As nice of a system as Wetpaint has set up for this wiki, it unfortunately doesn't offer very much space for attachments. The "Add an attachment" option under "More Tools" is too limited. Just ignore it.

Instead, we're using the recently installed SharePoint server to host our attachments. The good news is, that means all of the attachments are secure and accessible only by volunteers, this wiki's primary intended audience. The bad new is that the attachments are secure and locked away from any Thai counterparts or other non-volunteers who comprise the wiki's secondary audience. Sorry about that. You're welcome to file an objection, so long as you include an alternative free means for us to host up to 15GB of files.

Posting attachments

Attachments for the wiki should be posted in SharePoint at https://th.peacecorps.gov/Shared_Documents/Wiki-Files/ (important note: there's an underscore in "Shared_Documents" that is hidden by the link underline). If you try going to that address before signing in to SharePoint, you will get the following screen.

Type in your SharePoint username and password and click Log On.


You will be able to see the files that have already been uploaded, as well as a menu of options. Click onUpload and then on Upload Document.


You will then be presented with a fairly typical browse-for-attachment form. Click the browse button, find the file you want in your computer's hierarchy, and then click OK. Note: SharePoint doesn't like files that include an ampersand (&).

Depending on your connection speed and the file's size, it can take a while before the next screen comes up, and SharePoint doesn't give any progress feedback indicator. Please just be patient.

The next stage in the process allows you to modify your document's SharePoint properties: Name, Title, and Brief Description. Name is the only required field, while the other two are designed to help peoplenavigating in SharePoint to find your file. Click OK when done.

Critical note for the wiki: Your file's Name should not have any spaces, or else you will have problems linking to it from the wiki.

Your file will now be in the list at Shared_Documents/Wiki-Files. If you need to change any information about it, click on the small arrow to the right of the file name and then select Edit Properties. You will be taken back to the screen above.

Putting your attachment on the wiki

The last thing you'll need to do in SharePoint is find out your file's full address. In the Firefox browser, this is as simple as right-clicking the link for your file and then selecting Copy Link Location. Other browsers presumably offer some similar feature. Regardless, the result will be something like https://th.peacecorps.gov/Shared_Documents/
Wiki-Files/Your_File_name.doc.

Now go to the page in the wiki where you want to have your attachment noted. Edit the page using the easy edit button, and create a standard link. Paste the link information from SharePoint in the Link To box.




The only thing you will have left to do is to Save your edited wiki page, and then you're all done. Congratulations on creating and linking to an attachment!

Questions?

Why the worry about having spaces in file names?
If you include a space in a file name, most web servers will generally convert the space to "%20", which browsers generally recognize is supposed to represent a space.Wetpaint, meanwhile, has a small bug that automatically replaces spaces in links with a plus sign "+". That's because that's how Wetpaint deals with spaces in its page names--just look at the address bar for this page to see an example. Unfortunately, your browser and the sharepoint server don't really know what to do with those pluses, so the links from the wiki to sharepoint pretty much just don't work if there's a space.
So keep your file namesspace free.


What if I have several related files to attach?
SharePoint's file menu also allows you to create a new folder. Just click the down-arrow next to New and select New Folder. Just make sure that you give the folder a name without any spaces.

Before making a new folder, though, please check to see if any other folders have been created where you could appropriately place your file. Reorganizing things in SharePoint can be highly problematic, not least for the reason that it will disrupt any links in the wiki that had been made to the reorganized files.

What if I have a LOT of files to put up?
As per the ICT GIG's proposed Sharepoint-wiki integration plan, you might want to try contacting the Peace Corps office to see if someone there would be willing to help you upload files from a CD. If you will be in Bangkok yourself, the connection to SharePoint from the lounge computers (which call it External Sharepoint and have a different start to the SharePoint address--"th-ext." instead of just "th.") is excellent.

If you put up a lot of similar files (for example, lesson plans or project proposal forms), you might want to consider having them in a distinct folder and then making just one wiki link to that folder instead of having multiple links.

A link from the wiki to an attachment or outside website won't work for me. A little help, please?
Check the address bar for any plus signs and replace them with spaces. If that doesn't work, you might also want to try aiming for higher up the file hierarchy--go to the right end of the address bar and hit delete until you get to a forward slash "/" and THEN try loading the page. That slash represents a folder, which will ideally load and then allow you to look for your file.

The internet just fails sometimes here in Thailand, though. If you can't get the file to load, just try to stay calm about it.

Will you answer my other attachment questions too?
Sure. Just add them here, or in the discussion threads below.