Help talk:Editing: Difference between revisions

Help:H 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. Each of the topics covered here is covered somewhere else in more detail. Please look in the box on the right for the topic you are interested in.

Editing basics

Start editing

To start editing a MediaWiki page, click on the "Edit this page" (or just "edit") link at one of its edges. This will bring 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.

Summarize your changes

You should 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, press 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" and your changes will be immediately applied to the article.

Help:Wikitext quick reference Help:Editing tips and tricks

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.

See also

• Help:Editing FAQ
• Help:Automatic conversion of wikitext
• Help:Calculation
• Help:Images
• Help:Editing toolbar
• Help:HTML in wikitext
• Protecting pages
• Help:Starting a new page
• Help:Variable
• UseModWiki and Wikipedia:PHP script.
• HTML elements.
• Live preview - a way to preview your edits without contacting the server.
• Image:Special characters Verdana IE.png - shows special characters with codes, and also shows problem characters.
• Template:Tim - font size
• Template:Tim - color
• Template:Tiw - showing and hiding text using Javascript

External links

• Special characters in HTML

Help:F