Help:Syntax
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To get started with making edits, see the getting started help page. When you edit, you'll use MediaWiki syntax to format your text. This consists of normal characters like asterisks, single quotes or equation marks which have a special function in the wiki. See the "other resources" section at the bottom of this page for more documentation of wiki markup.
Contents |
Editing syntax
The syntax below shows what you type, and then what you get. For example, to format a word in italic, you include it in two single quotes like ''this''.
The most commonly used syntax are headers, lists, and internal & external links.
Common editing syntax:
| Description | You type | You get |
| applies anywhere | ||
| Italic text | ''italic'' | italic |
| Bold text | '''bold''' | bold |
| Bold and italic | '''''bold & italic''''' | bold & italic |
| Internal link | [[Sandbox]] | Sandbox |
| Internal link with alternate text | [[Sandbox|experiment here!]] | experiment here! |
| Internal link to file (.doc, .ppt, .pdf, etc.) with alternate text | [[Media:Test2.doc|Test Link (.doc)]] | Test Link (.doc) |
| Internal link to image | [[Image:Image2.jpg]] | 
|
| External link | [http://www.google.com Google] | |
| Ignore wiki markup | <nowiki>no ''markup''</nowiki> | no ''markup'' |
| Headings of different sizes |
==level 1== |
Level 1Level 2Level 3Level 4 |
| Horizontal rule |
---- |
|
| Bullet list |
* one |
|
| Numbered list |
# one |
|
| Definition list |
;Definition |
|
| Preformatted text |
a space at the |
a space at the beginning of the line creates preformatted text |
Links
- Learn more about links at Help:Links
Images and other Media Files
There is a special syntax associated with images and other media files; see Help:Images for more.
Paragraphs
Mediawiki ignores normal line breaks. To start a new paragraph, leave an empty line. You can always use the "Show preview" button to see how your text will be formatted.
HTML and CSS
You do not usually need to use HTML in formatting wiki pages; the MediaWiki syntax is sufficient for most purposes. However, there are times when HTML is needed for specific formatting. HTML tags are allowed in MediaWiki; for example, <code>, <div>, <span> and <font>.
CSS tags are also allowed, and are commonly used for formatting in tables and templates, for instance, to change font color or float an image.
- see HTML in Wikitext for more.
Tables
Although HTML table syntax also works, special wikicode can be used as a shortcut to create a table. The pipe (vertical bar) codes function exactly the same as HTML table markup, so a knowledge of HTML table code will help in understanding pipe code. The shortcuts are as follows:
- The entire table is encased with curly brackets and a vertical bar character (a pipe). So use
{|to begin a table, and|}to end it. Each one needs to be on its own line:
{| table code goes here |}
- An optional table caption is included with a line starting with a vertical bar and plus sign "
|+" and the caption after it:
{|
|+ caption
table code goes here
|}
- To start a new table row, type a vertical bar and a hyphen on its own line: "
|-". The codes for the cells in that row will start on the next line.
{|
|+ The table's caption
|-
cell code goes here
|-
cell code goes here
|}
- Type the codes for each table cell in the next row, starting with a bar:
{|
|+ The table's caption
|-
| cell codes go here
|-
| cells in the next row go here
| more cells in the same row here
|}
- Cells can be separated with either a new line and new bar, or by a double bar "||" on the same line. Both produce the same output:
{|
|+ The table's caption
|-
|Cell 1 || Cell 2 || Cell 3
|-
|Cell A
|Cell B
|Cell C
|}
- For more, see the help page on tables.
Other resources
- How to edit a page, from Wikipedia
- Editing cheatsheet
