Help:Editing
From Lams
Contents |
HowtoEdit
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 code from which the server produces the finished page, and often called the edit box.
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. Wikimedia wikis have style guidelines available. If you follow these, your contributions will be more valuable as they won't need to be cleaned up later.
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 Edit summary legend|edit summary 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. Sometimes it is helpful to save in between.
Most frequent wiki markup explained
Here are the most frequently used types of wiki markup. If you need more help see Wikitext examples.
| What it looks like | What you type |
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You can italicize text by putting 2 apostrophes on each side. 3 apostrophes will embolden the text. 5 apostrophes will embolden and italicize the text. (4 apostrophes don't do anything special -- there's just 'one left over'.) | You can ''italicize text'' by putting 2 apostrophes on each side. 3 apostrophes will embolden '''the text'''. 5 apostrophes will embolden and italicize '''''the text'''''. (4 apostrophes don't do anything special -- there's just ''''one left over''''.) |
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You should "sign" your comments on talk pages: | You should "sign" your comments on talk pages: <br /> - Three tildes give your user name: ~~~ <br /> - Four tildes give your user name plus date/time: ~~~~ <br /> - Five tildes give the date/time alone: ~~~~~ <br /> |
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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. | == 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. |
marks the end of the list.
| * ''Unordered lists'' are easy to do: ** Start every line with a star. *** More stars indicate a deeper level. *: Previous item continues. ** A new line * in a list marks the end of the list. * Of course you can start again. |
A new line marks the end of the list.
| # ''Numbered lists'' are: ## Very organized ## Easy to follow A new line marks the end of the list. # New numbering starts with 1. |
A newline starts a new paragraph.
| : A colon (:) indents a line or paragraph. A newline starts a new paragraph. <br> Often used for discussion on talk pages. : We use 1 colon to indent once. :: We use 2 colons to indent twice. ::: 3 colons to indent 3 times, and so on. |
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Here's a link to the Main page. | Here's a link to the [[Main page]]. |
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The character tilde (~) is used when adding a comment to a Talk page. You should sign your comment by appending four tildes (~~~~) to the comment so as to add your user name plus date/time:
Adding three tildes (~~~) will add just your user name:
and adding five tildes (~~~~~) gives the date/time alone:
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The character '''tilde''' (~) is used when adding a comment to a Talk page. You should sign your comment by appending four tildes (~~~~) to the comment so as to add your user name plus date/time: : ~~~~ Adding three tildes (~~~) will add just your user name: : ~~~ and adding five tildes (~~~~~) gives the date/time alone: : ~~~~~ |
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Three ways to link to external (non-wiki) sources:
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Three ways to link to external (non-wiki) sources: # Bare URL: http://lams.bic.nus.edu.sg/ (bad style) # Unnamed link: [http://lams.bic.nus.edu.sg] (only used within article body for footnotes) # Named link: [http://lams.bic.nus.edu.sg LAMS] |
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Date formats:
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Date formats: # [[July 20]], [[1969]] # [[20 July]] [[1969]] # [[1969]]-[[07-20]] # [[1969-07-20]] |
| A picture: | A picture: [[Image:lams.jpg]] |
| With alternative text: | With alternative text: [[Image:lams.jpg|Lamswiki,]]
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| Floating to the right side of the page using the frame attribute and a caption:
| Floating to the right side of the page using the ''frame'' attribute and a caption: [[Image:lams.jpg|frame|Lamswiki]]
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| Floating to the right side of the page using the thumb attribute and a caption:
| Floating to the right side of the page using the ''thumb'' attribute and a caption: [[Image:lams.jpg|thumb|Lamswiki]]
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| Floating to the right side of the page without a caption: | Floating to the right side of the page ''without'' a caption: [[Image:lams.jpg|right|Lamswiki]]
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| A picture resized to 30 pixels... | A picture resized to 30 pixels... [[Image:lams.jpg|30 px]]
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| Linking directly to the description page of an image: | Linking directly to the description page of an image: [[:Image:lams.jpg]]
(such as any of the ones above) also leads to the description page |
| Linking directly to an image without displaying it: | Linking directly to an image without displaying it: [[:media:lams.jpg|Image of the jigsaw globe logo]]
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| 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
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Place images here
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