View source for Help:Editing

This page is copied directly from the {{w|Main Page|English Wikipedia}}. Some examples may seem out of place, but the wikitext formatting remains the same. For the full document, see {{w|Help:Editing|Wikipedia's editing help page}}.

<br clear="all" /><!-- stop floating infobox from overwriting next section -->

=== Basic text formatting ===

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="100%"
|-
!width="50%"|What it looks like
!width="50%"|What you type
|-
|
You can ''emphasize text'' by putting two
apostrophes on each side. Three apostrophes
will emphasize it '''strongly'''. Five
apostrophes is '''''even stronger'''''.
|<pre><nowiki>
You can ''emphasize text'' by putting two
apostrophes on each side. Three apostrophes
will emphasize it '''strongly'''. Five
apostrophes is '''''even stronger'''''.
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
A
single
newline
has
no
effect
on
the
layout.

But an empty line
starts a new paragraph.
|<pre><nowiki>
A
single
newline
has
no
effect
on
the
layout.

But an empty line
starts a new paragraph.
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
You can break lines<br>
without starting a new paragraph.<br>
Please use this sparingly.
|<pre><nowiki>
You can break lines<br>
without starting a new paragraph.<br>
Please use this sparingly.
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
You should "sign" your comments on talk pages:
: Three tildes gives your user name: [[User:Detour|Detour]]
: Four tildes give your user name plus date/time: [[User:Detour|Detour]] 11:42, 9 September 2009 (EDT)
: Five tildes gives the date/time alone: 11:42, 9 September 2009 (EDT)
|<pre><nowiki>
You should "sign" your comments on talk pages:
: Three tildes gives your user name: ~~~
: Four tildes give your user name plus date/time: ~~~~
: Five tildes gives the date/time alone: ~~~~~
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
You can use <b>HTML tags</b>, too, if you
want. Some useful ways to use HTML:

Put text in a <tt>typewriter font</tt>.
The same font is generally used for
<code>computer code</code>.

<strike>Strike out</strike> or
<u>underline</u> text, or write it
<span style="font-variant:small-caps">
in small caps</span>.

Superscripts and subscripts:
x<sup>2</sup>, x<sub>2</sub>

Invisible comments that only appear while editing the page.
<!-- Note to editors: blah blah blah. -->
Comments should usually go on the talk page, though.
|<pre><nowiki>
You can use <b>HTML tags</b>, too, if you
want. Some useful ways to use HTML:

Put text in a <tt>typewriter font</tt>.
The same font is generally used for
<code>computer code</code>.

<strike>Strike out</strike> or
<u>underline</u> text, or write it
<span style="font-variant:small-caps">
in small caps</span>.

Superscripts and subscripts:
x<sup>2</sup>, x<sub>2</sub>

Invisible comments that only appear while editing the page.
<!-- Note to editors: blah blah blah. -->
Comments should usually go on the talk page, though.
</nowiki></pre>
|}

You should avoid HTML in favor of Wiki markup whenever possible.

=== Organizing your writing ===
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="100%"
|-
!width="50%"|What it looks like
!width="50%"|What you type
|-
|
<span style="font-size: 150%"><b>Section headings</b></span>

Headings organize your writing into sections.
The Wiki software can automatically generate
a table of contents from them.


<span style="font-size: 125%"><b>Subsection</b></span>

Using more equals signs creates a subsection.


<b>A smaller subsection</b>

Don't skip levels, like from two to four equals signs.
Start with two equals signs; don't use single equals signs.
|<pre><nowiki>
== Section headings ==

Headings organize your writing into sections.
The Wiki software can automatically generate
a table of contents from them.

=== Subsection ===

Using more equals signs creates a subsection.

==== A smaller subsection ====

Don't skip levels, like from two to four equals signs.
Start with two equals signs; don't use single equals signs.
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
* ''Unordered lists'' are easy to do:
** Start every line with a star.
*** More stars indicate a deeper level.
*A newline
*in a list  
marks the end of the list.
*Of course you can start again.
|<pre><nowiki>
* ''Unordered lists'' are easy to do:
** Start every line with a star.
*** More stars indicate a deeper level.
*A newline
*in a list  
marks the end of the list.
*Of course you can start again.
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
# Numbered lists are also good:
## Very organized
## Easy to follow
A newline marks the end of the list.
#New numbering starts with 1.

|<pre><nowiki>
# Numbered lists are also good:
## Very organized
## Easy to follow
A newline marks the end of the list.
#New numbering starts with 1.
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
* You can even do mixed lists
*# and nest them
*#* or break lines<br>in lists.
|<pre><nowiki>* You can even do mixed lists
*# and nest them
*#* or break lines<br>in lists.</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
Another kind of list is a '''definition list''':
; word : definition of the word
; longer phrase 
: phrase defined
|<pre><nowiki>
Another kind of list is a '''definition list''':
; word : definition of the word
; longer phrase 
: phrase defined</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
:A colon indents a line or paragraph.
A newline after that starts a new paragraph.
::This is often used for discussion on Talk pages.
|<pre><nowiki>
:A colon indents a line or paragraph.
A newline after that starts a new paragraph.
::This is often used for discussion on talk pages.
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
You can make horizontal dividing lines
to separate text.
----
But you should usually use sections instead,
so that they go in the table of contents.
|<pre><nowiki>
You can make horizontal dividing lines
to separate text.
----
But you should usually use sections instead,
so that they go in the table of contents.
</nowiki></pre>
|}

=== Links ===

You will often want to make clickable ''links'' to other pages.

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="100%"
|-
!width="50%"|What it looks like
!width="50%"|What you type
|-
|
Here's a link to a page named
[[Transform-up]]. You can even say
[[Transform-up]]s and the link will
show up correctly.
|<pre><nowiki>
Here's a link to a page named
[[Transform-up]]. You can even say
[[Transform-up]]s and the link will
show up correctly.
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
You can put formatting around a link.
Example: ''[[The weather in London]]''.
|<pre><nowiki>
You can put formatting around a link.
Example: ''[[The weather in London]]''.
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
The ''first letter'' of articles is automatically
capitalized, so [[combiner]] goes to the same place
as [[Combiner]].  Capitalization matters after the
first letter.
|<pre><nowiki>
The ''first letter'' of articles is automatically
capitalized, so [[combiner]] goes to the same place
as [[Combiner]].  Capitalization matters after the
first letter.
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
[[The weather in France]] is a page that doesn't exist
yet. You could create it by clicking on the link.
|<pre><nowiki>
[[The weather in France]] is a page that doesn't exist
yet. You could create it by clicking on the link.
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
You can link to a page section by its title:

*[[List of female Transformers#Beast Era]]

If multiple sections have the same title, add
a number. [[#Autobots 3]] goes to the
third section named "Autobots".
|<pre><nowiki>
You can link to a page section by its title:

*[[List of female Transformers#Beast Era]]

If multiple sections have the same title, add
a number. [[#Autobots 3]] goes to the
third section named "Autobots".
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
You can make a link point to a different place
with a {{w|Help:Piped link|piped link}}. Put the link
target first, then the pipe character "|", then
the link text.

*[[Help:Link|About Links]]
*[[List of female Transformers#Beast Era|
Beast Era fembots]]
|<pre><nowiki>
You can make a link point to a different place
with a [[Help:Piped link|piped link]]. Put the link
target first, then the pipe character "|", then
the link text.

*[[Help:Link|About Links]]
*[[List of female Transformers#Beast Era|
Beast Era fembots]]
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
You can also use the "pipe trick" to quickly hide
the ugly parts of a wikilink.  Usually you won't
want an article's disambiguation tag (which
appears in parentheses) to appear in the text of
an article.  For example:

"[[Bonecrusher (Universe Ultra)]]" is kind of
cumbersome to read.  You can use a pipe to write
in new link text, but it's a pain to rewrite the
whole name of the page, especially if you're
making a lot of links.  So instead, simply write
a pipe and then close the link, and the software
will clean it up for you: 
[[Bonecrusher (Universe Ultra)|Bonecrusher]].

You can also hide an article's namespace (which
appears before a colon in some articles, like this
one) this way.  Then a link to the page
[[Help:Style guide]] appears as just
[[Help:Style guide|Style guide]].

Make sure you don't put a space after the pipe, or
the link text will disappear [[Help:Style guide| ]]
totally!

|<pre><nowiki>
You can also use the "pipe trick" to quickly hide
the ugly parts of a wikilink.  Usually you won't
want an article's disambiguation tag (which
appears in parentheses) to appear in the text of
an article.  For example:

"[[Bonecrusher (Universe Ultra)]]" is kind of
cumbersome to read.  You can use a pipe to write
in new link text, but it's a pain to rewrite the
whole name of the page, especially if you're
making a lot of links.  So instead, simply write
a pipe and then close the link, and the software
will clean it up for you: 
[[Bonecrusher (Universe Ultra)|]].

You can also hide an article's namespace (which
appears before a colon in some articles, like this
one) this way.  Then a link to the page
[[Help:Style guide]] appears as just
[[Help:Style guide|]].

Make sure you don't put a space after the pipe, or
the link text will disappear [[Help:Style guide| ]]
totally!
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
You can make a link to Wikipedia, like this: {{w|Transformers}}.
Use this sparingly and always link to a {{SITENAME SHORT}} article unless the topic is decidedly non-Transformers related.
You can also use piping like on other links to {{w|Optimus Prime|change the link text}}.
|
<pre><nowiki>
You can make a link to Wikipedia, like this: {{w|Transformers}}.
Use this sparingly and always link to a {{SITENAME SHORT}} article unless the topic is decidedly non-Transformers related.
You can also use piping like on other links to {{w|Optimus Prime|change the link text}}.
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
You can make an external link just by typing a URL:
http://www.allspark.com/

You can give it a title:
[http://www.allspark.com/ Allspark.com]

Or leave the title blank:
[http://www.allspark.com]
|
<pre><nowiki>
You can make an external link just by typing a URL:
http://www.allspark.com/

You can give it a title:
[http://www.allspark.com/ Allspark.com]

Or leave the title blank:
[http://www.allspark.com]
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
You can redirect the user to another page.
|<pre><nowiki>
#REDIRECT [[Official position]]
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
[[Help:Category|Category links]] don't show up, but
add the page to a category.

Add an extra colon to actually link to the category:
[[:Category:Help]]
|<pre><nowiki>
[[Help:Category|Category links]] don't show up, but
add the page to a category. [[Category:Help]]

Add an extra colon to actually link to the category:
[[:Category:Help]]
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
The Wiki reformats linked dates to match the reader's
date preferences. These three dates will show up the
same if you choose a format in your
[[Special:Preferences|Preferences]]:
* [[July 20]], [[1984]]
* [[July 20|20 July]] [[1984]]
* [[1984]]-[[July 20|07-20]]
|<pre><nowiki>
The Wiki reformats linked dates to match the reader's
date preferences. These three dates will show up the
same if you choose a format in your
[[Special:Preferences|]]:
* [[July 20]], [[1984]]
* [[20 July]] [[1984]]
* [[1984]]-[[07-20]]
</nowiki></pre>
|}

===Just show what I typed===

A few different kinds of formatting will tell the Wiki to display things as you typed them.

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
|-
!style="width:10%"|
!style="width:45%"|What it looks like
!style="width:45%"|What you type
|-
|'''&lt;nowiki&gt; tags'''
|
<nowiki>
The nowiki tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''.
It reformats text by removing newlines    and multiple spaces.
It still interprets special characters: &rarr;
</nowiki>
|<pre><nowiki>
&lt;nowiki&gt;
The nowiki tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''.
It reformats text by removing newlines    and multiple spaces.
It still interprets special characters: &amp;rarr;
&lt;/nowiki&gt;
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|'''&lt;pre&gt; tags'''
|
<pre>
The pre tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''.
It also doesn't     reformat text.
It still interprets special characters: &rarr;
</pre>
|<pre>
<nowiki><pre>
The pre tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''.
It also doesn't     reformat text.
It still interprets special characters: &amp;rarr;
</pre>
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|'''Leading spaces'''
|
Leading spaces are another way to preserve formatting.

 Putting a space at the beginning of each line
 stops the text   from being reformatted. It still
 interprets Wiki ''markup'' and special
 characters: &rarr;
|<pre><nowiki>
Leading spaces are another way to preserve formatting.

 Putting a space at the beginning of each line
 stops the text   from being reformatted. It still
 interprets Wiki ''markup'' and special
 characters: &amp;rarr;
</nowiki></pre>
|}

===Images, tables, video, and sounds===

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="100%"
|-
!width="50%"|What it looks like
!width="50%"|What you type
|-
|
A picture, including alternate text:

[[File:Wiki.png|The logo for this Wiki]]

You can put the image in a frame with a caption:
[[File:Wiki.png|frame|left|The logo for this Wiki]]
|<pre><nowiki>
A picture, including alternate text:

[[File:Wiki.png|The logo for this Wiki]]

You can put the image in a frame with a caption:
[[File:Wiki.png|frame|left|The logo for this Wiki]]
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
A link to {{SITENAME_SHORT}}'s page for the image:
[[:File:Wiki.png]]

Or a link directly to the image itself:
[[Media:Wiki.png]]
|<pre><nowiki>
A link to {{SITENAME_SHORT}}'s page for the image:
[[:File:Wiki.png]]

Or a link directly to the image itself:
[[Media:Wiki.png]]
</nowiki></pre>
|-
|
<center>
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=5
| This
| is
|- 
| a <!-- much less intuitive than a standard html -->
| '''table'''
|}
</center>
|<pre><nowiki>
<center>
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=5
| This
| is
|- 
| a
| '''table'''
|}
</center>
</nowiki></pre>
|}

[[Category:Help]]