Help:Formatting

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You can format your text using wiki markup. This consists of normal characters like asterisks, single quotes or equation marks which have a special function in the wiki, sometimes depending on their position. For example, to format a word in italic, you include it in two single quotes like ''this''

Text formatting markup

Description	You type	You get
character formatting - applies anywhere
Italic text	''italic''	italic
Bold text	'''bold'''	bold
Bold and italic	'''''bold & italic'''''	bold & italic
Escape wiki markup	<nowiki>no ''markup''</nowiki>	no ''markup''
section formatting - only at the beginning of the line
Headings of different levels	=level 1= ==level 2== ===level 3=== ====level 4==== =====level 5===== ======level 6====== An article with four or more headings will automatically create a table of contents. Use of a level 1 heading is highly discouraged as it appears with the same formatting and size as the page title, which can be confusing.	Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6
Horizontal rule	----
Bullet list	* one * two * three ** three point one ** three point two Inserting a blank line will end the first list and start another.	one two three three point one three point two
Numbered list	# one # two<br />spanning several lines<br />without breaking the numbering # three ## three point one ## three point two	one two spanning several lines without breaking the numbering three three point one three point two
Definition list	;item 1 :definition 1 ;item 2 :definition 2-1 :definition 2-2	item 1 definition 1 item 2 definition 2-1 definition 2-2
Adopting definition list to indent text	:Single indent ::Double indent :::::Multiple indent This adoption may be controversial from the viewpoint of accessibility.	Single indent Double indent Multiple indent
Mixture of different types of list	# one # two #* two point one #* two point two # three #; three def one #: three item one # four #: four item one #: this rather looks like the continuation of # four #: and thus often used instead of <br /> ;item 1 :* definition 1-1 :* definition 1-2 : ;item 2 :# definition 2-1 :# definition 2-2 The usage of #: and *: for breaking a line within an item may also be controversial.	one two two point one two point two three three def one three item one four four item one this rather looks like the continuation of # four and thus often used instead of <br /> item 1 definition 1-1 definition 1-2 item 2 definition 2-1 definition 2-2
Preformatted text	preformatted text is done with a '''space''' at the ''beginning'' of the line This way of preformatting only applies to section formatting, and character formatting markups are still effective.	preformatted text is done with a space at the beginning of the line

Paragraphs

MediaWiki ignores normal line breaks. To start a new paragraph, leave an empty line. You can force to start a new line within a paragraph with the HTML tags <br /> or <br>.

HTML

Some HTML tags are allowed in MediaWiki, for example <code>, <div>, <span> and <font>. These applies anywhere you insert them.

Description	You type	You get
Fixed width text	<tt>Fixed width text</tt>	Fixed width text
Blockquotes	text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text <blockquote> quote quote quote quote quote quote </blockquote> text text text text text text text text text text text text	text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text text quote quote quote quote quote quote text text text text text text text text text text text text
Comment	<!--This is comment-->
Completely preformatted text	<pre>this way, all markups are '''ignored'''</pre>	this way, all markups are '''ignored'''

Tip for wiki admins: If you trust your users you can allow full HTML by setting $wgRawHtml = true; in LocalSettings.php.

Other formatting

Beyond the text formatting markup shown above, here are some other formatting references:

• Links
• Images
• Tables