Help:Wiki markup

File:Learning WikiCode.ogv

A video about WikiCode and how to use it.

Wiki markup is the syntax and keywords used by the MediaWiki software to format a page; see How to edit a page for details on using it. Template:TOC limit

Layout

Sections

Section headings

Template:Further Use headings to split articles into sections. Put a heading on a separate line. A level-two heading is the highest level editors use in an article.

What it looks like	What you type
Section headings Headings organize your writing into sections. The Wiki software can automatically generate a table of contents from them. Start with 2 'equals' characters. Subsection Using more 'equals' characters creates a subsection. A smaller subsection Don't skip levels, like from two to four 'equals' characters.	==Section headings== ''Headings'' organize your writing into sections. The Wiki software can automatically generate a table of contents from them. Start with 2 'equals' characters. ===Subsection=== Using more 'equals' characters creates a subsection. ====A smaller subsection==== Don't skip levels, like from two to four 'equals' characters.
Horizontal line Separating with a horizontal dividing line: this is above it... ...and this is below it. If you don't use a section header, you don't get a TOC entry.	'''Horizontal line''' Separating with a horizontal dividing line: :this is above it... ---- :...and this is below it. If you don't use a section header, you don't get a TOC entry.

Table of contents

When a page has at least four headings, a table of contents (TOC) will appear in front of the first header (after the lead). Putting __TOC__ anywhere forces the TOC to appear at that point (instead of just before the first heading). Putting __NOTOC__ anywhere forces the TOC to disappear. See also Compact TOC for alphabet and year headings.

Line breaks

• You can make the wikitext more readable by putting in newlines, but see Wikipedia:Don't use line breaks for possible problems.
• To break lines use the <br /> element. The HTML tag <br> will be converted to the XHTML <br /> tag by HTML Tidy in most instances. The <br> tag is not converted when used in editnotices or in the MediaWiki namespace— it will render invalid XHTML and will break tools such as Twinkle.
• Please use these sparingly.
• Close markup between lines; do not start a link or italics or bold on one line and close it on the next.
• When used in a list, a newline does affect the layout (See Help:List).

What it looks like	What you type
A single newline has no effect on the layout. But an empty line starts a new paragraph, or ends a list or indented part.	A single newline has no effect on the layout. But an empty line starts a new paragraph, or ends a list or indented part.
You can break lines without starting a new paragraph.	You can break lines<br /> without starting a new paragraph.

Indent text

What it looks like	What you type
Left indent
A colon at the start of a line causes the line to be indented, most commonly used on Talk pages.	:A colon at the start of a line ::causes the line to be indented, :::most commonly used on Talk pages.
Blockquote When there is a need for separating a block of text. This is useful for (as the name says) inserting blocks of quoted (and cited) text.
The blockquote tag will indent both margins when needed instead of the left margin only as the colon does.	<blockquote> The '''blockquote''' tag will indent both margins when needed instead of the left margin only as the colon does. </blockquote>

Center text

What it looks like	What you type
Centered text	<div class="center" style="width:auto; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;">Centered text</div>

Template Template:Tl uses the same markup. To center a table, see Help:Table#Centering tables.

Lists

What it looks like	What you type
Unordered lists are easy to do: Start every line with a star. More stars indicate a deeper level. Previous item continues. A new line in a list marks the end of the list. Of course you can start again.	* ''Unordered lists'' are easy to do: ** Start every line with a star. *** More stars indicate a deeper level. *: Previous item continues. ** A new line * in a list marks the end of the list. * Of course you can start again.
Numbered lists are: Very organized Easy to follow Previous item continues A new line marks the end of the list. New numbering starts with 1.	# ''Numbered lists'' are: ## Very organized ## Easy to follow #: Previous item continues A new line marks the end of the list. # New numbering starts with 1.

Retaining newlines and spaces

Template:Shortcut The MediaWiki software suppresses single newlines and converts lines starting with a space to preformatted text in a dashed box. HTML suppresses multiple spaces. It is often desirable to retain these elements for poems, lyrics, mottoes, oaths and the like. The Poem extension adds HTML-like Template:Tag tags to maintain newlines and spaces. These tags may be used inside other tags such as Template:Tag.

What it looks like

What you type

<poem> In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round: And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; And here were forests ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. </poem>

<poem> In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round: And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; And here were forests ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. </poem>

Format

Text formatting

What it looks like	What you type
You can italicize text by putting 2 apostrophes on each side. 3 apostrophes will bold the text. 5 apostrophes will bold and italicize the text.	You can ''italicize text'' by putting 2 apostrophes on each side. 3 apostrophes will '''bold the text'''. 5 apostrophes will '''bold''' and ''italicize'' '''''the text'''''.
Syntax highlighting for source code. Computer code has a colored background and more stringent formatting. Suppose we want to define int main(): <syntaxhighlight lang="cpp">#include <iostream> int main ( int argc, char **argv ) { std::cout << "Hello World!"; return 0; }</syntaxhighlight>	Computer code has a colored background and more stringent formatting. Suppose we want to define <code>int main()</code>: <syntaxhighlight lang="cpp">#include <iostream> int main ( int argc, char **argv ) { std::cout << "Hello World!"; return 0; }</syntaxhighlight>
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 include a non-breaking space (sometimes called non-printing character) where you require two words to always appear together on the same line, such as Mr. Smith or 400 km/h using &nbsp; in place of a regular space between the two "words" that need to behave as a single word (never be separated on different lines).	Mr.&nbsp;Smith or 400&nbsp;km/h.
Extra spacing within text can best be achieved using the pad template: Mary Template:Pad had a little lamb.	Mary {{pad|4em}} had a little lamb.
Typewriter font (does also work beyond the end of a paragraph): arrow → italics link New paragraph started here.	<tt>arrow &rarr;</tt> <tt>''italics''</tt> <tt>[[link]] New paragraph </tt>started here.

Special characters

See also: Chess symbols in Unicode.

Diacritical marks

• See Help:Special characters.

What it looks like

What you type

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

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

Punctuation

What it looks like	What you type
¿ ¡ § ¶ † ‡ • – — ‹ › « » ‘ ’ “ ”	¿ ¡ § ¶ † ‡ • – — ‹ › « » ‘ ’ “ ”

Other Punctuation

The ‹pre› and ‹nowiki› markup tags are also available. (Permits [ { & } ] for example.

Commercial symbols

What it looks like	What you type
™ © ® ¢ € ¥ £ ¤	™ © ® ¢ € ¥ £ ¤

Subscripts and superscripts

• The Manual of Style prefers the x₁ format.
• 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.

Description	What it looks like	What you type
Subscripts	x1 x2 x3 or x₀ x₁ x₂ x₃ x₄ x₅ x₆ x₇ x₈ x₉	x<sub>1</sub> x<sub>2</sub> x<sub>3</sub> or x&#8320; x&#8321; x&#8322; x&#8323; x&#8324; x&#8325; x&#8326; x&#8327; x&#8328; x&#8329;
Superscripts	x1 x2 x3 or x⁰ x¹ x² x³ x⁴ x⁵ x⁶ x⁷ x⁸ x⁹	x<sup>1</sup> x<sup>2</sup> x<sup>3</sup> or x&#8304; x&sup1; x&sup2; x&sup3; x&#8308; x&#8309; x&#8310; x&#8311; x&#8312; x&#8313;
Combined	ε0 = 8.85 × 10−12 C² / J m. 1 hectare = 1 E4 m²	&epsilon;<sub>0</sub> = 8.85 &times; 10<sup>&minus;12</sup> C&sup2; / J m. 1 [[hectare]] = [[1 E4 m&sup2;]]

Greek characters

What it looks like	What you type
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 Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ Η Θ Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν Ο Ξ Π Ρ Σ Τ Υ Φ Χ Ψ Ω	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 Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ Η Θ Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν Ξ ΟΠ Ρ Σ Τ Υ Φ Χ Ψ Ω

Mathematical characters

• See also WikiProject Mathematics and TeX.

What it looks like	What you type
∫ ∑ ∏ √ − ± ∞ ≈ ∝ ≡ ≠ ≤ ≥ × · ÷ ∂ ′ ″ ∇ ‰ ° ∴ ℵ ø ∈ ∉ ∩ ∪ ⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇ ¬ ∧ ∨ ∃ ∀ ⇒ ⇐ ⇓ ⇑ ⇔ → ↓ ↑ ← ↔	∫ ∑ ∏ √ − ± ∞ ≈ ∝ ≡ ≠ ≤ ≥ × · ÷ ∂ ′ ″ ∇ ‰ ° ∴ ℵ ø ∈ ∉ ∩ ∪ ⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇ ¬ ∧ ∨ ∃ ∀ ⇒ ⇐ ⇓ ⇑ ⇔ → ↓ ↑ ← ↔

Mathematical formulae

• Complex formulae should use <math> markup.
• Simple formulae may use either <math> markup or HTML/wiki markup using the Template:Tl template with <i> and <b> or '' and ''' for formatting. Make sure to replace = with Template:Tl.
• Ordinary text should use wiki markup for emphasis. However, mathematical formulae often use italics, and sometimes use bold, for reasons unrelated to emphasis. Per Wikipedia:Manual of Style (mathematics), wiki markup ('' and ''') is preferred over HTML markup (<i> and <b>), but both are allowed.

What it looks like	What you type
<math>\,\! \sin x + \ln y</math> Template:Math <math>\mathbf{x} = \mathbf{0}</math> Template:Math	<math>\,\! \sin x + \ln y</math><br> {{math|sin ''x'' + ln ''y''}} <math>\mathbf{x} = \mathbf{0}</math><br> {{math|<b>x</b> {{=}} <b>0</b>}}

Spacing in simple math formulae

• Using   to prevent linebreak is not needed; the Template:Tl template will prevent line breaks anyway; you can use <br> if you need an explicit line break inside a formula.

What it looks like	What you type
It follows that Template:Math is true when Template:Math is a real number.	It follows that {{math|''x''<sup>2</sup> &ge; 0}} is true when {{math|<VAR>x</VAR>}} is a real number.

Complicated formulae

• See Help:Displaying a formula for how to use <math>.
• A formula displayed on a line by itself should probably be indented by using the colon (:) character.

What it looks like	What you type
<math>\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</math>	: <math>\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</math>

Links and URLs

Free links

In Wikipedia and some other Wikis, free links are used in Wikitext markup to produce internal links between pages, as opposed to the concept of CamelCase for the same purpose, which was used in the early days of Wikipedia, see CamelCase and Wikipedia.

In Wikipedia's markup language, you create free links by putting double square brackets around text designating the title of the page you want to link to. Thus, [[Texas]] will be rendered as Texas. Optionally, you can use a vertical bar (|) to customize the link title. For example, typing [[Texas|Lone Star state]] will produce Lone Star state, a link that is displayed as "Lone Star state" but in fact links to Texas.

Link to another Wiki 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 below is to the URL en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport, which is the Wikipedia article with the name "Public transport". See also Canonicalization.
• A red link is a page that doesn't exist yet; it can be created by clicking on the link.
• A link to its own page will appear only as bold text.

What it looks like	What you type
London has public transport.	London has [[public transport]].

Renamed link

• Same target, different name.
• The target ("piped") text must be placed first, then the text to be displayed second.

What it looks like	What you type
New York also has public transportation.	New York also has [[public transport|public transportation]].

Automatically rename links

• Simply typing the pipe character (|) after a link will automatically rename the link in certain circumstances. 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 Pipe trick for details.

Description	What it looks like	What you type
Automatically hide stuff in parentheses.	kingdom	[[kingdom (biology)|]].
Automatically hide namespace.	Village pump	[[Wikipedia:Village pump|]].
Or both.	Manual of Style	[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style (headings)|]]
This doesn't work for section links.	[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Links|]]	[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Links|]]

Blend link

• Endings are blended into the link.
  • Exception: a trailing apostrophe (') and any characters following the apostrophe are not blended.
• 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.

Description	What it looks like	What you type
Blending active.	San Francisco also has public transportation. Examples include buses, taxicabs, and trams.	San Francisco also has [[public transport]]ation. Examples include [[bus]]es, [[taxicab]]s, and [[tram]]s.
Blending suppressed.	A micro-second.	A [[micro-]]<nowiki></nowiki>second

Link to a section of a page

• 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.
• Include "| link title" to create a stylish (piped) link title.
• If sections have the same title, add a number to link to any but the first. #Example section 3 goes to the third section named "Example section". You can use the pipe and retype the section title to display the text without the # symbol.

What it looks like	What you type
Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Italics is a link to a section within another page.	[[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. Links and URLs is a link to the same section without showing the # symbol.	[[#Links and URLs]] is a link to another section on the current page. [[#Links and URLs|Links and URLs]] is a link to the same section without showing the # symbol.
Italics is a piped link to a section within another page.	[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Italics|Italics]] is a piped link to a section within another page.

Create page link

• To create a new page:
  1. Create a link to it on some other (related) page.
  2. Save that page.
  3. Click on the link you just made. The new page will open for editing.
• For more information, see starting an article and check out Wikipedia's naming conventions.
• Please do not create a new article without linking to it from at least one other article.

Description	What it looks like	What you type
Links to pages that don’t exist yet look red.	Wikipedia:Community portal/Opentask/Requested articles	[[Wikipedia:Community portal/Opentask/Requested articles]]

Redirects

• 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").
• It is possible to redirect to a section. For example, a redirect to United States#History will redirect to the History section of the United States page, if it exists.

Description	What you type
Redirect to an article.	#REDIRECT [[United States]]
Redirect to a section.	#REDIRECT [[United States#History]]

Link to another namespace

What it looks like	What you type
See the Wikipedia:Manual of Style.	See the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style]].

Link to the same article in another language (interlanguage links)

• To link to a page on the same subject in another language, use the form: [[language code:Title]].
• It is recommended interlanguage links be placed at the very end of the article.
• Interlanguage links are not visible within the formatted article but, instead, appear as language links on the sidebar (to the left) under the menu section "languages".
• Please see Interlanguage links and the Complete list of language wikis available.

NOTE: To create an inline link (a clickable link within the text), see Inline interlanguage links.

Description	What you type
Link to the German version of "Plankton". "de" is the language-code for "Deutsch" (the German language).	[[de:Plankton]]
Other examples.	[[de:Plankton]] [[es:Plancton]] [[ru:Планктон]] [[simple:Plankton]]

InterWiki link

• Link to any page on other Wikimedia wikis.
• 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 below)
• See also Wikimedia sister projects.

Description	What it looks like	What you type
Linking to a page on another wiki in English. All of these forms lead to the URL http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Hello
Simple link. Without prefix. Named link.	Wiktionary:Hello Hello Wiktionary definition of 'Hello'	[[Wiktionary:Hello]] [[Wiktionary:Hello|]] [[Wiktionary:Hello|Wiktionary definition of 'Hello']]
Linking to a page on another wiki in another language. All of these forms lead to the URL http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/bonjour
Simple link. Without prefix. Named link.	Wiktionary:fr:bonjour fr:bonjour bonjour	[[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour]] [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour|]] [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour|bonjour]]

Categories

• To put an article in a category, place a link like the one to the right anywhere in the article. As with interlanguage links, placing these links at the end of the edit box is recommended.
• To link to a category page without putting the article into the category, use a colon prefix (":Category") in the link.

Description	What it looks like	What you type
Categorize an article.		[[Category:Character sets]]
Link to a category.		[[:Category:Character sets]]
Without prefix.	Character sets	[[:Category:Character sets|]]

External links

• 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" link. Square brackets may be used as normal when not linking to anything - [like this].
• 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, and square brackets as %5B and %5D.
• 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.
• See External links for style issues.

Description	What it looks like	What you type
Named link.	Wikipedia	[http://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia]
Unnamed link (only used within article body for footnotes).	[1]	[http://www.wikipedia.org/]
Bare URL (bad style).	http://www.wikipedia.org/	http://www.wikipedia.org/
Image markup only.	WinObj	<span class="plainlinks">[http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/winobj.shtml WinObj]</span>

Miscellaneous

"As of" tag

• "As of" tags like "As of April 2009" and "as of April 2009" categorize info that will need updating.

For an explanation of the parameters see template documentation.

What it looks like	What you type
	{{As of|2009|4|df=us}}
	{{As of|2009|4|df=us|lc=on}}

Media link

• 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 Commons:Sound.

What it looks like	What you type
Sound	[[media:Classical guitar scale.ogg|Sound]]

Links directly into edit mode

Description	What it looks like	What you type
Full URL.	http://ephemerisle.org/index.php?title=Help:Wiki_markup&action=edit	{{fullurl:Help:Wiki markup|action=edit}}
"Edit" label.		{{edit}}

Automatic links

Book sources

• 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.
• To create a link to Book Sources using alternative text (e.g. the book's title), use the internal link style with the appropriate namespace.

What it looks like	What you type
ISBN 012345678X	ISBN 012345678X
ISBN 0-12-345678-X	ISBN 0-12-345678-X
Link to a book using alternative text, such as its title.	[[Special:BookSources/0670037818|alternative text, such as its title]]

RFC number

• Link to Internet Engineering Task Force Request for Comments (RFCs).

What it looks like	What you type
Text mentioning an RFC number anywhere, e.g. RFC 4321.	Text mentioning an RFC number anywhere, e.g. RFC 4321.

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: [[File:wiki.png]]
With alternative text:	With alternative text: [[File:wiki.png|alt=Puzzle globe logo]] Alternative text, used when the image is unavailable or when the image is loaded in a text-only browser, or when spoken aloud, is strongly encouraged. See Alternative text for images for help on choosing it.
Floating to the right side of the page using the frame attribute and a caption: File:Wiki.png Wikipedia Encyclopedia	Floating to the right side of the page using the ''frame'' attribute and a caption: [[File:wiki.png|frame|alt=Puzzle globe logo|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]] The frame tag automatically floats the image right. The last parameter is the caption that appears below the image.
Floating to the right side of the page using the thumb attribute and a caption: File:Wiki.png Wikipedia Encyclopedia	Floating to the right side of the page using the ''thumb'' attribute and a caption: [[File:wiki.png|thumb|alt=Puzzle globe logo|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]] The thumb tag automatically floats the image right. An enlarge icon is placed in the lower right corner.
Floating to the right side of the page without a caption: Wikipedia Encyclopedia	Floating to the right side of the page ''without'' a caption: [[File:wiki.png|right|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]] The picture tutorial explains more options.
A picture resized to 30 pixels... Wikipedia Encyclopedia	A picture resized to 30 pixels... [[File:wiki.png|30 px|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]] The picture tutorial explains more options.
Linking directly to the description page of an image:	Linking directly to the description page of an image: [[:File: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 span and 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 picture tutorial.

Tables

There are two ways to build tables:

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

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

References and citing sources

Making a reference citing a printed or online source can be accomplished by using the ref tag. Inside the reference tag details about the reference are added. You can add additional attributes to add detail about the source and reference, a pipe (|) precedes each reference, each attribute goes inside the cite portion of the tag.

What it's for	What you type
For creating the reference	<ref name="name for reference">Use a closing tag</ref>
When you cite a book	{{cite book}}
To cite a web source	{{cite web}}
Book ISBN	|isbn=0-8018-6646-4 (ISBN of the book)
Web URL	|url=http://wikipedia.com
Title	|title=title of source
Author	|author=authors, use commas for multiple
First Name	|first=first name
Last Name	|last=last name
Location	|location=location of occurrence
Publisher	|publisher=who published the source
Date	|date=2007-03-04 (date of source)
Year	|year=year of source
Accessed Date	|accessdate=2008-12-07
a complete reference tag	<ref name="WikiMarkup">{{cite web |url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Wiki_markup |title=Help:Wiki Markup |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation, Inc}}</ref>
referencing this again	<ref name="WikiMarkup"/>
Citation Needed	{{citation needed}}

Templates and transcluding pages

Examples for templates: {{pad|...}}, {{math|...}}, {{as of|...}}, {{edit}}

Templates are segments of Wiki markup that are meant to be copied automatically ("transcluded") into a page. You add them by putting the template's name in {{double braces}}. It is also possible to transclude other pages by using {{:colon and double braces}}.

There are three pairs of tags that can be used in wikitext to control how transclusion affects parts of a template or article. They determine whether or not wikitext renders, either in its own article, which we will call "here", or in another article where it is transcluded, which we will call "there".

• <noinclude>: the content will not be rendered there. These tags have no effect here.
• <includeonly>: the content will render only there, and will not render here (like invisible ink made visible by means of transclusion).
• <onlyinclude>: the content will render here and will render there, but it will only render there what is between these tags.

There can be several such section "elements". Also, they can be nested. All possible renderings are achievable. For example, to render there one or more sections of the page here use <onlyinclude> tags. To append text there, wrap the addition in <includeonly> tags above, within, or below the section. To omit portions of the section, nest <noinclude> tags within it.

If a page is transcluded without transclusion markup, it may cause an unintentional categorization. Any page transcluding it will contain the same category as the original page. Wrap the category markup with <noinclude> tags to prevent incorrect categorization.

Some templates take parameters, as well, which you separate with the pipe character.

What it looks like	What you type
	{{Transclusion demo}}
	{{Help:Transclusion Demo}}
This template takes two parameters, and creates underlined text with a hover box for many modern browsers supporting CSS: Go to this page to see the H:title template itself: Template:Tl	This template takes two parameters, and creates underlined text with a hover box for many modern browsers supporting CSS: {{H:title|This is the hover text| Hover your mouse over this text}} Go to this page to see the H:title template itself: {{tl|H:title}}

Talk and project pages

Signing comments

• The character tilde (~) is used when adding a comment to a Talk page.
• Your username provides a link to your user page.

Description	What it looks like	What you type
You should sign your comments by appending four tildes to the comment, which adds your user name plus date/time.	Username (talk) 05:34, 22 December 2024 (UTC)	~~~~
Adding three tildes will add just your user name.	Username (talk)	~~~
Adding five tildes gives the date/time alone.	05:34, 22 December 2024 (UTC)	~~~~~

What links here and Related changes

What it looks like	What you type
Special:WhatLinksHere/Help:Wiki markup	[[Special:WhatLinksHere/Help:Wiki markup]]
Special:RecentChangesLinked/Help:Wiki markup	[[Special:RecentChangesLinked/Help:Wiki markup]]

Linking to old revisions of pages, diffs, and specific history pages

• External link function is used for these.
• Open an old revision or diff and copy the url from the address bar, pasting it where you want it.

What it looks like	What you type
previous edit	[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Wiki_markup&diff=330350877&oldid=330349143 previous edit]

User edits

• Link to a user's Contributions page.

Description	What it looks like	What you type
Username (registered users).	Special:Contributions/UserName	[[Special:Contributions/UserName]]
IP address (unregistered users).	Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0	[[Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0]]

Show deleted or inserted text

• 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.
• For striking out material, the <s></s> markup is an alternative to <del></del>.

What it looks like	What you type
You can strike out deleted material and underline new material. Template:Du is also possible.	You can <del>strike out deleted material</del> and <ins>underline new material</ins>. {{du|Double underlining}} is also possible.

Notes

The <s> tags are listed as deprecated in HTML 4 but are used in HTML 5.

Limiting formatting/escaping wiki markup

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> tag: 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> tag: The <pre> tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup'' as does the <nowiki> tag. Additionally, <pre> displays in a mono-spaced font, and also does not reformat text. It still interprets special characters: →	<pre> The <pre> tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup'' as does the <nowiki> tag. Additionally, <pre> displays in a mono-spaced font, and also does not reformat text. It still interprets special characters: &rarr; </pre>
[text without a URL]: Single square brackets containing [text without a URL] are preserved, but single square brackets containing a URL first are treated as external links	Single square brackets containing [text without a URL] are preserved, but single square brackets containing a URL first are treated as external [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperlink links]
Leading space: 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;

Invisible text (comments)

Template:See also It's uncommon, but on occasion acceptable for notes to other editors, to add a hidden comment within the text of an article. These comments are only visible when editing or viewing the source of a page. Most comments should go on the appropriate Talk page. The format is to surround the hidden text with '<!--' and '-->' and may cover several lines, e.g.:

<!-- An example of hidden comments
 This won't be visible except in "edit" mode. -->

Variables

Code	Effect
{{CURRENTWEEK}}	51
{{CURRENTDOW}}	0*
{{CURRENTMONTH}}	12
{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}}	December
{{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}}	December
{{CURRENTDAY}}	22
{{CURRENTDAYNAME}}	Sunday
{{CURRENTYEAR}}	2024
{{CURRENTTIME}}	05:34
{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}	74
{{NUMBEROFPAGES}}	56,546
{{NUMBEROFUSERS}}	19,835
{{PAGENAME}}	Wiki markup
{{NAMESPACE}}	Help
{{REVISIONID}}	781
{{REVISIONUSER}}	Geekeasy
{{localurl:pagename}}	/index.php/Pagename
{{localurl:Wikipedia:Sandbox|action=edit}}	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandbox?action=edit
{{fullurl:pagename}}	http://ephemerisle.org/index.php/Pagename
{{fullurl:pagename|query_string}}	http://ephemerisle.org/index.php?title=Pagename&query_string
{{SERVER}}	http://ephemerisle.org
{{ns:index}} e.g. '{{ns:1}}'	fullname of namespace e.g 'Talk'
{{SITENAME}}	ephemerisle

*Monday=1, Tuesday=2, etc.

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}}.

HTML

Template:Main Many HTML tags can be used in Wiki markup. You can check your HTML by using markup validation.