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Basic PmWiki editing rules

The pages on this site are wiki-based pages, which means that pages can be created and edited by multiple authors. To edit a page, click the Edit link that exists somewhere on the page, usually in the header or footer. Some pages may be password-protected, depending on the system's security policies, but many systems allow open editing of pages.

PmWiki is not WYSIWYG - When editing a page, you see the markup text that describes the content of the page. The basic rules for page markup are simple:

1. Use a blank line to start a new paragraph more.
2. To make a list, start each line with # for numbered (ordered) lists or * for bulleted (unordered) lists more.
3. To make a heading, start a line with two or more ! marks; !! is a subheading, and !!! is a sub-subheading more.
4. To emphasize text, enclose it in 2 or 3 single quotes; ''text'' for italics or '''text''' for bold more.
5. To make a link to another page, enclose the page's name in double brackets; for example [[basic editing]] links to this page.
6. To make a link to another site, type its address, such as [[http://example.com/]]. Email links must have "mailto:" before such as mailto:xyz@example.com

If you want to experiment with editing a page, try it on the Wiki Sandbox. You can edit the Wiki Sandbox without affecting anything important on this site. On talk pages and discussions, it's courteous to sign your contribution; using ~~~ effectively 'signs' the name that you provide in the Author field on the Page Edit form.

Examples of common markups

The tables below demonstrate many of the common markups used to format pages. The left column shows what to write to achieve the effect, the right column shows the effect of the markup. More details are available from the text formatting rules and other documentation pages. An exhaustive list of default markup is available as the markup master index.

Paragraphs and line breaks

Consecutive lines
will be merged together
as part of the same paragraph.

One or more empty lines will start a new paragraph.

Two backslashes at the end of a line \\
force a line break.

Or use this markup: [[<<]] to force a break.

Further reading:

• text formatting rules for more information on linebreaks, indented or hanging paragraphs.
• wiki styles for centered or right justified paragraphs and "floating" text (boxes), borders and much more.

Lists

Start each line with # for numbered (ordered) lists or * for bulleted (unordered) lists:

* Bullet list
* Another item
** More asterisks produce sub-items
** etc.

# Numbered lists
# Another item
## more hashes produce sub-items

# List types
# can be mixed
** numbered list with unordered sub-list

Learn more about lists (including definition lists) and list styles.

Headings

Headings are useful for creating a "well-structured" page. They're not just for making big text.

!! Major Subheading
!!! Minor Subheading
!!!! And More
!!!!! Subheadings

Text emphasis

To emphasize, enclose text in apostrophes (single-quote marks), not double-quotes.

''Emphasize'' (italics),
'''strong''' (bold), 
'''''very strong''''' (bold italics).

Links

To make a link to another page, enclose the page's name in double square brackets.

Practice editing in the [[wiki sandbox]]

Note that words are automatically capitalized in page titles. The link above links to the page WikiSandbox.

Text after a pipe (|) is used as the link text:

Practice editing in the
[[WikiSandbox | practice area]].

Endings become part of the link text, parentheses hide parts of the link name:

[[wiki sandbox]]es.

[[(wiki) sandbox]].

When linking to a page in a different WikiGroup, provide the group name, followed by a separator, and then the page name:

[[Main.Wiki Sandbox]] shows group + name

[[Main/Wiki Sandbox]] shows only name

Links to external sites

bare url:  http://www.pmwiki.org

link text: [[http://www.pmwiki.org | PmWiki home]]

Links as reference to external sites

bare url: http://www.pmwiki.org

link text: [[http://www.pmwiki.org | #]]

Colons make InterMap (also called InterWiki) links to other wikis:

What's an [[Wikipedia:aardvark]], anyway?

Links to nonexistent pages? are displayed specially, to invite others to create the page.

PmWiki supports more link types and a lot of display options, see Links to learn more.

Preformatted text

Preformatted text is displayed using a monospace font and not generating linebreaks except where explicitly indicated in the markup.

Note that very long lines of preformatted text can cause the whole page to be wide.

For preformatted text with markup (e.g. emphasis) being processed, start each line with a space:

 Lines that begin with a space
 are formatted    exactly    as typed
 in a '''fixed-width''' font.

 Lines that begin with a space
 are formatted    exactly    as typed
 in a fixed-width font.

If you don't want Wiki markup to be processed, use [@ @]. Can also be used inline.

[@
Text escaped this way has
the HTML ''code'' style
@]

Text escaped this way has
the HTML ''code'' style

You can also use the escape sequence preceded with a space on the first line.

 [=The   '''escape sequence''',
preceded by space(s) on the first line,
is    rendered          preformatted.=]

 The   '''escape sequence''',
preceded by space(s) on the first line,
is    rendered          preformatted.

You can enable code highlighting for preformatted blocks with recent PmWiki versions.

Escape sequence

If you don't want Wiki markup to be processed, but lines reformatted use [= =]. Can also be used inline.

[=
markup is ''not'' processed
but lines are reformatted
=]

Horizontal line

Four or more dashes at
the beginning of a line
----
produce a "horizontal rule"

Tables

Simple tables use double pipe characters to separate cells:

|| border=1
||! head 1 ||! head 2 ||! head 3 ||
|| cell 1  ||  cell 2 ||  cell 3 ||

See simple tables and advanced tables to learn more about the rich feature set of PmWiki tables.

Images

See Images

Character formatting

* @@Monospaced text@@
* Text with '^superscripts^'
* Text with '_subscripts_'
* deleted {-strikethrough-} text
* inserted {+underline+} text
* [+big+], [++bigger++] text
* [-small-], [--smaller--] text

Use WikiStyles to change the text color .

Page titles

The (:title:) directive sets the page's title to something other than its page name.

(:Title Basic PmWiki editing rules:)
The name of this page is "{$Name}", and its title is "{$Title}".

Page description

• The (:Description Page description here:) directive sets the page description. The description is used by search engines, and can be displayed in search results and in page lists.

(:Description PmWiki's basic editing rules:)
The summary description of this page is "{$Description}".

Page summary

• (:Summary:Page summary here:) is a PageTextVariable that is used in some of the default PageList templates.

(:Summary:PmWiki's basic edit syntax:)
The summary of this page is "{$:Summary}".