Steve's Wikitext editing introduction

This is Steve's editing introduction.

This is not a complete introduction, for two reasons. First, I just want to get you enough information that you can start editing now. Second, some features we need aren't enabled yet.

This is ALL very easy -- and it will get a LOT more easy when the GUI-based Editor is installed.

Saving your work

Everything in an article is plain text - so you can open a page as if to edit it, select all, copy all, and paste the whole text (including formatting) into any word processor (such as Wordpad) to save it to your hard drive.

By the way - it's smart to copy all your revised text just before hitting the Save button. Sometimes Save doesn't work, and you'll lose your text unless you've just copied it. Simply open the page again to edit it and paste the text you copied over whatever's there, and you're back in business!

When disaster strikes and you've accidentally trashed an article - DON'T SWEAT IT! Either revert it yourself (if you know how) or post a message on any Administrator's Talk page. This is an EASY fix for any experienced person. For now you can also contact me - go to Steve's Talk.

Bolding/italicizing

You bold text by entering '''text''' as here: text.

You italicize text by entering ''text'' as here: text.

You bold and italicize text by entering '''''text''''' as here: text.

Headers

You can have as many levels of headers as you want. Have enough headers, and a Table Of Contents will automatically appear.

You make a first-level header by entering ==text==.

You make a second-level header by entering ===text=== as here:

Second-level header

You make a third-level header by entering ====text==== as here:

Lists

Lists are made by putting * and # at the start of a line.

If you use * in a list, you get:

• any normal text or linking
• any normal text or linking
• any normal text or linking

If you use # in a list, you get:

1. any normal text or linking
2. any normal text or linking
3. any normal text or linking

Wikilinks, Wikipedia links, and links to internet pages

You make a wikilink to an article inside Wikidelphia by entering [[article-name]] as here [[Nonprofit Technology Resources]] which becomes Nonprofit Technology Resources. (Capitalizatiion is important!)

You make a wikilink to an article inside Wikipedia by entering [[Wikipedia:article-name]] as here Wikipedia:Free Geek.

If you've already accessed the article, the wikilink gets dark. If the article doesn't exist yet, the text will be red.

You make a link to an article on the internet by entering [url] as here [http://www.cnn.com] which becomes [1].

Renaming links

Wouldn't it be nice if the wikilink and external link names were more descriptive? Well, you can have that, and it's very easy also.

Rename an external link (a link to an internet page) by using the following format: [url text] as here [http://www.cnn.com CNN] becomes CNN.

Rename a Wikidelphia wikilink by using the following format: [article-name|text] as here [[Nonprofit Technology Resources|NTR]] becomes NTR.

Rename a Wikipedia wikilink by using the following format: [Wikipedia:article-name|text] as here [[Wikipedia:Camara (charity)|Camara]] becomes Camara.

References

We don't have the References capability enabled yet.

Making a "See also"

It's traditional to have a See also section of wikilinks at the end of an article. It's not required, just traditional.

Example:

• Stan's Introduction
• Wikipedia:Sandbox
• User's Guide

(This last is an external link, and belongs in an External links section.)

Talk/Discussion pages

Signing your name

It's very good etiquette to sign your name on posts you make on Talk or Discussion pages.

You do that by, after your message, typing four tildes (the shifted-character in the upper left of your keyboard) like this: ~~~~

If you have an account here and are signed in, your username will appear in the text after you hit Save.

This is an example:

Hi, John! I'm glad you joined us! ~~~~

for me becomes:

Hi, John! I'm glad you joined us! Shollingsworth 14:48, 14 January 2011 (PST)

Indenting

It's also correct to indent your response to someone's Talk post. You do that by using one or more colons ( : ) at the start of your response.

For example,

This is a post. ~~~~

:This is a reply. ~~~~

::This is a second reply. ~~~~

becomes

This is a post. Shollingsworth 15:01, 14 January 2011 (PST)

This is a reply. Shollingsworth 15:01, 14 January 2011 (PST)

This is a second reply. Shollingsworth 15:01, 14 January 2011 (PST)

Redirects and disambiguation pages

Redirects are a simple way to make key words or phrases automatically take readers to appropriate articles. Disambiguation pages are similar tools but give choices. Both are beyond the scope of simple editing, but if you post on my Talk page I'll be happy to tell you how to do them. Go to Steve's Talk