Help:Editing: Difference between revisions

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== General ==

To edit a page in the wiki, click on the "'''Edit this page'''" (or just "'''edit'''") link at one of its edges (Note: If you do not see the "edit" tab, then the page is currently [[Help:Editing#Protected pages|Protected]]). This will bring you to a page with a text box containing the ''[[wikitext]]'': the editable source code from which the server produces the webpage. For the special codes, see below.

After adding to or changing the wikitext it is useful to press "Preview", which produces the corresponding webpage in your browser but does not make it publicly available yet (not until you press "Save"). Errors in formatting, links, tables, etc., are often much easier to discover from the rendered page than from the raw wikitext.

If you are not satisfied you can make more changes and preview the page as many times as necessary. Then write a short [[Help:Edit summary|edit summary]] in the small text field below the edit-box and when finished press "Save". Depending on your system, pressing the "Enter" key while the edit box is not active (i.e., there is no typing cursor in it) may have the same effect as pressing "Save".

You may find it more convenient to copy and paste the text first into your favorite [[Text editor]], edit and spell check it there, and then paste it back into your [[Web browser]] to preview. This way, you can also keep a local backup copy of the pages you have edited. It also allows you to make changes offline, but before you submit your changes, ''please make sure nobody else has edited the page'' since you saved your local copy (by checking the [[Help:page history|page history]]), otherwise you may accidently revert someone else's edits. If someone ''has'' edited it since you copied the page, you'll have to merge their edits into your new version (you can find their specific edits by using the "[[Help:diff|diff]]" feature of the page history). These issues are handled automatically by the Mediawiki software if you edit the page online, retrieving and submitting the wikicode in the same text box.

Learn more about [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/How_does_MediaWiki_work%3F MediaWiki].

== Protected pages ==

<strong>In general, most pages may be edited anonymously</strong>, but, due to recent vandalism, we have had to protect certain critical pages until a better solution is found. If you are trying to make a legitimate change, yet do not see an "edit" tab, you can instead place your request on the "discussion" page for review.

== Dummy edit ==

If the wikitext is not changed no edit will be recorded and the edit summary is discarded.

A dummy edit is a change in wikitext that has no effect on the rendered page, such as changing the number of [[newline]]s at some position from 0 to 1 or from 2 to 3 or conversely (changing from 1 to 2 makes a difference, see below). This allows an edit summary, and is useful for correcting a previous edit summary, or an accidental marking of a previous edit as "minor" (see below). Also it is sometimes needed to refresh the cache of some item in the database, see e.g. [[Help:Category#A_category_tag_in_a_template.3B_caching_problem|A category tag in a template; caching problem]].

== Minor edits ==
When editing a page, a [[logged-in]] user has the option of flagging the edit as a "minor edit". When to use this is somewhat a matter of personal preference. The rule of thumb is that an edit of a page that is spelling corrections, formatting, and minor rearranging of text should be flagged as a "minor edit". A major edit is basically something that makes the entry worth relooking at for somebody who wants to watch the article rather closely, so any "real" change, even if it is a single word. This feature is important, because users can choose to ''hide'' minor edits in their view of the [[Recent Changes page]], to keep the volume of edits down to a manageable level.

The reason for not allowing a user who is not logged in to mark an edit as minor is that vandalism could then be marked as a minor edit, in which case it would stay unnoticed longer. This limitation is another reason to log in.

== The wiki markup ==
In the left column of the table below, you can see what effects are possible. In the right column, you can see how those effects were achieved. In other words, to make text look like it looks in the left column, type it in the format you see in the right column.

You may want to keep this page open in a separate browser window for reference. If you want to try out things without danger of doing any harm, you can do so in the [[Sandbox]].

=== Sections, paragraphs, lists and lines ===
<table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<th>What it looks like</th>
<th>What you type</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
Start your sections with header lines:

<!-- This is the original
== New section ==
=== Subsection ===
==== Sub-subsection ====
-->

<!-- next set
<h2> New section </h2>
<h3> Subsection </h3>
<h4> Sub-subsection </h4>
-->

<!-- This code prevents confusion in the section editing feature-->
<b><font style="font-size:120%"> New section </font></b>

<b><font style="font-size:110%"> Subsection</font></b>

<b><font style="font-size:100%"> Sub-subsection</font></b>

</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>

== New section ==

=== Subsection ===

==== Sub-subsection ====
</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
[[en:newline|Newline]]:

A single
newline
has no
effect on the
layout.

But an empty line
starts a new paragraph.

(<nowiki><p></nowiki> disables this paragraphing until <nowiki></p></nowiki> or the end of the section)

(in Cologne Blue two newlines and a div tag give just one newline; in the order newline, div tag, newline, the result is two newlines)

</td>
<td>
<pre><nowiki>

A single
newline
has no
effect on the
layout.

But an empty line
starts a new paragraph.</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top"><td>You can break lines<br>
without starting a new paragraph.<p>
Sufficient as wikitext code is &lt;br&gt;, the XHTML code &lt;br /&gt; is not needed, the system produces this code.</p></td>
<td><pre><nowiki>You can break lines<br>
without starting a new paragraph.</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
* Lists are easy to do:
** start every line with a star
*** more stars means deeper levels
*A newline
*in a list
marks the end of the list.
*Of course
*you can
*start again.

</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>* Lists are easy to do:
** start every line with a star
*** more stars means deeper levels
*A newline
*in a list
marks the end of the list.
*Of course
*you can
*start again.

</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
# Numbered lists are also good
## very organized
## easy to follow
#A newline
#in a list
marks the end of the list.
#New numbering starts
#with 1.

</td>
<td><pre><nowiki># Numbered lists are also good
## very organized
## easy to follow
#A newline
#in a list
marks the end of the list.
#New numbering starts
#with 1.
</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
* You can even do mixed lists
*# and nest them
*#* like this<br>or have newlines<br>inside lists
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>* You can even do mixed lists
*# and nest them
*#* like this<br>or have newlines<br>inside lists</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
* You can also
**break lines<br>inside lists<br>like this
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>* You can also
**break lines<br>inside lists<br>like this</nowiki></pre>
</td>
<tr>
<td>
; Definition list : list of definitions
; item : the item's definition
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>; Definition list : list
of definitions
; item : the item's definition</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
:A colon indents a line or paragraph.
A manual newline starts a new paragraph.
* This is primarily for displayed material, but is also used for discussion on [[Help:Talk page|Talk page]]s.
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>: A colon indents a line or paragraph.
A manual newline starts a new paragraph.
</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign=top>
<td>
<pre><nowiki>IF a line of plain text starts with a space THEN
it will be formatted exactly
as typed;
in a fixed-width font;
lines won't wrap;
ENDIF
this is useful for:
* pasting preformatted text;
* algorithm descriptions;
* program source code
* ASCII art;
* chemical structures;</nowiki></pre>

WARNING If you make it wide,
you [[en:page widening|force the whole page to be wide]] and
hence less readable. Never start ordinary lines with spaces.<br>
<center>(see also below)</center>
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki> IF a line of plain text starts with a space THEN
it will be formatted exactly
as typed;
in a fixed-width font;
lines won't wrap;
ENDIF
this is useful for:
* pasting preformatted text;
* algorithm descriptions;
* program source code
* ASCII art;
* chemical structures;</nowiki></pre></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top"><td><center>Centered text.</center>
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki><center>Centered text.</center></nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>A [[en:horizontal dividing line|horizontal dividing line]]: above
----

and below.

Mainly useful for separating threads on Talk pages.
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>A horizontal dividing line: above
----
and below. </nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

Summarizing the effect of a single newline: no effect in general, but it ends a list item or indented part; thus changing some text into a list item, or indenting it, is more cumbersome if it contains newlines, they have to be removed; see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Don't_use_line_breaks

=== Links, URLs ===

<table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<th>What it looks like</th>
<th>What you type</th>
</tr>
<tr valign="top"><td>Sue is reading the [[video policy]].
*First letter of target is automatically capitalized.
*Internally spaces are automatically represented as underscores (typing an underscore has the same effect as typing a space, but is not recommended).
Thus the [[link]] above is to <nowiki>http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_policy</nowiki>, which is the page with the name "Video policy".
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>Sue is reading the [[video policy]].</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>
Link to a section on a page, e.g.
[[List_of_cities_by_country#Morocco]]; when section editing does not work the link is treated as link to the page, i.e. to the top; this applies for:
*links to non-existent sections
*links in redirects
*interwiki links</td><td>
<pre><nowiki>[[List_of_cities_by_country#Morocco]].</nowiki></pre></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top"><td>Link target and link label are different: [[User:Larry Sanger|answers]].

(This is called a [[piped link]]). Also see the function "[[Redirect]]" also described lower in this list.
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>Same target, different name:
[[User:Larry Sanger|answers]]</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>Endings are blended into the link: [[official position]]s, [[gene]]s</td>
<td>
<pre><nowiki>Endings are blended
into the link: [[official position]]s, [[gene]]s</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top">
<td>
Automatically hide stuff in parentheses: [[kingdom (biology)|kingdom]].
<p>Automatically hide namespace: [[Wikipedia:Village pump|Village pump]].</p>
<p>The server fills in the part after the | when you save the page. Next time you open the edit box you will see the expanded piped link. A preview interprets the abbreviated form correctly, but does not expand it yet in the edit box. Press Save and again Edit, and you will see the expanded version. The same applies for the following feature.</p>
</td>
<td>
<pre><nowiki>Automatically hide stuff in parentheses:
[[kingdom (biology)|]]. </nowiki></pre>
<pre><nowiki>Automatically hide namespace:
[[Wikipedia:Village pump|]].</nowiki></pre>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>When adding a comment to a Talk page,
you should sign it. You can do this by
adding three tildes for your user name:
: [[User:Karl Wick|Karl Wick]]
or four for user name plus date/time:
: [[User:Karl Wick|Karl Wick]] 08:10 Oct 5, 2002 (UTC)
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>When adding a comment to a Talk page,
you should sign it. You can do this by
adding three tildes for your user name:
: ~~~
or four for user name plus date/time:
: ~~~~</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top"><td>[[The weather in London]] is a page that doesn't exist yet.
*You can create it by clicking on the link.
*To create a new page:
*#Create a link to it on some other page.
*#Save that page.
*#Click on the link you just made. The new page will open for editing.
*Have a look at [[MediaWiki User's Guide: Starting a new page|how to start a page]] guide and the naming conventions page for your project.
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>[[The weather in London]] is a page
that doesn't exist yet.</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top"><td>
[[MediaWiki User's Guide: Using redirects|Redirect]] one article title to another by putting text like this in its first line. Solves following problem: you have several words or word combinations = pages, you want to point / lead to one and the same page.
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>#REDIRECT [[United States]]</nowiki></pre>
</td>
<tr valign="top"><td>
[[Special:Categories|Category links]] do not show up in line
but instead at page bottom ''and cause the page
to be listed in the category.'' [[Category:Help]]

Prefix an extra colon to ''link'' to a category in line
without causing the page to be listed in the category:
[[:Category:Help]]
</td>
<td><pre>
[[Special:Categories|Category links]] do not show up in line
but instead at page bottom ''and cause the page
to be listed in the category.'' [[Category:Help]]

Prefix an extra colon to ''link'' to a category in line
without causing the page to be listed in the category:
[[:Category:Help]]
</pre></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top"><td>
A link to the page on the same subject in another language or, more generally, to a page on another wiki:
[[fr:Wikipédia:Aide]].
For more info see [[MediaWiki User's Guide: Interwiki linking]].
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>[[fr:Wikipédia:Aide]], [[:fr:Wikipédia:Aide]]</nowiki></pre></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>"What links here" and "Related changes" can be linked as:<br/>
[[Special:Whatlinkshere/Wikipedia:How to edit a page]] and
[[Special:Recentchangeslinked/Wikipedia:How to edit a page]]
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>
[[Special:Whatlinkshere/
Wikipedia:How to edit a page]] and
[[Special:Recentchangeslinked/
Wikipedia:How to edit a page]]</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top"><td>External links: [http://www.nupedia.com Nupedia], [http://www.nupedia.com]
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>External links:
[http://www.nupedia.com Nupedia],
[http://www.nupedia.com]</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="top"><td>Or just give the URL: http://www.nupedia.com.
*In the [[en:URL|URL]] all symbols must be among: A-Z a-z 0-9 ._\/~%-+&amp;#?!=()@ \x80-\xFF. If a URL contains a different character it should be converted; for example, ^ has to be written %5E (to be looked up in [[en:ASCII|ASCII]]). A blank space can also be converted into an underscore.
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>Or just give the URL:
http://www.nupedia.com.</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
To link to books, you can use [[en:ISBN|ISBN]] links.
ISBN 0123456789X See [[Help:ISBN links]]
</td>
<td>
<pre><nowiki>ISBN 0123456789X</nowiki></pre>
</td>
<tr>
<td>
Link to [[w:Request for Comments|Request for Comments]]: RFC 123 (URL specified in [[mediawiki:Rfcurl]])
</td>
<td>
<pre><nowiki>RFC 123</nowiki></pre>
</td>
<tr>
<td>
To include links to non-image uploads such as sounds, use a "media" link.
<br/>[[media:Sg_mrob.ogg|Sound]]
</td>
<td>
<pre>
<nowiki>
[[media:Sg_mrob.ogg|Sound]]
</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign=top>
<td>Use links for dates, so everyone can set their own display order. Use [[Special:Preferences]] to change your own date display setting.
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>[[July 20]], [[1969]] , [[20 July]] [[1969]]
and [[1969]]-[[07-20]]
</nowiki></pre>will all appear as [[20 July]] [[1969]] if you set your date display preference to 1 January 2001.
</td>
</tr>
</table>

=== Images ===

<table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<th>What it looks like</th>
<th>What you type</th>
</tr>
<tr valign="top"><td>A picture: [[Image:Wiki.png|Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia]]
* For many projects, only images that have been uploaded to the same project can be used. To upload images, use the [[Special:Upload|upload page]]. You can find the uploaded image on the [[Special:Imagelist|image list]]
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>
A picture: [[Image:Wiki.png]]</nowiki></pre>
or, with alternate text (''strongly'' encouraged) <!-- actually required in HTML4 -->
<pre><nowiki>[[Image:Wiki.png|Wikipedia
- The Free Encyclopedia]] </nowiki>
</pre>
[[en:Web browser|Web browser]]s render alternate text when not displaying an image -- for example, when the image isn't loaded, or in a text-only browser, or when spoken aloud. See [[en:Wikipedia:Alternate text for images|Alternate text for images]] for help on choosing alternate text. See [[en:Wikipedia:Extended_image_syntax|Extended image syntax]] for more options.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
Clicking on an uploaded image displays a description page, which you can also link directly to: [[:Image:Wiki.png]]
</td>
<td><pre><nowiki>
[[:Image:Wiki.png]]
</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>
To include links to images shown as links instead of drawn on the page, use a "media" link.
<br/>[[media:Tornado.jpg|Image of a Tornado]]
</td>
<td>
<pre>
<nowiki>
[[media:Tornado.jpg|Image of a Tornado]]
</nowiki></pre>
</td>
</tr>

</table>

=== HTML Tables ===

[[en:HTML|HTML]] tables can be quite useful as well. For details on how to use them and discussion about when they are appropriate, see [http://aberwiki.org/MediaWiki_User's_Guide:_Using_tables].

==Templates==

Some part of a page may correspond in the edit box to just a reference to another page, in the form <nowiki>{{</nowiki>''name''<nowiki>}}</nowiki>, referring to the page "Template:''name''" (or if the name starts with a namespace prefix, it refers to the page with that name; if it starts with a colon it refers to the page in the main namespace with that name without the colon). This is called a [[help:template|template]]. For changing that part of the page, edit that other page. Sometimes a separate edit link is provided for this purpose. A convenient way to put such a link in a template is with a template like [[m:Template:ed]]. Note that the change also affects other pages which use the same template.

==Page protection==

In a few cases the link labeled "Editthispage" is replaced by the text "Protectedpage" (or equivalents in the language of the project). In that case the page can not be edited.

==Position-independent wikitext==

Wikitext for which the result does not depend on the position in the wikitext page:

*[[interlanguage link]]s (see also above) - the mutual order is preserved, but otherwise the positions within the page are immaterial
*[[category]] specification - ditto
*<nowiki>__NOTOC__, __FORCETOC__</nowiki>, see [[Help:Section]]

==Separating edits==

When moving or copying a piece of text within a page or from another page, and also making other edits, it is useful to separate these edits. This way the [[Help:Diff|diff function]] can be usefully applied for checking these other edits.

Revision as of 03:30, 29 December 2012

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