Help:Formatting: Difference between revisions

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(Rewritten the page all the way down to the Links heading)
(Clarifying, rephrasing and extending + External links to more detailed help. About 98% done rewriting)
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The basics of '''editing''' the wiki will be gone through on this help page.  You, the users, can collaboratively edit this wiki and help each other out to extend and improve this wiki.
:''For help on tables and templates, see [[Help:Tables]] and [[Help:Templates]].''
This page is about '''editing''' a wiki page.  We will go through the general disposition of articles on this wiki, basic wiki editing, when and how to add links to other wiki pages and articles as well as a few other things.  The more advanced editing are will not be dealt with on this page though.


== Typical article layout ==
== Typical article disposition ==
;Messageboxes
;Messageboxes
:A typical article page could begin with one or more ''messageboxes'' telling the reader something about the article, like that it is outdated due to new developments.
:One or more ''messageboxes'' could sometimes begin typical article page.  The messageboxes would tell a reader or editor something about the article, like for example that it is outdated due to new developments.


;Infobox or navbox
;Infobox or navbox
:The message boxes are often followed by either a ''infobox'' about a software, an aircraft etc. or a ''navbox'' to help the reader find his way around an article series.
:Often an ''infobox'' or ''navbox'' will follow.  An ''infobox'' will contain more detailed information about a piece of software, an aircraft, an airport etc. that is the topic of the article and a ''navbox'' could help the reader find his way around a series of or similar articles.


;Short summary
;First section
:An ''short summary'' of the article should precede the article text, even before the first heading, preferably containing the '''title of the article in bold''' within the first sentence. This summary would help a reader to quickly figure out if he found the page he was looking for, as well as help a him grasp the main concepts of an article a bit faster.
:The ''first section'' of an article should be a ''short summary'' of the article or an ingress.  Preferably the '''page title in bold''' should be within the first sentence or the first section.
:This short summary of the article would help a reader to quickly figure out if he found the page he was looking for, as well as help a him grasp the main concepts of an article a bit faster.


;Article text
;Article text
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;Language links and categories
;Language links and categories
All articles should end with one or more ''categories'', who often is preceded by ''language links''.
:All articles should end with one or more ''categories''. They are preceded by ''language links'', if there is any translations of that page.


  <nowiki>{{Some messagebox}}
  <nowiki>{{Some messagebox}}
{{Some infobox or navbox}}
{{Some infobox or navbox}}


A '''generic article layout''' would be something like this.
A '''generic article disposition''' would look something like this.


== Heading ==
== Heading ==
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[[Category:Some category]]</nowiki>
[[Category:Some category]]</nowiki>
== Preview and edit summary ==
Before saving an edit you will have to ''preview'' the page or section.  There is also a one-line text field labelled ''Edit summary'', in which you could add a short summary of your edit.  This summary will be shown in the revision history in the "View history" tab after you have saved your edit.
You are highly encouraged to always add an edit summary as this will help follow the changes done to a page.


== Basic text formatting ==
== Basic text formatting ==
Wiki editing is a bit different from editing text in a word processor.  You will not see what the text will look like until you click the preview button.  In order to have the text human editable it uses a markup language that is considerably simpler than the HTML that is used in the resulting web page.  This markup is often called wiki markup or wikitext and is the same one as the one used on Wikipedia which uses the same software, MediaWiki.
Wiki editing is a bit different from editing text in a word processor.  You will not see what the text will look like until you click the preview button.  In order to have the text human editable it uses a markup language that is considerably simpler than the HTML that is used in the resulting web page.  This markup is often called wiki markup or wikitext and is the same one as the one used on Wikipedia which uses the same software, MediaWiki.
=== Paragraphs ===
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
! Description
! width="30%" | What you type
! width="30%" | What you get
|-
| Paragraphs are separated by newlines.
|
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Nunc consequat, mauris et ornare mattis, tellus justo placerat sem, in luctus tellus enim vitae magna. Sed malesuada, tellus id tincidunt convallis, purus massa iaculis nibh, a egestas lorem libero a orci. Nam sit amet blandit turpis.
Vestibulum tincidunt tincidunt leo eget ullamcorper. Pellentesque tempor erat ac ipsum pharetra mollis. Maecenas massa risus, placerat et mauris in, porttitor aliquam tortor. Aenean ac nisl sit amet turpis porta sagittis vitae ac urna.</pre>
| Nunc consequat, mauris et ornare mattis, tellus justo placerat sem, in luctus tellus enim vitae magna. Sed malesuada, tellus id tincidunt convallis, purus massa iaculis nibh, a egestas lorem libero a orci. Nam sit amet blandit turpis.
Vestibulum tincidunt tincidunt leo eget ullamcorper. Pellentesque tempor erat ac ipsum pharetra mollis. Maecenas massa risus, placerat et mauris in, porttitor aliquam tortor. Aenean ac nisl sit amet turpis porta sagittis vitae ac urna.
|-
| Though empty lines makes the wiki markup easier to read.
|
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Nunc consequat, mauris et ornare mattis, tellus justo placerat sem, in luctus tellus enim vitae magna. Sed malesuada, tellus id tincidunt convallis, purus massa iaculis nibh, a egestas lorem libero a orci. Nam sit amet blandit turpis.
Vestibulum tincidunt tincidunt leo eget ullamcorper. Pellentesque tempor erat ac ipsum pharetra mollis. Maecenas massa risus, placerat et mauris in, porttitor aliquam tortor. Aenean ac nisl sit amet turpis porta sagittis vitae ac urna.</pre>
| Nunc consequat, mauris et ornare mattis, tellus justo placerat sem, in luctus tellus enim vitae magna. Sed malesuada, tellus id tincidunt convallis, purus massa iaculis nibh, a egestas lorem libero a orci. Nam sit amet blandit turpis.
Vestibulum tincidunt tincidunt leo eget ullamcorper. Pellentesque tempor erat ac ipsum pharetra mollis. Maecenas massa risus, placerat et mauris in, porttitor aliquam tortor. Aenean ac nisl sit amet turpis porta sagittis vitae ac urna.
|-
| Two empty lines will add more space, though this is used sparsely.
|
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Nunc consequat, mauris et ornare mattis, tellus justo placerat sem, in luctus tellus enim vitae magna. Sed malesuada, tellus id tincidunt convallis, purus massa iaculis nibh, a egestas lorem libero a orci. Nam sit amet blandit turpis.
Vestibulum tincidunt tincidunt leo eget ullamcorper. Pellentesque tempor erat ac ipsum pharetra mollis. Maecenas massa risus, placerat et mauris in, porttitor aliquam tortor. Aenean ac nisl sit amet turpis porta sagittis vitae ac urna.</pre>
| Nunc consequat, mauris et ornare mattis, tellus justo placerat sem, in luctus tellus enim vitae magna. Sed malesuada, tellus id tincidunt convallis, purus massa iaculis nibh, a egestas lorem libero a orci. Nam sit amet blandit turpis.
Vestibulum tincidunt tincidunt leo eget ullamcorper. Pellentesque tempor erat ac ipsum pharetra mollis. Maecenas massa risus, placerat et mauris in, porttitor aliquam tortor. Aenean ac nisl sit amet turpis porta sagittis vitae ac urna.
|}


=== Bold and italics ===
=== Bold and italics ===
Bold and italics are marked using two, three or five apostrophes '''<nowiki>'</nowiki>''' on each side of the text section to be emphasized.
Bold and italics are marked using two, three or five apostrophes ('''<nowiki>'</nowiki>''') on each side of the text section to be emphasized.


{| class="wikitable" width="60%"
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
! Description
! width="30%" | What you type
! width="30%" | What you type
! width="30%" | What you get
! width="30%" | What you get
|-
|-
| Italic text is marked with two apostrophes on each side.
|
|
  <nowiki>''Italics''</nowiki>
  <nowiki>''Italics''</nowiki>
| ''Italics''
| ''Italics''
|-
|-
| Bold text is marked with three apostrophes on each side.
|
|
  <nowiki>'''Bold'''</nowiki>
  <nowiki>'''Bold'''</nowiki>
| '''Bold'''
| '''Bold'''
|-
|-
| Bold and italic text is marked by five apostrophes on each side.
|
|
  <nowiki>'''''Bold italics'''''</nowiki>
  <nowiki>'''''Bold italics'''''</nowiki>
|'''''Bold italics'''''
| '''''Bold italics'''''
|-
| Bold and bold italics can be combined.
|
<nowiki>'''Bold ''italics'''''</nowiki>
| '''Bold ''italics'''''
|}
|}


=== A few useful HTML tags ===
=== A few useful HTML tags ===
Yes you can use HTML tags in a wiki page.  Usually it is not needed, but in a few cases they can be very helpful.
Yes you ''can'' use HTML tags in a wiki page.  Usually it is not needed though, as you in the most cases are better helped by wiki markup, but in a few cases they can be very helpful.


{| class="wikitable" width="60%"
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
! Description
! width="30%" | What you type
! width="30%" | What you type
! width="30%" | What you get
! width="30%" | What you get
|-
|-
| To get subscript text use the &lt;sub&gt; tag.
|
|
  <nowiki>V<sub>NE</sub></nowiki>
  <nowiki>V<sub>NE</sub></nowiki>
| V<sub>NE</sub>
| V<sub>NE</sub>
|-
|-
| To get superscript text use the &lt;sup&gt; tag.
|
|
  <nowiki>ft<sup>2</sup></nowiki>
  <nowiki>ft<sup>2</sup></nowiki>
| ft<sup>2</sup>
| ft<sup>2</sup>
|-
|-
| Stroke through text.
|
|
  <nowiki><!-- Comment --></nowiki>
<nowiki><s>Some text</s></nowiki>
| <s>Some text</s>
|-
| Comments can be added using HTML comment tags on each side.
|
  <nowiki><!-- Commented text --></nowiki>
|
|
|}
|}
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Apart from the HTML tags there is also some wiki tags, a few of them more useful than the others.
Apart from the HTML tags there is also some wiki tags, a few of them more useful than the others.


{| class="wikitable" width="60%"
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
! Description
! width="30%" | What you type
! width="30%" | What you type
! width="30%" | What you get
! width="30%" | What you get
|-
|-
| A quick way to ''not'' wiki format a section of text one can use the &lt;nowiki&gt; tag.
|
|
  <nowiki>&lt;nowiki&gt;'''Bold'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;</nowiki>
  <nowiki>&lt;nowiki&gt;M<sub>NE</sub>&lt;/nowiki&gt;</nowiki>
| <nowiki>'''Bold'''</nowiki>
| <nowiki>M<sub>NE</sub></nowiki>
|}
|}


== Lists and indentation ==
== Lists and indentation ==
Lists and numbered lists can be done in wiki markup. Unfortunately numbered lists can not be started from an arbitrary number. Do note that both list and indentation markup must start right at the left margin.
Unordered or bullet lists and ordered or numbered lists can be done in wiki markup. They can also be mixed when needed.  Unfortunately numbered lists can ''not'' be started from an arbitrary number. Do note that both list and indentation markup must start right at the left margin.


Indentation is usually the way that comments from different users are separated.
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
 
! Description
{| class="wikitable" width="60%"
! width="30%" | What you type
! width="30%" | What you type
! width="30%" | What you get
! width="30%" | What you get
|-
|-
| Unordered lists are done by starting the line with a asterisk ('''*''').  The next level starts with two asterisks etc.
|
|
  <nowiki>* Item
  <nowiki>* Item
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*** Item
*** Item
|-
|-
| Ordered lists are done by starting the line with a hash ('''#''').  The next level starts with two hashes etc.
|
|
  <nowiki># Item
  <nowiki># Item
Line 120: Line 182:
## Item
## Item
## Item
## Item
### Item</nowiki>
### Item
# Item</nowiki>
|
|
# Item
# Item
Line 127: Line 190:
## Item
## Item
### Item
### Item
# Item
|-
|-
| An empty line will break the numbering.
|
<nowiki># Item
# Item
# Item
# Item
</nowiki>
|
# Item
# Item
# Item
# Item
|-
| When needed ordered and unordered lists can be combined.
|
|
  <nowiki># Item
  <nowiki># Item
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#* Item
#* Item
|-
|-
| Sometimes you would want to use definition lists.  Terms begin with a semicolon (''';''') and definitions with a colon (''':''').
|
|
  <nowiki>;Term
  <nowiki>;Term
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|-
|-
| Indentation can be added by using one or more colons (''':''').
Indentation is usually the way comments from different users are separated on discussion pages.
|
|
  <nowiki>No indentation
  <nowiki>No indentation
Line 164: Line 248:




=== Headings and subheadings ===
== Headings and subheadings ==
Headings and subheadings are an easy way to improve the organization of an article.  If you can see two or more distinct topics being discussed, you can break up the article in sections by inserting headings.  There are several heading levels, of which level one is reserved for the page title. Do note that heading markup must start right at the left margin.
Headings and subheadings are an easy way to improve the organization of an article.  If you can see two or more distinct subtopics being discussed, you can break up the article in sections by inserting headings.


If a page has more than four headings a table of contents will be generated automaticallyIn some cases you might want one even before that.  That can be done by adding the magic word <code><nowiki>__TOC__</nowiki></code>In some rare cases you would want to suppress the table of contents generationThat can be done with another magic word, <code><nowiki>__NOTOC__</nowiki></code>, though this is most often undesirable.
Headings are added on a new line with two ore more equal signs ('''=''') on each side of the heading titleDo note that heading markup must start right at the left marginIf at all possible, pleas avoid using links in headingsThere are several heading levels, of which level one is reserved for the page title.


Having the page broken up in sections will make it easier for the reader to find his way around the page, as well as help him understand the context of the page and how the pieces fits together.
Having the page broken up in sections will make it easier for the reader to find his way around the page, as well as help him understand the context of the page and how the pieces fits together.


{| class="wikitable" width="60%"
A ''table of contents'' will be generated automatically if a page has more than four headings .  In some cases you might want one even before that.  That can be done by adding the magic word <code><nowiki>__TOC__</nowiki></code>.  In some rare cases you would want to suppress the table of contents generation.  That can be done with another magic word, <code><nowiki>__NOTOC__</nowiki></code>, though this is most often undesirable.
 
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
! Description
! width="30%" | What you type
! width="30%" | What you type
! width="30%" | What you get
! width="30%" | What you get
|-
|-
| Level 2 headings.
|
|
  <nowiki>== Level 2 ==</nowiki>
  <nowiki>== Level 2 ==</nowiki>
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== Level 2 ==
== Level 2 ==
|-
|-
| Level 3 headings.
|
|
  <nowiki>=== Level 3 ===</nowiki>
  <nowiki>=== Level 3 ===</nowiki>
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=== Level 3 ===  
=== Level 3 ===  
|-
|-
| Level 4 headings.
|
|
  <nowiki>==== Level 4 ====</nowiki>
  <nowiki>==== Level 4 ====</nowiki>
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== Links ==
== Links ==
'''Linking''' Wiki articles together is very important. These easily created links allow users to access information related to the article they are reading and greatly add to Wiki's utility.
''Links'' linking together related content on the wiki is very important, even more so than categories. Links can help a reader find more detailed information about a topic as well as help the reader understand a wider context than the topic of the article.  Links can also be passageways to areas that the reader has not previously been aware of, but will find interesting and encouraging.
 
Please check your links when previewing before saving, even more so if you have added external links.
 
=== When not to link ===
Let's start here, since this is the easiest.
* Links to commercial and unrelated web sites, in essence ''spam'', are frowned upon.  Few readers are here looking for cheaper sports shoes...
* Links in headings should be avoided if at all possible.
* Links should preferably be avoided in the first section, though sometimes they are needed right there.


=== When to link ===
=== When to link ===
The easiest way to learn when to link may be to look at Wiki articles for examples.
Apart from the obvious places for links, the two sections "Related content" and "External links", links should preferably be used within a text only the first time their topic is mentioned or when a concept is introduced.


=== How to link ===
However, in longer articles it can be advantageous to have the links occur again further down, even more so if a long portion of the article was about another subtopic or if you can assume that a reader would only look into a longer section of the article.
If you want to make a link to another Wiki page (called a <em>wiki link</em>) you have to put it in double square brackets, like this:
:<tt><nowiki>[[Aircraft]]</nowiki></tt> = [[Aircraft]]


If you want the display text of the link to have a different title, you can do so by adding the pipe "|" divider (SHIFT + BACKSLASH on English-layout and other keyboards) followed by the alternative name. For example:
=== Links to other wiki pages ===
:<tt><nowiki>[[Target page|display text]]</nowiki></tt> = [[Target page|display text]]
''Wikilinks'' or ''internal links'', links to other wiki pages, are marked up with two square brackets ('''<nowiki>[[ ]]</nowiki>''') on each side.
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
! Description
! width="30%" | What you type
! width="30%" | What you get
|-
| Links to other wiki page, wikilink
|
<nowiki>[[Help:Tables]] is a good start.</nowiki>
| [[Help:Tables]] is a good start.
|-
| The first character of the link is case insensitive.
|
<nowiki>Here is a [[list of abbreviations]].</nowiki>
| Here is a [[list of abbreviations]].
|-
| Pipe links are wiki links with a vertical stroke or pipe ('''<nowiki>|</nowiki>''') separating the page to be linked to from an alternative link text
|
<nowiki>A [[Help:Templates|template]] can be very practical.</nowiki>
| A [[Help:Templates|template]] can be very practical.
|-
| You can link to a section of an article by adding a hash ('''#''') and the section heading after the name or the article.
|
<nowiki>Tables can be [[Help:Tables#Sortable tables|sortable]].</nowiki>
| Tables can be [[Help:Tables#Sortable tables|sortable]].
|}


You can make a link to a specific section of a page like so:
=== Links to external sites ===
:<tt><nowiki>[[Target page#Target section|display text]]</nowiki></tt> = [[Target page#Target section|display text]]
''External links'', links to other web sites, are marked up with single square brackets ('''<nowiki>[ ]</nowiki>''') on each side.
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
! Description
! width="30%" | What you type
! width="30%" | What you get
|-
| External link
|
<nowiki>http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links</nowiki>
| http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links
|-
| External link without label
|
<nowiki>[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links]</nowiki>
| [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links]
|-
| External link with label.  A blank space ( ) separates the URL from the label.
|
<nowiki>[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links MediaWiki link help]</nowiki>
| [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links MediaWiki link help]
|}


If you want the display text of the link to appear in italics or bold, nest the double square brackets for the link within the multiple apostrophes that delimit the italicized or bold text, like this:
=== Permalinks and links to diffs ===
:<tt><nowiki>''[[Main Page]]''</nowiki></tt> = ''[[Main Page]]''
''Permalinks'' or ''permanent links'' are links to a revision of a page, in essence to a page as it was at a certain point in time.  ''Diffs'' are comparisons between two revisions of a page.  While they in a sense are internal to the wiki they have to be linked to as if the where external.


Please check your links to ensure they point to the correct article.
In comments on discussion pages, the use of permalinks instead of usual links is highly encouraged, since the content may have changed a lot before the next reader reads the comment.  Sometimes it is also useful to link to a diff.


=== Categories ===
Permalinks can be found either under the "Toolbox" drop-down list on the left menu or in the revision history in the "View history" tab. To get the link to a diff you will have to show the diff and copy the URL in your browsers address field.
You can also put the article in a category with others in a related topic. Just type <nowiki>[[Category:]]</nowiki>, and put the name of the category between the colon and the brackets.


To make a link to a Category page (for example, as a reference for further research), simply put a colon (''':''') at the beginning of the "Category" tag, like this:
== Language links ==
{{main article|Help:Translate}}
''Language links'' is links to translations of a page.  Those links will appear in a drop-down list with translations of a page.  Pages in other languages can also be linked to for use in an article text.
 
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
! Description
! width="30%" | What you type
! width="30%" | What you get
|-
| Adding a language link to a page.
|
<nowiki>[[de:Help:Übersetzen]]</nowiki>
|
|-
| Another language version can also be linked to preceding colon ('''<nowiki>:</nowiki>''').
|
<nowiki>See also the [[:de:Help:Übersetzen|German page]].</nowiki>
| See also the [[:de:Help:Übersetzen|German page]].
|}


:<tt><nowiki>[[:Category:Aircraft]]</nowiki></tt>
== Categories ==
{{main article|Help:Categories}}
''Categories'' is almost as important as internal links in helping to put the topic of the article in a broader context.  Categories can both be added to a page and be linked to nearly like usual wikilinks.


The above code would produce the following:
Before adding categories to a page it is always a good idea to browse the category tree to try to find as narrow categories as possible.


:[[:Category:Aircraft]]
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
! Description
! width="30%" | What you type
! width="30%" | What you get
|-
| Adding a category to a page.
|
<nowiki>[[Category:Help]]</nowiki>
|
|-
| Adding a category to a page, but sorted under "707-320" on the category page.
|
<nowiki>[[Category:Boeing|707-320]]</nowiki>
|
|-
| Linking to a category must be done with a preceding colon ('''<nowiki>:</nowiki>''').
|
<nowiki>[[:Category:Help]]</nowiki>
| [[:Category:Help]]
|-
| Links to categories can use a pipe ('''<nowiki>|</nowiki>''') as well.
|
<nowiki>See the [[:Category:Help|help]] category.</nowiki>
| See the [[:Category:Help|help]] category.
|}


=== Redirects ===
== Redirects ==
<!-- This section will eventually find its way to another page as it doesn't really belong here. -->
Pages need redirects if:
Pages need redirects if:
* they have abbreviations (eg. ''HUD'' redirect to ''Head-up display'').
* they have abbreviations (eg. ''HUD'' redirect to ''Head-up display'').
Line 234: Line 419:


<tt><nowiki>#REDIRECT[[Page name]]</nowiki></tt>
<tt><nowiki>#REDIRECT[[Page name]]</nowiki></tt>
== External links ==
=== MediaWiki help pages ===
* [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Editing_pages MW:Help:Editing_pages]
* [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Formatting MW:Help:Formatting]
* [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links MW:Help:Links]
* [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Images MW:Help:Images]
=== Wikimedia Meta-Wiki help pages ===
* [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:List Meta:Help:List]


[[Category:Help]]
[[Category:Help]]

Revision as of 02:27, 30 November 2013

For help on tables and templates, see Help:Tables and Help:Templates.

This page is about editing a wiki page. We will go through the general disposition of articles on this wiki, basic wiki editing, when and how to add links to other wiki pages and articles as well as a few other things. The more advanced editing are will not be dealt with on this page though.

Typical article disposition

Messageboxes
One or more messageboxes could sometimes begin typical article page. The messageboxes would tell a reader or editor something about the article, like for example that it is outdated due to new developments.
Infobox or navbox
Often an infobox or navbox will follow. An infobox will contain more detailed information about a piece of software, an aircraft, an airport etc. that is the topic of the article and a navbox could help the reader find his way around a series of or similar articles.
First section
The first section of an article should be a short summary of the article or an ingress. Preferably the page title in bold should be within the first sentence or the first section.
This short summary of the article would help a reader to quickly figure out if he found the page he was looking for, as well as help a him grasp the main concepts of an article a bit faster.
Article text
The article text that follows is preferably broken up in not too long, but not too short sections. Often it would help the reader if there are images and tables to help understand the article text. Sometimes it is a good thing to mark more some important words differently.
Links
Links to related content and to external resources should be put in the end, though in general having the internal links within the article text is preferable.
Navbox
Many pages end with a navbox with for example other aircraft by the same manufacturer.
Language links and categories
All articles should end with one or more categories. They are preceded by language links, if there is any translations of that page.
{{Some messagebox}}
{{Some infobox or navbox}}

A '''generic article disposition''' would look something like this.

== Heading ==
Some text...

== Related content ==
* [[Some page]]

== External links ==
* [Some link] Some description

{{Some navbox}}

[[en:Some language link]]

[[Category:Some category]]

Preview and edit summary

Before saving an edit you will have to preview the page or section. There is also a one-line text field labelled Edit summary, in which you could add a short summary of your edit. This summary will be shown in the revision history in the "View history" tab after you have saved your edit.

You are highly encouraged to always add an edit summary as this will help follow the changes done to a page.

Basic text formatting

Wiki editing is a bit different from editing text in a word processor. You will not see what the text will look like until you click the preview button. In order to have the text human editable it uses a markup language that is considerably simpler than the HTML that is used in the resulting web page. This markup is often called wiki markup or wikitext and is the same one as the one used on Wikipedia which uses the same software, MediaWiki.

Paragraphs

Description What you type What you get
Paragraphs are separated by newlines.
Nunc consequat, mauris et ornare mattis, tellus justo placerat sem, in luctus tellus enim vitae magna. Sed malesuada, tellus id tincidunt convallis, purus massa iaculis nibh, a egestas lorem libero a orci. Nam sit amet blandit turpis. 
Vestibulum tincidunt tincidunt leo eget ullamcorper. Pellentesque tempor erat ac ipsum pharetra mollis. Maecenas massa risus, placerat et mauris in, porttitor aliquam tortor. Aenean ac nisl sit amet turpis porta sagittis vitae ac urna.
Nunc consequat, mauris et ornare mattis, tellus justo placerat sem, in luctus tellus enim vitae magna. Sed malesuada, tellus id tincidunt convallis, purus massa iaculis nibh, a egestas lorem libero a orci. Nam sit amet blandit turpis.

Vestibulum tincidunt tincidunt leo eget ullamcorper. Pellentesque tempor erat ac ipsum pharetra mollis. Maecenas massa risus, placerat et mauris in, porttitor aliquam tortor. Aenean ac nisl sit amet turpis porta sagittis vitae ac urna.

Though empty lines makes the wiki markup easier to read.
Nunc consequat, mauris et ornare mattis, tellus justo placerat sem, in luctus tellus enim vitae magna. Sed malesuada, tellus id tincidunt convallis, purus massa iaculis nibh, a egestas lorem libero a orci. Nam sit amet blandit turpis. 

Vestibulum tincidunt tincidunt leo eget ullamcorper. Pellentesque tempor erat ac ipsum pharetra mollis. Maecenas massa risus, placerat et mauris in, porttitor aliquam tortor. Aenean ac nisl sit amet turpis porta sagittis vitae ac urna.
Nunc consequat, mauris et ornare mattis, tellus justo placerat sem, in luctus tellus enim vitae magna. Sed malesuada, tellus id tincidunt convallis, purus massa iaculis nibh, a egestas lorem libero a orci. Nam sit amet blandit turpis.

Vestibulum tincidunt tincidunt leo eget ullamcorper. Pellentesque tempor erat ac ipsum pharetra mollis. Maecenas massa risus, placerat et mauris in, porttitor aliquam tortor. Aenean ac nisl sit amet turpis porta sagittis vitae ac urna.

Two empty lines will add more space, though this is used sparsely.
Nunc consequat, mauris et ornare mattis, tellus justo placerat sem, in luctus tellus enim vitae magna. Sed malesuada, tellus id tincidunt convallis, purus massa iaculis nibh, a egestas lorem libero a orci. Nam sit amet blandit turpis. 


Vestibulum tincidunt tincidunt leo eget ullamcorper. Pellentesque tempor erat ac ipsum pharetra mollis. Maecenas massa risus, placerat et mauris in, porttitor aliquam tortor. Aenean ac nisl sit amet turpis porta sagittis vitae ac urna.
Nunc consequat, mauris et ornare mattis, tellus justo placerat sem, in luctus tellus enim vitae magna. Sed malesuada, tellus id tincidunt convallis, purus massa iaculis nibh, a egestas lorem libero a orci. Nam sit amet blandit turpis.


Vestibulum tincidunt tincidunt leo eget ullamcorper. Pellentesque tempor erat ac ipsum pharetra mollis. Maecenas massa risus, placerat et mauris in, porttitor aliquam tortor. Aenean ac nisl sit amet turpis porta sagittis vitae ac urna.

Bold and italics

Bold and italics are marked using two, three or five apostrophes (') on each side of the text section to be emphasized.

Description What you type What you get
Italic text is marked with two apostrophes on each side.
''Italics''
Italics
Bold text is marked with three apostrophes on each side.
'''Bold'''
Bold
Bold and italic text is marked by five apostrophes on each side.
'''''Bold italics'''''
Bold italics
Bold and bold italics can be combined.
'''Bold ''italics'''''
Bold italics

A few useful HTML tags

Yes you can use HTML tags in a wiki page. Usually it is not needed though, as you in the most cases are better helped by wiki markup, but in a few cases they can be very helpful.

Description What you type What you get
To get subscript text use the <sub> tag.
V<sub>NE</sub>
VNE
To get superscript text use the <sup> tag.
ft<sup>2</sup>
ft2
Stroke through text.
<s>Some text</s>
Some text
Comments can be added using HTML comment tags on each side.
<!-- Commented text -->

Apart from the HTML tags there is also some wiki tags, a few of them more useful than the others.

Description What you type What you get
A quick way to not wiki format a section of text one can use the <nowiki> tag.
<nowiki>M<sub>NE</sub></nowiki>
M<sub>NE</sub>

Lists and indentation

Unordered or bullet lists and ordered or numbered lists can be done in wiki markup. They can also be mixed when needed. Unfortunately numbered lists can not be started from an arbitrary number. Do note that both list and indentation markup must start right at the left margin.

Description What you type What you get
Unordered lists are done by starting the line with a asterisk (*). The next level starts with two asterisks etc.
* Item
** Item
*** Item
  • Item
    • Item
      • Item
Ordered lists are done by starting the line with a hash (#). The next level starts with two hashes etc.
# Item
# Item
## Item
## Item
### Item
# Item
  1. Item
  2. Item
    1. Item
    2. Item
      1. Item
  3. Item
An empty line will break the numbering.
# Item
# Item

# Item
# Item

  1. Item
  2. Item
  1. Item
  2. Item
When needed ordered and unordered lists can be combined.
# Item
#* Item
#* Item
# Item
#* Item
  1. Item
    • Item
    • Item
  2. Item
    • Item
Sometimes you would want to use definition lists. Terms begin with a semicolon (;) and definitions with a colon (:).
;Term
:Definition

;Term:  Definition
Term
Definition
Term
Definition
Indentation can be added by using one or more colons (:).

Indentation is usually the way comments from different users are separated on discussion pages.

No indentation
:Indentation
::Indentation

No indentation

Indentation
Indentation


Headings and subheadings

Headings and subheadings are an easy way to improve the organization of an article. If you can see two or more distinct subtopics being discussed, you can break up the article in sections by inserting headings.

Headings are added on a new line with two ore more equal signs (=) on each side of the heading title. Do note that heading markup must start right at the left margin. If at all possible, pleas avoid using links in headings. There are several heading levels, of which level one is reserved for the page title.

Having the page broken up in sections will make it easier for the reader to find his way around the page, as well as help him understand the context of the page and how the pieces fits together.

A table of contents will be generated automatically if a page has more than four headings . In some cases you might want one even before that. That can be done by adding the magic word __TOC__. In some rare cases you would want to suppress the table of contents generation. That can be done with another magic word, __NOTOC__, though this is most often undesirable.

Description What you type What you get
Level 2 headings.
== Level 2 ==

Level 2

Level 3 headings.
=== Level 3 ===

Level 3

Level 4 headings.
==== Level 4 ====

Level 4

Links

Links linking together related content on the wiki is very important, even more so than categories. Links can help a reader find more detailed information about a topic as well as help the reader understand a wider context than the topic of the article. Links can also be passageways to areas that the reader has not previously been aware of, but will find interesting and encouraging.

Please check your links when previewing before saving, even more so if you have added external links.

When not to link

Let's start here, since this is the easiest.

  • Links to commercial and unrelated web sites, in essence spam, are frowned upon. Few readers are here looking for cheaper sports shoes...
  • Links in headings should be avoided if at all possible.
  • Links should preferably be avoided in the first section, though sometimes they are needed right there.

When to link

Apart from the obvious places for links, the two sections "Related content" and "External links", links should preferably be used within a text only the first time their topic is mentioned or when a concept is introduced.

However, in longer articles it can be advantageous to have the links occur again further down, even more so if a long portion of the article was about another subtopic or if you can assume that a reader would only look into a longer section of the article.

Links to other wiki pages

Wikilinks or internal links, links to other wiki pages, are marked up with two square brackets ([[ ]]) on each side.

Description What you type What you get
Links to other wiki page, wikilink
[[Help:Tables]] is a good start.
Help:Tables is a good start.
The first character of the link is case insensitive.
Here is a [[list of abbreviations]].
Here is a list of abbreviations.
Pipe links are wiki links with a vertical stroke or pipe (|) separating the page to be linked to from an alternative link text
A [[Help:Templates|template]] can be very practical.
A template can be very practical.
You can link to a section of an article by adding a hash (#) and the section heading after the name or the article.
Tables can be [[Help:Tables#Sortable tables|sortable]].
Tables can be sortable.

Links to external sites

External links, links to other web sites, are marked up with single square brackets ([ ]) on each side.

Description What you type What you get
External link
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links
External link without label
[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links]
[1]
External link with label. A blank space ( ) separates the URL from the label.
[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links MediaWiki link help]
MediaWiki link help

Permalinks and links to diffs

Permalinks or permanent links are links to a revision of a page, in essence to a page as it was at a certain point in time. Diffs are comparisons between two revisions of a page. While they in a sense are internal to the wiki they have to be linked to as if the where external.

In comments on discussion pages, the use of permalinks instead of usual links is highly encouraged, since the content may have changed a lot before the next reader reads the comment. Sometimes it is also useful to link to a diff.

Permalinks can be found either under the "Toolbox" drop-down list on the left menu or in the revision history in the "View history" tab. To get the link to a diff you will have to show the diff and copy the URL in your browsers address field.

Language links

1rightarrow.png See Help:Translate for the main article about this subject.

Language links is links to translations of a page. Those links will appear in a drop-down list with translations of a page. Pages in other languages can also be linked to for use in an article text.

Description What you type What you get
Adding a language link to a page.
[[de:Help:Übersetzen]]
Another language version can also be linked to preceding colon (:).
See also the [[:de:Help:Übersetzen|German page]].
See also the German page.

Categories

1rightarrow.png See Help:Categories for the main article about this subject.

Categories is almost as important as internal links in helping to put the topic of the article in a broader context. Categories can both be added to a page and be linked to nearly like usual wikilinks.

Before adding categories to a page it is always a good idea to browse the category tree to try to find as narrow categories as possible.

Description What you type What you get
Adding a category to a page.
[[Category:Help]]
Adding a category to a page, but sorted under "707-320" on the category page.
[[Category:Boeing|707-320]]
Linking to a category must be done with a preceding colon (:).
[[:Category:Help]]
Category:Help
Links to categories can use a pipe (|) as well.
See the [[:Category:Help|help]] category.
See the help category.

Redirects

Pages need redirects if:

  • they have abbreviations (eg. HUD redirect to Head-up display).
  • they have symonyms (eg. FlightGear Wizard redirect to FlightGear Launch Control).
  • there are various spellings or common mis-spellings (eg. Flight Gear redirect to FlightGear).

With redirects we can decrease the time people will need to find the article they were looking for. Most people get discouraged if they have to search to a long list of possible results.

To make a redirect, add the following code to an empty page:

#REDIRECT[[Page name]]

External links

MediaWiki help pages

Wikimedia Meta-Wiki help pages