Help:Editing

This editing help is supposed to serve both as a starting point for new wiki editors and as a quick reference for expreienced editors. For more detailed information on editing and the MediaWiki syntax, please refer to the official MediaWiki editing help.

Editing interface

The editing interface's most important part is the large editing box. It shows the contents of the page or section that is currently being edited in raw MediaWiki syntax, meaning that all formatting is only visible as character sequences (such as three apostrophes to make text bold). The toolbar above the editing box can be used to apply common formatting to selected text.

Below the editing box is a summary field. In there, a short summary of the edit should be given, for example what content was added or why changes were made. The summary will appear both in a page's history and on the recent changes list. The edit summary is optional and can be omitted for minor edits such as typographical corrections. Minor edits should also be marked as such using the "This is a minor edit" checkbox under the summary field. A second checkbox is also available to automatically add the edited page to your personal watchlist.

Before confirming an edit using the "Save page" button, it should be checked that the page looks as intended using the "Show preview" button. There is also a "Show changes" button, which will highlight all changes made in the edit. This can be used to check for unwanted or accidental changes.

Syntax

Plain text

Plain text that does not contain any formatting codes will not be formatted automatically in any way. Note though that new lines are handled differently than in most text editors - a single line break will not appear on the final page, only two consecutive line breaks will create a new paragraph.

Headlines

Headline level	Example syntax code	Example result
Level 2	== Level 2 headline ==	== Level 2 headline ==
Level 3	=== Level 3 headline ===	=== Level 3 headline ===
Level 4	==== Level 4 headline ====	==== Level 4 headline ====
Level 5	===== Level 5 headline =====	===== Level 5 headline =====
Level 6	====== Level 6 headline ======	====== Level 6 headline ======

Level 6 is the maximum headline level. Technically there are also level 1 headlines. These are however meant for the page title and should never be used in an article.

Bold and italics

Desired result	Example syntax code	Example result
Bold text	'''Bold text here'''	Bold text here
Italic text	''Italic text here''	Italic text here
Bold and italic text	'''''Bold and italic text here'''''	Bold and italic text here

Links

Desired result	Example syntax code	Example result
Internal link (to another page on this wiki)	[[Target page]]	Target page
Internal link with alternate link text	[[Target page|link text]]	link text
External link (to a webpage other than an article on this wiki)	http://www.example.com/	http://www.example.com/
Numbered external link	[http://www.example.com/]	[1]
External link with alternate link text	[http://www.example.com/ link text]	link text

Internal links get extended until the end of the word automatically so that [[Main Page]]s and [[Main Page|Homepage]]s also link the s at the end (Main Pages and Homepages). The first character can be lowercase but the link still redirects to the page with the first character in upper case. Both [[atmosphere]] and [[Atmosphere]] link to the same article. This doesn't work for the other character like [[AtmoSphere]].

Talk pages and signatures

Desired result	Example syntax code	Example result
Signature with timestamp	~~~~	dgelessus (talk · contribs) 17:17, 19 July 2013 (CDT)
Signature only	~~~	dgelessus (talk · contribs)
Timestamp only	~~~~~	17:17, 19 July 2013 (CDT)

These codes will automatically be replaced with the appropriate text once you save your edit. The signature can be customized in the preferences. The result will be different if you use these! These example results only apply to the user dgelessus making an edit at 17:17, 19 July 2013 (CDT).

See also

• Guidelines for editing articles