Skip to main content

What is the UFO Wiki?

Impatient? Here's some quick navigation to popular pages:

The UFO Wiki is the single source of truth for how UFO runs. A lot of club knowledge has been spread across people's heads, chat threads, emails and documents. This wiki brings it together in one place, so that:

  • anyone can find out how things work in the club, without needing to know who to ask;
  • volunteers taking on a new role can get up to speed quickly, using what their predecessors learned;
  • processes keep working when people come and go;
  • our processes are transparent to other clubs.

This is a living resource. It is only as good as the people who use it, so if something is missing, out of date or unclear, please say so (see Giving feedback).

What you'll find here

  • Admin processes: how recurring club administration gets done.
  • Volunteer roles: what each role is responsible for (and not responsible for), how much time it takes, and handover notes from the people who held it before.
  • Playbooks for club activities: step-by-step guides for things we do regularly, such as running the beginners course.
  • The Board: board agendas, minutes and related information.

What doesn't belong here

Some things work better outside the wiki, such as spreadsheets, forms and self-contained documents. These live in the UFO folder on Google Drive [TODO: link], and should be linked to from the relevant wiki page so they can still be found from here.

[TODO: one line on how the wiki relates to the club website]

Privacy: many pages on this wiki are public. Never put personal contact details, such as phone numbers or personal email addresses, on a public page. Refer to a role (e.g. "contact the Secretaris") or a shared club email address instead.

Who can see and edit what

  • Reading: Most pages are public and can be read without logging in. Some pages are only visible to logged-in users.
  • Editing: In order to edit pages, your account role needs to be properly configured. Reach out to an admin user (a member of the board) to get this set up.
  • Commenting: Feel free to comment on any visible page if something can be improved.

Creating an account

You can create an account using the Sign up button in the top right of the window. Once your account exists, ask an admin (a member of the board) to give it the right role.

[TODO: decide how roles and permissions are set up (e.g. which roles exist, who can edit which books/chapters) and document it here]

How to use this wiki

Finding your way around

Content in BookStack is organised in a hierarchy, a bit like a library:

  • Shelves hold books.
  • Books (like this one) hold chapters and pages.
  • Chapters group related pages within a book.
  • Pages are where the content lives.

See Content overview and Getting around.

Use the search bar at the top of every page to find anything quickly. It supports filters, e.g. by tag or by type of content. See Searching.

Giving feedback

The easiest way to give feedback is to leave a comment at the bottom of the page in question. Use comments to:

  • point out something that is wrong or out of date;
  • ask a question about a process;
  • suggest an improvement.

Active discussion helps us improve how the club runs, so don't hesitate.

Editing and creating pages

  1. Open the page and click Edit (top right). Make your changes and click Save Page. Every save is kept in the page's revision history, so mistakes can always be undone.
  2. To create a new page, open the book or chapter it belongs in and click New Page.
  3. Start new pages from a template, found in the Bookstack templates chapter. When editing a page, open the Templates panel in the editor sidebar to insert one. See Page templates.
  4. Link related pages together. In the editor, use the link tool and search for the page you want to link to. Links stay working even if a page is renamed or moved. See Content permalinks.

We only use the default WYSIWYG editor. BookStack also has a Markdown editor, but it supports less rich content, so please don't switch to it.

Useful editor guides:

Writing good pages

  • Start with a short purpose statement at the top (the general page template does this for you).
  • Document things that will still be useful in a year. Write down processes, knowledge and context, not current to-do lists or status updates.
  • Link instead of duplicating. If information already exists on another page (or in Google Drive), link to it.
  • Keep it up to date. If you notice something outdated, fix it or leave a comment.

More help