375 lines
16 KiB
Markdown
375 lines
16 KiB
Markdown
---
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stage: Create
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group: Editor
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info: "To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments"
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type: reference, how-to
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---
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# Wiki **(FREE)**
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If you don't want to keep your documentation in your repository, but you want
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to keep it in the same project as your code, you can use the wiki GitLab provides
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in each GitLab project. Every wiki is a separate Git repository, so you can create
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wiki pages in the web interface, or [locally using Git](#create-or-edit-wiki-pages-locally).
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GitLab wikis support Markdown, RDoc, AsciiDoc, and Org for content.
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Wiki pages written in Markdown support all [Markdown features](../../markdown.md),
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and also provide some [wiki-specific behavior](../../markdown.md#wiki-specific-markdown)
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for links.
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In [GitLab 13.5 and later](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/17673/),
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wiki pages display a sidebar, which you [can customize](#customize-sidebar). This
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sidebar contains a partial list of pages in the wiki, displayed as a nested tree,
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with sibling pages listed in alphabetical order. To view a list of all pages, select
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**View All Pages** in the sidebar:
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![Wiki sidebar](img/wiki_sidebar_v13_5.png)
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## View a project wiki
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To access a project wiki:
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1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Projects** and find your project.
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1. To display the wiki, either:
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- On the left sidebar, select **Wiki**.
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- On any page in the project, use the <kbd>g</kbd> + <kbd>w</kbd>
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[wiki keyboard shortcut](../../shortcuts.md).
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If **Wiki** is not listed in the left sidebar of your project, a project administrator
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has [disabled it](#enable-or-disable-a-project-wiki).
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## Configure a default branch for your wiki
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/221159) in GitLab 14.1.
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The default branch for your wiki repository depends on your version of GitLab:
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- *GitLab versions 14.1 and later:* Wikis inherit the
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[default branch name](../repository/branches/default.md) configured for
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your instance or group. If no custom value is configured, GitLab uses `main`.
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- *GitLab versions 14.0 and earlier:* GitLab uses `master`.
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For any version of GitLab, you can
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[rename this default branch](../repository/branches/default.md#update-the-default-branch-name-in-your-repository)
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for previously created wikis.
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## Create the wiki home page
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When a wiki is created, it is empty. On your first visit, you can create the
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home page users see when viewing the wiki. This page requires a specific title
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to be used as your wiki's home page. To create it:
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1. On the top bar, select **Menu**.
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- For project wikis, select **Projects** and find your project.
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- For group wikis, select **Groups** and find your group.
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1. On the left sidebar, select **Wiki**.
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1. Select **Create your first page**.
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1. GitLab requires this first page be titled `home`. The page with this
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title serves as the front page for your wiki.
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1. Select a **Format** for styling your text.
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1. Add a welcome message for your home page in the **Content** section. You can
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always edit it later.
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1. Add a **Commit message**. Git requires a commit message, so GitLab creates one
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if you don't enter one yourself.
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1. Select **Create page**.
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## Create a new wiki page
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Users with the [Developer role](../../permissions.md) can create new wiki pages:
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1. On the top bar, select **Menu**.
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- For project wikis, select **Projects** and find your project.
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- For group wikis, select **Groups** and find your group.
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1. On the left sidebar, select **Wiki**.
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1. Select **New page** on this page, or any other wiki page.
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1. Select a content format.
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1. Add a title for your new page. Page titles use
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[special characters](#special-characters-in-page-titles) for subdirectories and formatting,
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and have [length restrictions](#length-restrictions-for-file-and-directory-names).
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1. Add content to your wiki page.
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1. Optional. Attach a file, and GitLab stores it according to your installed version of GitLab:
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- *Files added in [GitLab 11.3 and later](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/issues/33475):*
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Files are stored in the wiki's Git repository.
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- *Files added GitLab 11.2 and earlier:* Files are stored in GitLab itself. To add
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the file to the wiki's Git repository, you must re-upload the file.
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1. Add a **Commit message**. Git requires a commit message, so GitLab creates one
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if you don't enter one yourself.
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1. Select **Create page**.
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### Create or edit wiki pages locally
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Wikis are based on Git repositories, so you can clone them locally and edit
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them like you would do with every other Git repository. To clone a wiki repository
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locally, select **Clone repository** from the right-hand sidebar of any wiki page,
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and follow the on-screen instructions.
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Files you add to your wiki locally must use one of the following
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supported extensions, depending on the markup language you wish to use.
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Files with unsupported extensions don't display when pushed to GitLab:
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- Markdown extensions: `.mdown`, `.mkd`, `.mkdn`, `.md`, `.markdown`.
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- AsciiDoc extensions: `.adoc`, `.ad`, `.asciidoc`.
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- Other markup extensions: `.textile`, `.rdoc`, `.org`, `.creole`, `.wiki`, `.mediawiki`, `.rst`.
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### Special characters in page titles
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Wiki pages are stored as files in a Git repository, so certain characters have a special meaning:
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- Spaces are converted into hyphens when storing a page.
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- Hyphens (`-`) are converted back into spaces when displaying a page.
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- Slashes (`/`) are used as path separators, and can't be displayed in titles. If you
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create a title containing `/` characters, GitLab creates all the subdirectories
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needed to build that path. For example, a title of `docs/my-page` creates a wiki
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page with a path `/wikis/docs/my-page`.
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### Length restrictions for file and directory names
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/24364) in GitLab 12.8.
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Many common file systems have a [limit of 255 bytes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_systems#Limits)
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for file and directory names. Git and GitLab both support paths exceeding
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those limits. However, if your file system enforces these limits, you cannot check out a
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local copy of a wiki that contains filenames exceeding this limit. To prevent this
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problem, the GitLab web interface and API enforce these limits:
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- 245 bytes for page titles (reserving 10 bytes for the file extension).
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- 255 bytes for directory names.
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Non-ASCII characters take up more than one byte.
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While you can still create files locally that exceed these limits, your teammates
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may not be able to check out the wiki locally afterward.
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## Edit a wiki page
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You need at least the [Developer role](../../permissions.md) to edit a wiki page:
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1. On the top bar, select **Menu**.
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- For project wikis, select **Projects** and find your project.
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- For group wikis, select **Groups** and find your group.
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1. On the left sidebar, select **Wiki**.
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1. Go to the page you want to edit, and either:
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- Use the <kbd>e</kbd> wiki [keyboard shortcut](../../shortcuts.md#wiki-pages).
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- Select the edit icon (**{pencil}**).
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1. Edit the content.
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1. Select **Save changes**.
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### Create a table of contents
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To generate a table of contents from a wiki page's subheadings, use the `[[_TOC_]]` tag.
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For an example, read [Table of contents](../../markdown.md#table-of-contents).
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## Delete a wiki page
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You need at least the [Developer role](../../permissions.md) to delete a wiki page:
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1. On the top bar, select **Menu**.
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- For project wikis, select **Projects** and find your project.
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- For group wikis, select **Groups** and find your group.
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1. On the left sidebar, select **Wiki**.
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1. Go to the page you want to delete.
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1. Select the edit icon (**{pencil}**).
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1. Select **Delete page**.
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1. Confirm the deletion.
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## Move a wiki page
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You need at least the [Developer role](../../permissions.md) to move a wiki page:
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1. On the top bar, select **Menu**.
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- For project wikis, select **Projects** and find your project.
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- For group wikis, select **Groups** and find your group.
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1. On the left sidebar, select **Wiki**.
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1. Go to the page you want to move.
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1. Select the edit icon (**{pencil}**).
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1. Add the new path to the **Title** field. For example, if you have a wiki page
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called `about` under `company` and you want to move it to the wiki's root,
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change the **Title** from `about` to `/about`.
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1. Select **Save changes**.
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## View history of a wiki page
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The changes of a wiki page over time are recorded in the wiki's Git repository.
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The history page shows:
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![Wiki page history](img/wiki_page_history.png)
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- The revision (Git commit SHA) of the page.
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- The page author.
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- The commit message.
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- The last update.
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- Previous revisions, by selecting a revision number in the **Page version** column.
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To view the changes for a wiki page:
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1. On the top bar, select **Menu**.
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- For project wikis, select **Projects** and find your project.
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- For group wikis, select **Groups** and find your group.
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1. On the left sidebar, select **Wiki**.
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1. Go to the page you want to view history for.
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1. Select **Page history**.
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### View changes between page versions
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/15242) in GitLab 13.2.
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You can see the changes made in a version of a wiki page, similar to versioned diff file views:
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1. On the top bar, select **Menu**.
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- For project wikis, select **Projects** and find your project.
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- For group wikis, select **Groups** and find your group.
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1. On the left sidebar, select **Wiki**.
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1. Go to the wiki page you're interested in.
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1. Select **Page history** to see all page versions.
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1. Select the commit message in the **Changes** column for the version you're interested in.
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![Wiki page changes](img/wiki_page_diffs_v13_2.png)
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## Track wiki events
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> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/14902) in **GitLab 12.10.**
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> - Git events were [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/216014) in **GitLab 13.0.**
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> - [Feature flag for Git events was removed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/258665) in **GitLab 13.5**
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GitLab tracks wiki creation, deletion, and update events. These events are displayed on these pages:
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- [User profile](../../profile/index.md#access-your-user-profile).
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- Activity pages, depending on the type of wiki:
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- [Group activity](../../group/index.md#view-group-activity).
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- [Project activity](../working_with_projects.md#view-project-activity).
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Commits to wikis are not counted in [repository analytics](../../analytics/repository_analytics.md).
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## Customize sidebar
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/23109) in GitLab 13.8, the sidebar can be customized by selecting the **Edit sidebar** button.
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You need at least the [Developer role](../../permissions.md) to customize the wiki
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navigation sidebar. This process creates a wiki page named `_sidebar` which fully
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replaces the default sidebar navigation:
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1. On the top bar, select **Menu**.
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- For project wikis, select **Projects** and find your project.
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- For group wikis, select **Groups** and find your group.
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1. On the left sidebar, select **Wiki**.
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1. In the top right corner of the page, select **Edit sidebar**.
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1. When complete, select **Save changes**.
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A `_sidebar` example, formatted with Markdown:
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```markdown
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### [Home](home)
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- [Hello World](hello)
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- [Foo](foo)
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- [Bar](bar)
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---
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- [Sidebar](_sidebar)
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```
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Support for displaying a generated table of contents with a custom side navigation is being considered.
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## Enable or disable a project wiki
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Wikis are enabled by default in GitLab. Project [administrators](../../permissions.md)
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can enable or disable a project wiki by following the instructions in
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[Sharing and permissions](../settings/index.md#sharing-and-permissions).
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Administrators for self-managed GitLab installs can
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[configure additional wiki settings](../../../administration/wikis/index.md).
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You can't disable [group wikis](group.md) from the GitLab user interface.
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## Link an external wiki
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To add a link to an external wiki from a project's left sidebar:
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1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Projects** and find your project.
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1. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > Integrations**.
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1. Select **External wiki**.
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1. Add the URL to your external wiki.
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1. Optional. To verify the connection, select **Test settings**.
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1. Select **Save changes**.
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You can now see the **External wiki** option from your project's
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left sidebar.
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When you enable this integration, the link to the external
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wiki doesn't replace the link to the internal wiki.
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To hide the internal wiki from the sidebar, [disable the project's wiki](#disable-the-projects-wiki).
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To hide the link to an external wiki:
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1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Projects** and find your project.
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1. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > Integrations**.
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1. Select **External wiki**.
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1. In the **Enable integration** section, clear the **Active** checkbox.
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1. Select **Save changes**.
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## Disable the project's wiki
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To disable a project's internal wiki:
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1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Projects** and find your project.
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1. Go to your project and select **Settings > General**.
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1. Expand **Visibility, project features, permissions**.
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1. Scroll down to find **Wiki** and toggle it off (in gray).
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1. Select **Save changes**.
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The internal wiki is now disabled, and users and project members:
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- Cannot find the link to the wiki from the project's sidebar.
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- Cannot add, delete, or edit wiki pages.
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- Cannot view any wiki page.
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Previously added wiki pages are preserved in case you
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want to re-enable the wiki. To re-enable it, repeat the process
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to disable the wiki but toggle it on (in blue).
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## Content Editor **(FREE)**
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/5643) in GitLab 14.0.
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GitLab version 14.0 introduces a WYSIWYG editing experience for GitLab Flavored Markdown
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in Wikis through the [Content Editor](../../../development/fe_guide/content_editor.md).
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The Content Editor is under active development, and is not yet the default editing
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experience in the Wiki. To opt in for the new editor:
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1. Create a new wiki page, or edit an existing one.
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1. Ensure the wiki page uses the Markdown format. Other formats are not yet supported.
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1. Above the content field, select **Edit rich text**:
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![Use new editor button image](img/use_new_editor_button_v14.6.png)
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### Use the Content Editor
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1. [Create](#create-a-new-wiki-page) a new wiki page, or [edit](#edit-a-wiki-page) an existing one.
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1. Select **Markdown** as your format.
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1. Above **Content**, select **Edit rich text**.
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1. Customize your page's content using the various formatting options available in the content editor.
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1. Select **Create page** for a new page, or **Save changes** for an existing page:
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![Content Editor in Wikis image](img/content_editor_v14.6.png)
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### Switch back to the old editor
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1. *If you're editing the page in the content editor,* scroll to **Content**.
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1. Select **Edit source**.
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### GitLab Flavored Markdown support
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Supporting all GitLab Flavored Markdown content types in the Content Editor is a work in progress.
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For the status of the ongoing development for CommonMark and GitLab Flavored Markdown support, read:
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- [Basic Markdown formatting extensions](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/5404) epic.
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- [GitLab Flavored Markdown extensions](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/5438) epic.
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## Related topics
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- [Wiki settings for administrators](../../../administration/wikis/index.md)
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- [Project wikis API](../../../api/wikis.md)
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- [Group repository storage moves API](../../../api/group_repository_storage_moves.md)
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- [Group wikis API](../../../api/group_wikis.md)
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- [Wiki keyboard shortcuts](../../shortcuts.md#wiki-pages)
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