View source for Help:Editing

Editing a Wiki page is very easy. Simply click on the the edit link on the right or bottom of a Wiki page. This will bring you to a page with a text box containing the editable text of that page. You should write a short summary in the small field below the edit-box. You may use shorthand to describe your changes, and when you have finished, press preview to see how your changes will look. If you're happy with what you see, then press "Save" and your changes will be immediately applied to the article.  Do not "sign" edits you make to regular articles (the software keeps track of who makes every change).

You can also click on the "'''Discussion'''" tab to see the corresponding talk page, which contains comments about the page from other users. Click on the "'''+'''" tab to add a new section, or edit the page in the same way as an article page.  When editing talk pages, please sign your change.

== Tips on editing ==


== Minor edits ==

When editing a page, 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 [[Recent Changes]]. Marking a significant change as a minor edit is considered bad behavior, and even more so if it involves the deletion of some text. If one has accidentally marked an edit as minor, the person 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.

== Wiki markup ==

The '''wiki markup''' is the syntax system you can use to format a Wiki page.

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. 

----
=== Sections, paragraphs, lists, and lines ===
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
|-
! What it looks like
! What you type
|- valign="top"
|
Start your sections as follows:

<!-- The following code messes up the table of contents
     and makes the section edit links much less useful,
     so please do not use it.
==New section==
===Subsection===
====Sub-subsection====
-->
<!-- The following should look almost the same, using
     HTML headings markup instead of wiki headings.
     However, it messes up the section edit links,
     so please do not use it.
<h2>New section</h2>
<h3>Subsection</h3>
<h4>Sub-subsection</h4>
-->
<!-- The following just uses bolding and font changes,
     so it should be safe.  However, it might not
     look exactly right, especially when people
     use non-standard CSS stylesheets.
-->
'''<font style="font-size:120%">New section</font>'''

'''<font style="font-size:110%">Subsection</font>'''

'''<font style="font-size:100%">Sub-subsection</font>'''

* Start with a second-level heading (<tt><nowiki>==</nowiki></tt>); do not use first-level headings (=).
* Do not skip levels (for example, second-level followed by fourth-level).
* A [[#Placement_of_the_Table_of_Contents_.28TOC.29|Table of Contents]] will automatically be added to an article that has four or more sections. 
|
<pre><nowiki>
==New section==

===Subsection===

====Sub-subsection====
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
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 ([[#lists|see below]]).
|
<pre><nowiki>
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.
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
You can break lines<br/>
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.
|
<pre><nowiki>
You can break lines<br/>
without starting a new paragraph.
</nowiki></pre>
|- id="lists" valign="top"
|
* Lists are easy to do:
** 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.
|
<pre><nowiki>
* 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 a list item.

* An empty line starts a new list.
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
# Numbered lists are also good
## very organized
## easy to follow
### easier still
|
<pre><nowiki>
# Numbered lists are also good
## very organized
## easy to follow
### easier still
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
* You can even do mixed lists
*# and nest them
*#* like this
|
<pre><nowiki>
* You can even do mixed lists
*# and nest them
*#* like this
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top" id="definition"
|
; Definition list : list of definitions
; item : the item's definition
; another item
: the other item's definition

* One item per line; a newline can appear before the colon, but using a space before the colon improves parsing.
|
<pre><nowiki>
; Definition list : list of definitions
; item : the item's definition
; another item
: the other item's definition
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
: 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.
|
<pre><nowiki>
: A colon indents a line or paragraph.
A manual newline starts a new paragraph.
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign=top
|
When there is a need for separating a block of text
<blockquote>
the '''blockquote''' command will indent both margins when needed instead of the left margin only as the colon does.  
</blockquote> 
This is useful for (as the name says) inserting blocks of quoted (and cited) text.  
|
<pre><nowiki>
<blockquote>
The '''blockquote''' command will indent 
both margins when needed instead of the 
left margin only as the colon does.  
</blockquote>
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign=top
|
 IF a line starts with a space THEN
 it will be formatted exactly
 as typed;
 in a fixed-width font;
 lines will not wrap;
 ENDIF

*This is useful for:
** pasting preformatted text;
** algorithm descriptions;
** program source code;
** [[ASCII art]];
** chemical structures;
* '''WARNING''': If you make it wide, you [[page widening|force the whole page to be wide]] and hence less readable, especially for people who use lower resolutions. Never start ordinary lines with spaces.
|
<pre><nowiki>
 IF a line starts with a space THEN
 it will be formatted exactly
 as typed;
 in a fixed-width font;
 lines will not wrap;
 ENDIF
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
<center>Centered text.</center>

* Please note the American spelling of "center."
|
<pre><nowiki>
<center>Centered text.</center>
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
A [[horizontal dividing line]]:
this is above it
----
and this is below it.

* Mainly useful for separating threads on Talk pages.
* Also used to disambiguate within an article without creating a separate page.
|
<pre><nowiki>
A [[horizontal dividing line]]:
this is above it
----
and this is below it.
</nowiki></pre>
|}

=== Links and URLs ===
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
|-
! What it looks like
! What you type
|- valign="top"
|
Journals that start with H are on the [[JournalsH]] page.

* A link to another page.
* 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]] http://commons.discourse.net/ce/index.php?title=H
|
<pre><nowiki>
Journals that start with H are on the [[H]] page.
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
Journals that start with I have 
[[Journals I|I]] page.

* Same target, different name.
* This is a [[piped link]].
|
<pre><nowiki>
[[Journals I|I]] page.
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|


* Please do not create a new article without linking to it from at least one other article.
|- valign="top"
|
When adding a comment to a Talk page,
you should sign it by adding
three tildes to add your user name:
: [[User:Brockert|Ben Brockert]]
or four to add user name plus date/time:
: [[User:Brockert|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|user page]].
|
<pre><nowiki>
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:
: ~~~~~
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
* [[Redirect|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, "<nowiki>#REDIRECT [[United States#History]]</nowiki>" will redirect to the [[United States]] page, but not to any particular section on it. This feature '''will not''' be implemented in the future, so such redirects should not be used.
|
<pre><nowiki>
#REDIRECT [[United States]]
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
* Link to a page on the same subject in another language by using a link of the form: <nowiki>[[language code:Title]]</nowiki>.
* 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.
|
<pre><nowiki>
|- id="link-external" valign="top"
|
Three ways to link to external (non-wiki) sources:
# Bare URL: http://www.nupedia.com/ (bad style)
# Unnamed link: [http://www.nupedia.com/] ('''very bad style''')
# Named link: [http://www.nupedia.com Nupedia]

:See [[MetaWikiPedia:Interwiki_map]] for the list of shortcuts.

* Square brackets indicate an external link. Note the use of a ''space'' (not a pipe) to separate the URL from the link text in the "named" version.
* In the [[URL]], all symbols must be among:<br/>'''A-Z a-z 0-9 . _ \ / ~ % - + &amp; # ? ! = ( ) @ \x80-\xFF'''
* If a URL contains a character not in this list, it should be encoded by using a percent sign (%) followed by the [[hexadecimal|hex]] code of the character, which can be found in the table of [[ASCII#ASCII printable characters|ASCII printable characters]]. For example, the caret character (^) would be encoded in a URL as '''%5E'''.
* There is a class that can be used to remove the arrow image from the external link. It is used in [[Template:Ref]] to stop the URL from expanding during printing. It should '''never''' be used in the main body of an article. However, there is an exception: wikilinks in Image markup. An example of the markup is as follows:
** Markup: <nowiki><span class="plainlinksneverexpand">[http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/winobj.shtml WinObj]</span></nowiki>
** Display: <span class="plainlinksneverexpand">[http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/winobj.shtml WinObj]</span>

|
<pre><nowiki>
Three ways to link to external (non-wiki) sources:
# Bare URL: http://www.nupedia.com/ (bad style)
# Unnamed link: [http://www.nupedia.com/] ('''very bad style''')
# Named link: [http://www.nupedia.com Nupedia]
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
Linking to other wikis:
# [[Interwiki]] link: [[Wiktionary:Hello]]
# Named interwiki link: [[Wiktionary:Hello|Hello]]
# Interwiki link without prefix: [[Wiktionary:Hello|Hello]]

* All of these forms lead to the URL http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Hello
* Note that interwiki links use the ''internal'' link style.
* See [[MetaWikiPedia:Interwiki_map]] for the list of shortcuts; if the site you want to link to is not on the list, use an external link ([[#link-external|see above]]).
* See also [[Wikipedia:How to link to Wikimedia projects]].


=== Character formatting ===
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
|- valign="top"
! What it looks like
! What you type
|- id="emph" valign="top"
|
''Emphasize'', '''strongly''', '''''very strongly'''''.
* These are double, triple, and quintuple apostrophes (single-quote marks), not double-quote marks.
|
<pre><nowiki>
''Emphasize'', '''strongly''', '''''very strongly'''''.
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
<math>\sin x + \ln y</math><br>
sin''x'' + ln''y''
<!-- no space between roman "sin" and italic "x" -->

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

Ordinary text should use [[#emph|wiki markup for emphasis]], and should not use <code>&lt;i&gt;</code> or <code>&lt;b&gt;</code>.  However, mathematical formulas often use italics, and sometimes use bold, for reasons unrelated to emphasis.  Complex formulas should use [[Help:Formula|<code>&lt;math&gt;</code> markup]], and simple formulas may use <code>&lt;math&gt;</code>; or <code>&lt;i&gt;</code> and <code>&lt;b&gt;</code>; or <code><nowiki>''</nowiki></code> and <code><nowiki>'''</nowiki></code>.  |
<pre><nowiki>
<math>\sin x + \ln y</math>
sin''x'' + ln''y''

<math>\mathbf{x} = 0</math>
'''x''' = 0
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
A typewriter font for <tt>monospace text</tt>
or for computer code: <code>int main()</code>

* For semantic reasons, using <code>&lt;code&gt;</code> where applicable is preferable to using <code>&lt;tt&gt;</code>.
|
<pre><nowiki>
A typewriter font for <tt>monospace text</tt>
or for computer code: <code>int main()</code>
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
You can use <small>small text</small> for captions.
|
<pre><nowiki>
You can use <small>small text</small> for captions.
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
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
rather than visual markup.

* When editing your own previous remarks in talk pages, it is sometimes appropriate to mark up deleted or inserted material.
|
<pre><nowiki>
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
rather than visual markup.
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
'''Diacritical marks:'''
<br/>
À �? Â Ã Ä Å <br/>
Æ Ç È É Ê Ë <br/>
Ì �?
Î �? Ñ Ò <br/>
Ó Ô Õ
Ö Ø Ù <br/>
Ú Û Ü ß
à á <br/>
â ã ä å æ
ç <br/>
è é ê ë ì í<br/>
î ï ñ ò ó ô <br/>
&oelig; õ
ö ø ù ú <br/>
û ü ÿ

* See [[meta:Help:Special characters|special characters]].
|
<br/>
<pre><nowiki>
&amp;Agrave; &amp;Aacute; &amp;Acirc; &amp;Atilde; &amp;Auml; &amp;Aring; 
&amp;AElig; &amp;Ccedil; &amp;Egrave; &amp;Eacute; &amp;Ecirc; &amp;Euml; 
&amp;Igrave; &amp;Iacute; &amp;Icirc; &amp;Iuml; &amp;Ntilde; &amp;Ograve; 
&amp;Oacute; &amp;Ocirc; &amp;Otilde; &amp;Ouml; &amp;Oslash; &amp;Ugrave; 
&amp;Uacute; &amp;Ucirc; &amp;Uuml; &amp;szlig; &amp;agrave; &amp;aacute; 
&amp;acirc; &amp;atilde; &amp;auml; &amp;aring; &amp;aelig; &amp;ccedil; 
&amp;egrave; &amp;eacute; &amp;ecirc; &amp;euml; &amp;igrave; &amp;iacute;
&amp;icirc; &amp;iuml; &amp;ntilde; &amp;ograve; &amp;oacute; &amp;ocirc; 
&amp;oelig; &amp;otilde; &amp;ouml; &amp;oslash; &amp;ugrave; &amp;uacute; 
&amp;ucirc; &amp;uuml; &amp;yuml;
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
'''Punctuation:'''
<br/>
¿ ¡ § ¶<br/>
&dagger; &Dagger; &bull; &ndash; &mdash;<br/>
&lsaquo; &rsaquo; « »<br/>
&lsquo; &rsquo; &ldquo; &rdquo;
|
<br/>
<pre><nowiki>
&amp;iquest; &amp;iexcl; &amp;sect; &amp;para;
&amp;dagger; &amp;Dagger; &amp;bull; &amp;ndash; &amp;mdash;
&amp;lsaquo; &amp;rsaquo; &amp;laquo; &amp;raquo;
&amp;lsquo; &amp;rsquo; &amp;ldquo; &amp;rdquo;
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
'''Commercial symbols:'''
<br/>
&trade; © ® ¢ &euro; ¥<br/>
£ ¤
|
<br/>
<pre><nowiki>
&amp;trade; &amp;copy; &amp;reg; &amp;cent; &amp;euro; &amp;yen; 
&amp;pound; &amp;curren;
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
'''Subscripts:'''
<br/>
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;

'''Superscripts:'''
<br/>
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;

*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.

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

1 [[hectare]] = [[1 E4 m&sup2;]]
|
<br/>
<pre><nowiki>
x<sub>1</sub> x<sub>2</sub> x<sub>3</sub> or
<br/>
x&amp;#8320; x&amp;#8321; x&amp;#8322; x&amp;#8323; x&amp;#8324;
<br/>
x&amp;#8325; x&amp;#8326; x&amp;#8327; x&amp;#8328; x&amp;#8329;
</nowiki></pre>

<pre><nowiki>
x<sup>1</sup> x<sup>2</sup> x<sup>3</sup> or
<br/>
x&amp;#8304; x&amp;sup1; x&amp;sup2; x&amp;sup3; x&amp;#8308;
<br/>
x&amp;#8309; x&amp;#8310; x&amp;#8311; x&amp;#8312; x&amp;#8313;

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

1 [[hectare]] = [[1 E4 m&amp;sup2;]]
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
'''Greek characters:'''
<br/>
&alpha; &beta; &gamma; &delta; &epsilon; &zeta;<br/>
&eta; &theta; &iota; &kappa; &lambda; &mu; &nu;<br/>
&xi; &omicron; &pi; &rho; &sigma; &sigmaf;<br/>
&tau; &upsilon; &phi; &chi; &psi; &omega;<br/>
&Gamma; &Delta; &Theta; &Lambda; &Xi; &Pi;<br/>
&Sigma; &Phi; &Psi; &Omega;
|
<br/>
<pre><nowiki>
&amp;alpha; &amp;beta; &amp;gamma; &amp;delta; &amp;epsilon; &amp;zeta; 
&amp;eta; &amp;theta; &amp;iota; &amp;kappa; &amp;lambda; &amp;mu; &amp;nu; 
&amp;xi; &amp;omicron; &amp;pi; &amp;rho; &amp;sigma; &amp;sigmaf;
&amp;tau; &amp;upsilon; &amp;phi; &amp;chi; &amp;psi; &amp;omega;
&amp;Gamma; &amp;Delta; &amp;Theta; &amp;Lambda; &amp;Xi; &amp;Pi; 
&amp;Sigma; &amp;Phi; &amp;Psi; &amp;Omega;
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
'''Mathematical characters:'''
<br/>
&int; &sum; &prod; &radic; &minus; &plusmn; &infin;<br/>
&asymp; &prop; &equiv; &ne; &le; &ge;<br/>
&times; &middot; &divide; &part; &prime; &Prime;<br/>
&nabla; &permil; &deg; &there4; &alefsym; &oslash;<br/>
&isin; &notin; &cap; &cup; &sub; &sup; &sube; &supe;<br/>
&not; &and; &or; &exist; &forall; &rArr; &hArr;<br/>
&rarr; &harr;<br/>
|
<br/>
<pre><nowiki>
&amp;int; &amp;sum; &amp;prod; &amp;radic; &amp;minus; &amp;plusmn; &amp;infin;
&amp;asymp; &amp;prop; &amp;equiv; &amp;ne; &amp;le; &amp;ge;
&amp;times; &amp;middot; &amp;divide; &amp;part; &amp;prime; &amp;Prime;
&amp;nabla; &amp;permil; &amp;deg; &amp;there4; &amp;alefsym; &amp;oslash;
&amp;isin; &amp;notin; &amp;cap; &amp;cup; &amp;sub; &amp;sup; &amp;sube; &amp;supe;
&amp;not; &amp;and; &amp;or; &amp;exist; &amp;forall; &amp;rArr; &amp;hArr;
&amp;rarr; &amp;harr;
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
'''Spacing in simple math formulas:'''
<br/>
Obviously, ''x''&sup2;&nbsp;&ge;&nbsp;0 is true.
*To space things out without allowing line breaks to interrupt the formula, use non-breaking spaces: <tt>&amp;nbsp;</tt>.
|
<br/>
<pre><nowiki>
Obviously, ''x''&amp;sup2;&amp;nbsp;&amp;ge;&amp;nbsp;0 is true.
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
'''Complicated formulas:'''
<br/>
: <math>\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</math>
* See [[Help:Formula]] for how to use <tt>&lt;math></tt>.
* A formula displayed on a line by itself should probably be indented by using the colon (:) character.
|
<br/>
<pre><nowiki>
: <math>\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</math>
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
'''Suppressing interpretation of markup:'''
<br/>
<nowiki>Link &rarr; (''to'') the [[Wikipedia FAQ]]</nowiki>
* 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 <tt>&amp;rarr;</tt> use <tt>&amp;amp;rarr;</tt>
|
<br/>
<pre><nowiki>
&lt;nowiki>Link &amp;rarr; (''to'') 
the [[Wikipedia FAQ]]&lt;/nowiki>
</nowiki></pre>
|- valign="top"
|
'''Commenting page source:'''
<br/>
''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.
|
<br/>
<pre><nowiki>
&lt;!-- comment here -->
</nowiki></pre>
|}
''(see also: [[Chess symbols in Unicode]])''

=== Table of Contents ===
==== Placement of the Table of Contents (TOC) ====
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 <nowiki>__TOC__</nowiki> anywhere forces the TOC to appear at that point (instead of just before the first header).  Putting <nowiki>__NOTOC__</nowiki> anywhere forces the TOC to disappear.

staffer was here
Copyright Experiences	Main Page \| About \| Help \| FAQ \| Special pages \| Log in
Working to Make Our Work Available	\| Disclaimers \| Privacy policy