Help:Editing: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 13:48, 5 July 2026

This page covers the basics of editing Marspedia. For a guided, step-by-step introduction see the Marspedia Tutorials; to create a brand-new page see Help:Creating an article.

Two ways to edit

Every page has two edit buttons at the top:

Edit — opens the VisualEditor, a word-processor-style editor where formatting works like it does in a normal document. This is the easiest way to start. (MediaWiki's VisualEditor user guide.)
Edit source — opens the raw wikitext editor, where you type the markup codes shown below. This gives you full control.

When you are done, add a short summary of your change (a few words) and click Save. Use Show preview first to check your work.

Text formatting

Wikitext uses apostrophes for emphasis:

What you type	What you get
`''italic''`	italic
`'''bold'''`	bold
`'''''bold italic'''''`	bold italic

Section headings

Wrap a heading in equals signs; more signs means a deeper level. MediaWiki builds the table of contents from these automatically.

== Section ==
=== Subsection ===
==== Sub-subsection ====

Links

What you type	What you get
`[[Mars]]`	an internal link to the Mars article
`[[Mars\|the Red Planet]]`	a link with different display text ("piped" link)
`[https://www.marssociety.org The Mars Society]`	an external link

A link to a page that does not exist yet shows up red — click it to create that page.

Lists

* bullet item
* another bullet
# numbered item
# second numbered item

References

Cite your sources with <ref>...</ref> tags and a <references/> list at the bottom of the page. See Using ref tags for a worked example.

Images

Upload a file with Special:Upload, then place it with:

[[File:Example.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A caption]]

More help

Help:Contents — the full help index
Complete MediaWiki formatting reference
Practice edits are welcome in the Sandbox.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+This page covers the basics of editing Marspedia. For a guided, step-by-step introduction see the '''[[Marspedia_Tutorials|Marspedia Tutorials]]'''; to create a brand-new page see '''[[Help:Creating an article]]'''.
+== Two ways to edit ==
+Every page has two edit buttons at the top:
+* '''Edit''' — opens the '''VisualEditor''', a word-processor-style editor where formatting works like it does in a normal document. This is the easiest way to start. (MediaWiki's [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:VisualEditor/User_guide VisualEditor user guide].)
+* '''Edit source''' — opens the raw '''wikitext''' editor, where you type the markup codes shown below. This gives you full control.
+When you are done, add a short '''summary''' of your change (a few words) and click '''Save'''. Use '''Show preview''' first to check your work.
+== Text formatting ==
+Wikitext uses apostrophes for emphasis:
+{| class="wikitable"
+! What you type !! What you get
+|-
+| <code><nowiki>''italic''</nowiki></code> || ''italic''
+|-
+| <code><nowiki>'''bold'''</nowiki></code> || '''bold'''
+|-
+| <code><nowiki>'''''bold italic'''''</nowiki></code> || '''''bold italic'''''
+|}
+== Section headings ==
+Wrap a heading in equals signs; more signs means a deeper level. MediaWiki builds the table of contents from these automatically.
+ == Section ==
+ === Subsection ===
+ ==== Sub-subsection ====
+== Links ==
+{| class="wikitable"
+! What you type !! What you get
+|-
+| <code><nowiki>[[Mars]]</nowiki></code> || an internal link to the [[Mars]] article
+|-
+| <code><nowiki>[[Mars|the Red Planet]]</nowiki></code> || a link with different display text ("piped" link)
+|-
+| <code><nowiki>[https://www.marssociety.org The Mars Society]</nowiki></code> || an external link
+|}
+A link to a page that does not exist yet shows up '''red''' — click it to create that page.
+== Lists ==
+ * bullet item
+ * another bullet
+ # numbered item
+ # second numbered item
+== References ==
+Cite your sources with <code><nowiki><ref>...</ref></nowiki></code> tags and a <code><nowiki><references/></nowiki></code> list at the bottom of the page. See '''[[Marspedia:Using Ref tags|Using ref tags]]''' for a worked example.
+== Categories ==
+Add a page to a category by placing <code><nowiki>[[Category:Name]]</nowiki></code> at the bottom of the page. Every article should carry one to three categories from the '''[[Marspedia:New Category Hierarchy|category hierarchy]]'''.
+== Images ==
+Upload a file with '''[[Special:Upload]]''', then place it with:
+ <nowiki>[[File:Example.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A caption]]</nowiki>
+== More help ==
+* '''[[Help:Contents]]''' — the full help index
+* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Formatting Complete MediaWiki formatting reference]
+* Practice edits are welcome in the '''[[Marspedia:Sandbox|Sandbox]]'''.
+[[Category:Help]]