Help:Formatting

Important note: When you edit this page, you agree to release your contribution into the public domain. If you don't want this or can't do this because of license restrictions, please don't edit. This page is one of the Public Domain Help Pages, which can be freely copied into fresh wiki installations and/or distributed with MediaWiki software; see Help:Contents for an overview of all pages. See Project:PD help/Copying for instructions.

You can format your text using wiki markup. This consists of normal characters like asterisks, single quotes or equation marks 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 single quotes like ''this''

Text formatting markup

Description	You type	You get
character (inline) formatting – applies anywhere
Italic text	''italic''	italic
Bold text	'''bold'''	bold
Bold and italic	'''''bold & italic'''''	bold & italic
Escape wiki markup	<nowiki>no ''markup''</nowiki>	no ''markup''
section formatting – only at the beginning of the line
Headings of different levels	=level 1= ==level 2== ===level 3=== ====level 4==== =====level 5===== ======level 6====== An article with 4 or more headings automatically creates a table of contents.	Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6
Horizontal rule	----
Bullet list	* one * two * three ** three point one ** three point two Inserting a blank line will end the first list and start another.	one two three three point one three point two
Numbered list	# one # two<br />spanning more lines<br />doesn't break numbering # three ## three point one ## three point two	one two spanning more lines doesn't break numbering three three point one three point two
Definition list	;item 1 : definition 1 ;item 2 : definition 2-1 : definition 2-2	item 1 definition 1 item 2 definition 2-1 definition 2-2
Adopting definition list to indent text	: Single indent :: Double indent ::::: Multiple indent This workaround may be controversial from the viewpoint of accessibility.	Single indent Double indent Multiple indent
Mixture of different types of list	# one # two #* two point one #* two point two # three #; three item one #: three def one # four #: four def one #: this rather looks like the continuation of # four #: and thus often used instead of <br /> # five ## five sub 1 ### five sub 1 sub 1 ## five sub 2 ;item 1 :* definition 1-1 :* definition 1-2 : ;item 2 :# definition 2-1 :# definition 2-2 The usage of #: and *: for breaking a line within an item may also be controversial.	one two two point one two point two three three item one three def one four four def one this rather looks like the continuation of # four often used instead of <br /> five five sub 1 five sub 1 sub 1 five sub 2 item 1 definition 1-1 definition 1-2 item 2 definition 2-1 definition 2-2
Preformatted text	preformatted text is done with a '''space''' at the ''beginning'' of the line This way of preformatting only applies to section formatting, and character formatting markups are still effective.	preformatted text is done with a space at the beginning of the line

Paragraphs

MediaWiki ignores normal line breaks. To start a new paragraph, leave an empty line. You can force a line break within a paragraph with the HTML tags <br />.

HTML

Some HTML tags are allowed in MediaWiki, for example <code>, <div>, <span> and <font>. These apply anywhere you insert them.

Description	You type	You get
Strikethrough	<del>Strikethrough</del> or <s>Strikethrough</s>	Strikethrough
Fixed width text	<tt>Fixed width text</tt> or <code>source code</code>	Fixed width text
Blockquotes	text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text <blockquote> quote quote quote quote quote quote </blockquote> text text text text text text text text text text text text	text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text quote quote quote quote quote quote text text text text text text text text text text text text
Comment	<!-- This is a comment --> Text can only be viewed in the edit window.
Completely preformatted text	<pre>this way, all markups are '''ignored'''</pre>	this way, all markups are '''ignored'''.
Customised preformatted text	<pre style="CSS text">this way, all markups are '''ignored''' and formated with a CSS text</pre>	this way, all '''ignored''' markups take into account the navigator size, by automatically adding some carriage returns dynamically to it.

Tip for wiki admins: If you trust your users you can allow full HTML by setting $wgRawHtml = true; in LocalSettings.php.

Other formatting

Beyond the text formatting markup shown above, here are some other formatting references:

• Links
• Images
• Tables

[[Project:Language policy|Template:Languages/Title]]

English