Some of the wiki features are on the surface, yet massively unused, since not many people understand the mechanics of those features. Read below for the insider scoop. The Discussion tab on every page takes you to a page-specific forum that allows you to discuss the page contents and changes with your students. Click “+ New Post“ to start the conversation. The message count will appear near the Discussion tab.

The History tab lets you review the previous edits of the page and, if necessary, revert to those previous versions. This is very useful if a page is vandalized – what’s more, you can see the vandal who did it.

The Notify Me tab is probably the most useful if you are running a wiki-based project. It lets you set up e-mail or RSS notifiers for every edit or discussion, so you always keep your hand on the pulse of the project. You can also track the times of your student activity through timestamps in your mail. Once students set to work on the project, notifiers come by the dozen.

The Wikispaces live change badge is a great thing to put on your personal website (if it’s other than the wiki site) to help your visitors track the changes on your students’ (or your course) wiki. The embed code for the badge is in Manage Wiki — Badges.

If you have an Apple computer or you are familiar with the WebDAV technology, you can easily back up your wiki site through the Wikispaces WebDAV capabilities found in ”Manage Wiki — WebDAV”. Follow the instructions.