAOGK-Req%20Research%20Request%20&body=Your%20Request%20Here
  11. On the second line (Text to Display), type your [display] name ... the name you want researchers to see.
At the end of Step 11, the text should look like:
Line 1 (Target Page or URL): mailto:your-email-address@provider.xxx?subject=RAOGK-Req%20Research%20Request%20&body=Your%20Request%20Here
Line 2 (Text to Display): Your Display Name
The above "code" will open an email form, fill in the TO: line with the volunteer's email address, and fill in the Subject line with RAOGK-Req Research Request.
  1. Fill in the third cell with the description of your service(s).
  2. Click the Preview button (below the Edit Summary field and beside the Publish button. (if the preview looks good, proceed with the next two steps; if not, edit the info as necessary.)
  3. Fill in the Edit Summary field, indicating why you are deleting your entry.
  4. Click the Publish button.


To delete a row in a Volunteer table ... i.e., if you don't want to volunteer anymore.

  1. Sign in to the wiki ... notice your username appears in the upper right corner of the page
  2. Once in the GUI editor, find your name in the table.
  3. Right-click the link for your name.
  4. Select Row
  5. Select Delete Rows.
  6. Fill in the Edit Summary field, indicating why you are deleting your entry.
  7. Click the Publish button.

To hide a row in a Volunteer table ... i.e., if you are taking a vacation, family issues, etc. where you can't accept research requests for a period of time..

  1. Sign in to the wiki... notice that your username appears in the upper right corner of the page once signed in.
  2. Click the Edit (Pencil icon) link
  3. The GUI editor opens.
  4. Click the Source tab.
  5. Find your name in table (Ctrl + F, type your name, and press Enter)
Each CELL of the row is preceded by a "|" sign.
End of row appears with a "|-" sign.
  1. Place cursor BEFORE the "|" for the first cell (county) of the volunteer's row/information
  2. Type the following BEFORE the "|" symbol:
    <!--COMMENT ... temporarily hide due to 2 month vacation.
  3. Type the following right AFTER the end of volunteer's description:  -->
  4. Type a comment in the Edit Summary field -- i.e., hiding my description while on vacation.
  5. Click the Publish button.

To UNhide a row in a Volunteer table ... i.e., after returning from vacation and can now accept research requests.

  1. Sign in to the wiki... notice that your username appears in the upper right corner of the page once signed in.
  2. Click the Edit (Pencil icon) link
  3. The GUI editor opens.
  4. Click the Source tab.
  5. Find your name in table (Ctrl + F, type your name, and press Enter)
Each CELL of the row is preceded by a "|" sign.
End of row appears with a "|-" sign.
  1. Remove the comment line created in step #7 above:
    <!--COMMENT ... temporarily hide due to 2 month vacation.
  2. Remove the end of comment symbols created in step #8:  -->
  3. Type a comment in the Edit Summary field -- i.e., hiding my description while on vacation.
  4. Click the Publish button.

User Page

If you created an account on the RAOGK wiki, you can create your own user page by typing: "User:username" in the wiki search field.

  • Your user page is linked in the top right. More importantly, others will see links to your user page from various places which assist wiki collaboration -- i.e., “Recent changes” and “page history” displays.
  • You can also link to your user page within text of a wiki page, which is mainly useful on talk pages when you sign your name.

A user page is a page about a wiki user. Think of it as a “profile” page, where you can describe info about yourself, if you desire. You can also use your user page as a scratchpad to try your hand with wiki editing. (See Sample User Page)

Sandbox Page(s)

See the following articles about wiki editing. Wiki editing is NOT hard.

If you've used Word and created documents with Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, Heading 4 ... wiki uses the same thing for the major headings and subheadings.o Wiki editing is similar to using the GUI buttons in Word 2007.

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