Help:Editing

Wiki Markup

Sections, paragraphs, lists and lines

What it looks like	What you type
Start your sections as follows: New section Subsection Sub-subsection Start with a second-level heading (==); do not use first-level headings (=). Do not skip levels (e.g., second-level followed by fourth-level). A Table of Contents will automatically be added to an article that has four or more sections.	==New section== ===Subsection=== ====Sub-subsection====
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 (see below).	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.
You can break lines without starting a new paragraph. Please use this sparingly.	You can break lines<br> without starting a new paragraph.
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.	* 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.
Numbered lists are also good very organized easy to follow easier still	# Numbered lists are also good ## very organized ## easy to follow
You can even do mixed lists and nest them like this	* You can even do mixed lists *# and nest them *#* like this
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.	; Definition list : list of definitions ; item : the item's definition ; another item : the other item's definition
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.	: A colon indents a line or paragraph. A manual newline starts a new paragraph.
IF a line starts with a space THEN it will be formatted exactly as typed; in a fixed-width font; lines won't 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 force the whole page to be wide and hence less readable, especially for people who use lower resolutions. Never start ordinary lines with spaces.	IF a line starts with a space THEN it will be formatted exactly as typed; in a fixed-width font; lines won't wrap; ENDIF this is useful for: * pasting preformatted text; * algorithm descriptions; * program source code; * [[ASCII art]]; * chemical structures;
Centered text. *Note the American spelling of "center" (not "centre").	<center>Centered text.</center>
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.	A [[horizontal dividing line]]: this is above it ---- and this is below it.

The Math markup is not working at the moment because it has not been installed. Let me know if you think we need it. MW | Talk 17:47, 10 Nov 2004 (PST)

Character formatting

What it looks like	What you type
Emphasize, strongly, very strongly. These are double and triple apostrophes (single-quote marks), not double-quote marks.	''Emphasize'', '''strongly''', '''''very strongly'''''.
<math>\sin x + \ln y</math> sinx + lny <math>\mathbf{x} = 0</math> x = 0 Ordinary text should use wiki markup for emphasis, and should not use <i> or <b>. However, mathematical formulas often use italics, and sometimes use bold, for reasons unrelated to emphasis. Complex formulas should use <math> markup, and simple formulas may use <math>; or <i> and <b>; or '' and '''. According to WikiProject Mathematics, wiki markup is preferred over HTML markup like <i> and <b>.	<math>\sin x + \ln y</math> sin''x'' + ln''y'' <math>\mathbf{x} = 0</math> '''x''' = 0
A typewriter font for monospace text or for computer code: int main() For semantic reasons, using <code> where applicable is preferable to using <tt>.	A typewriter font for <tt>monospace text</tt> or for computer code: <code>int main()</code>
You can use small text for captions.	You can use <small>small text</small> for captions.
You can strike out deleted material and underline new material. You can also mark deleted material and inserted material using logical markup rather than visual markup. When editing regular Wikipedia articles, just make your changes and don't mark them up in any special way. When editing your own previous remarks in talk pages, it is sometimes appropriate to mark up deleted or inserted material.	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.
Diacritical marks: è é ê ë ì í À Á Â Ã Ä Å Æ Ç È É Ê Ë Ì Í Î Ï Ñ Ò Ó Ô Õ Ö Ø Ù Ú Û Ü ß à á â ã ä å æ ç è é ê ë ì í î ï ñ ò ó ô œ õ ö ø ù ú û ü ÿ See Wikipedia:Special characters.	è é ê ë ì í &Agrave; &Aacute; &Acirc; &Atilde; &Auml; &Aring; &AElig; &Ccedil; &Egrave; &Eacute; &Ecirc; &Euml; &Igrave; &Iacute; &Icirc; &Iuml; &Ntilde; &Ograve; &Oacute; &Ocirc; &Otilde; &Ouml; &Oslash; &Ugrave; &Uacute; &Ucirc; &Uuml; &szlig; &agrave; &aacute; &acirc; &atilde; &auml; &aring; &aelig; &ccedil; &egrave; &eacute; &ecirc; &euml; &igrave; &iacute; &icirc; &iuml; &ntilde; &ograve; &oacute; &ocirc; &oelig; &otilde; &ouml; &oslash; &ugrave; &uacute; &ucirc; &uuml; &yuml;
Punctuation: ¿ ¡ § ¶ † ‡ • – — ‹ › « » ‘ ’ “ ”	&iquest; &iexcl; &sect; &para; &dagger; &Dagger; &bull; &ndash; &mdash; &lsaquo; &rsaquo; &laquo; &raquo; &lsquo; &rsquo; &ldquo; &rdquo;
Commercial symbols: ™ © ® ¢ € ¥ £ ¤	&trade; &copy; &reg; &cent; &euro; &yen; &pound; &curren;
Subscripts: x1 x2 x3 Superscripts: x1 x2 x3 or x¹ x² x³ The latter method of superscripting can't be used in the most general context, but is preferred when possible (as with units of measurement) because most browsers have an easier time formatting lines with it. ε0 = 8.85 × 10−12 C² / J m. 1 hectare = 1 E4 m²	x<sub>1</sub> x<sub>2</sub> x<sub>3</sub> <nowiki> x<sup>1</sup> x<sup>2</sup> x<sup>3</sup> or x&sup1; x&sup2; x&sup3; </nowiki> &epsilon;<sub>0</sub> = 8.85 &times; 10<sup>&minus;12</sup> C&sup2; / J m. 1 [[hectare]] = [[1 E4 m²]]
Greek characters: α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ λ μ ν ξ ο π ρ σ ς τ υ φ χ ψ ω Γ Δ Θ Λ Ξ Π Σ Φ Ψ Ω	&alpha; &beta; &gamma; &delta; &epsilon; &zeta; &eta; &theta; &iota; &kappa; &lambda; &mu; &nu; &xi; &omicron; &pi; &rho; &sigma; &sigmaf; &tau; &upsilon; &phi; &chi; &psi; &omega; &Gamma; &Delta; &Theta; &Lambda; &Xi; &Pi; &Sigma; &Phi; &Psi; &Omega;
Math characters: ∫ ∑ ∏ √ − ± ∞ ≈ ∝ ≡ ≠ ≤ ≥ → × · ÷ ∂ ′ ″ ∇ ‰ ° ∴ ℵ ø ∈ ∉ ∩ ∪ ⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇ ¬ ∧ ∨ ∃ ∀ ⇒ ⇔ → ↔ See also WikiProject Mathematics.	&int; &sum; &prod; &radic; &minus; &plusmn; &infin; &asymp; &prop; &equiv; &ne; &le; &ge; &rarr; &times; &middot; &divide; &part; &prime; &Prime; &nabla; &permil; &deg; &there4; &alefsym; &oslash; &isin; &notin; &cap; &cup; &sub; &sup; &sube; &supe; &not; &and; &or; &exist; &forall; &rArr; &hArr; &rarr; &harr;
Spacing in simple math formulas: Obviously, x² ≥ 0 is true. To space things out without allowing line breaks to interrupt the formula, use non-breaking spaces: &nbsp;.	Obviously, ''x''&sup2;&nbsp;&ge;&nbsp;0 is true.
Complicated formulas: <math>\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</math> See m:Help:Formula for how to use <math>. A formula displayed on a line by itself should probably be indented by using the colon (:) character.	: <math>\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</math>
Suppressing interpretation of markup: Link → (''to'') the [[Wikipedia FAQ]] 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 &rarr; use &amp;rarr;	<nowiki>Link &rarr; (''to'') the [[Wikipedia FAQ]]</nowiki>
Commenting page source: 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.	<!-- comment here -->

(see also: Chess symbols in Unicode)