Creating Your First DokuWiki Page — Start Page and Content Basics

In this tutorial, you'll create your first DokuWiki page, learn the page creation workflow, understand the start page concept, and practice the basic edit-save cycle that powers every wiki.

What You'll Learn

• How DokuWiki creates pages on first access
• The start page concept and how it works
• Creating a custom welcome page
• Editing and saving pages
• Page deletion and cleanup
• Understanding the edit-save-view cycle

Why It Matters

The edit-save cycle is the fundamental operation in any wiki. In DokuWiki, there are some unique behaviors: pages do not exist until you create them, the start page has special naming rules, and the "Create this page" link is how everything begins. Understanding these basics prevents the "where is my page?" confusion that new users often experience.

Real-World Use

A new team member joins a project and needs to add their profile page to the company wiki. They navigate to people:jdoe in the wiki, click "Create this page," write a brief introduction using DokuWiki syntax, and save. The page is immediately available at the URL they typed. They add a link to their page from the team members list. Total time: 3 minutes.

Learning Path

flowchart LR
  A[Folder Structure] --> B[First Wiki Page]
  B --> C[Syntax]
  C --> D[Links and Images]
  D --> E[Tables]
  E --> F[Media Management]
  F --> G[Sidebar]

The Start Page

When you first install DokuWiki and visit the root URL, you see a welcome message or a blank page saying "This topic does not exist yet." The start page is the default page that displays when no page ID is specified in the URL.

The start page is identified by a special configuration setting:

<?php
// conf/local.php
$conf['start'] = 'start';

This means the page ID start is the default page. When you visit http://yourserver/wiki/, DokuWiki loads the page with ID start, which corresponds to the file data/pages/start.txt.

How DokuWiki Resolves the Start Page

When you visit /wiki/ without specifying a page:

1. DokuWiki checks if a page ID is provided in the URL
2. If not, it uses the configured start page (start by default)
3. It looks for data/pages/start.txt
4. If the file exists, it renders the page
5. If the file does not exist, it shows "This topic does not exist yet" with a link to create it

Creating Your First Page

Let's create a welcome page for your wiki. The start page is typically the first page you create.

Step 1: Navigate to the Page URL

Open your browser and go to:

http://yourserver/wiki/start

You will see "This topic does not exist yet" if the page has not been created. Below this message, there is a button or link labeled "Create this page."

Step 2: Click "Create this page"

Click the link to enter edit mode. You will see an empty textarea with the page ID displayed above it.

Step 3: Write Your Content

Type some content using DokuWiki syntax:

====== Welcome to My Wiki ======

This is the **start page** of our team wiki.

Here you will find:
  * Project documentation
  * Meeting notes
  * Development guides
  * Team contacts

----

To learn more about DokuWiki syntax, see [[wiki:syntax]].

Step 4: Add a Summary and Save

Below the editor, you will see:

• Change Summary: A text field where you describe what you changed. Write something like "Created welcome page with project links."
• Save button: Click to save the page.
• Preview button: Click to preview before saving (recommended for beginners).

Click "Save." The page is now created and visible.

Step 5: View Your Page

After saving, DokuWiki displays the rendered page. The syntax you wrote is converted to HTML:

Welcome to My Wiki
===================

This is the start page of our team wiki.

Here you will find:
- Project documentation
- Meeting notes
- Development guides
- Team contacts

---

To learn more about DokuWiki syntax, see wiki:syntax.

Editing an Existing Page

To edit any page, click the "Edit this page" button (usually a pencil icon or the word "Edit" in the page toolbar).

The editor opens with the current page content. Make your changes, add a summary, and save.

The Edit Conflict Scenario

If two users edit the same page simultaneously, the second user to save will see an edit conflict warning. DokuWiki shows both versions and asks you to manually merge them. This prevents one user's changes from silently overwriting another's.

Page Deletion

To delete a page:

1. Edit the page
2. Delete all content from the editor
3. Add a summary like "Deleted page"
4. Save

DokuWiki saves an empty page and adds a deletion entry to the change log. The page still exists in the attic as a revision, so it can be restored.

Alternatively, administrators can delete a page through the admin interface by selecting the page and using the "Delete" option.

The Edit-Save-View Cycle

Every wiki interaction follows this cycle:

Navigate to page URL
        |
        v
Does page exist? --No--> Show "Create this page"
        |                        |
        v                        v
Show rendered page          Click to create
        |                        |
        v                        v
Click "Edit"                Write content
        |                        |
        v                        v
Modify content               Preview (optional)
        |                        |
        v                        v
Add summary                  Save
        |                        |
        v                        v
Save --> Page is shown with new content

Understanding this cycle helps you troubleshoot: if a page shows as not existing, you may have a link to the wrong page ID. If your changes are not visible, you may have forgotten to save.

Page IDs and URL Structure

Page IDs in DokuWiki follow these rules:

• Lowercase letters, numbers, colons (:) for namespace separation
• Hyphens (-) and underscores (_) are allowed
• No spaces, no special characters
• The colon replaces the slash in URLs

Examples:

You can type any valid page ID directly into the URL bar. If the page does not exist, DokuWiki shows the creation link.

The Welcome Page

Most wikis customize the start page as a welcome page or dashboard. Here is a template you can use:

====== Welcome to [Your Wiki Name] ======

This wiki is maintained by the **[Team Name]** team.

----

===== Quick Links =====

  * [[projects:start|Project Documentation]]
  * [[meeting-notes:start|Meeting Notes]]
  * [[onboarding:start|Team Onboarding Guide]]

===== Recent Updates =====

  * 2026-06-28: Welcome page created
  * 2026-06-27: [[projects:roadmap|Project roadmap]] updated

----

**Need help?** Contact the wiki admin at [[admin@example.com]].

Common Mistakes

1. Creating pages with spaces in the name: DokuWiki page IDs cannot contain spaces. Use hyphens or underscores instead. A page titled my page is not valid; use my-page or my_page.
2. Typing the wrong page ID in the URL: If the URL contains a typo, DokuWiki creates a new page with the wrong name. Always verify the page ID before writing content.
3. Forgetting to add a change summary: While not required, change summaries help others (and your future self) understand what was modified. They appear in the revision history.
4. Creating the same page in multiple namespaces: A page should exist in exactly one namespace. If you need it in multiple places, create one page and link to it from other locations.
5. Not previewing before saving: For long or complex pages, preview first. An error in syntax can make the page look broken, and you will need to edit again to fix it.

Practice Questions

1. What happens when you visit a page URL that does not exist in DokuWiki? How is this different from a 404 error on a regular website?
2. What is the special significance of the start page in DokuWiki, and where is this configured?
3. How does DokuWiki handle edit conflicts when two users edit the same page at the same time?
4. Challenge: Create a wiki with five interconnected pages: a start page (dashboard), a projects page (list of projects), two individual project pages (project-a and project-b), and an about page. Each page should link to at least two other pages. Verify that all links work by clicking through the entire wiki. Then delete one page and confirm it still appears in the revision history.

FAQ

Mini Project

Goal: Create a complete wiki start page with navigation.

1. Create a start page at your wiki root URL
2. Add a welcome heading and a paragraph describing the wiki's purpose
3. Create three placeholder pages: projects:start, guides:start, and team:start
4. On the start page, add bullet-point links to each of these pages
5. On each sub-page, add a "back to start" link
6. Create an "about" page and link it from the start page
7. Preview before saving and verify all links work

What's Next

Now that you can create pages, learn the full DokuWiki syntax to format your content with headings, bold, lists, and code blocks.