A Lesson on Advanced Wiki Syntax

For those of us that have been editing wikis for a long time, it's easy to use wiki syntax to modify text and organize information. But then again, there are some people that ask themselves, "How can I bold text?" or "How do I make a subsection?". Adapted from wikiHow's own article, this guide will help you know the basics of advanced wiki syntax.

Accentuated text (Boldface and Italics) 

Boldface and italics can help make certain words or phrases stand out in order to provide emphasis on them. Often, editors make the mistake of CAPITALIZING A WORD to illustrate a point. These syntax(es?) are the proper way of emphasizing.

To embolden text, add three apostrophes to the beginning and end of the text.

Example: '''bold text here''' creates bold text here.


To italicize text, add two apostrophes to the beginning and end of the text.
Example: ''italicized text here''' creates italicized text here.


To both embolden and italicize text, add five apostrophes to the beginning and end of text.
Example: '''''bold and italicized text here''''' creates bold and italicized text here.


*Note: Do not make the mistake of using quotation marks (") instead of apostrophes!

Categories

Categories help organize articles by grouping them with other articles of the same topic. This makes it easier for editors to find certain articles and perhaps read similar ones.

To add a category, insert [[Category:Category name]].

Example: [[Category:Arts and Entertainment]] adds the article to the Arts and Entertainment category.

To display a category link, insert [[:Category:Category name]]. Make sure you have the : in place; it won't work without it.

Example: [[:Category:Windows 7]] shows Category:Windows 7.

To display a category link with a display name, insert [[:Category:Category name|display name]].

Example: [[:Category:Music|Music articles can be found here]] shows Music articles can be found here.

Coloured text

Text can be coloured to also emphasize a point. They can also be used in users pages for decoration. In an article, it should be used sparingly to avoid distracting readers.

To add colour to text, type {{your colour here|your text here}}.

Example: {{green|Hello}} shows Hello

Line breaks

Line breaks can be used to separate a piece of text.

To break two lines of text, insert <br> between the text you want to break.

Example: Roses are red<br>Violets are blue shows:

Roses are red

Violets are blue

To leave a space between two lines, insert <br><br>.

Example: This is line #1.<br><br>This is line #2. shows:

This is line #1

This is line #2

Headings

Headings on wikiHow are very important, and when done incorrectly, can cause formatting errors. Many struggle especially when trying to create subsections. You must be in the Advanced Editor to make headings.

To make a heading, type ==Steps== and on a new line, ==Heading title==.

To make a subsection (subheading), type ===Subheading title===. Add four "=" to make a subheading underneath that one.

Internal and external links

Internal links allow readers to browse through other articles by clicking on a hyperlinked text. Adding links to other articles is known as "weaving the web of links". External links link to other websites outside of wikiHow. Make sure you read the External Links policy before adding external links.

To add an internal link, type [[Article title here]].  This doesn't include the "How To" part. To add an internal link with a display name, type [[Article title here|display name here]].

Example: [[Swim]] shows Swim. [[Swim|How to Swim]] shows How to Swim.

To add an external link, type the URL without any brackets. Make sure to include http:// to make it a hyperlink.

To add an external link with a display name, type [URL display name here]. Note that it's the URL, followed by a space, and then the display name.

Example: http://google.ca/ shows http://google.ca/. [http://google.ca/ Google Canada website]] shows Google Canada website.

Bulleted and numbered lists

When adding lists to the steps in Guided Editor, you'll want to be careful because the Guided Editor automatically inserts the # for a new step.

To make a bulleted list, insert a * before the text. Add more *'s to increase the level.

Example:

*Item 1

*Item 2

*Item 3 makes

• Item 1
• Item 2
• Item 3

or

*Item 1

**Item 1.1

***Item 1.1.1 makes

• Item 1
• Item 1.1
• Item 1.1.1

To make a numbered list, insert a # before the text. Add more #'s to increase the level.

Example:

#Step 1

#Step 2

#Step 3 makes

1. Step 1
2. Step 2
3. Step 3

or

#Step 1

##Detail

###Another detail makes

1. Step 1
1. Detail
1. Another detail