Editing Wiki Pages

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Sections, paragraphs, lists and lines
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" ! What it looks like ! What you type Start your sections as follows:
 * - valign="top"

New section 

Subsection 

Sub-subsection 


 * Start with a second-level heading ( == ); do not use first-level headings (=).
 * Do not skip levels (e.g., second-level followed by fourth-level).

Sub-subsection
A single newline generally 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 (used internally to compare different versions of a page).
 * - valign="top"

But an empty line starts a new paragraph.

A single newline generally 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 (used internally to compare different versions of a page).
 * When used in a list, a newline does affect the layout (see below).

But an empty line starts a new paragraph.

You can break lines without starting a new paragraph.
 * - valign="top"

You can break lines without starting a new paragraph.
 * Please use this sparingly.

marks the end of a list item.
 * - id="lists" valign="top"
 * Lists are easy to do:
 * Start every line with a star.
 * More stars means deeper levels.
 * A newline in a list
 * A newline in a list

marks the end of a list item.
 * An empty line starts a new list.
 * Lists are easy to do:
 * Start every line with a star.
 * More stars means deeper levels.
 * A newline in a list


 * An empty line starts a new list.


 * - valign="top"
 * 1) Numbered lists are also good
 * 2) very organized
 * 3) easy to follow
 * 1) easy to follow
 * 1) Numbered lists are also good
 * 2) very organized
 * 3) easy to follow


 * - valign="top"
 * You can even do mixed lists
 * and nest them
 * like this
 * like this
 * You can even do mixed lists
 * and nest them
 * like this


 * - valign="top"
 * Definition list : list of definitions
 * item : the item's definition
 * another item
 * the other item's definition
 * the other item's definition


 * One item per line; a newline can appear before the colon, but using a space before the colon improves parsing.
 * Definition list : list of definitions
 * item : the item's definition
 * another item
 * the other item's definition

A manual newline starts a new paragraph.
 * - valign="top"
 * A colon indents a line or paragraph.
 * A colon indents a line or paragraph.

A manual newline starts a new paragraph.
 * This is primarily for displayed material, but is also used for discussion on Talk pages.
 * A colon indents a line or paragraph.

IF a line 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:
 * - valign=top
 * pasting preformatted text;
 * algorithm descriptions;
 * program source code;
 * ASCII art;
 * chemical structures;

IF a line 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:
 * WARNING: If you make it wide, you force the whole page to be wide and hence less readable, especially for people who use lower resolutions. Never start ordinary lines with spaces.
 * pasting preformatted text;
 * algorithm descriptions;
 * program source code;
 * ASCII art;
 * chemical structures;

Centered text. Centered text.
 * - valign="top"

A horizontal dividing line: this is above it
 * - valign="top"

and this is below it.

A horizontal dividing line: this is above it
 * Mainly useful for separating threads on Talk pages.
 * Also used to disambiguate within an article without creating a separate page.

and this is below it.


 * }

Character formatting
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" ! What it looks like ! What you type Emphasize, strongly, very strongly. Emphasize, strongly, very strongly.
 * - valign="top"
 * - id="emph" valign="top"
 * These are double and triple apostrophes (single-quote marks), not double-quote marks.

$$\sin x + \ln y$$ sinx + lny
 * - valign="top"

$$\mathbf{x} = 0$$ x = 0

Ordinary text should use wiki markup for emphasis, and should not use  or. However, mathematical formulas often use italics, and sometimes use bold, for reasons unrelated to emphasis. Complex formulas should use  markup, and simple formulas may use  ; or   and  ; or   and. According to WikiProject Mathematics, wiki markup is preferred over HTML markup like  and. $$\sin x + \ln y$$ sinx + lny

$$\mathbf{x} = 0$$ x = 0

A typewriter font for monospace text or for computer code:
 * - valign="top"

A typewriter font for monospace text or for computer code:
 * For semantic reasons, using  where applicable is preferable to using.

You can use small text for captions. You can use small text for captions.
 * - valign="top"

You can strike out deleted material and underline new material.
 * - valign="top"

You can also mark deleted material and inserted material using logical markup rather than visual markup.


 * When editing regular Wikipedia articles, just make your changes and don't 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.