Dear ESNer,
Welcome to this guide to the ESN Wiki, ESN's main knowledge and information platform, a cornucopia of information, toolkits, opportunities and more.
On the Wiki we store many resources that we hope will be helpful and serve as a support to you. This is intended to be a user guide and a resource for volunteers on all levels who wish to have a better understanding on how the ESN Wiki works and how to make the most out of it.
You might have already used the Wiki a couple of times but this guide will help you to unlock its full potential and show you how to contribute to its enrichment for the benefit of the whole network.
This guide is divided into four chapters. In Chapter One you will find how to use the basic features such as logging in, spaces management and how to use the feature search. In Chapter Two you will find how to use the watchlist and the toolbox. Chapter 3 is dedicated to finding NO spaces and opportunities for volunteers and/or sections and Chapter Four focuses on using, managing and editing country spaces by the NOs.
What is a Wiki?
The term "wiki" actually means quick in Hawaiian and the important part of wikis—what makes them different from any other type of website—is collaborative editing by the users. In our case, only a selected group of ESNers can edit the Wiki, but you all contribute, even if indirectly.
INDEX:
Chapter One - The Basics
Chapter Two - The Expansion Pack
Chapter Three - Where Can I Find…?
- Opportunities
- Nos Space
Chapter Four - Everything Nos
Logging in
Let’s start with the basics!
ESN Wiki is fully accessible after logging in with your ESN Account so make sure that you have one, otherwise your access to the platform will be limited. At the top-right corner, click on the “Login” button and you should be automatically directed to the login page. If not, you can log in manually at https://accounts.esn.org/ or https://accounts.esn.org/user/login.
You have now entered the Wiki - Welcome!
Space vs Page
Throughout this guide, you will encounter terms such as “Page” and “Space”. In fact ESN Wiki is organised in Spaces and their Pages. They might sound similar but there is a substantial difference as a Space is a broader term, a folder that contains different Pages. This means that pages are created always under a specific Space as subfolders.
So : Spaces (folders) – contain -> Pages (subfolders)
An example, and a really useful one too, would be the ESN Toolbox, which is a space. By clicking it, you will be able to access documents, guides and tools created by experienced volunteers and divided by clear topics (Organisational Management, Event Management, Human Resources, Education and Advocacy, etc.). All of these are pages.
Sidebar
Right after logging in, on the left side of your screen, you can find the sidebar. There you can find “My Spaces”. This is not set by us; everybody has their own selection of favourite spaces.
The page list for all the spaces will always be visible in the sidebar, which can be easily hidden by pressing the “collapse sidebar” button (<<) in the lower-right part of the sidebar, or even faster by pressing the [ key..
My Spaces
After you log in, you will find a sidebar on the left side of your screen. Click on the sidebar and you will find “My Spaces”. They contain your own selection of favourite spaces, you can customise it however you like, your favourite (★) spaces will always appear here.
How can you do so? There are two ways:
Tip: My Spaces is extremely useful to speed up your navigation through the Wiki. As mentioned before, everyone can tailor their own Space and can add as an example your country space, events, toolboxes or templates.
Country space
If you are looking for specific information about an ESN country, you are in luck because each ESN country is assigned its own country space.
Use the search bar to find the country and you will discover, among other things, the History, Structure, Documents, Events, Activities & Programmes, which are uploaded there and are available for all to read. Oh, and all those lengthy country reports that make for such a lovely Sunday read - you’ll find them also there.
Space Directory
As mentioned above, the Space directory is a place where you can find all Spaces currently available on the Wiki. There are categories in place that can be used for filtering. An example is the country spaces under the category “country”.
Search
ESN Wiki has a really powerful tool which is the search engine. You can search for Spaces, Pages, people, pictures, documents and so on… you are able to find everything that has been uploaded on the platform.