Help:Editing

The original version of this page can be found at Wikipedia.

This Editing Overview has a lot of wikitext examples. You may want to keep this page open in a separate browser window for reference while you edit.

Editing basics

 * Start editing
 * To start editing a MediaWiki page, click the Edit this page (or just edit) link at one of its edges. This brings you to the edit page: a page with a text box containing the wikitext: the editable source code from which the server produces the webpage. If you just want to experiment, please do so in the sandbox, not here.


 * Type your changes
 * You can just type your text. However, also using basic wiki markup (described in the next section) to make links and do simple formatting adds to the value of your contribution.


 * Summarize your changes
 * Write a short edit summary in the small field below the edit-box. You may use shorthand to describe your changes, as described in the legend.


 * Preview before saving
 * When you have finished, click Show preview to see how your changes will look -- before you make them permanent. Repeat the edit/preview process until you are satisfied, then click Save page and your changes will be immediately applied to the article.



Basic text formatting
For a list of HTML tags that are allowed, see HTML in wikitext. However, you should avoid HTML in favor of Wiki markup whenever possible.

Organizing your writing
{| width="100%"  border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" !What it looks like !What you type Section headings

Headings organize your writing into sections. The Wiki software can automatically generate a table of contents from them.

Subsection Using more equals signs creates a subsection.

A smaller subsection

Don't skip levels, like from two to four equals signs.

Start with 2 equals signs not 1 because 1 creates H1 tags which should be reserved for page title.

Subsection
Using more equals signs creates a subsection.

Minor edits
A logged-in user can mark an edit as "minor". Minor edits are generally spelling corrections, formatting, and minor rearrangement of text. Users may choose to hide minor edits when viewing Recent Changes.

Marking a significant change as a minor edit is considered bad Wikiquette. If you have accidentally marked an edit as minor, make a dummy edit, verify that the " [ ] This is a minor edit " check-box is unchecked, and explain in the edit summary that the previous edit was not minor.