Help:Editing
For the most part, editing pages on this wiki should be like using a word processor. In fact, you can generally copy and paste text from a Word document into the wiki without any loss of formatting.
The editor toolbar
The editor toolbar appears at the top of the screen when you begin editing.
The buttons Undo and Redo the changes you have made.
The Paragraph or Headings
drop-down menu allows you to use standard text formats, for example to create headings and subheadings. Normal text format is called "Paragraph", the main page sections are called "Heading", and subheadings are "Heading 2", "Heading 3", etc.
The A drop down menu contains additional formatting options including bold (B), italic (I), underline (U), superscript (x2), and subscript (x2).This formatting is applied to any text that you've selected. For example, an article's subject should be written in bold the first time it is mentioned.
The
allows bulleted and numbered lists, and the Ω menu contains special characters.
The Cite menu allows you to enter footnotes. There is an option to reuse citations that have already been included in the document.
Links
Using the linking menu or shortcut creates a dialog box that allows you to search for relevant internal links within Wikipedia. Pressing Enter or the "Done" button causes the link to appear on the editable page.
External links (to other websites) can be created using the "External site" tab, and entering a URL in the box. In articles, this is generally appropriate only in the External links section, at the bottom of the page.
To edit or remove a link already on a page, just click on the link.
Saving your changes
Once you're happy with your changes, it's time to publish them (the same as saving). When you publish your edits, they immediately change the wiki page you were editing (to cancel your edits, just close your browser window).
When you're done editing, click the blue "Publish changes" button in the toolbar. This will open a dialog box where you should summarize your edits. This summary helps other editors understand what you've changed.
If you just made uncontroversial spelling or formatting changes, marking your editing as minor can be helpful to other editors (this option isn't available unless you're logged in). Also, if you want to be notified of further changes to the page, you can add it to your Watchlist -- this will send you email notifications any time someone edits the page.
The "Review your changes" button shows you the changes you've made, if you want to check. The "Resume editing" button returns you to the page you were editing, where you can make more changes before publishing the edits.
See also
- Help:Getting started (mainly information on how to create an account)
- Help:Navigation