Help:Contents

See also Wikipedia:Introduction, Wikipedia:Tutorial, Help:Editing, Help:Starting a new page

Wikipedia is a Wiki, which means that anyone can easily edit any unprotected page and save those changes immediately to that page. After your first edit, you are a Wikipedia editor! To request a change to a protected page, you may use any Template:Tl template.

Introduction

Editing a Wikipedia page is not very difficult. Simply click on the "edit this page" tab at the top of a Wikipedia page (or on a section-edit link). This will bring you to a new page with a text box containing the editable text of the original page. If you just want to experiment, please do so in the sandbox; not here. 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, and when you have finished, press the Show preview button to see how your changes will look. You can also see the difference between the page with your edits and the previous version of the page by pressing the "Show changes" button. If you're satisfied with what you see, be bold and press the Save page button. Your changes will immediately be visible to other Wikipedia users.

You can also click on the "Discussion" tab to see the corresponding talk page, which contains comments about the page from other Wikipedia users. Click on the "+" tab to add a new section, or edit the page in the same way as an article page.

You should remember to sign your messages on talk pages and some special-purpose project pages, but you should not sign edits you make to regular articles. In page histories, the MediaWiki software keeps track of which user makes each change.

Minor edits

See also Wikipedia:Minor edit

When editing an article page on this site, a logged-in user can mark that edit as being "minor". Minor edits generally mean spelling corrections, formatting, and minor rearrangement of text. It is possible to "hide" minor edits when viewing the recent changes. Marking a significant change as a minor edit is considered bad behavior, especially when it involves the deletion of some text. If you accidentally mark an edit as minor, you should edit the source once more, mark it major (or, rather, ensure that the check-box for "This is a minor edit" is not checked), and, in the summary, state that the previous change was a major one.

Wiki markup

The wiki markup is the syntax system you can use to format a Wikipedia page.

The table below is an elaborate list of various edits (for a more succinct reference, please refer to Wikipedia cheatsheet). The left column shows the effects available. The right column shows the wiki markup used to achieve them.

You may want to keep this page open in a separate browser window for reference. If you want to try out things without danger of doing any harm, you can do so in the Sandbox. Try opening the Sandbox in a separate window or tab and keeping this page open for reference.

Examples

What it looks like	What you type
Start your sections as follows: New section Subsection Sub-subsection Start with a second-level heading (==); don't use first-level headings (=). If possible, place subsections in an appropriate order. If listing countries, place them in alphabetical order rather than, say, relative to population of OECD countries or some random order. 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. Close markup between lines, do not start a link or italics or bold on one line and close it on the next.	You can break lines<br/> without starting a new paragraph.
It's easy to create a list: Start every line with a star (asterisk). More stars means deeper levels. A newline in a list marks the end of a list item. An empty line starts a new list.	* It's easy to create a list: ** 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 ### easier still
Definition list  list of definitions item  the item's definition another item the other item's definition Begin with a semicolon. 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
You can even create mixed lists and nest them like this can I mix definition list as well? yes how? it's easy as a b c	* You can even create mixed lists *# and nest them *#* like this *#*; can I mix definition list as well? *#*: yes *#*; how? *#*: it's easy as *#*:* a *#*:* b *#*:* c
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.
When there is a need for separating a block of text The blockquote command will indent both margins when needed instead of the left margin only as the colon does. This is useful for (as the name says) inserting blocks of quoted (and cited) text.	<blockquote> The '''blockquote''' command will indent both margins when needed instead of the left margin only as the colon does. </blockquote>
(See formula on right): 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 will not wrap; END IF
Centered text. Please note the American spelling of "center".	<center>Centered text.</center>
A horizontal dividing line: this is above it and this is below it. Mainly useful for disambiguation - but to be used sparsely, only when separating completely different, unrelated (groups of) meanings separating threads on Talk pages.	A [[horizontal dividing line]]: this is above it ---- and this is below it.

Links and URLs

What it looks like	What you type
London has public transport. A link to another Wikipedia article. Internally, the first letter of the target page is automatically capitalized and spaces are represented as underscores (typing an underscore in the link has the same effect as typing a space, but is not recommended). Thus the link above is to the URL en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport, which is the Wikipedia article with the name "Public transport". See also Wikipedia:Canonicalization.	London has [[public transport]].
San Francisco also has public transportation. Same target, different name. This is a piped link. The "piped" text must be placed first, then the text that will be displayed second.	San Francisco also has [[public transport| public transportation]].
San Francisco also has public transportation. Examples include buses, taxis and streetcars. Endings are blended into the link. Preferred style is to use this instead of a piped link, if possible. Blending can be suppressed by using <nowiki></nowiki> tags, which may be desirable in some instances. Example: a microsecond.	San Francisco also has [[public transport]]ation. Examples include [[bus]]es, [[taxi]]s, and [[streetcar]]s. [[micro]]<nowiki>second </nowiki>
See the Wikipedia:Manual of Style. A link to another namespace.	See the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style]].
Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Italics is a link to a section within another page. #Links and URLs is a link to another section on the current page. #example is a link to an anchor that was created using an id attribute The part after the number sign (#) must match a section heading on the page. Matches must be exact in terms of spelling, case, and punctuation. Links to non-existent sections are not broken; they are treated as links to the top of the page. Identifiers may be created by attaching an id="..."> attribute to almost any HTML element. This doesn't work with legacy browsers. Include "| Link title" to create a stylish link-title.	[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Italics]] is a link to a section within another page. [[#Links and URLs]] is a link to another section on the current page. [[#example]] is a link to an anchor that was created using <div id="example">an id attribute </div>
Automatically hide stuff in parentheses: kingdom. Automatically hide namespace: Village Pump. Or both: Manual of Style But not: [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Links|]] The server fills in the part after the pipe character (|) when you save the page. The next time you open the edit box you will see the expanded piped link. When previewing your edits, you will not see the expanded form until you press Save and Edit again. The same applies to links to sections within the same page (see previous entry).	Automatically hide stuff in parentheses: [[kingdom (biology)|]]. Automatically hide namespace: [[Wikipedia:Village Pump|]]. Or both: [[Wikipedia: Manual of Style (headings)|]] But not: [[Wikipedia: Manual of Style#Links|]] See Wikipedia:Pipe trick for details.
Nondivisibility of labor is a page that does not exist yet. You can create it by clicking on the link. To create a new page: Create a link to it on some other (related) page. Save that page. Click on the link you just made. The new page will open for editing. For more information, see How to start a page and check out Wikipedia's naming conventions. Please do not create a new article without linking to it from at least one other article.	[[Gunchei]] is a page that does not exist yet.
Wikipedia:How to edit a page is this page. Self links appear as bold text when the article is viewed. Do not use this technique to make the article name bold in the first paragraph; see the Manual of Style.	[[Wikipedia: How to edit a page]] is this page.
When adding a comment to a Talk page, you should sign it by adding three tildes to add your user name: Ben Brockert or four to add user name plus date/time: Ben Brockert 00:18, Nov 19, 2004 (UTC) Five tildes gives the date/time alone: 00:18, Nov 19, 2004 (UTC) The first two both provide a link to your user page.	When adding a comment to a Talk page,you should sign it by adding three tildes to add your user name: : ~~~ or four for user name plus date/time: : ~~~~ Five tildes gives the date/time alone: : ~~~~~
Redirect one article title to another by placing a directive like the one shown to the right on the first line of the article (such as at a page titled "USA"). Note that, while it is possible to link to a section, it is not possible to redirect to a section. For example, "#REDIRECT [[United States#History]]" will redirect to the United States page, but not to any particular section on it. This feature may be implemented in the future - see feature request 218 (it appears as a bug).	#REDIRECT [[United States]]
Link to a page on the same subject in another language by using a link of the form: [[language code:Title]]. It does not matter where you put these links while editing as they will always show up in the same place when you save the page, but placement at the end of the edit box is recommended. Please see Wikipedia:Interlanguage links and the list of languages and codes.	[[fr:Wikipédia:Aide]]
What links here and Related changes pages can be linked as: Special:Whatlinkshere/Wikipedia:How to edit a page and Special:Recentchangeslinked/Wikipedia:How to edit a page	'''What links here''' and '''Related changes''' pages can be linked as: [[Special:Whatlinkshere/ Wikipedia:How to edit a page]] and [[Special:Recentchangeslinked/ Wikipedia:How to edit a page]]
A user's Contributions page can be linked as: Special:Contributions/UserName or Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0	A user's '''Contributions''' page can be linked as: [[Special:Contributions/UserName]] or [[Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0]]
To put an article in a Wikipedia:Category, place a link like the one to the right anywhere in the article. As with interlanguage links, it does not matter where you put these links while editing as they will always show up in the same place when you save the page, but placement at the end of the edit box is recommended.	[[Category:Character sets]]
To link to a Wikipedia:Category page without putting the article into the category, use an initial colon (:) in the link.	[[:Category:Character sets]]
Three ways to link to external (non-wiki) sources: Bare URL: http://www.nupedia.com/ (bad style) Unnamed link: [1] (only used within article body for footnotes) Named link: Nupedia See MetaWikiPedia:Interwiki_map for the list of shortcuts. Square brackets indicate an external link. Note the use of a space (not a pipe) to separate the URL from the link text in the "named" version. In the URL, all symbols must be among: A-Z a-z 0-9 . _ \ / ~ % - + & # ? ! = ( ) @ If a URL contains a character not in this list, it should be encoded by using a percent sign (%) followed by the hex code of the character, which can be found in the table of ASCII printable characters. For example, the caret character (^) would be encoded in a URL as %5E. If the "named" version contains a closing square bracket "]", then you must use the HTML special character syntax, i.e. &#93; otherwise the MediaWiki software will prematurely interpret this as the end of the external link. There is a class that can be used to remove the arrow image from the external link. It is used in Template:Ref to stop the URL from expanding during printing. It should never be used in the main body of an article. However, there is an exception: wikilinks in Image markup. An example of the markup is as follows: Markup: <span class="plainlinksneverexpand"> [http://www.sysinternals.com/ ntw2k/freeware/winobj.shtml WinObj]</span> Display: WinObj See Wikipedia:External links for style issues.	Three ways to link to external (non-wiki) sources: # Bare URL: http://www.nupedia.com/ (bad style) # Unnamed link: [http://www.nupedia.com/] (only used within article body for footnotes) # Named link: [http://www.nupedia.com Nupedia]
Linking to other wikis: Interwiki link: Wiktionary:Hello Interwiki link without prefix: Hello Named interwiki link: Wiktionary definition of 'Hello' All of these forms lead to the URL http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Hello Note that interwiki links use the internal link style. See MetaWikiPedia:Interwiki_map for the list of shortcuts; if the site you want to link to is not on the list, use an external link (see above). See also Wikipedia:How to link to Wikimedia projects. Linking to another language's wiktionary: Wiktionary:fr:bonjour bonjour fr:bonjour All of these forms lead to the URL http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/bonjour	Linking to other wikis: # [[Interwiki]] link: [[Wiktionary:Hello]] # Interwiki link without prefix: [[Wiktionary:Hello|]] # Named interwiki link: [[Wiktionary:Hello| Wiktionary definition of 'Hello']] Linking to another language's wiktionary: # [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour]] # [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour|bonjour]] # [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour|]]
ISBN 012345678X ISBN 0-12-345678-X Link to books using their ISBN. This is preferred to linking to a specific online bookstore, because it gives the reader a choice of vendors. However, if one bookstore or online service provides additional free information, such as table of contents or excerpts from the text, then a link to that source will aid the user and is recommended. ISBN links do not need any extra markup, provided you use one of the indicated formats.	ISBN 012345678X ISBN 0-12-345678-X
Text mentioning RFC 4321 anywhere Link to Internet Engineering Task Force RFCs.	Text mentioning RFC 4321 anywhere
Date formats: July 20, 1969 20 July 1969 1969-07-20 1969-07-20 Link dates in one of the above formats, so that everyone can set their own display order. If logged in, you can use Special:Preferences to change your own date display setting. All of the above dates will appear as "20 July 1969" if you set your date display preference to "15 January 2001", but as "July 20, 1969" if you set it to "January 15, 2001", or as "1969-07-20" if you set it to "2001-01-15".	Date formats: # [[July 20]], [[1969]] # [[20 July]] [[1969]] # [[1969]]-[[07-20]] # [[1969-07-20]]
Special WP:AO links like this year needing future maintenance	Special [[WP:AO]] links like [[As of 2006|this year]] needing future maintenance
Sound To include links to non-image uploads such as sounds, use a "media" link. For images, see next section. Some uploaded sounds are listed at Wikipedia:Sound.	[[media:Sg_mrob.ogg|Sound]]

Images

Only images that have been uploaded to Wikipedia can be used. To upload images, use the upload page. You can find the uploaded image on the image list.

What it looks like	What you type
A picture:	A picture: [[Image:wiki.png]]
With alternative text: jigsaw globe	With alternative text: [[Image:wiki.png|jigsaw globe]] Alternative text, used when a mouse hovers over the image or when the image is not loaded in a text-only browser, or when spoken aloud, is strongly encouraged. See Alternate text for images for help on choosing it.
Floating to the right side of the page and with a caption: File:Wiki.png Wikipedia Encyclopedia	Floating to the right side of the page and with a caption: [[Image:wiki.png|frame|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]] The frame tag automatically floats the image right. The caption is also used as alternate text.
Floating to the right side of the page without a caption: Wikipedia Encyclopedia	Floating to the right side of the page ''without'' a caption: [[Image:wiki.png|right|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]] The help topic on Extended image syntax explains more options.
A picture resized to 30 pixels... 30 px	A picture resized to 30 pixels... [[Image:wiki.png|30 px]] The help topic on Extended image syntax explains more options.
Linking directly to the description page of an image:	Linking directly to the description page of an image: [[:Image:wiki.png]] Clicking on an image displayed on a page (such as any of the ones above) also leads to the description page
Linking directly to an image without displaying it: Image of the jigsaw globe logo	Linking directly to an image without displaying it: [[media:wiki.png|Image of the jigsaw globe logo]] To include links to images shown as links instead of drawn on the page, use a "media" link.
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 |- | Place images here |}

See the Wikipedia's image use policy as a guideline used on Wikipedia.

For further help on images, including some more versatile abilities, see the topic on Extended image syntax.

Character formatting

What it looks like	What you type
Emphasized text Strong emphasis Even stronger emphasis	''Emphasized text'' '''Strong emphasis''' '''''Even stronger emphasis'''''
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.
Better stay away from big text, unless it's within small text.	Better stay away from <big>big text</big>, unless <small> it's <big>within</big> small</small> text.
You can strike out deleted material and underline new material. You can also mark deleted material and inserted material using logical markup. For backwards compatibility better combine this potentially ignored new logical with the old physical markup. When editing regular Wikipedia articles, just make your changes and do not 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. For backwards compatibility better combine this potentially ignored new <del>logical</del> with the old <s><del>physical</del></s> markup.
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 -->
Diacritical marks: 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 special characters.	&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 or x₀ x₁ x₂ x₃ x₄ x₅ x₆ x₇ x₈ x₉ Superscripts: x1 x2 x3 or x⁰ x¹ x² x³ x⁴ x⁵ x⁶ x⁷ x⁸ x⁹ The latter methods of sub/superscripting cannot be used in the most general context, as they rely on Unicode support which may not be present on all users' machines. For the 1-2-3 superscripts, it is nevertheless 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> or <br/> x&#8320; x&#8321; x&#8322; x&#8323; x&#8324; <br/> x&#8325; x&#8326; x&#8327; x&#8328; x&#8329; x<sup>1</sup> x<sup>2</sup> x<sup>3</sup> or <br/> x&#8304; x&sup1; x&sup2; x&sup3; x&#8308; <br/> x&#8309; x&#8310; x&#8311; x&#8312; x&#8313; &epsilon;<sub>0</sub> = 8.85 &times; 10<sup>&minus;12</sup> C&sup2; / J m. 1 [[hectare]] = [[1 E4 m&sup2;]]
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;
Mathematical characters: ∫ ∑ ∏ √ − ± ∞ ≈ ∝ ≡ ≠ ≤ ≥ × · ÷ ∂ ′ ″ ∇ ‰ ° ∴ ℵ ø ∈ ∉ ∩ ∪ ⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇ ¬ ∧ ∨ ∃ ∀ ⇒ ⇐ ⇓ ⇑ ⇔ → ↓ ↑ ← ↔ See also WikiProject Mathematics and TeX.	&int; &sum; &prod; &radic; &minus; &plusmn; &infin; &asymp; &prop; &equiv; &ne; &le; &ge; &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; &lArr; &dArr; &uArr; &hArr; &rarr; &darr; &uarr; &larr; &harr;
<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
Spacing in simple math formulas: Obviously, x² ≥ 0 is true when x is a real number. 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 when ''x'' is a real number.
Complicated formulas: <math>\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</math> See 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>

(see also: Chess symbols in Unicode)

No or limited formatting - showing exactly what is being typed

A few different kinds of formatting will tell the Wiki to display things as you typed them - what you see, is what you get!

	What it looks like	What you type
<nowiki> tags	The nowiki tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''. It reformats text by removing newlines and multiple spaces. It still interprets special characters: →	<nowiki> The nowiki tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''. It reformats text by removing newlines and multiple spaces. It still interprets special characters: &rarr; </nowiki>
<pre> tags	The pre tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''. It also doesn't reformat text. It still interprets special characters: →	<pre> The pre tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''. It also doesn't reformat text. It still interprets special characters: &rarr; </pre>
Leading spaces	Leading spaces are another way to preserve formatting. Putting a space at the beginning of each line stops the text from being reformatted. It still interprets Wiki markup and special characters: →	Leading spaces are another way to preserve formatting. Putting a space at the beginning of each line stops the text from being reformatted. It still interprets [[Wiki]] ''markup'' and special characters: &rarr;

Table of contents

At the current status of the wiki markup language, having at least four headers on a page triggers the TOC to appear in front of the first header (or after introductory sections). Putting __TOC__ anywhere forces the TOC to appear at that point (instead of just before the first header). Putting __NOTOC__ anywhere forces the TOC to disappear. See also compact TOC for alphabet and year headings.

Tables

There are two ways to build tables:

• in special Wiki-markup (see Help:Table)
• with the usual HTML elements: <table>, <tr>, <td> or <th>.

For the latter, and a discussion on when tables are appropriate, see Wikipedia:How to use tables.

Variables

(See also Help:Variable)

Code	Effect
{{CURRENTWEEK}}	47
{{CURRENTDOW}}	5
{{CURRENTMONTH}}	11
{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}}	November
{{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}}	November
{{CURRENTDAY}}	22
{{CURRENTDAYNAME}}	Friday
{{CURRENTYEAR}}	2024
{{CURRENTTIME}}	21:33
{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}	125
{{NUMBEROFUSERS}}	10
{{PAGENAME}}	Contents
{{NAMESPACE}}	Help
{{REVISIONID}}	1419
{{localurl:pagename}}	/wiki/index.php/Pagename
{{localurl:Wikipedia:Sandbox|action=edit}}	/wiki/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Sandbox&action=edit
{{fullurl:pagename}}	https://wiki.durhamtech.edu/wiki/index.php/Pagename
{{fullurl:pagename|query_string}}	https://wiki.durhamtech.edu/wiki/index.php?title=Pagename&query_string
{{SERVER}}	https://wiki.durhamtech.edu
{{ns:1}}	Talk
{{ns:2}}	User
{{ns:3}}	User talk
{{ns:4}}	DurhamtechWiki
{{ns:5}}	DurhamtechWiki talk
{{ns:6}}	File
{{ns:7}}	File talk
{{ns:8}}	MediaWiki
{{ns:9}}	MediaWiki talk
{{ns:10}}	Template
{{ns:11}}	Template talk
{{ns:12}}	Help
{{ns:13}}	Help talk
{{ns:14}}	Category
{{ns:15}}	Category talk
{{SITENAME}}	DurhamtechWiki

NUMBEROFARTICLES is the number of pages in the main namespace which contain a link and are not a redirect, in other words number of articles, stubs containing a link, and disambiguation pages.

CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN is the genitive (possessive) grammatical form of the month name, as used in some languages; CURRENTMONTHNAME is the nominative (subject) form, as usually seen in English.

In languages where it makes a difference, you can use constructs like {{grammar:case|word}} to convert a word from the nominative case to some other case. For example, {{grammar:genitive|{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}}}} means the same as {{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}}.

Templates

The MediaWiki software used by Wikipedia has support for templates. This means standardized text chunks (such as boilerplate text) can be inserted into articles. For example, typing Template:Tl will appear as "This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it." when the page is saved. See Wikipedia:Template messages for the complete list. Other commonly used templates are: Template:Tl for disambiguation pages, Template:Tl for spoiler warnings and Template:Tl like an article stub but for a section. There are many subject-specific stubs for example: Template:Tl, Template:Tl, and Template:Tl. For a complete list of stubs see WP:WSS/ST.

Hiding the edit links

Insert __NOEDITSECTION__ into the document to suppress the edit links that appear next to every section header.

More information on editing wiki pages

You may also want to learn about:

• How to start a page
• Informal tips on contributing to Wikipedia
• Editing tasks in general at the Wikipedia:Editing FAQ
• Rename pages boldly, at Wikipedia:How to rename (move) a page
• Preferred layout of your article, at Guide to layout (see also Wikipedia:Boilerplate text)
• Style conventions in the Wikipedia:Manual of Style
• An article with annotations pointing out common Wikipedia style and layout issues, at Wikipedia:Annotated article
• General policies in Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines
• Wikipedia:Naming conventions for how to name articles themselves
• Help on editing very large articles
• If you are making an article about something that belongs to a group of objects (a city, an astronomical object, a Chinese character...) check if there is a WikiProject on the group and try to follow its directions explicitly.
• Help:Formula
• User's guide to editing
• Wikipedia:MediaWiki
• Finally, for a list of articles about editing Wikipedia consult Wikipedia:Style and How-to Directory.

See also

• Editing cheatsheet