Wiki markup is the text you use to format a Wikipedia page; please see How to edit a page for details on using it.
Links and URLs
The following characters are used to create links: [[ ]], [ ], ~~~~, ~~~, http, ISBN, RFC & {{ }}, as denoted by the following sections:
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London has public transport. (Article link)
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San Francisco also has public transportation. (Renamed link)
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San Francisco also has public transportation. (Blend link) Examples include buses, taxicabs, and trams.
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See the Wikipedia:Manual of Style. (Other page link)
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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. Italics is a piped link to a section within another page.
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(Example renamed links) 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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(Create page link) Links to pages that don’t exist yet look red: Wikipedia:Community portal/Opentask/Requested articles
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(Navigation links) Help:Wiki markup is a link to this page.
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(Signing comments) The character tilde (~) is used when adding a comment to a Talk page. You should sign your comment by appending four tildes (~~~~) to the comment so as to add your user name plus date/time:
Adding three tildes (~~~) will add just your user name:
and adding five tildes (~~~~~) gives the date/time alone:
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(Redirects)
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(Wikimedia link) To connect, via interwiki link, to a page on the same subject in another language, put a link of the form: [[language code:Title]] near the bottom of the article. For example, in article "Plankton", which is available on a lot of other wikis, the interwiki link to the German Wikipedia looks like:
where the "de" is the language-code for "Deutsch" (the German language).
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(Linked and why) What links here and Related changes
pages can be linked as: |
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(User edits) A user's Contributions page can be linked as: Special:Contributions/UserName or Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0 |
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(Categorize)
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(Category page link)
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(External links) Three ways to link to external (non-wiki) sources:
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(Wikimedia text link) Linking to other wikis:
Linking to another language's wiktionary:
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(Book sources) ISBN 012345678X ISBN 0-12-345678-X Link to a book using alternate text, such as its title.
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(RFC number) Text mentioning an RFC number anywhere, e.g. RFC 4321. |
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(“As of” tag) “As of” tags like "As of April 2009" and "as of April 2009" categorize info that will need updating. |
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(Media link)
Some uploaded sounds are listed at Commons:Sound. |
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(Edit links) Link directly to edit for an existing page, or apply other link attributes.
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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 |
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| A picture:
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A picture: [[Image:wiki.png]] |
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With alternative text: [[Image:wiki.png|alt=Puzzle globe logo]]
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Floating to the right side of the page using the frame attribute and a caption:
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Floating to the right side of the page using the ''frame'' attribute and a caption: [[Image:wiki.png|frame|alt=Puzzle globe logo|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]]
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| Floating to the right side of the page using the thumb attribute and a caption:
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Floating to the right side of the page using the ''thumb'' attribute and a caption: [[Image:wiki.png|thumb|alt=Puzzle globe logo|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]]
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| Floating to the right side of the page without a caption:
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Floating to the right side of the page ''without'' a caption: [[Image:wiki.png|right|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]]
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| A picture resized to 30 pixels...
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A picture resized to 30 pixels... [[Image:wiki.png|30 px|Wikipedia Encyclopedia]]
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| Linking directly to the description page of an image: | Linking directly to the description page of an image: [[:Image:wiki.png]]
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| Linking directly to an image without displaying it: | Linking directly to an image without displaying it: [[Media:wiki.png|Image of the jigsaw globe logo]]
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| 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
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Place images here
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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.
Section headings
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.
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Section headings
Headings organize your writing into sections. The Wiki software can automatically generate a table of contents from them. Subsection
Using more equals signs creates a subsection. A smaller subsection
Start with 2 equals signs. Don't skip levels, like from two to four equals signs. |
==Section headings== ''Headings'' organize your writing into sections. The Wiki software can automatically generate a table of contents from them. ==Subsection== Using more equals signs creates a subsection. ===A smaller subsection=== Start with 2 equals signs. Don't skip levels, like from two to four equals signs. |
Lists
| What it looks like | What you type |
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marks the end of the list.
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* ''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. |
A new line marks the end of the list.
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# ''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. |
Character formatting
| What it looks like | What you type |
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| 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'''''. |
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Syntax highlighting for source code. Computer code has a colored background
and more stringent formatting. Suppose we
want to define #include <iostream>
int main ( int argc, char **argv ) {
std::cout << "Hello World!";
return 0;
}
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Computer code has a colored background
and more stringent formatting. Suppose we
want to define <code>int main()</code>:
<source lang=cpp>#include <iostream>
int main ( int argc, char **argv ) {
std::cout << "Hello World!";
return 0;
}</source>
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You can use small text for captions. |
You can use <small>small text</small> for captions. |
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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. |
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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. For backwards compatibility better combine this potentially ignored new <del>logical</del> with the old <s><del>physical</del></s> markup. |
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Extra spacing within text can best be achieved using the pad template: Mary had a little lamb. |
Mary {{pad|4em}} had a little lamb.
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Typewriter font
(does not work beyond the end of a paragraph): italics link New paragraph. |
<tt>arrow →</tt> <tt>''italics''</tt> <tt>[[link]] New paragraph.</tt> |
Special characters
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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:
Combined:
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x<sub>1</sub> x<sub>2</sub> x<sub>3</sub> or x₀ x₁ x₂ x₃ x₄ x₅ x₆ x₇ x₈ x₉ x<sup>1</sup> x<sup>2</sup> x<sup>3</sup> or x⁰ x¹ x² x³ x⁴ 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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Mathematical characters:
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∫ ∑ ∏ √ − ± ∞ ≈ ∝ ≡ ≠ ≤ ≥ × · ÷ ∂ ′ ″ ∇ ‰ ° ∴ ℵ ø ∈ ∉ ∩ ∪ ⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇ ¬ ∧ ∨ ∃ ∀ ⇒ ⇐ ⇓ ⇑ ⇔ → ↓ ↑ ← ↔ |
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Mathematical formulae:
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<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>}}
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Spacing in simple math formulae:
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Obviously, {{math|''x<''<sup>2</sup> ≥ 0}} is true
when {{math|<VAR >x</VAR >}} is a real number.
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Complicated formulae:
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: <math>\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</math>
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(see also: Chess symbols in Unicode)
No or limited formatting—showing exactly what is being typed
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 |
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| <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: → </nowiki> |
<pre> tag:The pre tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''. It also doesn't reformat text. It still interprets special characters: → |
<pre> The pre tag ignores [[Wiki]] ''markup''. It also doesn't reformat text. It still interprets special characters: → </pre> |
| 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: → |
Invisible text (comments)
It's uncommon, but on occasion acceptable, to add a hidden comment within the text of an article. Most comments should go on the appropriate Talk page. The format is this:
<!-- This is an example of text that won't normally be visible except in "edit" mode. -->
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.
Tables
There are two ways to build tables:
- in special Wiki-markup (see Table)
- with the usual HTML elements: <table>, <tr>, <td> or <th>.
For the latter, and a discussion on when tables are appropriate, see When to use tables.
Variables
(See also Variable)
| Code | Effect |
|---|---|
| {{CURRENTWEEK}} | 45 |
| {{CURRENTDOW}} | 1 |
| {{CURRENTMONTH}} | 11 |
| {{CURRENTMONTHNAME}} | November |
| {{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}} | November |
| {{CURRENTDAY}} | 4 |
| {{CURRENTDAYNAME}} | Monday |
| {{CURRENTYEAR}} | 2024 |
| {{CURRENTTIME}} | 21:03 |
| {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} | 6,906,225 |
| {{NUMBEROFUSERS}} | 48,214,770 |
| {{PAGENAME}} | Wikitext |
| {{NAMESPACE}} | Help |
| {{REVISIONID}} | - |
| {{localurl:pagename}} | /wiki/Pagename |
| {{localurl:Wikipedia:Sandbox|action=edit}} | /w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Sandbox&action=edit |
| {{fullurl:pagename}} | //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagename |
| {{fullurl:pagename|query_string}} | //en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pagename&query_string |
| {{SERVER}} | //en.wikipedia.org |
| {{ns:1}} | Talk |
| {{ns:2}} | User |
| {{ns:3}} | User talk |
| {{ns:4}} | Wikipedia |
| {{ns:5}} | Wikipedia 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}} | Wikipedia |
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}}.
Templates and Transcluding Pages
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 it's 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.
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This text comes from the page named Template:Transclusion demo. It has been transcluded into this page. |
{{Transclusion demo}}
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This transclusion demo is a little bit of text from the page Help:Transclusion demo to be included into any file. |
{{Help:Transclusion Demo}}
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This template takes two parameters, and creates underlined text with a hover box for many modern browsers supporting CSS: This is the hover text Go to this page to see the H:title template itself: {{H:title}} |
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}}
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HTML
Many HTML tags can be used in in Wiki markup, see Help:HTML in wikitext for a list.
Further reading
For further examples of the use of Wiki markup, see Help:Wikitext examples.