Formatting
You can format your text by using wiki markup. This consists of normal characters like asterisks, apostrophes, or equal signs which have a special function in the wiki, sometimes depending on their position. For example, to format a word in italic, you include it in two pairs of apostrophes like ''this''
.
Text formatting markup
Description | You type | You get |
---|---|---|
Character (inline) formatting – applies anywhere | ||
Italic text | ''<translate nowrap><!--T:8--> italic'' |
italic |
Bold text | '''<translate nowrap><!--T:11--> bold''' |
bold |
Bold and italic | '''''<translate nowrap><!--T:14--> bold & italic''''' |
bold & italic Template:Table-AnchorRow |
Escape wiki markup | <syntaxhighlight lang="html">
Template:^(nowikiTemplate:)^<translate nowrap> no wiki markupTemplate:^(/nowikiTemplate:)^ </syntaxhighlight> |
no [[wiki]] ''markup'' |
Section formatting – only at the beginning of the line | ||
Section Headings of different levels | <translate nowrap> == Level 2 == <!--T:26--> === Level 3 === <!--T:27--> ==== Level 4 ==== <!--T:28--> ===== Level 5 ===== <!--T:29--> ====== Level 6 ====== <!--T:30--> |
Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5Level 6 |
Horizontal rule | <translate nowrap><!--T:41--> Text before ---- <translate nowrap><!--T:42--> Text after |
Text before Text after |
Bullet list |
<translate nowrap> <!--T:46--> * Start each line * with an [[Wikipedia:asterisk|asterisk]] (*). ** More asterisks give deeper *** and deeper levels. * Line breaks <br />don't break levels. *** But jumping levels creates empty space. Any other start ends the list. <!--T:160--> * combine bullet list ** with definition ::- definition ** creates empty space <!--T:161--> * combine bullet list ** with definition *:- definition ** without empty spaces <!--T:162--> *bullet list :- definition :* sublist that doesn't create empty :* spaces after definition |
Any other start ends the list.
|
Numbered list |
<translate nowrap> <!--T:49--> # Start each line # with a [[Wikipedia:Number_sign|number sign]] (#). ## More number signs give deeper ### and deeper ### levels. # Line breaks <br />don't break levels. ### But jumping levels creates empty space. # Blank lines <!--T:50--> # end the list and start another. Any other start also ends the list. <!--T:183--> <tvar name=1><nowiki>#</nowiki></tvar> use "nowiki" tags to display a literal (#) at the beginning of a line without interpreting it as a numbered list. |
Any other start also ends the list. <tvar name=1>#</tvar> use "nowiki" tags to display a literal (#) at the beginning of a line without interpreting it as a numbered list. Template:Table-AnchorRow |
Definition list | <translate nowrap> <!--T:54--> ;item 1 : definition 1 ;item 2 : definition 2-1 : definition 2-2 |
|
Indent text | <translate nowrap> <!--T:57--> : Single indent :: Double indent ::::: Multiple indent |
|
Mixture of different types of list | <syntaxhighlight lang="html">
<translate nowrap>
</syntaxhighlight> |
|
Preformatted text | <translate nowrap><!--T:65--> Start each line with a space. <translate nowrap><!--T:179--> Text is '''preformatted''' and <translate nowrap><!--T:180--> ''markups'' '''''can''''' be done. |
Start each line with a space. Text is preformatted and markups can be done. |
Preformatted text blocks | <nowiki><translate nowrap><!--T:69--> Start with a space in the first column, (before the <tvar name=1><nowiki></tvar>). <!--T:70--> Then your block format will be maintained. <!--T:170--> This is good for copying in code blocks: def function(): """<translate nowrap><!--T:171--> documentation string""" if True: print True else: print False</nowiki> |
<translate nowrap> Start with a space in the first column, (before the <nowiki>). Then your block format will be maintained. This is good for copying in code blocks: def function(): """<translate nowrap> documentation string""" if True: print True else: print False |
Paragraphs
MediaWiki ignores single line breaks. To start a new paragraph, leave an empty line. You can force a line break within a paragraph with the HTML tag <tvar name=1>Template:Tag</tvar>.
HTML tags
Some HTML tags are allowed in MediaWiki, for example <tvar name=1>Template:Tag</tvar>, [[w:Div and span|<tvar name=2>Template:Tag</tvar>, and <tvar name=3>Template:Tag</tvar>]]. These apply anywhere you insert them.
Description | You type | You get |
---|---|---|
Inserted (Displays as underline in most browsers) |
<syntaxhighlight lang=html>
<translate nowrap> Inserted <translate nowrap> or <translate nowrap> Underline </syntaxhighlight> |
Inserted or Underline Template:Table-AnchorRow |
Deleted (Displays as strike-through in most browsers) |
<syntaxhighlight lang=html>
<translate nowrap> or
</syntaxhighlight> |
or
|
Fixed width text | <syntaxhighlight lang=html><translate nowrap> Source code </syntaxhighlight>
|
Source code
|
Blockquotes | <syntaxhighlight lang=html>
<translate nowrap> Text before
<translate nowrap> Text after </syntaxhighlight> |
Text before
Text after |
Quotes | <syntaxhighlight lang=html><translate nowrap> This is a quotation</syntaxhighlight> |
This is a quotation |
Comment | <syntaxhighlight lang=html>
<translate nowrap> Comments are visible only in the edit zone. </syntaxhighlight> |
Comments are visible only in the edit zone. |
Completely preformatted text | <syntaxhighlight lang="html">
<translate nowrap> <!--T:115--> Text is '''preformatted''' and ''markups'' '''''cannot''''' be done </syntaxhighlight> |
<translate nowrap> <!--T:117--> Text is '''preformatted''' and ''markups'' '''''cannot''''' be done |
Customized preformatted text | <syntaxhighlight lang="html">
<translate nowrap> <!--T:119--> Text is '''preformatted''' with a style and ''markups'' '''''cannot''''' be done </syntaxhighlight> |
<translate nowrap> <!--T:121--> Text is '''preformatted''' with a style and ''markups'' '''''cannot''''' be done |
continued:
Description | You type | You get |
---|---|---|
Default preformatted text has a CSS attribute (white-space: pre-wrap; ) to wrap the text according to available width
|
<syntaxhighlight lang=html>
<translate nowrap><!--T:127--> This long sentence is used to demonstrate text wrapping. This additional sentence makes the text even longer. This additional sentence makes the text even longer. </syntaxhighlight> |
<translate nowrap><!--T:128--> This long sentence is used to demonstrate text wrapping. This additional sentence makes the text even longer. This additional sentence makes the text even longer. |
Customized preformatted text with disabled text wrapping | <syntaxhighlight lang=html>
<translate nowrap><!--T:130--> This long sentence is used to demonstrate text wrapping. This additional sentence makes the text even longer. This additional sentence makes the text even longer. </syntaxhighlight> |
<translate nowrap><!--T:131--> This long sentence is used to demonstrate text wrapping. This additional sentence makes the text even longer. This additional sentence makes the text even longer. |
Inserting symbols
Symbols and other special characters not available on your keyboard can be inserted in a multitude of ways. Many Operating Systems and browsers allow you to insert special characters through a menu option or Operating System panel. Additionally, you can use the WikiEditor or VisualEditor to insert them into the edit screen.
As a last resort, you can use a special sequence of characters. Those sequences are called HTML entities. For example, the following sequence (entity) → when inserted will be shown as right arrow HTML symbol → and — when inserted will be shown as an em dash HTML symbol —.
Á | á | Â | â | ´ | Æ | æ | À | à | ℵ | Α | α | & | ∧ | ∠ | Å | å | ≈ | Ã | ã | Ä | ä | „ | Β | β | ¦ | • | ∩ | Ç | ç | ¸ | ¢ |
Χ | χ | ˆ | ♣ | ≅ | © | ↵ | ∪ | ¤ | † | ‡ | ↓ | ⇓ | ° | Δ | δ | ♦ | ÷ | É | é | Ê | ê | È | è | ∅ | Ε | ε | ≡ | Η | η | ||
Ð | ð | Ë | ë | € | ∃ | ƒ | ∀ | ½ | ¼ | ¾ | ⁄ | Γ | γ | ≥ | > | ↔ | ⇔ | ♥ | … | Í | í | Î | î | ¡ | Ì | ì | ℑ | ∞ | ∫ | Ι | ι |
¿ | ∈ | Ï | ï | Κ | κ | Λ | λ | ⟨ | « | ← | ⇐ | ⌈ | “ | ≤ | ⌊ | ∗ | ◊ | | ‹ | ‘ | < | ¯ | — | µ | · | − | Μ | μ | ∇ | – | |
≠ | ∋ | ¬ | ∉ | ⊄ | Ñ | ñ | Ν | ν | Ó | ó | Ô | ô | Œ | œ | Ò | ò | ‾ | Ω | ω | Ο | ο | ⊕ | ∨ | ª | º | Ø | ø | Õ | õ | ⊗ | Ö |
ö | ¶ | ∂ | ‰ | ⊥ | Φ | φ | Π | π | ϖ | ± | £ | ′ | ″ | ∏ | ∝ | Ψ | ψ | " | √ | ⟩ | » | → | ⇒ | ⌉ | ” | ℜ | ® | ⌋ | Ρ | ρ | |
› | ’ | ‚ | Š | š | ⋅ | § | | Σ | σ | ς | ∼ | ♠ | ⊂ | ⊆ | ∑ | ⊃ | ¹ | ² | ³ | ⊇ | ß | Τ | τ | ∴ | Θ | θ | ϑ | Þ | þ | ˜ | |
× | ™ | Ú | ú | ↑ | ⇑ | Û | û | Ù | ù | ¨ | ϒ | Υ | υ | Ü | ü | ℘ | Ξ | ξ | Ý | ý | ¥ | ÿ | Ÿ | Ζ | ζ | | |
Description | You type | You get |
---|---|---|
Copyright symbol | © |
|
Greek delta letter symbol | δ |
|
Euro currency symbol | € |
|
See the list of all HTML entities on the Wikipedia article List of HTML entities. Additionally, MediaWiki supports two non-standard entity reference sequences: &רלמ;
and &رلم;
which are both considered equivalent to ‏
which is a right-to-left mark. (Used when combining right to left languages with left to right languages in the same page.)
HTML tags and symbol entities displayed themselves (with and without interpreting them)
- <syntaxhighlight lang=html inline>€</syntaxhighlight> → €
- <syntaxhighlight lang=html inline><translate nowrap> Typo to be corrected</syntaxhighlight> → Typo to be corrected
- <syntaxhighlight lang=html inline><span style="color: red; text-decoration: line-through;"><translate nowrap> Typo to be corrected</syntaxhighlight> → <span style="color: red; text-decoration: line-through;"> Typo to be corrected</span>
Nowiki for HTML
Template:Tag can prohibit (HTML) tags:
- <<nowiki />pre> → <pre>
But not & symbol escapes:
- &<nowiki />amp; → &
To print & symbol escapes as text, use "<tvar name=1><syntaxhighlight inline lang="html">&</syntaxhighlight></tvar>" to replace the "&" character (eg. type "<tvar name=2><syntaxhighlight inline lang="html"> </syntaxhighlight></tvar>", which results in "<tvar name=3><syntaxhighlight inline lang="html"> </syntaxhighlight></tvar>").
Other formatting
Beyond the text formatting markup shown hereinbefore, here are some other formatting references:
- LanguageConverter markup – see <tvar name=1>Template:Ll</tvar>
- References – see <tvar name=1>Template:Ll</tvar>
- [[<tvar name=tables>Special:MyLanguage/Help:Tables</tvar>|Tables]]
You can find more references at <tvar name=1>Template:Ll</tvar>.