Help:Editing

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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

Start your sections as follows:

New section

Subsection

Sub-subsection

  • Start with a second-level heading (==); don't use first-level headings (=).
  • Don't skip levels (for example, second-level followed by fourth-level).
  • A Table of Contents will automatically be added to an article that has four or more sections.
  • If appropriate, place subsections in an appropriate order. If listing countries, place them in alphabetical order rather than, say, relative to population of OECD countries, or some random order.
==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.

  • When used in a list, a newline does affect the layout (see below).
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
without starting a new paragraph.

  • Please use this sparingly.
  • Close markup between lines, do not start a link or italics or bold on one line and close it on the next.
You can break lines<br>
without starting a new paragraph.
  • It's easy to create a list:
    • Start every line with a star (asterisk).
      • More stars means deeper levels.
        • A newline in a list

marks the end of a list item.

  • An empty line starts a new list.
* 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.
  1. Numbered lists are also good
    1. very organized
    2. easy to follow
      1. easier still
# Numbered lists are also good
## very organized
## easy to follow
### easier still
Definition list
list of definitions
item
the item's definition
another item
the other item's definition
  • Begin with a semicolon. One item per line; a newline can appear before the colon, but using a space before the colon improves parsing.
; Definition list : list of definitions
; item : the item's definition
; another item
: the other item's definition
  • You can even create mixed lists
    1. and nest them
      • like this
        can I mix definition list as well?
        yes
        how?
        it's easy as
        • a
        • b
        • c
* 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 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 Talk pages.
: 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

the blockquote command will indent both margins when needed instead of the left margin only as the colon does.

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):

  • This is useful for:
    • pasting preformatted text;
    • algorithm descriptions;
    • program source code;
    • ASCII art;
    • chemical structures;
  • WARNING: If you make it wide, you force the whole page to be wide and hence less readable, especially for people who use lower resolutions. Never start ordinary lines with spaces.
 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
Centered text.
  • Please note the American spelling of "center".
<center>Centered text.</center>

A horizontal dividing line: this is above it


and this is below it.

  • Mainly useful for
    • disambiguation - but to be used sparsely, only when separating completely different, unrelated (groups of) meanings
    • separating threads on Talk pages.
A [[horizontal dividing line]]:
this is above it
----
and this is below it.

Links and URLs

What it looks like What you type

London has public transport.

  • A link to another Wikipedia article.
  • Internally, the first letter of the target page is automatically capitalized and spaces are represented as underscores (typing an underscore in the link has the same effect as typing a space, but is not recommended).
  • Thus the link above is to the URL en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport, which is the Wikipedia article with the name "Public transport". See also Wikipedia:Canonicalization.
London has [[public transport]].

San Francisco also has public transportation.

  • Same target, different name.
  • This is a piped link.
  • The "piped" text must be placed first, the text that will be displayed, second.
San Francisco also has
[[public transport|
public transportation]].

San Francisco also has public transportation.

Examples include buses, taxis, and streetcars.

  • Endings are blended into the link.
  • Preferred style is to use this instead of a piped link, if possible.
San Francisco also has
[[public transport]]ation.

Examples include [[bus]]es, [[taxi]]s,
and [[streetcar]]s.

See the Wikipedia:Manual of Style.

See the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style]].

Automatically hide stuff in parentheses: kingdom.

Automatically hide namespace: Village Pump.

Or both: Manual of Style

But not: [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Links|]]

  • The server fills in the part after the pipe character (|) when you save the page. The next time you open the edit box you will see the expanded piped link. When previewing your edits, you will not see the expanded form until you press Save and Edit again. The same applies to links to sections within the same page (see previous entry).
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.

  • You can create it by clicking on the link (but please do not do so with this particular link).
  • To create a new page:
    1. Create a link to it on some other (related) page.
    2. Save that page.
    3. Click on the link you just made. The new page will open for editing.
  • For more information, see How to start a page and check out Wikipedia's naming conventions.
  • Please do not create a new article without linking to it from at least one other article.
[[Agriculture in London]]
is a page 
that does not exist yet.

Wikipedia:How to edit a page is this page.

  • Self links appear as bold text when the article is viewed.
  • Do not use this technique to make the article name bold in the first paragraph; see the Manual of Style.
[[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:

Ben Brockert

or four to add user name plus date/time:

Ben Brockert 00:18, Nov 19, 2004 (UTC)

Five tildes gives the date/time alone:

00:18, Nov 19, 2004 (UTC)
  • The first two both provide a link to your user page.
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:
: ~~~~~
  • Redirect one article title to another by placing a directive like the one shown to the right on the first line of the article (such as at a page titled "USA").
  • Note that, while it is possible to link to a section, it is not possible to redirect to a section. For example, "#REDIRECT [[United States#History]]" will redirect to the United States page, but not to any particular section on it. This feature may be implemented in the future - see feature request 1837 (it appears as a bug).
#REDIRECT [[United States]]
  • Link to a page on the same subject in another language by using a link of the form: [[language code:Title]].
  • It does not matter where you put these links while editing as they will always show up in the same place when you save the page, but placement at the end of the edit box is recommended.
  • Please see Wikipedia:Interlanguage links and the list of languages and codes.
[[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]]
  • To put an article in a Wikipedia:Category, place a link like the one to the right anywhere in the article. As with interlanguage links, it does not matter where you put these links while editing as they will always show up in the same place when you save the page, but placement at the end of the edit box is recommended.
[[Category:Character sets]]
  • To link to a Wikipedia:Category page without putting the article into the category, use an initial colon (:) in the link.
[[:Category:Character sets]]

Linking to other wikis:

  1. Interwiki link: Wiktionary:Hello
  2. Named interwiki link: Hello
  3. Interwiki link without prefix: Hello

Linking to another language's wiktionary:

  1. Wiktionary:fr:bonjour
  2. bonjour
  3. fr:bonjour
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

  • Link to books using their ISBN. This is preferred to linking to a specific online bookstore, because it gives the reader a choice of vendors. However, if one bookstore or online service provides additional free information, such as table of contents or excerpts from the text, then a link to that source will aid the user and is recommended.
  • ISBN links do not need any extra markup, provided you use one of the indicated formats.
ISBN 012345678X

ISBN 0-12-345678-X

Text mentioning RFC 4321 anywhere

Text mentioning RFC 4321 anywhere

Date formats:

  1. July 20, 1969
  2. 20 July 1969
  3. 1969-07-20
  4. 1969-07-20
  • Link dates in one of the above formats, so that everyone can set their own display order. If logged in, you can use Special:Preferences to change your own date display setting.
  • All of the above dates will appear as "20 July 1969" if you set your date display preference to "15 January 2001", but as "July 20, 1969" if you set it to "January 15, 2001", or as "1969-07-20" if you set it to "2001-01-15".
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

Sound

  • To include links to non-image uploads such as sounds, use a "media" link. For images, see next section.

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
A picture:

File:Wiki.png

A picture: 
[[Image:wiki.png]]
With alternative text:

jigsaw globe

With alternative text:
[[Image:wiki.png|jigsaw globe]]
  • Alternative text, used when a mouse hovers over the image or when the image is not loaded in a text-only browser, or when spoken aloud, is strongly encouraged. See Alternate text for images for help on choosing it.
Floating to the right side of the page and with a caption:
File:Wiki.png
Wikipedia Encyclopedia

Floating to the right side of the page
and with a caption:
[[Image:wiki.png|frame|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]]
  • The frame tag automatically floats the image right.
  • The caption is also used as alternate text.
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]]
Linking directly to the description page of an image:

Image:wiki.png

Linking directly to the description page
of an image:
[[:Image:wiki.png]]
  • Clicking on an image displayed on a page

(such as any of the ones above) also leads to the description page

Linking directly to an image without displaying it:

Image of the jigsaw globe logo

Linking directly to an image
without displaying it:
[[media:wiki.png|Image of the jigsaw globe logo]]
  • To include links to images shown as links instead of drawn on the page, use a "media" link.
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

Emphasized text
Strong emphasis
Even stronger emphasis

''Emphasized text''
'''Strong emphasis'''
'''''Even stronger emphasis'''''

A typewriter font for monospace text or for computer code: int main()

  • For semantic reasons, using <code> where applicable is preferable to using <tt>.
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 strike out deleted material and underline new material.

You can also mark deleted material and inserted material using logical markup. For backwards compatibility better combine this potentially ignored new logical with the old physical markup.

  • When editing regular Wikipedia articles, just make your changes and do not mark them up in any special way.
  • When editing your own previous remarks in talk pages, it is sometimes appropriate to mark up deleted or inserted material.
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:
Link → (''to'') the [[Wikipedia FAQ]]

  • Used to show literal data that would otherwise have special meaning.
  • Escape all wiki markup, including that which looks like HTML tags.
  • Does not escape HTML character references.
  • To escape HTML character references such as &rarr; use &amp;rarr;


<nowiki>Link &rarr; (''to'') 
the [[Wikipedia FAQ]]</nowiki>

Commenting page source:
not shown when viewing page

  • Used to leave comments in a page for future editors.
  • Note that most comments should go on the appropriate Talk page.


<!-- comment here -->

Diacritical marks:
�?�?� �? �?�?? �?�? �?�?? �?�?�
�?�?� �?�?� �?�? �?�?� �?Š �?�?�
�?�? �? �?Ž �? �?�?? �?�??
�?�?? �?�?� �?�?� �?�?? �?�? �?�?�
�?š �?�?� �?�? �?Ÿ �?  �?¡
�?¢ �?£ �?¤ �?¥ �?¦ �?§
�?¨ �?© �?ª �?« �?¬ �?­
�?® �?¯ �?± �?² �?³ �?´
œ �?µ �?¶ �?¸ �?¹ �?º
�?» �?¼ �?¿


&Agrave; &Aacute; &Acirc; &Atilde; &Auml; &Aring; 
&AElig; &Ccedil; &Egrave; &Eacute; &Ecirc; &Euml; 
&Igrave; &Iacute; &Icirc; &Iuml; &Ntilde; &Ograve; 
&Oacute; &Ocirc; &Otilde; &Ouml; &Oslash; &Ugrave; 
&Uacute; &Ucirc; &Uuml; &szlig; &agrave; &aacute; 
&acirc; &atilde; &auml; &aring; &aelig; &ccedil; 
&egrave; &eacute; &ecirc; &euml; &igrave; &iacute;
&icirc; &iuml; &ntilde; &ograve; &oacute; &ocirc; 
&oelig; &otilde; &ouml; &oslash; &ugrave; &uacute; 
&ucirc; &uuml; &yuml;

Punctuation:
�?¿ �?¡ �?§ �?¶
† ‡ • – —
‹ › �?« �?»
‘ ’ “ ”


&iquest; &iexcl; &sect; &para;
&dagger; &Dagger; &bull; &ndash; &mdash;
&lsaquo; &rsaquo; &laquo; &raquo;
&lsquo; &rsquo; &ldquo; &rdquo;

Commercial symbols:
™ �?© �?® �?¢ € �?¥
�?£ �?¤


&trade; &copy; &reg; &cent; &euro; &yen; 
&pound; &curren;

Subscripts:
x1 x2 x3 or
x₀ x₁ x₂ x₃ x₄
x₅ x₆ x₇ x₈ x₉

Superscripts:
x1 x2 x3 or
x⁰ x¹ x² x³ x⁴
x⁵ x⁶ x⁷ x⁸ x⁹

  • The latter methods of sub/superscripting cannot be used in the most general context, as they rely on Unicode support which may not be present on all users' machines. For the 1-2-3 superscripts, it is nevertheless preferred when possible (as with units of measurement) because most browsers have an easier time formatting lines with it.

ε0 = 8.85 × 10−12 C² / J m.

1 hectare = 1 E4 m²


x<sub>1</sub> x<sub>2</sub> x<sub>3</sub> or
<br/>
x&#8320; x&#8321; x&#8322; x&#8323; x&#8324;
<br/>
x&#8325; x&#8326; x&#8327; x&#8328; x&#8329;
x<sup>1</sup> x<sup>2</sup> x<sup>3</sup> or
<br/>
x&#8304; x&sup1; x&sup2; x&sup3; x&#8308;
<br/>
x&#8309; x&#8310; x&#8311; x&#8312; x&#8313;

&epsilon;<sub>0</sub> =
8.85 &times; 10<sup>&minus;12</sup>
C&sup2; / J m.

1 [[hectare]] = [[1 E4 m&sup2;]]

Greek characters:
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


&alpha; &beta; &gamma; &delta; &epsilon; &zeta; 
&eta; &theta; &iota; &kappa; &lambda; &mu; &nu; 
&xi; &omicron; &pi; &rho; &sigma; &sigmaf;
&tau; &upsilon; &phi; &chi; &psi; &omega;
&Gamma; &Delta; &Theta; &Lambda; &Xi; &Pi; 
&Sigma; &Phi; &Psi; &Omega;

Mathematical characters:
∫ ∑ ∏ √ − ± ∞
≈ ∝ ≡ ≠ ≤ ≥
× · ÷ ∂ ′ ″
∇ ‰ ° ∴ ℵ ø
∈ ∉ ∩ ∪ ⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇
¬ ∧ ∨ ∃ ∀ ⇒ ⇐ ⇓ ⇑ ⇔
→ ↓ ↑ ← ↔


&int; &sum; &prod; &radic; &minus; &plusmn; &infin;
&asymp; &prop; &equiv; &ne; &le; &ge;
&times; &middot; &divide; &part; &prime; &Prime;
&nabla; &permil; &deg; &there4; &alefsym; &oslash;
&isin; &notin; &cap; &cup; &sub; &sup; &sube; &supe;
&not; &and; &or; &exist; &forall; &rArr; &hArr;
&rarr; &harr;

<math>\sin x + \ln y</math>
sinx + lny

<math>\mathbf{x} = 0</math>
x = 0

Ordinary text should use wiki markup for emphasis, and should not use <i> or <b>. However, mathematical formulas often use italics, and sometimes use bold, for reasons unrelated to emphasis. Complex formulas should use <math> markup, and simple formulas may use <math>; or <i> and <b>; or '' and '''. According to WikiProject Mathematics, wiki markup is preferred over HTML markup like <i> and <b>.

<math>\sin x + \ln y</math>
sin''x'' + ln''y''

<math>\mathbf{x} = 0</math>
'''x''' = 0

Spacing in simple math formulas:
Obviously, x² ≥ 0 is true when x is a real number.

  • To space things out without allowing line breaks to interrupt the formula, use non-breaking spaces: &nbsp;.


Obviously, ''x''&sup2;&nbsp;&ge;&nbsp;0 is true when ''x'' is a real number.

Complicated formulas:

<math>\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</math>
  • See Help:Formula for how to use <math>.
  • A formula displayed on a line by itself should probably be indented by using the colon (:) character.


: <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
<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: &rarr;
</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: &rarr;
</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: &rarr;

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.