Activate Wiki on GitHub?

[jlpoolen]

The default, I think, is for GitHub to have the wiki turned off and that is the case here.

I'm an Android Luddite, but crossed the Rubicon for my aversion to Android in order to install Columba's pre-release beta, Columba 0.7.2-beta, and evaluate and test for a project I'm working on. I had ChatGPT walk me through installing and the nuances of downloads with Firefox needs to be opened and then all you do is click the binary, as well as then white list Firefox for starting application files downloaded by Firefox, where small hurdles I overcame. Just those simple UI understandings would have left me helpless were I not able to consult with ChatGPT. I know people with Android devices, e.g. neighbors, who even the aforesaid would be baffled and confounded. I'm expecting a new virgin Android in a couple of days and thought I would use that to capture screenshots and walk me through an installation using the default browser.

Then I had my tablet running and sleeping several times and after 6 hours of sleep, I found Columba went into pink screen mode and nothing could get me out of it except clicking the home page, then running apps, then shoving Columba off the page presumably to close it, but that did not actually close it, I could see an icon up in my messages bar and when I pulled the messages bar down to see the entries, there was Columba with "syncing with server..." which lasted for over 30 minutes. During that time I hard rebooted my device and returned to find Columba in the same state: appearing to be frozen. Then, after several minutes, the regular Columba interface returned. Again, my ignorance about how to activate logging, or how to launch in debug mode, or whatever trips me up, I see in the Issues others have provided the requisite log files and I don't have a clue where to activate or view them. These are the kind of obvious things people who live and breath by the phone and develop software take for granted, but my self-induced ignorance makes me a good candidate to write some documentation. I think the wiki could be the most efficient way rather than to have @torlando-tech spend time copying and pasting (and then considering and then editing) when he could do so in the context of a wiki. If the wiki gets out of hand, then limit the contribution policy.

So, I recommend the wiki feature be activated and I, at least, be given some contribution privileges. Or just instruct me to open Issue re: documentation and I can pate my proffered text and images there.

[torlando-tech]

Activated!

I am new to GitHub wiki so let me know if you need further settings adjusted

[jlpoolen]

I'm sorry to report on a refresh of this project, I'm not seeing a wiki.

I recall in another project, the project owner had difficulty activating the wiki. The following from ChatGPT. Note: it might be that you have to seed the wiki with an initial page to activate it?
---- start ChatGPT ---

Below is the practical, click-by-click sequence to enable a GitHub repository Wiki, plus the two common “why can’t I edit it?” pitfalls (permissions and the “restrict editing” toggle).

Enable the Wiki tab (repo owner / admin)

1. Open the repository on GitHub (e.g., torlando-tech/columba).

2. Click Settings (top tab; if you don’t see it, you don’t have admin/maintain permissions). ([GitHub Docs]1)

3. In General (left sidebar), scroll down to Features.

4. Check Wikis.

   • Once checked, a Wiki tab appears in the repository navigation. ([GitHub Docs]1)

5. Click the new Wiki tab and create the first page (“Home”) if prompted. (A wiki with no pages can look like “it’s not working” until initialized.) ([GitHub Docs]2)

Control who can edit the Wiki (this is the “ACL-ish” part)

GitHub’s main control here is a single toggle under the same Features area:

1. Repo Settings → General → Features

2. Find Restrict editing to collaborators only and set it as desired:

   • Checked = only people with collaborator-level access to the repo can edit the wiki.
   • Unchecked = broader editing may be allowed (not what most projects want). ([GitHub Docs]3)

Important nuance: On GitHub.com, wiki editing is fundamentally tied to repository permissions. If you want a specific person to edit the wiki while keeping it restricted, they generally need to be a collaborator (or be in a team) with sufficient repo access. The “restrict editing” checkbox is the main control surface for this. ([GitHub Docs]3)

If someone still can’t edit the Wiki: quick diagnostic checklist

1. Do they have the right repo role?
   If the wiki is restricted, the editor must be a collaborator (or on an org team) with write-level capability. In org-owned repos, roles are managed via repository roles/teams. ([GitHub Docs]4)

2. Is “Restrict editing to collaborators only” enabled?
   If yes, non-collaborators can read but cannot edit. ([GitHub Docs]3)

3. Is the Wiki actually enabled?
   If the Wiki tab is missing, it is almost always because Wikis is unchecked under Features. ([GitHub Docs]1)

Optional: editing the wiki via Git (for maintainers / power users)

Every GitHub wiki is backed by a separate Git repository (conventionally REPO.wiki.git). Maintainers often prefer cloning/editing locally and pushing changes, especially for bulk edits and images. (This requires the same permissions as web editing.) ([GitHub Docs]2)

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If torlando’s goal is specifically “let John edit documentation but not touch source,” GitHub does not offer a clean “wiki-only write” permission knob on GitHub.com; the usual workaround is either (a) grant write and rely on social/process controls, or (b) keep docs in-repo (e.g., /docs) and accept PRs, or (c) use Discussions for docs-like content. The wiki toggle + restrict setting above is the part that commonly trips maintainers up.

[torlando-tech]

try now? https://github.com/torlando-tech/columba/wiki

[jlpoolen]

Works: can read now. I'll try cloning and include updates in an Issue, hopefully same markdown copies over to the wiki so it's just a copy/paste issue for you.