Help:Advanced editing

MediaWiki Handbook: Contents, Readers, Editors, Moderators, System admins +/-

For the basics see Help:Editing.

Wikitext markup — making your page look the way you want

If you want to try out things without danger of doing any harm, you can do so in the SacredWiki:Sandbox.
More information on HTML tags in wikitext.

Organizing your writing — sections, paragraphs, lists and lines

What it looks like	What you type
Sections and subsections Start sections with header lines Note: Single equal signs give the highest level heading, like the page title; usually projects have the convention not to use them. 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 order. If listing countries, for example, place them in alphabetical order rather than, say, relative to population of OECD countries, or some haphazardous order. If you want to keep headings out of the TOC you have to use HTML heading tags and close them without using a slash e.g. <h4>heading too low level to be in the TOC of large page<h4>.	== New section == === Subsection === ==== Sub-subsection ====
Newline A single newline has no effect on the layout. But an empty line starts a new paragraph, or ends a list or indented part. (<p> disables this paragraphing until </p> 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.) A semicolon at the start of a line is not rendered, but has the effect of rendering the newline. A colon in such a line is not rendered, but has the effect of starting a new, indented line, see definition list. You can make the wikitext more readable by putting in newlines. You might find this causes future problems—see w:Wikipedia:Don't use line breaks for details. When used in a list, a newline does affect the layout (See Help:List).	A single newline has no effect on the layout. 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.
Unordered 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.	* Unordered 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.
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.	# 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.
You can even do mixed lists and nest them or break lines in lists	* You can even do mixed lists # and nest them #* or break lines <br/>in lists
Definition list word definition of the word longer phrase phrase defined	; word : definition of the word ; longer phrase : phrase defined One item per line; a newline can appear before the colon, but using a space before the colon improves parsing.
Indenting A colon at the start of a line indents a paragraph. A manual newline starts a new paragraph. This is often used for discussion on talk pages. In the case of a semicolon and some text in front of the colon, the first colon starts a new line (indented as before) even though it is in the wikitext not at the start of the line, see definition list.	: 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>
Centered text. Please note the US English spelling of "center".	<center>Centered text.</center>
A horizontal dividing line: this is above it... ...and this is below it. If you don't use a section header, you don't get a TOC entry.	A horizontal dividing line: this is above it... ---- ...and this is below it.

Links, URL

More information at Help:Link.

Internal links

General notes:

Enclose the target name in double square brackets — "[[" and "]]".
First letter of target name is automatically capitalized.
Spaces are represented as underscores (but don't do underscores yourself).
Links to nonexistent pages are shown in red — Help:Starting a new page tells about creating the page.
When the mouse cursor "hovers" over the link, you see a "hover box" containing... hover over links hereafter to see.

What it looks like	What you type
Basic Sue is reading the official position (or official positions).	Sue is reading the [[official positions\|official position]] (or [[official positions]]).
Basic + Text formatting You can also italicize / etc. links: e.g., Wikipedia.	''[[Wikipedia]]''
Interwiki linking A link to the page on another wiki (e.g. the same subject in another language) See m:Help:Interwiki linking. fr:Wikipédia:Aide.	* See [[m:Help:Interwiki linking]]. * [[:fr:Wikipédia:Aide]].
Section of page List of cities by country#Morocco List of cities by country#Norway If the section doesn't exist, the link goes to the beginning of the page. If there are multiple sections by the same name, link to specific ones by adding how many times that header has already appeared (e.g. if there are 3 sections entitled "Example header", and you wish to link to the third one, then use [[#Example section 3]]. For more info, see Help:Editing FAQ.	* [[List of cities by country#Morocco]] * [[List of cities by country#Norway]]
Piped link Use a pipe "\|" to create a link label: About links	* [[Help:Link\|About links]]
"Blank" pipes hide: Parentheses: kingdom. Colon: Requests for adminship. After you save, the server automatically fills in the link label.	* Parentheses: [[kingdom (biology)\|kingdom]]. * Colon: [[m:Requests for adminship\|]].
Links to nonexistent pages A red link (like this one) points to a page that doesn't exist yet. You can create it by clicking on the link. Have a look at how to start a page guide and the naming conventions page for your project.	A red link ([[like this one]]) points to a page that doesn't exist yet.
Link to yourself Please "sign" comments on talk pages: Your user name: Example Your user name plus timestamp: Example 08:10 Oct 5, 2002 (UTC) Five tildes give a timestamp: 17:55, 12 April 2006 (UTC) The server will fill in the link after you save.	Please "sign" comments on talk pages: : Your user name: ~~~ : Your user name plus timestamp: ~~~~ : Five tildes give a timestamp: ~~~~~
One article title to another with this special link, see Help:Redirect.	#REDIRECT [[United States]]
"Magic" links ISBN links to books: ISBN 0131103628 (see Help:ISBN links) RfC links to Requests for Comments: RFC 123 (see mediawiki:rfcurl)	ISBN 0131103628 RFC 123
Media links To include links to non-image uploads such as sounds, use a "media" link. Sound	[[media:Example.ogg\|Sound]]
Category listing links (these appear at page bottom and list the page in the category) To list a page in a category and have a link to the Category at page end.	[[Category:English documentation]]
Category non-listing links (these appear inline without listing the page in the category) To link to a category without causing the page to be listed in the category, add a colon Category:English documentation	[[:Category:English documentation]]
Dates Use links for dates, so everyone can set their own display order. Use Special:Preferences to change your own date display setting. July 20 1969 20 July 1969 and 1969-07-20	[[July 20]] [[1969]] [[20 July]] [[1969]] and [[1969]]-[[07-20]]
Special pages "What links here" etc. can be linked as: Special:Whatlinkshere/Help:Editing	[[Special:Whatlinkshere/Help:Editing]]
Linking to old revisions of pages, diffs, and specific history pages External link function is used for these as [[page]] will not work. Open an old revision copy the URL and paste it where you want it. http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fotonotes&oldid=482030 Open a diff, copy and paste the URL http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fotonotes&diff=493810&oldid=482030 A specific page from edit history. To do this click the either the (older) or (earliest) button at least once and maneuver to the page you want to link to http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Wikitext_examples&dir=prev&offset=20060813153343&limit=100&action=history	http://meta.wikimedia.org /w/index.php?title=Fotonotes&oldid=482030 http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php? title=Fotonotes&diff=493810&oldid=482030 http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php? title=Help:Wikitext_examples&dir=prev&offset =20060813153343&limit=100&action=history

External links

General notes:

By default, external links do not open in a new browser window. http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Opening_external_links_in_a_new_window

Nupedia, [1]	[http://www.nupedia.com Nupedia], [http://www.nupedia.com]
Email Example, [2]	[mailto:email@example.com Email Example], [mailto:email@example.com]
Or just give the URL: http://www.nupedia.com. In the URL all symbols must be from this set: `A-Z a-z 0-9 ._\/~%- &#?!=()@ \x80-\xFF` and the SPACE character (" ", but see below). If a URL contains a different character it should be percent-encoded as the character's ASCII or UTF-8 code in hexadecimal (case is irrelevant), with each byte preceded by a percent sign. For example ^ becomes %5e ā (LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH MACRON) becomes %c4%81 A blank space can also be converted into an underscore.	Or just give the URL: http://www.nupedia.com.

Text formatting — controlling how it looks

What it looks like	What you type
Emphasize (italics), strongly (bold), very strongly (bold italics). (These are double and triple apostrophes, not double quotes.) Note: this can also be applied to links (e.g., Wikipedia).	''Emphasize'', '''strongly''', '''''very strongly'''''. ''[[Wikipedia]]''
You can also write italic and bold. This is useful in mathematical formulas where you need specific font styles rather than emphasis. F = ma (The difference between these two methods is not very important for graphical browsers, so most people ignore it.) But it may make a big difference for the visually impaired ;-)	You can also write <i>italic</i> and <b>bold</b>. This is useful in mathematical formulas where you need specific font styles rather than emphasis. : <b>F</b> = <i>m</i><b>a</b>
You can also write in small caps. If the wiki has the templates, this can be much simpler to write.	You can also write <span style="font-variant:small-caps"> in small caps</span>. If the wiki has the templates, this can {{bsm}}be much simpler to write{{esm}}.
A typewriter font, sometimes used for `technical terms` and `computer code`.	A typewriter font, sometimes used for <tt>technical terms</tt> and <code>computer code</code>. For semantic reasons, using `<code>` where applicable is preferable to using `<tt>`.
You can use small text for captions.	You can use <small>small text</small> for captions.
You can ~~strike out deleted material~~ and underline new material. You can also mark ~~deleted material~~ and inserted material using logical markup rather than visual markup. When editing regular 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 <strike>strike out deleted material</strike> and <u>underline new material</u>. You can also mark <del>deleted material</del> and <ins>inserted material</ins> using logical markup rather than visual markup.
Subscript: x₂ Superscript: x² or x² Most browsers have an easier time formatting lines with ² than with <sup>2</sup> ε₀ = 8.85 × 10⁻¹² C² / J m. 1 hectare = 1 E4 m²	Subscript: x<sub>2</sub> Superscript: x<sup>2</sup> or x² ε<sub>0</sub> = 8.85 × 10<sup>−12</sup> C² / J m. 1 [[hectare]] = [[1 E4 m²]]

Disabling wikitext interpretation and/or reformatting

Hereafter are various ways to control processing and formatting. For the code {{tc}} in the examples, referring to Template:Tc, see Help:Template.

regular

interpret special characters
interpret special wiki markup
reformat text (remove single newlines and multiple spaces, perform automatic wrapping)
a double newline gives a new paragraph

arrow → in

italics link

arrow      &rarr; {{tc}}

''italics''
[[help:Link|link]]

preserve single newlines (poem tag)

interpret special characters
interpret special wiki markup
partially reformat text (do not remove newlines, remove multiple spaces, perform automatic wrapping)

arrow → in

italics
link

{{#tag:poem|arrow      &rarr; {{tc}}

''italics''
[[help:Link|link]]}}

<nowiki>

interpret special characters
don't interpret special wiki markup
reformat text
ignore even a double newline (no new paragraph); hence has to be applied separately for each paragraph

can be applied in-line: arrow → {{tc}} ''italics'' [[help:Link|link]] normal again

''can be applied in-line:'' <nowiki>
arrow      &rarr; {{tc}}

''italics''
[[help:Link|link]]
</nowiki>''[[normal]] again''

<pre>

interpret special characters
don't interpret special wiki markup
don't reformat text (no wrapping)
allows CSS for HTML element pre; the default skin gives a box
uses a fixed-width font, as specified in the browser settings

arrow      → {{tc}}

''italics''
[[help:Link|link]]

<pre>arrow      &rarr; {{tc}}

''italics''
[[help:Link|link]]</pre>

leading space

interpret special characters
interpret special wiki markup
don't reformat text (no wrapping)
produces HTML element pre, therefore the font and CSS are the same as when using pre; the default skin gives a box
a blank line ends the element pre; if there are more lines with leading space after that, a new pre element starts (in the default skin: a new box)

arrow      → in

italics
link

IF a line of plain text starts with a space
 it will be formatted exactly
   as typed
 in a fixed-width font
 in a grey dotted-outline box
 lines won't wrap
ENDIF
this is useful for:
 * pasting preformatted text;
 * algorithm descriptions;
 * program source code
 * ASCII art;
 * chemical structures;
 * poetry

WARNING: If you make it wide, you force the whole page to be wide and hence less readable. Never start ordinary lines with spaces.

(see also hereafter)

 arrow      &rarr; {{tc}}

 ''italics''
 [[help:Link|link]]

 IF a line of plain text starts with a space
  it will be formatted exactly
    as typed
  in a fixed-width font
  in a grey dotted-outline box
  lines won't wrap
 ENDIF
 this is useful for:
  * pasting preformatted text
  * algorithm descriptions
  * program source code
  * ASCII art
  * chemical structures
  * poetry

typewriter font

(does not work beyond the end of a paragraph):

arrow → in

italics link

New paragraph.

<tt>arrow      &rarr; {{tc}}</tt>

<tt>''italics''</tt>
<tt>[[help:Link|link]]

New paragraph.</tt>

Show special character codes

→

&amp;rarr;

Comments

The text between here and here won't be displayed

The text between '''here'''
<!-- comment here -->
'''and here''' won't be displayed

In the case of expandable wikitext like {{t1demo|p ''q'' r}}, <nowiki>{{t1demo|p ''q'' r}}</nowiki> displays this wikitext, while with #tag, {{#tag:nowiki|{{t1demo|p ''q'' r}}}} displays the expanded wikitext start-p ''q'' r-end.

Special characters

Umlauts and accents: (See Help:Special characters) 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 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	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 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 &oelig; õ ö ø ù ú û ü ÿ
Punctuation: ¿ ¡ « » § ¶ † ‡ • - – — ¿ ¡ « » § ¶ † ‡ • - – —	¿ ¡ « » § ¶ † ‡ • - – — ¿ ¡ « » § ¶ &dagger; &Dagger; • - – —
Commercial symbols: ™ © ® ¢ € ¥ £ ¤ ™ © ® ¢ € ¥ £ ¤	™ © ® ¢ € ¥ £ ¤ ™ © ® ¢ € ¥ £ ¤
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 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	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 α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ λ μ ν ξ ο π ρ σ &sigmaf; τ υ φ χ ψ ω Γ Δ Θ Λ Ξ Π Σ Φ Ψ Ω
Math characters: ∫ ∑ ∏ √ − ± ∞ ≈ ∝ ≡ ≠ ≤ ≥ × · ÷ ∂ ′ ″ ∇ ‰ ° ∴ ø ∈ ∩ ∪ ⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇ ¬ ∧ ∨ ∃ ∀ ⇒ ⇔ → ↔ ↑ ℵ ∉ ∫ ∑ ∏ √ − ± ∞ ≈ ∝ ≡ ≠ ≤ ≥ × · ÷ ∂ ′ ″ ∇ ‰ ° ∴ ø ∈ ∩ ∪ ⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇ ¬ ∧ ∨ ∃ ∀ ⇒ ⇔ → ↔ ↑ ℵ ∉	∫ ∑ ∏ √ − ± ∞ ≈ ∝ ≡ ≠ ≤ ≥ × · ÷ ∂ ′ ″ ∇ ‰ ° ∴ ø ∈ ∩ ∪ ⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇ ¬ ∧ ∨ ∃ ∀ ⇒ ⇔ → ↔ ↑ ℵ ∉ ∫ ∑ ∏ √ − ± ∞ ≈ &prop; &equiv; ≠ ≤ ≥ × · ÷ ∂ ′ ″ ∇ &permil; ° &there4; ø ∈ ∩ ∪ ⊂ ⊃ &sube; &supe; ¬ &and; &or; ∃ ∀ ⇒ ⇔ → ↔ ↑ &alefsym; ∉

Writing a symbol over another one:

<span style="position: absolute;">o</span>x gives ox.

Including another page — transclusion and templates

Changing a transcluded file will change every file that transcludes it.

Transclusion: Including the contents of another page into the current page.

This transclusion demo is a little bit of text from the page Help:Transclusion Demo to be included into any file.

{{:Help:Transclusion Demo}}

Template

A special kind of page designed for transclusion. These pages are found in the Template: namespace. Templates can even take parameters. When you edit a page, all the templates used on the page are listed after the edit box.

This is underlined

{{H:title|hovertext|This is underlined}}

Records of edits in the database

Edits are recorded both in the revision table and in the recentchanges table of the database.

The revision table is used for page histories and user contribution lists. The recentchanges table is used for recent and related changes, watchlists, and (in the case of page creation) for the list of new pages.

This distinction is relevant in the case that old edits are removed from one of the two tables. For example, if three months of recent changes are kept in the recentchanges table, while nothing is deleted from the revision table, then older edits can be seen in page histories and user contribution lists, but not in recent and related changes, watchlists, and (in the case of page creation) in the list of new pages.

Import of page revisions adds to the revision table but not to the recentchanges table, so they add to page histories and user contribution lists, but not to recent and related changes, watchlists, and (in the case of page creation) the list of new pages.