Formatting Text

Know how to use the text editor to edit a page, but unsure about how to format the headings, links, and text? Use this page to learn more about formatting text.

Wiki Markup

Wiki markup is the editing language developed and used by MediaWiki to format a page. Use markup within the editor to change the appearance of text and images. Note that regular HTML markup may be used, but it is often easier to just use wiki markup.

Text Formatting

Remember that clicking the buttons in the editor automatically adds markup into the box. The Help menu in the editor toolbar is the fastest resource for quick editing help. Markup can also simply be typed into the editor.

Text Appearance

Line Breaks
Pressing Enter or Return once may create a new line in the editor, but once the page is saved, there will be no line break. You must press Enter or Return twice in order to create a new paragraph.
Italicize
Two apostrophes on either side of text will italicize the text: 
''italicize''
.
Bold
Three apostrophes will bold the text: 
'''bold'''
.
Bold italics
Five apostrophes will bold and italicize the text: 
'''''bold and italicize'''''
.

Lists

Bullet Lists
Start each line with an asterisk (*). More asterisks give deeper and deeper levels. To end the list, start the next line without an asterisk. For example, see the following list:
  • Item 1
  • Item 2
    • Item 2.5
      • Item 2.75
  • Item 3

This is how the list is formatted: 

*Item 1
*Item 2
**Item 2.5
***Item 2.75
*Item 3
Numbered Lists
Start each line with a number sign (#). More number signs give deeper and deeper levels. To end the list, start the next line without a number sign. For example, see the following list:
  1. Modernism
  2. Post-modernism
    1. Charles Jencks
    2. Deconstructivism
  3. Parametricism

This is how the list is formatted: 

#Modernism
#Post-modernism
##Charles Jencks
##Deconstructivism 
#Parametricism
Definitions
Definitions are lists with a bolded word on the first line, then an indented line of text. The indented text should explain or define the bolded word. (Incidentally, this list is a definition list!) 
;Section name :Explanation goes here

Link Formatting

The strength of the site is in its ability to quickly and easily link to other pages within the wiki, creating content that, in cross referencing many different tools, is logical, rich, and complete. This means that if something is explained on one page, other pages can link to it.

Links Within the Wiki

Internal Link
This is a link to a page within the Wiki. Put the Page Name within two brackets. For example, a link for Help:Contents would be formatted as such. 
[[Help:Contents]]
Piped Link
This is also a link to page within the Wiki, but instead of displaying the Page Name, the link text will be whatever comes after the pipe. For example, a link to the Help front page would be formatted as such. 
[[Help:Contents|Help front page]]
Link to a specific section within a page
To link to a certain section within a page on the Wiki, use the Page Name, and then add a number sign and the name of the section. This only works with sections that have titles that are formatted as headings. For example, to link directly to the Special Pages section of the Editing the Studiomaven Wiki page, format the link as such. 
[[Help:Editing_the_Studiomaven_Wiki#Special_Pages|Special Pages]]

External Links

Link with URL
This is to create a link to an external website. Simply paste the URL. For example, a link to http://www.wikipedia.org is formatted as such. 
http://www.wikipedia.org
Link with a different label
This also creates a link to an external website, but replaces the URL with different text. After pasting the URL between single brackets, type a space, and then the link text. For example, a link to " Wikipedia, a reliable source " is formatted as such. 
[http://www.studiomaven.org Wikipedia, a reliable source]

Header Hierarchy

Headers are the title for each separate section within a page, usually formatted as larger, bolded text (the header for this section is "Header Organization."

Level One
For pages without titles (like this Help page), start at Level One: 
=Level 1=
Level Two
For pages with titles (usually theses are pages that have semantic content ), start at Level Two: 
==Level 2==
Levels Three and beyond
Use more title levels as needed, but be sure to rethink the structure of the page if the page uses more than three levels. At that point, the content can probably migrate to a separate page.

Resources

Formatting Text on Mediawiki
A thorough explanation with examples of wiki markup language.
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