Help:Editing
Abridged Wiki Editing Help
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. Try opening the Sandbox in a separate window or tab and keeping this page open for reference.
Examples
What it looks like | What you type |
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Start your sections as follows: New section Subsection Sub-subsection
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==New section== ===Subsection=== ====Sub-subsection==== |
A single newline generally has no effect on the layout. These can be used to separate sentences within a paragraph. Some editors find that this aids editing and improves the function diff (used internally to compare different versions of a page). But an empty line starts a new paragraph.
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A single [[newline]] generally has no effect on the layout. These can be used to separate sentences within a paragraph. Some editors find that this aids editing and improves the function ''diff'' (used internally to compare different versions of a page). But an empty line starts a new paragraph. |
You can break lines
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You can break lines<br> without starting a new paragraph. |
marks the end of a list item.
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* It's easy to create a list: ** Start every line with a star. *** More stars means deeper levels. **** A newline in a list marks the end of a list item. * An empty line starts a new list. |
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# Numbered lists are also good ## very organized ## easy to follow ### easier still |
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; Definition list : list of definitions ; item : the item's definition ; another item : the other item's definition |
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* You can even create mixed lists *# and nest them *#* like this *#*; can I mix definition list as well? *#*: yes *#*; how? *#*: it's easy as *#*:* a *#*:* b *#*:* c |
A manual newline starts a new paragraph.
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: A colon indents a line or paragraph. A manual newline starts a new paragraph. |
When there is a need for separating a block of text
This is useful for (as the name says) inserting blocks of quoted (and cited) text. |
<blockquote> The '''blockquote''' command will indent both margins when needed instead of the left margin only as the colon does. </blockquote> |
(See formula on right):
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IF a line starts with a space THEN it will be formatted exactly as typed; in a fixed-width font; lines will not wrap; END IF |
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<center>Centered text.</center> |
A horizontal dividing line: this is above it and this is below it.
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A [[horizontal dividing line]]: this is above it ---- and this is below it. |
Links and URLs
What it looks like | What you type |
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London has public transport.
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London has [[public transport]]. |
San Francisco also has public transportation.
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San Francisco also has [[public transport| public transportation]]. |
San Francisco also has public transportation. Examples include buses, taxis, and streetcars.
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San Francisco also has [[public transport]]ation. Examples include [[bus]]es, [[taxi]]s, and [[streetcar]]s. |
See the Wikipedia:Manual of Style.
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See the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style]]. |
Economics#See also is a link to a section within another page. #Links and URLs is a link to a section on the current page. #example is a link to an anchor that was created using an id attribute
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[[Economics#See also]] is a link to a section within another page. [[#Links and URLs]] is a link to a section on the current page. [[#example]] is a link to an anchor that was created using <div id="example">an id attribute </div> |
Automatically hide stuff in parentheses: kingdom. Automatically hide namespace: Village Pump. Or both: Manual of Style But not: [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Links|]]
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Automatically hide stuff in parentheses: [[kingdom (biology)|]]. Automatically hide namespace: [[Wikipedia:Village Pump|]]. Or both: [[Wikipedia: Manual of Style (headings)|]] But not: [[Wikipedia: Manual of Style#Links|]] |
Agriculture in London is a page that does not exist yet.
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[[Agriculture in London]] is a page that does not exist yet. |
Wikipedia:How to edit a page is this page.
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[[Wikipedia: How to edit a page]] is this page. |
When adding a comment to a Talk page, you should sign it by adding three tildes to add your user name: or four to add user name plus date/time:
Five tildes gives the date/time alone:
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When adding a comment to a Talk page, you should sign it by adding three tildes to add your user name: : ~~~ or four for user name plus date/time: : ~~~~ Five tildes gives the date/time alone: : ~~~~~ |
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#REDIRECT [[United States]] |
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[[fr:Wikip�?©dia:Aide]] |
What links here and Related changes pages can be linked as: Special:Whatlinkshere/Wikipedia:How to edit a page and Special:Recentchangeslinked/Wikipedia:How to edit a page |
'''What links here''' and '''Related changes''' pages can be linked as: [[Special:Whatlinkshere/Wikipedia:How to edit a page]] and [[Special:Recentchangeslinked/Wikipedia:How to edit a page]] |
A user's Contributions page can be linked as: Special:Contributions/UserName or Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0 |
A user's '''Contributions''' page can be linked as: [[Special:Contributions/UserName]] or [[Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0]] |
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[[Category:Character sets]] |
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[[:Category:Character sets]] |
Three ways to link to external (non-wiki) sources:
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Three ways to link to external (non-wiki) sources: # Bare URL: http://www.nupedia.com/ (bad style) # Unnamed link: [http://www.nupedia.com/] (only used within article body for footnotes) # Named link: [http://www.nupedia.com Nupedia] |
Linking to other wikis:
Linking to another language's wiktionary:
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Linking to other wikis: # [[Interwiki]] link: [[Wiktionary:Hello]] # Named interwiki link: [[Wiktionary:Hello|Hello]] # Interwiki link without prefix: [[Wiktionary:Hello|]] Linking to another language's wiktionary: # [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour]] # [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour|bonjour]] # [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour|]] |
ISBN 012345678X ISBN 0-12-345678-X
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ISBN 012345678X ISBN 0-12-345678-X |
Text mentioning RFC 4321 anywhere
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Text mentioning RFC 4321 anywhere |
Date formats:
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Date formats: # [[July 20]], [[1969]] # [[20 July]] [[1969]] # [[1969]]-[[07-20]] # [[1969-07-20]] |
Special WP:AO links like this year needing future maintenance |
Special [[WP:AO]] links like [[As of 2006|this year]] needing future maintenance |
Some uploaded sounds are listed at Wikipedia:Sound. |
[[media:Sg_mrob.ogg|Sound]] |
Images
Only images that have been uploaded to Wikipedia can be used. To upload images, use the upload page. You can find the uploaded image on the image list.
What it looks like | What you type |
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A picture: | A picture: [[Image:wiki.png]] |
With alternative text: | With alternative text: [[Image:wiki.png|jigsaw globe]]
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Floating to the right side of the page and with a caption:
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Floating to the right side of the page and with a caption: [[Image:wiki.png|frame|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]]
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Floating to the right side of the page without a caption: | Floating to the right side of the page ''without'' a caption: [[Image:wiki.png|right|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]]
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Linking directly to the description page of an image: | Linking directly to the description page of an image: [[:Image:wiki.png]]
(such as any of the ones above) also leads to the description page |
Linking directly to an image without displaying it: | Linking directly to an image without displaying it: [[media:wiki.png|Image of the jigsaw globe logo]]
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Using the div tag to separate images from text (note that this may allow images to cover text): | Example: <div style="display:inline; width:220px; float:right;"> Place images here </div> |
Using wiki markup to make a table in which to place a vertical column of images (this helps edit links match headers, especially in Firefox browsers): | Example: {| align=right |- | Place images here |} |
See the Wikipedia's image use policy as a guideline used on Wikipedia.
For further help on images, including some more versatile abilities, see the topic on Extended image syntax.
Character formatting
What it looks like | What you type |
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Emphasized text |
''Emphasized text'' '''Strong emphasis''' '''''Even stronger emphasis''''' |
A typewriter font for monospace text
or for computer code:
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A typewriter font for <tt>monospace text</tt> or for computer code: <code>int main()</code> |
You can use small text for captions. |
You can use <small>small text</small> for captions. |
Better stay away from big text, unless it's within small text. |
Better stay away from <big>big text</big>, unless <small> it's <big>within</big> small</small> text. |
You can You can also mark
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You can <s>strike out deleted material</s> and <u>underline new material</u>. You can also mark <del>deleted material</del> and <ins>inserted material</ins> using logical markup. For backwards compatibility better combine this potentially ignored new <del>logical</del> with the old <s><del>physical</del></s> markup. |
Suppressing interpretation of markup:
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<nowiki>Link → (''to'') the [[Wikipedia FAQ]]</nowiki> |
Commenting page source:
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<!-- comment here --> |
Diacritical marks:
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À Á Â Ã Ä Å Æ Ç È É Ê Ë Ì Í Î Ï Ñ Ò Ó Ô Õ Ö Ø Ù Ú Û Ü ß à á â ã ä å æ ç è é ê ë ì í î ï ñ ò ó ô œ õ ö ø ù ú û ü ÿ |
Punctuation:
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¿ ¡ § ¶ † ‡ • – — ‹ › « » ‘ ’ “ ” |
Commercial symbols:
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™ © ® ¢ € ¥ £ ¤ |
Subscripts:
Superscripts:
ε0 = 8.85 × 10−12 C² / J m. |
x<sub>1</sub> x<sub>2</sub> x<sub>3</sub> or <br/> x₀ x₁ x₂ x₃ x₄ <br/> x₅ x₆ x₇ x₈ x₉ x<sup>1</sup> x<sup>2</sup> x<sup>3</sup> or <br/> x⁰ x¹ x² x³ x⁴ <br/> x⁵ x⁶ x⁷ x⁸ x⁹ ε<sub>0</sub> = 8.85 × 10<sup>−12</sup> C² / J m. 1 [[hectare]] = [[1 E4 m²]] |
Greek characters:
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α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ λ μ ν ξ ο π ρ σ ς τ υ φ χ ψ ω Γ Δ Θ Λ Ξ Π Σ Φ Ψ Ω |
Mathematical characters:
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∫ ∑ ∏ √ − ± ∞ ≈ ∝ ≡ ≠ ≤ ≥ × · ÷ ∂ ′ ″ ∇ ‰ ° ∴ ℵ ø ∈ ∉ ∩ ∪ ⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇ ¬ ∧ ∨ ∃ ∀ ⇒ ⇔ → ↔ |
<math>\sin x + \ln y</math> <math>\mathbf{x} = 0</math> Ordinary text should use wiki markup for emphasis, and should not use |
<math>\sin x + \ln y</math> sin''x'' + ln''y'' <math>\mathbf{x} = 0</math> '''x''' = 0 |
Spacing in simple math formulas:
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Obviously, ''x''² ≥ 0 is true when ''x'' is a real number. |
Complicated formulas:
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: <math>\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</math> |
(see also: Chess symbols in Unicode)
No or limited formatting - showing exactly what is being typed
A few different kinds of formatting will tell the Wiki to display things as you typed them - what you see, is what you get!
What it looks like | What you type | |
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<nowiki> tags |
The nowiki tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''. It reformats text by removing newlines and multiple spaces. It still interprets special characters: → |
<nowiki> The nowiki tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''. It reformats text by removing newlines and multiple spaces. It still interprets special characters: → </nowiki> |
<pre> tags |
The pre tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''. It also doesn't reformat text. It still interprets special characters: → |
<nowiki> <pre> The pre tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''. It also doesn't reformat text. It still interprets special characters: →</nowiki> |
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: → |
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: → |
Table of contents
At the current status of the wiki markup language, having at least four headers on a page triggers the TOC to appear in front of the first header (or after introductory sections). Putting __TOC__ anywhere forces the TOC to appear at that point (instead of just before the first header). Putting __NOTOC__ anywhere forces the TOC to disappear. See also compact TOC for alphabet and year headings.
Tables
There are two ways to build tables:
- in special Wiki-markup (see Help:Table)
- with the usual HTML elements: <table>, <tr>, <td> or <th>.
For the latter, and a discussion on when tables are appropriate, see Wikipedia:How to use tables.
Tips on editing Wikipedia articles
Always use a neutral point of view, because Wikipedia is not a soapbox.
Cite your sources, so others can check and extend your work. Most Wikipedia articles currently lack good references, and this continues to be Wikipedia's single greatest criticism���?�that it is not a reliable source. Please help by researching online and print resources to find references for the article you are working on, then cite them in proper form, and consider in-text citation for contentious facts. There is no consensus on the best way to do this, but anything is better than nothing.
Link to your article from other articles. After making a new page, it's a good idea to use the What links here feature to check the pages that already link to your new page. Make sure that all the links are referring to your page in the right context. For example, a link to the Mercury article in an astronomy-related article should direct readers to Mercury (planet) rather than Mercury (mythology). You should also use the search feature to find occurrences of the title of your new page���?�and possible variants thereof���?�so that you can create appropriate links.
Minor edits
See also Wikipedia:Minor edit
When editing an article page on this site, a logged-in user can mark that edit as being "minor". Minor edits generally mean spelling corrections, formatting, and minor rearrangement of text. It is possible to hide minor edits when viewing the recent changes. Marking a significant change as a minor edit is considered bad behavior, especially when it involves the deletion of some text. If you accidentally mark an edit as minor, you should edit the source once more, mark it major (or, rather, ensure that the check-box for "This is a minor edit" is not checked), and, in the summary, state that the previous change was a major one.