Quickstart guide/basic editing

Editing on Wikieducator is not difficult at all. These basic instructions will have you up and running in no time, and you can learn while doing.

Step 1: Create an account

First you need an account on WikiEducator. If you don't have one already, please Create an account now.

Step 2: Read this overview of wiki editing

Published view of a wikipage

A wiki has two modes of viewing a page:

1. The published view - the view you are looking at right now.
2. The editing mode, which you use when editing text on the wiki.

To activate the edit mode, you need to click on one of the edit links on the relevant wiki page. If you are planning to edit the whole page at once, click on the edit tab which you will find at the top of the page in your browser. This link is useful when working with new or short pages that do not have too much text. In the case of long articles, it becomes difficult to find the appropriate place to edit.

However, the Mediawiki software has a useful feature on pages that contain subheadings. You will notice an edit link displayed next to each subheading on the right side of the page. You can use this link when you want to make changes to the relevant subsection.

Editing view of a wikipage

By clicking on one of the edit links, you will be in the editing mode of the wiki and see a page similar to the one shown here. You edit text simply by typing in the editing window.

Formating of text, for example headings, bold, italics requires a special wiki syntax. At first this may seem confusing, but after you have worked with one or two pages this will become second nature. The basic wiki syntax is summarised in the subsection below for the majority of formatting features you will be using.

There is also a graphic user button interface you can use in case you can't remember the syntax required for different features. First you must highlight the relevant word or phrase to which you want to apply the formatting. (You can do this by holding and dragging your mouse over the relevant word. Once you are happy with the area that is highlighted, simply click on the relavent icon to insert the wiki syntax. For example, click on the button to bold the text you have highlighted in the edit window.)

Step 3: Remember to save your work

Saving your work

The most common error made by wiki newbies is forgetting to save your edits. The good news is that you don't make this mistake too often, particularly after you've lost a large section of work by forgetting to save your edits! Saving your work is easy. At the bottom of the editing window you will see a save button. When you are finished with your editing, you must remember to click the save button. If you're unsure whether your formatting will display properly, you can click on the preview button. Remember that the preview button does not save your work. It merely gives you the option to preview your work in the published view. If you are happy with your edits in the preview mode, you must scroll down the page until you see the save button". Click on the save button to save your work.

The basic wiki syntax

Description	You type	You get
Applies anywhere
Italicise text	''italic''	italic
Bold text	'''bold'''	bold
Bold and italic	'''''bold & italic'''''	bold & italic
Internal link (within Wikipedia)	[[name of page]] [[name of page|display text]]	name of page display text
Redirect	#redirect [[Target page]]	1. redirect Target page
External link (to other websites)	[http://www.example.com] [http://www.example.com display text] http://www.example.com	[1] display text http://www.example.com
Escape wiki markup	with ''markup'' <nowiki>without ''markup''</nowiki>	with markup without ''markup''
Applies only at the beginning of the line
Headings of different sizes	==level 1== ===level 2=== ====level 3==== =====level 4=====	Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
Bullet list	* one * two ** two point one * three	one two two point one three
Numbered list	# one # two ## two point one # three	one two two point one three
Definition list	;Definition :item 1 :item 2	Definition item 1 item 2
Thumbnail image	[[Image:icon_objectives.jpg|thumb|Caption text]]	Caption text

See also

• Wikieducator tutorial
• .pdf cheatsheet, intended for printing.
• Guidelines for images