Help:Editing
Contents
How to edit
To edit a Rap Dictionary page, click on the "Edit this page" link at one of its edges. This will bring you to a page with a text box containing the wikitext: the editable source code from which the server produces the webpage. For the special codes, see below.
Quick editing guideWhen adding a new term or artist:
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After adding to or changing the text it is useful to press Preview, after which the server produces the corresponding webpage, although that is not publicly available yet. Errors in formatting, links, tables, etc. are often much easier to discover from the rendered page than from the wikitext.
If you are not satisfied you can make more changes and preview the page again. Then write a short edit summary on the small field below the edit-box and when finished press "Save"! Depending on your system, pressing Enter while the edit box is not active (there is no typing cursor in it) may have the same effect as pressing Save.
It is often more convenient to copy and paste the text first into your favorite text editor, edit and spell check there, and then paste back into your web browser to preview. This way, you can also keep a local backup copy of the pages you authored so that you can make changes offline.
Minor edits
When editing a page, a logged-in user has the option of flagging the edit as a "minor edit". When to use this is somewhat a matter of personal preference. The rule of thumb is that an edit of a page that is spelling corrections, formatting, and minor rearranging of text should be flagged as a "minor edit". A major edit is basically something that makes the entry worth relooking at for somebody who wants to watch the article rather closely, so any "real" change, even if it is a single word. This feature is important, because users can choose to hide minor edits in their view of the Recent Changes page, to keep the volume of edits down to a manageable level.
The reason for not allowing a user who is not logged in to mark an edit as minor is that vandalism could then be marked as a minor edit, in which case it would stay unnoticed longer. This limitation is another reason to log in.
The wiki markup
In the left column of the table below, you can see what effects are possible. In the right column, you can see how those effects were achieved. In other words, to make text look like it looks in the left column, type it in the format you see in the right column.
You may want to keep this page open in a separate browser window for reference. If you want to try out things without danger of doing any harm, you can do so in the Sandbox.
Sections, paragraphs, lists and lines
Learn more about transportation and logistics| What it looks like | What you type |
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Start your sections with header lines:
New section Subsection Sub-subsection |
== New section == === Subsection === ==== Sub-subsection ==== |
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A single newline has no effect on the layout. These can be used to separate sentences within a paragraph. Some editors find that this aids editing and improves the diff function. But an empty line starts a new paragraph. (<p> disables this paragraphing until </p> or the end of the section) |
A single newline has no effect on the layout. These can be used to separate sentences within a paragraph. Some editors find that this aids editing and improves the ''diff'' function. However, an empty line starts a new paragraph. |
| You can break lines without starting a new paragraph. |
You can break lines<br/> without starting a new paragraph. |
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* Lists are easy to do: ** start every line with a star *** more stars means deeper levels |
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# Numbered lists are also good ## very organized ## easy to follow |
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* You can even do mixed lists *# and nest them *#* like this |
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* You can also **break lines<br>inside lists<br>like this |
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; Definition list : list of definitions ; item : the item's definition |
A manual newline starts a new paragraph.
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: A colon indents a line or paragraph. A manual newline starts a new paragraph. |
IF a line of plain text starts with a space THEN
it will be formatted exactly
as typed;
in a fixed-width font;
lines won't wrap;
ENDIF
this is useful for:
* pasting preformatted text;
* algorithm descriptions;
* program source code
* ASCII art;
* chemical structures;
WARNING If you make it wide,
you force the whole page to be wide and
hence less readable. Never start ordinary lines with spaces. |
IF a line of plain text starts with a space THEN
it will be formatted exactly
as typed;
in a fixed-width font;
lines won't wrap;
ENDIF
this is useful for:
* pasting preformatted text;
* algorithm descriptions;
* program source code
* ASCII art;
* chemical structures; |
<center>Centered text.</center> |
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| A horizontal dividing line: above
and below. Mainly useful for separating threads on Talk pages. |
A horizontal dividing line: above ---- and below. |
Links and URLs
| What it looks like | What you type |
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London has public transport.
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London has [[public transport]]. |
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San Francisco also has public transportation.
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San Francisco also has [[public transport|public transportation]]. |
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San Francisco also has public transportation. Examples include buses, taxis and streetcars.
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San Francisco also has [[public transport]]ation. Examples include [[bus]]es, [[taxi]]s and [[streetcar]]s. |
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See the Wikipedia:Manual of Style.
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See the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style]]. |
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Economics#See also is a link to a section within another page. #Links and URLs is a link to a section on the current page. #example is a link to an anchor that was created using an id attribute
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[[Economics#See also]] is a link to a section within another page. [[#Links and URLs]] is a link to a section on the current page. [[#example]] is a link to an anchor that was created using <div id="example">an id attribute</div> |
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Automatically hide stuff in parentheses: kingdom. Automatically hide namespace: Village Pump. Or both: Manual of Style But not: [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Links|]]
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Automatically hide stuff in parentheses: [[kingdom (biology)|]]. Automatically hide namespace: [[Wikipedia:Village Pump|]]. Or both: [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style (headings)|]] But not: [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Links|]] |
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The weather in London is a page that doesn't exist yet.
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[[The weather in London]] is a page that doesn't exist yet. |
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Wikipedia:How to edit a page is this page.
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[[Wikipedia:How to edit a page]] is this page. |
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When adding a comment to a Talk page, you should sign it by adding three tildes to add your user name: or four to add user name plus date/time:
Five tildes gives the date/time alone:
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When adding a comment to a Talk page, you should sign it by adding three tildes to add your user name: : ~~~ or four for user name plus date/time: : ~~~~ Five tildes gives the date/time alone: : ~~~~~ |
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#REDIRECT [[United States]] |
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[[fr:Wikipédia:Aide]] |
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What links here and Related changes pages can be linked as: Special:Whatlinkshere/Wikipedia:How to edit a page and Special:Recentchangeslinked/Wikipedia:How to edit a page |
'''What links here''' and '''Related changes''' pages can be linked as: [[Special:Whatlinkshere/Wikipedia:How to edit a page]] and [[Special:Recentchangeslinked/Wikipedia:How to edit a page]] |
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A user's Contributions page can be linked as: Special:Contributions/UserName or Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0 |
A user's '''Contributions''' page can be linked as: [[Special:Contributions/UserName]] or [[Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0]] |
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[[Category:Character sets]] |
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[[:Category:Character sets]] |
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Three ways to link to external (non-wiki) sources:
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Three ways to link to external (non-wiki) sources: # Bare URL: http://nupedia.8media.org/ # Unnamed link: [http://nupedia.8media.org/] # Named link: [http://nupedia.8media.org Nupedia] |
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Linking to other wikis:
Linking to another language's wiktionary:
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Linking to other wikis: # [[Interwiki]] link: [[Wiktionary:Hello]] # Named interwiki link: [[Wiktionary:Hello|Hello]] # Interwiki link without prefix: [[Wiktionary:Hello|]] Linking to another language's wiktionary: # [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour]] # [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour|bonjour]] # [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour|]] |
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ISBN 012345678X ISBN 0-123-45678-X
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ISBN 012345678X ISBN 0-123-45678-X |
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Date formats:
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Date formats: # [[July 20]], [[1969]] # [[20 July]] [[1969]] # [[1969]]-[[07-20]] |
Some uploaded sounds are listed at Wikipedia:Sound. |
[[media:Sg_mrob.ogg|Sound]] |
Images
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
A picture: 
or, with alternative text:
or, floating to the right side of the page and with a caption: Rap Dictionary or, floating to the right side of the page without a caption:
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A picture: [[Image:Rapdict-wiki-logo.png.jpg]] or, with alternative text: [[Image:Rapdict-wiki-logo.png|Rap Dictionary]] or, floating to the right side of the page and with a caption: [[Image:Rapdict-wiki-logo.png|frame|Rap Dictionary]] or, floating to the right side of the page ''without'' a caption: [[Image:Rapdict-wiki-logo.png|right|Rap Dictionary]] |
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Clicking on an uploaded image displays a description page, which you can also link directly to: Image:Rapdict-wiki-logo.png |
[[:Image:Rapdict-wiki-logo.png]] |
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To include links to images shown as links instead of drawn on the page, use a "media" link. |
[[media:Rapdict-wiki-logo.png|Rap Dictionary]] |
Character formatting
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
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Emphasize, strongly, very strongly.
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''Emphasize'', '''strongly''', '''''very strongly'''''. |
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<math>\sin x \ln y</math> <math>\mathbf{x} = 0</math> Ordinary text should use wiki markup for emphasis, and should not use |
<math>\sin x \ln y</math>
sin''x'' ln''y''
<math>\mathbf{x} = 0</math>
'''x''' = 0
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A typewriter font for monospace text
or for computer code:
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A typewriter font for <tt>monospace text</tt> or for computer code: <code>int main()</code> |
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You can use small text for captions. |
You can use <small>small text</small> for captions. |
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You can You can also mark
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You can <s>strike out deleted material</s> and <u>underline new material</u>. You can also mark <del>deleted material</del> and <ins>inserted material</ins> using logical markup rather than visual markup. |
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Diacritical marks:
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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 |
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Punctuation:
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¿ ¡ § ¶ † ‡ • – — ‹ › « » ‘ ’ “ ” |
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Commercial symbols:
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™ © ® ¢ € ¥ £ ¤ |
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Subscripts:
Superscripts:
ε0 = 8.85 × 10−12 C² / J m. |
x<sub>1</sub> x<sub>2</sub> x<sub>3</sub> or <br/> x₀ x₁ x₂ x₃ x₄ <br/> x₅ x₆ x₇ x₈ x₉ x<sup>1</sup> x<sup>2</sup> x<sup>3</sup> or <br/> x⁰ x¹ x² x³ x⁴ <br/> x⁵ x⁶ x⁷ x⁸ x⁹ ε<sub>0</sub> = 8.85 × 10<sup>−12</sup> C² / J m. 1 [[hectare]] = [[1 E4 m²]] |
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Greek characters:
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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 Γ Δ Θ Λ Ξ Π Σ Φ Ψ Ω |
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Math characters:
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∫ ∑ ∏ √ − ± ∞ ≈ ∝ ≡ ≠ ≤ ≥ × · ÷ ∂ ′ ″ ∇ ‰ ° ∴ ℵ ø ∈ ∉ ∩ ∪ ⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇ ¬ ∧ ∨ ∃ ∀ ⇒ ⇔ → ↔ |
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Spacing in simple math formulas:
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Obviously, ''x''² ≥ 0 is true. |
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Complicated formulas:
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: <math>\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</math>
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Suppressing interpretation of markup:
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<nowiki>Link → (''to'')
the [[Wikipedia FAQ]]</nowiki>
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Commenting page source:
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<!-- comment here --> |
(see also: Chess symbols in Unicode)
Table of Contents
Placement of the Table of Contents (TOC)
At the current status of the wiki markup language, having at least four headers on a page triggers the TOC to appear in front of the first header (or after introductory sections). Putting __TOC__ anywhere forces the TOC to appear at that point (instead of just before the first header). Putting __NOTOC__ anywhere forces the TOC to disappear. See also compact TOC for alphabet and year headings.
Keeping headings out of the Table of Contents
If you want some subheadings to not appear in the Table of Contents, then make the following replacements.
Replace == Header 2 == with <h2> Header 2 </h2>
Replace === Header 3 === with <h3> Header 3 </h3>
And so forth.
For example, notice that the following header has the same font as the other subheaders to this "Tables" section, but the following header does not appear in the Table of Contents for this page.
This header has the h4 font, but is NOT in the Table of Contents
This effect is obtained by the following line of code.
<h4> This header has the h4 font, but is NOT in the Table of Contents </h4>
Tables
There are two ways to build tables:
- in special Wiki-markup (see m:Help:Table)
- with the usual HTML elements: <table>, <tr>, <td> or <th>.
For the latter, and a discussion on when tables are appropriate, see Wikipedia:How to use tables.
Variables
(See also m:Help:Variable)
| Code | Effect |
|---|---|
| {{CURRENTMONTH}} | 08 |
| {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} | August |
| {{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}} | August |
| {{CURRENTDAY}} | 13 |
| {{CURRENTDAYNAME}} | Saturday |
| {{CURRENTYEAR}} | 2022 |
| {{CURRENTTIME}} | 12:46 |
| {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} | 8,695 |
| {{PAGENAME}} | Editing |
| {{NAMESPACE}} | Help |
| {{localurl:pagename}} | /Pagename |
| {{localurl:Wikipedia:Sandbox|action=edit}} | http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandbox?action=edit |
| {{SERVER}} | https://rapdict.org |
| {{ns:1}} | Talk |
| {{ns:2}} | User |
| {{ns:3}} | User talk |
| {{ns:4}} | Rap Dictionary |
| {{ns:5}} | Rap Dictionary talk |
| {{ns:6}} | File |
| {{ns:7}} | File talk |
| {{ns:8}} | MediaWiki |
| {{ns:9}} | MediaWiki talk |
| {{ns:10}} | Template |
| {{ns:11}} | Template talk |
| {{ns:12}} | Help |
| {{ns:13}} | Help talk |
| {{ns:14}} | Category |
| {{ns:15}} | Category talk |
| {{SITENAME}} | Rap Dictionary |
NUMBEROFARTICLES is the number of pages in the main namespace which contain a link and are not a redirect, i.e. 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}}.
Templates
The MediaWiki software used by Wikipedia has support for templates. This means standardized text chunks (such as boilerplate text) can be inserted into articles. See Template messages for the complete list.
The suspect template is used to mark the content of an article as not trustworthy.
| What you type | What it looks like |
|---|---|
{{Suspect}}
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This takes the name and the longitude and lattitude as an argument to display links to online map services. These coordinates can be found using www.maporama.com. E.g. to get links to Queens, NY, you would enter:
| What you type | What it looks like |
|---|---|
{{Mapit-US-cityscale|40.7138|-73.8298}}
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Hiding the edit links
Insert __NOEDITSECTION__ into the document to suppress the edit links that appear next to every section header.
More information on editing wiki pages
You may also want to learn about:
- How to start a page
- Informal tips on contributing to Wikipedia
- Editing tasks in general at the Wikipedia:Editing FAQ
- Why not to rename pages boldly, at Wikipedia:How to rename (move) a page
- Preferred layout of your article, at Guide to Layout (see also Wikipedia:Boilerplate text)
- Style conventions in the Wikipedia:Manual of Style
- An article with annotations pointing out common Wikipedia style and layout issues, at Wikipedia:Annotated article
- General policies in Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines
- Wikipedia:Naming conventions for how to name articles themselves
- If you are making an article about something that belongs to a group of objects (a city, an astronomical object, a chinese character...) check if there is a WikiProject on the group and try to follow its directions explicitly.
- Finally, for a list of articles about editing Wikipedia consult Wikipedia:Style and How-to Directory.
