How do I make my wiki Public or Private and could you explain the difference between the two?
To change the Public/Private settings, go to your "Settings" page, then click on "Public/Private".
These are the differences between Public and Private:
A private wiki:
- Can only be seen by those who have been invited by the owner (administrator) with one of three things: a password, a "magic URL", or an invitation through the PBwiki identity system - for more on this, please watch our video about sharing your wiki.
- Anyone without access to a private wiki will only see the logon page and nothing else if they go to the wiki's URL.
- We don't put any advertising on private wikis.
A public wiki:
- Can be seen by anyone surfing to its address.
- All pages are visible, except in certain premium wikis with page-hiding capabilities. Even though everyone can see the wiki, only those who have been given access can edit the pages.
- We place small ads on public wikis.
Only the owner (administrator) of a wiki has control over the master password (wiki-wide password). That control is identified with his or her unique email address.
How to remove private information on my wiki that is also on Google?
We recommend that you never post information on a public wiki that others might consider private. Good examples would be real names, street address, phone numbers or account passwords. Information on the internet doesn't always disappear after you remove it from your wiki. Google and other search engines often provide their users with old copies of website called "cached" copies.
If you unintentionally put private information on your public PBwiki site and you know that Google has a cached copy of it, you have a good chance of getting it removed.
Go to
and follow the instructions.
How do I know my wiki is secure? I never have to type in a password.
I need our wiki to be private. When there was an option to choose whether I wanted a private or public wiki, I asked for it to be private but I don’t see where I can confirm that it is private.
To be sure your wiki is private:
- Go to your "Settings" page, which is a link at the top of your wiki, to the right side.
- Click on "Public/Private". This setting will let you know if your status is Public or Private.
A private wiki can only be viewed by a person with the password or someone who has already logged in and received a browser cookie from PBwiki.
If some random person comes to my wiki won’t they also be able to access the wiki?
We assure you that nobody but you, or someone you have invited, can edit your private wiki, except in one case which we'll discuss next.
I don’t understand why we need a password. When I access the wiki, I can change or make pages and do whatever I want without ever typing in a password. Will this be different for other people I invite? Do you somehow know that it’s me (the wiki creator) using the wiki?
Every time you access a website which requires a login (as is the case with PBwiki), the site sends you a browser cookie (a small text file) which is then stored in your computer. This cookie is used by PBwiki to identify you. This is why you do not need to log in. Your co-workers do not have this cookie - neither they nor anyone else can login to your wiki unless you share the password or invite them in another fashion.
Caution: If you leave your computer unattended, anyone can use your PC and access your wiki. We recommend that you lock your PC when you are away from it. Most businesses also recommend this for anyone using their computers.
Advice: Do not lose your password even though you don't use it often. Cookies can be deleted by accident or on purpose and it's more than likely you will have to login the normal way at some point.
Can you please explain how I stop people from stumbling across our wiki?
If your wiki is private, anyone "stumbling across" your wiki will see a login page. They will see nothing else to help them break into your wiki unless you were to put the wiki password in the wiki title or wiki description.
To share this wiki do I just give my co-workers (friends, students) the URL?
To access a private wiki, they will need the URL of your wiki and the password. There are two other methods to share access to a wiki and they are covered in the "Sharing your Wiki" section of the FAQ.
How can I log into my wiki without a password?
You can use a "magic URL" as a bookmark in your browser. This "magic URL" looks like the one below but has your wiki name in the address.
http://xxxxxxx.pbwiki.com/?aph=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
You can always find a copy of this "magic URL" in your Settings link under "Sharing". Remember that whenever you change the password, you'll have to get a new copy of the "magic URL".
Keep this "magic URL" in a safe place. You can use it to access your wiki at any time, unless you change the password. You can also share your "magic URL" with your friends or associates. Be careful if you choose to share it, since they'll have the same powers that you do when they use it.
I see my email address displayed on the wiki; can other people see it too?
Private Wiki
If you have a private wiki of which you are the only user, nobody will ever see your email address. If you have a private wiki that you share with other people, those people can see your email address.
Public Wiki
If you have a public wiki, only a logged-in member of your wiki can see your email address. Vistors from the world wide web cannot see it.
The email addresses are there for your benefit when you need to identify who has been editing a page and for contacting the members of your wiki.
Your email address will not be exposed to spam bots or search engines, even on a public wiki.
Have fun and don't worry. We're looking out for your security.
You want to display an email address but you don't want spam
Don't type your email address or anyone else's email address into a public wiki unless you are certain it's safe to do this. There are a couple of ways to hide email addresses from spammers that we can show you.
How do I allow certain people to edit my wiki, but not others?
For free wikis, if you share your password with others they'll be able to edit your wiki.
For Premium wikis — which can apply advanced access levels — see the Access Controls FAQ.
How can I use Lockable and Hideable pages in my wiki?
Hideable pages and lockable pages are features on the Gold Plan. If you've already upgraded to Silver, you can add those features to your wiki a la carte. Here's how they work:
Lockable pages: Lets you lock them so others can't edit them. This would be useful, for example, for a syllabus or an agenda. You don't want people editing those. Only admins and moderators are able to edit lockable pages.
Hideable pages: You can choose to hide certain pages within your wiki. This means that only admins and moderators will be able to see them in the All Pages listing. Regular users (readers and contributors) will not. You might use this for planning pages that you don't want others to stumble across and see.
To get either of these features, just visit your wiki's upgrade page, where you can add them instantly.
How do I set up different access levels in a Premium wiki I want to share?
What are access controls?
For wikis with a large number of editors, it may not be sufficient to distribute the administrative password publicly; malicious editors may be able to go in and delete pages and files, ruining users' work. Access controls let users whose needs go beyond a single-password solution offer several different levels of access, each with their own password: Admin, Moderator, Contributor, and Reader.
Admin Rights
As the wiki's creator, you are the admin. Admin passwords can only be changed through the password-reset mechanism, whereby the wiki's creator must click a link in an email sent to them. This ensures that only the wiki's creator can change the admin password. As the admin, you are the god of your wiki. You can delete pages, change and disable passwords for Moderators, Contributors, and Readers. Admins alone have access to the wiki's Settings page. Only share an Admin password with people you really trust!
Moderator Rights
Moderators are trusted helpers who are super-privileged Contributors. They can delete pages and files, including revisions and revision histories. Moderators should be highly trusted, since they can delete your data irrevocably.
Contributor Rights
Contributors can edit pages and revert pages to previous versions. They can also upload new files and create new pages. Contributors don't need to be super-trusted, since they cannot perform any action that cannot be undone.
Reader Rights
Readers cannot make any modifications at all to a wiki. They only can read the pages, RSS feeds, and files. They can see page revision histories and diffs. Readers don't need a password in a public wiki.
To create passwords for each level of access:
- Log into your wiki as administrator.
- Click on "Settings" at the top right of your wiki.
- Select "Passwords and Access".
- Use the pulldown menus and the password entry fields to create passwords for each level of access you wish to have in your wiki.
Now when you click on "Share this Wiki" at the bottom of your wiki, you will see the additional levels of access that you have created.
How do I share a free wiki without letting the general public (or my students) vandalize it?
The easy answer is that you can't. However, you can limit the vandalism anyone can do by making some additional wikis for backup. Here's what we advise educators:
Three free wikis might work well for you.
- One for yourself, marked Private so no one else can see it.
- One for the class, marked Public so that everyone can see it, but you will be the only one with a password and editing control.
- One for the class, marked Private, for which they have the password and will edit.
You can copy pages back and forth between the student wikis and your own if you want to keep those pages "safe".
Also remember that PBwiki stores every change you make to a page, so it can easily be reverted to an older version if vandalism occurs.
How do I create a classroom wiki in such a way that students can't see each other's work?
You cannot do this with one wiki. However, it can be done if you have more than one.
Let's say you have 5 teams (or students).
- Create 5 free wikis yourself. This makes you the "owner" of each of them.
- Make sure you assign a different password for each wiki.
- Mark each wiki as "Private".
- Assign each team to its own wiki.
- Give the password for each individual wiki to only the team assigned to that wiki.
- When it's time to share results, access the wikis and make them "Public" or share all the passwords with all the teams.
How I keep pages from being edited? (lock)
If your wiki is Platinum, as an admin or moderator, you can click a checkbox on each page that you would like to lock. However, locking the page prevents anyone but admins and moderators from editing the page. While this keeps out vandals, this also prevents others from adding or editing content, so we generally recommend that you don't lock pages unless you feel it's absolutely necessary.
Who's trying to change my password?
Probably no one. Some or all of the password change requests occasionally emailed to the wiki administrators were probably sent as a result of a spider tripping the "Forgot your password?" link.
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