Help:Wikitext

For the encyclopedic section on wikitext, see Wiki § Editing.

"H:WT" redirects here. For the welcoming templates, see Wikipedia:Welcoming committee/Welcome templates.

The markup language called wikitext, also known as wiki markup or wikicode, consists of the syntax and keywords used by the MediaWiki software to format a page. (Note the lowercase spelling of these terms.) To learn how to see this hypertext markup, and to save an edit, see Help:Editing. Generally, coding can be copied and pasted, without writing new code. There is a short list of markup and tips at Help:Cheatsheet.

In addition to wikitext, some HTML elements are also allowed for presentation formatting. See Help:HTML in wikitext for information on this.

Layout

Sections

Article sections in a page will follow that page's lead or introduction and, if there are four or more, the table of contents.

Section headings

Further information: Help:Section and Wikipedia:Manual of Style § Section headings

The = through ====== markup are headings for the sections with which they are associated.

• A single = is styled as the article title and should not be used within an article.
• Headings are styled through CSS and add an [edit] link. See this section for the relevant CSS.
• Four or more headings cause a table of contents to be generated automatically.
• Do not use any markup after the final heading markup – this will either break the heading, or will cause the heading to not be included in an edit summary.

Markup	Renders as
= Heading 1 = == Heading 2 == === Heading 3 === ==== Heading 4 ==== ===== Heading 5 ===== ====== Heading 6 ======	Heading 1 Heading 2 Heading 3 Heading 4 Heading 5 Heading 6

Templates: {{fake heading}} for use in documentation.

Horizontal rule

Further information: WP:LINE

The horizontal rule represents a paragraph-level thematic break. Do not use in article content, as rules are used only after main sections, and this is automatic.

Markup	Renders as
----

HTML equivalent: <hr /> (which can be indented, whereas ---- always starts at the left margin.)

Table of contents

Further information: WP:TOC

When a page has at least four headings, a table of contents (TOC) will automatically appear after the lead and before the first heading. The TOC can be controlled by magic words or templates:

• __FORCETOC__ forces the TOC to appear at the normal location regardless of the number of headings.
• __TOC__ forces the TOC to appear at the point where the magic word is inserted instead of the normal location.
• __NOTOC__ disables the TOC entirely.
• {{TOC limit}} template can be used to control the depth of subsections included in the TOC. This is useful where the TOC is long and unwieldy.
• Category:Wikipedia table of contents templates contains a number of specialized TOC templates.

Line breaks

Further information: Help:Line-break handling, Wikipedia:Line breaks usage, and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility § Indentation

Line breaks or newlines are used to add whitespace between lines, such as separating paragraphs.

• A line break that is visible in the content is inserted by pressing ↵ Enter twice.
• Pressing ↵ Enter once will place a line break in the markup, but it will not show in the rendered content, except when using list markup.
• Markup such as bold or italics will be terminated at a line break.
• Blank lines within indented wikitext should not be added due to accessibility issues.

Markup	Renders as
A single newline here has no effect on the layout. But an empty line starts a new paragraph, or ends a list or an indented part.	A single newline here has no effect on the layout. But an empty line starts a new paragraph, or ends a list or an indented part.

HTML equivalent: <br> or <br /> can be used to break line layout.

Templates for line breaks:

• {{break}} can add multiple line breaks.
• {{-}} and {{clear}} adds a break with styling, to clear floating elements. Often used to prevent text from flowing next to unrelated tables or images.

Unbulleted list:

• {{plainlist}} and {{unbulleted list}} both create an unbulleted list.

Indent text

Further information: WP:INDENT and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility § Indentation

Indentation is most commonly used on talk pages.

Markup	Renders as
Indentation as used on talk pages: :Each colon at the start of a line ::causes the line to be indented by three more character positions. :::(The indentation persists so long as no carriage return or line break is used.) :::Repeat the indentation at any line break. ::::Use an extra colon for each response. :::::And so forth ... ::::::And so on ... {{Outdent|::::::}}The outdent template can give a visual indicator that we're deliberately cancelling the indent (6 levels here)	Indentation as used on talk pages: Each colon at the start of a line causes the line to be indented by three more character positions. (The indentation persists so long as no carriage return or line break is used.) Repeat the indentation at any line break. Use an extra colon for each response. And so forth ... And so on ... The outdent template can give a visual indicator that we're deliberately cancelling the indent (6 levels here)

Templates: {{outdent}}, {{outdent2}}

Blockquote

When there is a need for separating a block of text. This is useful for (as the name says) inserting blocks of quoted (and cited) text.

Markup	Renders as
Normal text <blockquote> The '''blockquote''' tag will indent both margins when needed instead of the left margin only as the colon does. </blockquote> Normal text	Normal text The blockquote tag will indent both margins when needed instead of the left margin only as the colon does. Normal text

This uses an HTML tag; template {{quote}} results in the same render.

Center text

See also: Span and div, HTML tag, and Template:Align

Markup	Renders as
<div class="center" style="width: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">Centered text</div>	Centered text

Template {{center}} uses the same markup. To center a table, see Help:Table#Centering tables. Please do not use <center>...</center> tags, as it is obsolete.

Align text to right

You can align content in a separate container:

Markup	Renders as
<div style="text-align: right; direction: ltr; margin-left: 1em;">Text on the right</div>	Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Text on the right Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Or; make the text float around it:

Markup	Renders as
<div class="floatright">Text on the right</div>	Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Text on the right Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
{{stack|Text on the right}}	Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Text on the right Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Lists

Further information: Help:List and MOS:LIST

Do not leave blank lines between items in a list unless there is a reason to do so, since this causes the MediaWiki software to interpret each item as beginning a new list.

Unordered lists

Markup	Renders as
* Item1 * Item2 * Item3 * Item4 ** Sub-item 4 a) *** Sub-item 4 a) 1. **** Sub-item 4 a) 1. i) **** Sub-item 4 a) 1. ii) ** Sub-item 4 b) * Item5	Item1 Item2 Item3 Item4 Sub-item 4 a) Sub-item 4 a) 1. Sub-item 4 a) 1. i) Sub-item 4 a) 1. ii) Sub-item 4 b) Item5

Ordered lists

Markup	Renders as
# Item1 # Item2 # Item3 # Item4 ## Sub-item 1 ### Sub-sub-item #### Sub-sub-sub-item ## Sub-item 2 # Item5	Item1 Item2 Item3 Item4 Sub-item 1 Sub-sub-item Sub-sub-sub-item Sub-item 2 Item5

Description lists

To list terms and definitions, start a new line with a semicolon (;) followed by the term. Then, type a colon (:) followed by a definition. The format can also be used for other purposes, such as make and models of vehicles, etc.

Description lists (formerly definition lists, and a.k.a. association lists) consist of group names corresponding to values. Group names (terms) are in bold. Values (definitions) are indented. Each group must include one or more definitions. For a single or first value, the : can be placed on the same line after ; – but subsequent values must be placed on separate lines.

Do not use a semicolon (;) simply to bold a line without defining a value using a colon (:). This usage renders invalid HTML5 and creates issues with screen readers. Also, use of a colon to indent (other than for talk page responses) may also render invalid HTML5 and cause accessibility issues per MOS:INDENTGAP.

Markup	Renders as
; Term : Definition1	Term Definition1
; Term : Definition1 : Definition2 : Definition3 : Definition4	Term Definition1 Definition2 Definition3 Definition4

HTML equivalent: <dl> <dt>...</dt>, <dd>...</dd> </dl>

Templates: {{defn}}

Retaining newlines and spaces

The MediaWiki software suppresses single newlines and converts lines starting with a space to preformatted text in a dashed box. HTML suppresses multiple spaces. It is often desirable to retain these elements for poems, lyrics, mottoes, oaths and the like. The Poem extension adds HTML-like <poem>...</poem> tags to maintain newlines and spaces. These tags may be used inside other tags such as <blockquote>...</blockquote>; the template {{poemquote}} provides a convenient shorthand. CSS styles may be applied to this tag, e.g.: <poem style="margin-left: 2em;">.

Markup	Renders as
<poem> In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round: And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; And here were forests ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. </poem>	In Xanadu did Kubla Khan   A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran   Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground   With walls and towers were girdled round: And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,   Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; And here were forests ancient as the hills,   Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

Poems and their translation can be presented side by side, and the language can be indicated with lang="xx". Following the last side-by-side block, {{Clear|left}} must be used to cancel "float:left;" and to re-establish normal flow. Note that this method does not require a table and its columns to achieve the side-by-side presentation.

Markup

<poem lang="fr" style="float:left;">Frère Jacques, frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.</poem>
<poem style="margin-left:2em; float:left;">Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping?
Brother John, Brother John,
Morning bells are ringing! Morning bells are ringing!
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.</poem>{{Clear|left}}

Renders as

Frère Jacques, frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.

Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping?
Brother John, Brother John,
Morning bells are ringing! Morning bells are ringing!
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.

Format

Text formatting

Description	What you type	What it looks like
italics, bold, small capital letters	To ''italicize text'', put two consecutive apostrophes on each side of it. Three apostrophes each side will '''bold the text'''. Five consecutive apostrophes on each side (two for italics plus three for bold) produces '''''bold italics'''''. '''''Italic and bold formatting''''' works correctly only within a single line. For text as {{smallcaps|small caps}}, use the template {{tl|smallcaps}}.	To italicize text, put two consecutive apostrophes on each side of it. Three apostrophes each side will bold the text. Five consecutive apostrophes on each side (two for italics plus three for bold) produces bold italics. Italic and bold formatting works correctly only within a single line. To reverse this effect where it has been automatically applied, use {{nobold}} and {{noitalic}}. For text as small caps, use the template {{smallcaps}}.
Small chunks of source code within a line of normal text. Code is displayed in a monospace font.	function <code>int m2()</code> is nice.	function int m2() is nice.
Syntax highlighting for source code. Computer code has colored text and more stringent formatting. For example, to define a function: int m2(), with highlights, in C++. See here for a full list of supported languages that can be put in lang="????"	<syntaxhighlight lang="cpp"> #include <iostream> int m2 (int ax, char *p_ax) { std::cout <<"Hello World!"; return 0; }</syntaxhighlight>	#include <iostream> int m2 (int ax, char *p_ax) { std::cout <<"Hello World!"; return 0; }
Small text	Use <small>small text</small> only when necessary.	Use small text only when necessary.
a <small> span	To match, for example, the font-size used in an [[Help:Visual file markup#Caption|image caption]], the "small" tag can also be used to <small style="font-size:87%;">reduce a text's font-size to 87%</small>.	To match, for example, the font-size used in an image caption, the "small" tag can also be used to reduce a text's font-size to 87%.
Big text	Better not use <big>big text</big>, unless <small>it's <big>within</big> small</small> text.	Better not use big text, unless it's within small text.
To prevent two words from becoming separated by a linewrap (e.g. Mr. Smith or 400 km/h) a non-breaking space, sometimes also called a "non-printing character", may be used between them. (For three or more words, the template {{nowrap}} is probably more suitable.)	Mr.&amp;nbsp;Smith or 400&amp;nbsp;km/h	Mr. Smith or 400 km/h
Extra spacing within text is usually best achieved using the {{pad}} template.	Mary {{pad|4.0em}} had a little lamb.	Mary   had a little lamb.

Special characters

See also: Help:Special characters and List of XML and HTML character entity references

Special characters can often be displayed using numeric character references or character entity references. See Character encodings in HTML for more information. For example, À and À both render À (A-grave). Percent-encoding can't be used, as it works only in URLs.

Diacritical marks

Diacritic marks, using character entity references.

What you type

What it looks like

À Á Â Ã Ä Å Æ Ç È É Ê Ë Ì Í Î Ï Ñ Ò Ó Ô Õ Ö Ø Œ Ù Ú Û Ü Ÿ ß à á â ã ä å æ ç è é ê ë ì í î ï ñ ò ó ô õ ö ø œ ù ú û ü ÿ

À Á Â Ã Ä Å Æ Ç È É Ê Ë Ì Í Î Ï Ñ Ò Ó Ô Õ Ö Ø Œ Ù Ú Û Ü Ÿ ß à á â ã ä å æ ç è é ê ë ì í î ï ñ ò ó ô õ ö ø œ ù ú û ü ÿ

Punctuation special characters

Using character entity references.

What you type	What it looks like
¿ ¡ § ¶	¿ ¡ § ¶
† ‡ • – —	† ‡ • – —
‹ › « »	‹ › « »
‘ ’ “ ”	‘ ’ “ ”
' "	' "

Escaping punctuation characters

The <pre>, <nowiki>, and <code> markup tags are also available, for writing "[", "{", "&", "}", "]" for example. These tags prevent these characters from being recognised as wiki markup, which is a possibility in some circumstances.

Commercial symbols

Using character entity references.

What you type	What it looks like
™ © ®	™ © ®
¢ € ¥ £ ¤	¢ € ¥ £ ¤

Greek characters

Using character entity references.

What you type	What it looks like
α β γ δ ε ζ	α β γ δ ε ζ
Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ	Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ
η θ ι κ λ μ ν	η θ ι κ λ μ ν
Η Θ Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν	Η Θ Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν
ξ ο π ρ σ ς	ξ ο π ρ σ ς
Ξ Ο Π Ρ Σ	Ξ Ο Π Ρ Σ
τ υ φ χ ψ ω	τ υ φ χ ψ ω
Τ Υ Φ Χ Ψ Ω	Τ Υ Φ Χ Ψ Ω

Egyptian hieroglyphs

Main page: Help:WikiHiero syntax

WikiHiero is a software extension that renders Egyptian hieroglyphs as PNG images using <hiero> HTML-like tags.

Example:

Markup	Renders as
<hiero>P2</hiero>

Subscripts and superscripts

• The Manual of Style prefers the <sub> and <sup> formats, for example x<sub>1</sub>. So this should be used under most circumstances.
• The latter methods of sub/superscripting cannot be used in the most general context, as they rely on Unicode support that may not be present on all users' machines.

Description	What you type	What it looks like
Subscripts	x<sub>1</sub> x<sub>2</sub> x<sub>3</sub> or x&#8320; x&#8321; x&#8322; x&#8323; x&#8324; x&#8325; x&#8326; x&#8327; x&#8328; x&#8329;	x1 x2 x3 or x₀ x₁ x₂ x₃ x₄ x₅ x₆ x₇ x₈ x₉
Superscripts	x<sup>1</sup> x<sup>2</sup> x<sup>3</sup> or x&#8304; x&sup1; x&sup2; x&sup3; x&#8308; x&#8309; x&#8310; x&#8311; x&#8312; x&#8313;	x1 x2 x3 or x⁰ x¹ x² x³ x⁴ x⁵ x⁶ x⁷ x⁸ x⁹
Combined	&epsilon;<sub>0</sub> = 8.85 &times; 10<sup>&minus;12</sup> C&sup2; / J m 1 [[hectare]] = 1 E+4 m&sup2;	ε0 = 8.85 × 10−12 C² / J m 1 hectare = 1 E+4 m²

Characters in the Private Use Area, and invisible formatting characters

Main page: MOS:TEXT § PUA and RTL

Invisible and PUA (Private Use Areas) characters should be avoided where possible. When needed, they should both be replaced with their (hexa)decimal code values (as "&#(x)...;"). This renders invisible characters visible, for manual editing, and allows AWB to process pages with PUA characters. The latter should also be tagged with the {{PUA}} template for tracking and future maintenance.

Mathematical characters and formulae

Mathematical characters

• See also Wikipedia:Mathematical symbols, WikiProject Mathematics and TeX.

What you type	What it looks like
∫ ∑ ∏ √	∫ ∑ ∏ √
− ± ∞	− ± ∞
≈ ∝ ≡ ≠	≈ ∝ ≡ ≠
≤ ≥	≤ ≥
× · ÷ ∂	× · ÷ ∂
′ ″	′ ″
∇ ‰ ° ∴ ℵ	∇ ‰ ° ∴ ℵ
ø	ø
∈ ∉ ∩ ∪	∈ ∉ ∩ ∪
⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇	⊂ ⊃ ⊆ ⊇
¬ ∧ ∨ ∃ ∀	¬ ∧ ∨ ∃ ∀
⇒ ⇐ ⇓ ⇑ ⇔	⇒ ⇐ ⇓ ⇑ ⇔
→ ← ↓ ↑ ↔	→ ← ↓ ↑ ↔

Mathematical formulae

Main page: Help:Displaying a formula

• Formulae that include mathematical letters, like x, and operators like × should not use the plain letter x. See math font formatting. For a comprehensive set of symbols, and comparison between <math> tags and the {{math}} template see section TeX vs HTML.

• The <math> tag typesets using LaTeX markup, which may render as an image or as HTML, depending on environmental settings. The <math> tag is best for the complex formula on its own line in an image format. If you use this tag to put a formula in the line with text, put it in the {{nowrap}} template.

• The {{math}} template uses HTML, and will size-match a serif font, and will also prevent line-wrap. All templates are sensitive to the = sign, so remember to replace = with {{=}} in template input, or start the input with 1=. Use wiki markup '' and ''' inside the {{math}} template, as well as other HTML entities. The {{math}} template is best for typeset formulas in line with the text.

Markup	Renders as
<math>2x \times 4y \div 6z + 8 - \frac {y}{z^2} = 0</math> {{math|2''x'' &times; 4''y'' &divide; 6''z'' + 8 &minus; {{sfrac|''y''|''z''<sup>2</sup>}} {{=}} 0}} <math>\sin 2\pi x + \ln e</math> {{math|sin 2&amp;pi;''x'' + ln ''e''}}	$2x\times 4y\div 6z+8-{\frac {y}{z^{2}}}=0$ 2x × 4y ÷ 6z + 8 − ⁠y/z2⁠ = 0 $\sin 2\pi x+\ln e$ sin 2πx + ln e

Spacing in simple math formulae

• Using   to prevent line break is not needed; the {{math}} template will prevent line breaks anyway; you can use <br /> if you need an explicit line break inside a formula.

Markup	Renders as
It follows that {{math|''x''<sup>2</sup> &ge; 0}} for real {{mvar|x}}.	It follows that x2 ≥ 0 for real x.

Complicated formulae

• See Help:Displaying a formula for how to use <math>.
• A formula displayed on a line by itself should be indented using <math display=block>...</math>

Markup	Renders as
<math display=block>\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{x^n}{n!}</math>	$$\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }{\frac {x^{n}}{n!}}$$

Indenting by using the colon (:) character (i.e. using :<math></math> instead of <math display=block></math>) is discouraged for accessibility reasons.

Links and URLs

Main page: Help:Link

Wikilinks

Wikilinks are used in wikitext markup to produce internal links between pages. You create wikilinks by putting double square brackets around text designating the title of the page you want to link to. Thus, [[Texas]] will be rendered as Texas. Optionally, you can use a vertical bar (|) to customize the link title. For example, typing [[Texas|Lone Star State]] will produce Lone Star State, a link that is displayed as "Lone Star State" but in fact links to Texas.

Link to another wiki article

• Internally, the first letter of the target page is automatically capitalized and spaces are represented as underscores (typing an underscore in the link has the same effect as typing a space, but is not recommended).
• Thus the link hereafter is to the Web address en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport, which is the Wikipedia article with the name "Public transport". See also Canonicalization.
• A red link is a page that doesn't exist yet; it can be created by clicking on the link.
• A link to its own page will appear only as bold text.

Markup	Renders as
London has [[public transport]].	London has public transport.
Link to this page: "[[Help:Wikitext]]" will appear only as bold text.	Link to this page: "Help:Wikitext" will appear only as bold text.

Renamed link

• Same target, different name.
• The target ("piped") text must be placed first, then the text to be displayed second.

What you type	What it looks like
New York also has [[public transport|public transportation]].	New York also has public transportation.

Automatically rename links

• Simply typing the pipe character | after a link will automatically rename the link in certain circumstances. The next time you open the edit box you will see the expanded piped link. When previewing your edits, you will not see the expanded form until you press Save and Edit again. The same applies to links to sections within the same page.
• See Pipe trick for details.

Description	What you type	What it looks like
Automatically hide stuff in parentheses	[[kingdom (biology)|]]	kingdom
Automatically hide the comma and following text	[[Seattle, Washington|]]	Seattle
Automatically hide namespace	[[Wikipedia:Village pump|]]	Village pump
Or both	[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style (headings)|]]	Manual of Style
But this doesn't work for section links	[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Links|]]	[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Links|]]

Blend link

• Endings are blended into the link.
  • Exception: a trailing apostrophe (') and any characters following the apostrophe are not blended.
• Preferred style is to use this instead of a piped link, if possible.
• Blending can be suppressed by using the <nowiki /> tag, which may be desirable in some instances.

Description	What you type	What it looks like
Blending active	San Francisco also has [[public transport]]ation. Examples include [[bus]]es, [[taxicab]]s, and [[tram]]s.	San Francisco also has public transportation. Examples include buses, taxicabs, and trams.
	A [[micro-]]second	A micro-second
Blending suppressed	A [[micro-]]<nowiki />second.	A micro-second

Link to a section of a page

• The part after the hash sign (#) must match a section heading on the page. Matches must be exact in terms of spelling, case, and punctuation. Links to non-existent sections are not broken; they are treated as links to the beginning of the page.
• Include "| link title" to create a stylish (piped) link title.
• If sections have the same title, add a number to link to any but the first. #Example section 3 goes to the third section named "Example section". You can use the pipe and retype the section title to display the text without the # symbol.

What you type	What it looks like
[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Italics]] is a link to a section within another page.	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. [[#Links and URLs|Links and URLs]] is a link to the same section without showing the # symbol.	#Links and URLs is a link to another section on the current page. Links and URLs is a link to the same section without showing the # symbol.
[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Italics|Italics]] is a piped link to a section within another page.	Italics is a piped link to a section within another page.

Create a page link

• To create a new page:
  1. Create a link to it on some other (related) page.
  2. Save that page.
  3. Click on the link you just made. The new page will open for editing.
• For more information, see starting an article and check out Wikipedia's naming conventions.
• Please do not create a new article without linking to it from at least one other article.

Description	What you type	What it looks like
Links to pages that don't exist yet look red.	The article about [[cardboard sandwiches]] doesn't exist yet.	The article about cardboard sandwiches doesn't exist yet.

Redirects

Main page: Help:Redirect

• Redirect one article title to another by placing a directive like the one shown to the right on the first line of the article (such as at a page titled "US").
• It is possible to redirect to a section. For example, a redirect to United States#History will redirect to the History section of the United States page, if it exists.

Description	What you type
Redirect to an article	#REDIRECT [[United States]]
Redirect to a section	#REDIRECT [[United States#History]]

Link to another namespace

• The full page name should be included in double square brackets.

What you type	What it looks like
See the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style]].	See the Wikipedia:Manual of Style.

Link to the same article in another language (interlanguage links)

Main pages: Help:Interlanguage links and Wikipedia:Complete list of language wikis available

• To link to a corresponding page in another language, use the form: [[language code:Foreign title]].
• It is recommended interlanguage links be placed at the very end of the article.
• Interlanguage links are NOT visible within the formatted article, but instead appear as language links on the sidebar (to the left) under the menu section "languages".

• NOTE: To create an inline link (a clickable link within the text) to any foreign language article, see Help:Interlanguage links#Inline interlanguage links and consider the usage notes.

Description	What you type
Link from English article "Plankton" to the Spanish article "Plancton". "es" is the language code for "español" (the Spanish language).	[[es:Plancton]]
Other examples: French (fr for français), German (de for Deutsch), Russian (ru), and simple English (simple).	[[fr:Plancton]] [[de:Plankton]] [[ru:Планктон]] [[simple:Plankton]]

Interwiki link

• Interwiki links link to any page on other wikis. Interwikimedia links link to other Wikimedia wikis.
• Note that interwikimedia links use the internal link style, with double square brackets.
• See Meta-Wiki:Interwiki map for the list of shortcuts; if the site you want to link to is not on the list, use an external link.
• See also Wikipedia:Wikimedia sister projects.

Description	What you type	What it looks like
Linking to a page on another wiki in English. All of these forms lead to the URL https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hello.
Simple link. Without prefix. Named link.	[[Wiktionary:hello]] [[Wiktionary:hello|]] [[Wiktionary:hello|Wiktionary definition of "hello"]]	Wiktionary:hello hello Wiktionary definition of "hello"
Linking to a page on another wiki in another language. All of these forms lead to the URL https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/bonjour.
Simple link. Without prefix. Named link.	[[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour]] [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour|]] [[Wiktionary:fr:bonjour|bonjour]]	Wiktionary:fr:bonjour fr:bonjour bonjour

Categories

• To put an article in a category, place a link like [[Category:Example]] into the article. As with interlanguage links, placing these links at the end of the article is recommended.
• To link to a category page without putting the article into the category, use a colon prefix (":Category") in the link.

Description	What you type	What it looks like
Categorize an article.	[[Category:Character sets]]
Link to a category.	[[:Category:Character sets]]	Category:Character sets
Without prefix.	[[:Category:Character sets|]]	Character sets

External links

• Single-square brackets indicate an external link. Note the use of a space (not a pipe |) to separate the URL from the link text in a named link. Square brackets may be used as normal punctuation when not linking to anything – [like this].
• A URL must begin with a supported URI scheme: https:// (preferably) and http:// will be supported by all browsers; irc://, ircs://, ftp://, news://, mailto:, and gopher:// will require a plugin or an external application. IPv6 addresses in URLs are currently not supported.
• A URL containing certain characters will display and link incorrectly unless those characters are percent encoded. For example, a space must be replaced by %20. Encoding can be achieved by:

• Use the link button on the enhanced editing toolbar to encode the link; this tool will add the bracket markup and the linked text, which may not always be desirable.
• Or manually encode the URL by replacing these characters:

space	"	'	,	;	<	>	?	[	]
%20	%22	%27	%2c	%3b	%3c	%3e	%3f	%5b	%5d

• Or use the {{urlencode:}} magic word. See Help:Magic words in the MediaWiki documentation for more details.

• See Wikipedia:External links for style issues, and Category:External link file type templates for indicating the file type of an external link with an icon.

Description	What you type	What it looks like
Named link with an external link icon	[https://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia]	Wikipedia
Unnamed link (Used only within article body for footnotes)	[https://www.wikipedia.org]	[1]
Bare URL (Bad style) use <nowiki></nowiki> to keep this bad style from showing	https://www.wikipedia.org	https://www.wikipedia.org
Link without arrow (Not often used)	<span class="plainlinks">[https://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia]</span>	Wikipedia

Miscellaneous

Media link

• To include links to non-image uploads such as sounds, use a "media" link. For images, see next section.
• Some uploaded sounds are listed at Commons:Sound.

What you type	What it looks like
[[media:Classical guitar scale.ogg|Sound]]	Sound

Links directly into edit mode

• These create links that directly go to the edit or view source tab. For example, to create links to the edit tab for this page, either of the following works:

Description	What you type	What it looks like
Using the {{fullurl}} template	[{{fullurl:Help:Wiki markup|action=edit}} edit]	edit
Using the {{Edit}} template	{{edit}}

Links partially italicized

• Linking to a page with a title containing words that are usually italicized, such as the Hindenburg disaster article.

What you type	What it looks like
[[Hindenburg disaster|''Hindenburg'' disaster]]	Hindenburg disaster

Musical notation

Main page: Help:Score

Musical notation is added by using the <score>...</score> extension HTML-like tag. For example:

Markup	Renders as
<score>\relative c' { fis d fis a d f e d c cis d e a g f ees }</score>

Images

Main pages: Help:Visual file markup and Wikipedia:Images

Only images that have been uploaded to Wikipedia or Wikimedia Commons can be used. To upload images, use the Commons upload wizard for photos you have taken, and the Wikipedia upload page if there may be copyright issues. You can find the uploaded image on the image list.

See the Wikipedia's image use policy for the policy used on Wikipedia.

For further help on images, including some more versatile abilities, see the picture tutorial and extended image syntax.

What you type	What it looks like	Notes
The image name, the word thumb then the caption : [[File:wiki.png|thumb|Wikipedia logo]]	The image name, the word thumb then the caption : Wikipedia logo	The thumb tag automatically allows the image to be enlarged and positions it (floats) automatically to the right of the page. An enlarge icon is placed in the lower right corner. See note below about adding an alt tag This is the basic markup for most images
A picture: [[File:wiki.png]]	A picture:	The picture name alone places the image in the text, or on the next line if there is insufficient space. Embedding the image in the text is only possible for very small images. Embedding the image will affect the vertical formatting of text.
With alternative text: [[File:wiki.png|alt=Puzzle globe logo]]	With alternative text:	Alternative text, used when the image is unavailable or when the image is loaded in a text-only browser, or when spoken aloud, is strongly encouraged. See Alternative text for images for help on choosing it.
With link: [[File:wiki.png|link=Wikipedia]]	With link:	The link directs to the Wikipedia page, Wikipedia, instead of the image file page.
Forced to the centre of the page using the ''frame'' tag (attribute), a ''centre'' tag and a caption: [[File:wiki.png|frame|centre|alt=Puzzle globe|Wikipedia logo]]	Forced to the centre of the page using the frame tag (attribute), a centre tag and a caption: Wikipedia logo	The frame tag automatically floats the image right. The frame tag is only of use with very small images or ones using the px tag The attributes left, center or centre override this, and places the image to the left or the centre of the page. The last parameter is the caption that appears below the image.
Forced to the left side of the page using the ''thumb'' attribute, the ''left'' attribute and a caption: [[File:wiki.png|thumb|left|alt=Puzzle globe|Wikipedia logo]]	Forced to the left side of the page using the thumb attribute, the left attribute and a caption: Wikipedia logo	The thumb tag automatically floats the image right. An enlarge icon is placed in the lower right corner. The attributes left, center or centre override this, and places the image to the left or the centre of the page.
Forced to the right side of the page ''without'' a caption: [[File:wiki.png|right|Wikipedia encyclopedia]]	Forced to the right side of the page without a caption: Wikipedia encyclopedia	Captions are only displayed when the thumb or frame attributes are present The picture tutorial explains more options.
A picture resized to 50 pixels... [[File:wiki.png|50 px|Wikipedia encyclopedia]]	A picture resized to 50 pixels width...	The picture tutorial explains more options. Sizing in pixels is deprecated and should be used very sparingly. There is an upright attribute that should be used instead. These tags are optimised for both laptop and mobile phone screens.
Linking directly to the description page of an image: [[:File:wiki.png]]	Linking directly to the description page of an image: File:wiki.png	Clicking on an image displayed normally on a page also leads to the description page.
Linking directly to an image without displaying it: [[Media:wiki.png|Image of jigsaw globe]]	Linking directly to an image without displaying it: Image of jigsaw globe	To include links to images shown as links instead of drawn on the page, use a "media" link.
Example: <div style="display: inline; width: 220px; float: right;"> [[File:wiki.png|50 px|Wikipedia encyclopedia]][[File:wiki.png|50 px]] </div>	Example:	Using the span or div elements to separate images from text (note that this may allow images to cover text).
Example: {| style="text-align: right;" |- | [[File:wiki.png|50 px]] |- | [[File:wiki.png|50 px]] |- | [[File:wiki.png|50 px]] |}	Example:	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).

Tables

Main page: Help:Table

See also: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Tables § Appropriate

There are two ways to build tables:

• Using specific wiki markup: (see Help:Table).
• Using HTML elements: <table>, <tr>, <td> or <th>.

Columns

Main page: Help:Columns

Use {{colbegin}} and {{colend}} templates to produce columns.

References and citing sources

Main pages: Wikipedia:Citing sources and Help:Footnotes

See also: APA style, Chicago style, Harvard style, and MLA style

Making a reference citing a printed or online source can be accomplished by using the <ref> wiki markup tags. Inside these tags details about the reference are added.

Details about the citation can be provided using a structure provided by various templates; the table below lists some typical citation components.

What it's for	What you type
To create the reference	<ref name="reference name">add_template_name_here</ref>
To cite a book	{{cite book}}
To cite a web source	{{cite web}}
Book ISBN	|isbn=0-4397-0818-4 (ISBN of the book)
Web URL	|url=https://www.wikipedia.org
Title	|title=title of source
Author	|author=authors, use commas for multiple
First name	|first=first name
Last name	|last=last name
Location	|location=location of publisher
Publisher	|publisher=who published the source
Date	|date=2007-09-21 (date of source)
Year	|year=year of source
Accessed date	|access-date=2008-12-25 (only if url= is included)
A complete reference tag	<ref name="Wiki markup">{{cite web |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Wiki_markup |title=Help:Wiki markup |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation}}</ref>
Referencing this again	<ref name="Wiki markup" />
Citation needed	{{Citation needed|{{subst:DATE}}}}

Templates and transcluding pages

Main page: Wikipedia:Transclusion

See also: Help:Template § Noinclude, includeonly, and onlyinclude

Examples for templates: {{pad|...}}, {{math|...}}, {{as of|...}}, {{edit}}

Templates are segments of wiki markup that are meant to be copied automatically ("transcluded") into a page. They are specified by putting the template's name in {{double braces}}. Most templates are pages in the Template namespace, but it is possible to transclude mainspace pages (articles) 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 its 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 before, within, or after 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 |.

What you type	What it looks like
{{Transclusion demo}}	This text comes from the page named Template:Transclusion demo. It has been transcluded into this page.
{{Help:Transclusion demo}}	This transclusion demo is a little bit of text from the page Help:Transclusion demo to be included into any file.
This template takes two parameters, and creates underlined text with a hover box for many modern browsers supporting CSS: {{Tooltip|Hover your mouse over this text |This is the hover text}} Go to this page to see the Tooltip template itself: {{tl|Tooltip}}	This template takes two parameters, and creates underlined text with a hover box for many modern browsers supporting CSS: Hover your mouse over this text Go to this page to see the Tooltip template itself: {{Tooltip}}

Talk and project pages

These are likely to be helpful on talk and project pages.

Signing comments

• The tilde character (~) is used when signing a comment on a talk page. Your username provides a link to your user page.

Description	What you type	What it looks like
You should sign your comments by appending four tildes to the comment, which adds your user name plus date/time.	~~~~	Username (talk) 19:35, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
Adding three tildes will add just your user name.	~~~	Username (talk)
Adding five tildes gives the date/time alone.	~~~~~	19:35, 10 November 2024 (UTC)

Linking to old revisions of pages, diffs, and specific history pages

• The external link function is mainly used for these. Open an old revision or diff, and copy the URL from the address bar, pasting it where you want it.

What you type	What it looks like
[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Wiki_markup&diff=330350877&oldid=330349143 Diff between revisions 330349143 and 330350877]	Diff between revisions 330349143 and 330350877

• You can also use an internal diff link. Unlike the template {{diff}}, this kind of link can even be used in edit summaries.

What you type	What it looks like
[[Special:Diff/330349143/330350877|Diff between revisions 330349143 and 330350877]]	Diff between revisions 330349143 and 330350877

• If the diff intended to be shown is between an immediately previous revision, the first parameter can be dropped.

What you type	What it looks like
[[Special:Diff/330350877|Diff between revisions 330349143 and 330350877]]	Diff between revisions 330349143 and 330350877

• For an old revision, you can also use a permalink. Though here only the main text is guaranteed to be retained (images and templates will be shown as they are today, not as they were at the time).

What you type	What it looks like
[[Special:Permalink/330350877|Revision 330350877]]	Revision 330350877

What links here, and recent changes linked

• The following markup can be used. For example, for the article Beetroot:

What you type	What it looks like
[[Special:WhatLinksHere/Beetroot]]	Special:WhatLinksHere/Beetroot
[[Special:RecentChangesLinked/Beetroot]]	Special:RecentChangesLinked/Beetroot

User edits

• Link to a user's contributions page.

Description	What you type	What it looks like
Username (registered users).	[[Special:Contributions/UserName]]	Special:Contributions/UserName
IPv4 address (unregistered users).	[[Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0]]	Special:Contributions/192.0.2.0
IPv6 address (unregistered users).	[[Special:Contributions/2001:0db8:0000:0000:0000:ff00:0042:8329]]	Special:Contributions/2001:0db8:0000:0000:0000:ff00:0042:8329

Coloring and highlighting text

• Using the {{Color}} and {{Font color}} templates:

What you type	What it looks like
I will change the color in {{color|blue|the middle part of}} this sentence.	I will change the color in the middle part of this sentence.
This is how to {{Font color||yellow|highlight part of a sentence}}.	This is how to highlight part of a sentence.

Example text

The {{xt}} family of templates can be used to highlight example text. These templates do not work in mainspace—that is, in regular articles—they are intended for use on project pages (such as Wikipedia:Manual of Style), help pages, and user pages.

What you type	What you get
This is {{xt|a correct example}} for comparison {{tick}}	This is a correct example for comparison Y
This is {{!xt|an incorrect example}} for contrast {{cross}}	This is an incorrect example for contrast N
This is {{mxt|in monospace}} for comparison	This is in monospace for comparison
This is {{!mxt|in monospace}} for contrast	This is in monospace for contrast
This is {{bxt|in bold}} for comparison	This is in bold for comparison
This is {{!bxt|in bold}} for contrast	This is in bold for contrast

Show deleted or inserted text

Further information: Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines § Editing own comments

• When editing regular Wikipedia articles, just make your changes, and do not mark them up in any special way, except when the article itself discusses deleted or inserted content, such as an amendment to a statute:
  • to indicate deleted content, use <del>...</del>
  • to indicate inserted content, use <ins>...</ins>
• This also applies to changing one's own talk page comments.

What you type	What it looks like
You can <del>indicate deleted material</del> and <ins>inserted material</ins>.	You can indicate deleted material and inserted material.

Strikethrough

See also: Help:HTML in wikitext § s

The {{Strikethrough}} template marks up a span of text with the <s>...</s> tag. This is usually renderend visually by drawing a horizontal line through it. Outside of articles, it can be used to mark something as no longer accurate or relevant without removing it from view. Do not use it, however, to indicate document edits. For that, use the <del>...</del> tag instead. See § Show deleted or inserted text for details.

What you type	What you get
This is {{Strikethrough|an obsolete stretch of text}} for comparison	This is an obsolete stretch of text for comparison

Limiting formatting / escaping wiki markup

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 you type	What it looks like
'''&lt;nowiki&gt; tag:''' <nowiki> The <nowiki> tag ignores [[wiki]] ''markup''. It reformats text by removing newlines and multiple spaces. It still interprets characters specified by &amp;name;: &rarr; </nowiki>	<nowiki> tag: The <nowiki> tag ignores [[wiki]] ''markup''. It reformats text by removing newlines and multiple spaces. It still interprets characters specified by &name;: →
'''&lt;pre&gt; tag:''' <pre>The &lt;pre&gt; tag ignores [[wiki]] ''markup'' as does the &lt;nowiki&gt; tag. Additionally, &lt;pre&gt; displays in a mono-spaced font, and does not reformat text spaces. It still interprets special characters: &rarr;</pre>	<pre> tag: The <pre> tag ignores [[wiki]] ''markup'' as does the <nowiki> tag. Additionally, <pre> displays in a mono-spaced font, and does not reformat text spaces. It still interprets special characters: →
'''[Text without a URL]:''' Single square brackets holding [text without a HTTP URL] are preserved, but single square brackets containing a URL are treated as being an external [https://example.com/ Web link].	[Text without a URL]: Single square brackets holding [text without a HTTP URL] are preserved, but single square brackets containing a URL are treated as being an external Web link.
'''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: &amp;	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: →

Nowiki

"WP:NOWIKI" redirects here. For the essay about the name "Wiki", see Wikipedia:Don't abbreviate "Wikipedia" as "Wiki"!

<nowiki>...</nowiki> (wiki markup contained between these two tags is displayed as normal text)

<nowiki /> (wiki markup that is interrupted by this tag is displayed as normal text, as detailed in examples below)

These two kinds of nowiki operate in different ways, but both neutralize the rendering of wiki markup as shown in the examples below. For example, the characters that have wiki markup meaning at the beginning of a line (*, #, ; and :) can be rendered in normal text. Editors can normalize the font of characters trailing a wikilink, which would otherwise appear in the wikilink font. And newlines added to wikitext for readability can be ignored.

Note to template editors: tag <nowiki> works only on its source page, not the target.

Markup	Renders as
# Ordered list	Ordered list
<nowiki /># Ordered list	# Ordered list
A [[micro-]]second.	A micro-second.
A [[micro-]]<nowiki />second.	A micro-second.
a<nowiki> </nowiki>b	a b
'<nowiki />'Italics' markup'<nowiki />'	''Italics' markup''
<nowiki>[[Example]]</nowiki>	[[Example]]
<nowiki><!-- revealed --></nowiki>	<!-- revealed -->

The rest of the section consists of simple, live examples showing how a single nowiki tag escapes entire linkage structures, beyond [[wikilink]] and {{template}}:

[[ fullpagename | label ]]

{{ pagename | parameter }}

[[fullpagename | {{ pagename }} ]]

{{ pagename | [[ fullpagename ]] }}

{{ pagename | {{ pagename }} }}

Unless you use the two "balanced" nowiki tags, troubleshooting strip marker errors and template parameter-handling inconsistencies is a risk. Also, a rendering error may arise when two [[...]] square brackets are on the same line, or two {{...}} curly brackets are in the same section, but only when the two have the nowiki markup placed inconsistently.

Displaying wikilinks

(These are all live examples.)

Markup	Renders as
[[ wp:pagename | page name ]] [<nowiki />[ wp:pagename | page name ]] [[<nowiki /> wp:pagename | page name ]] [[ wp:pagename <nowiki />| page name ]] [[ wp:pagename | page name ]<nowiki />]	page name [[ wp:pagename | page name ]] [[ wp:pagename | page name ]] [[ wp:pagename | page name ]] [[wp:pagename | page name ]]

For nested structures, escaping an inner structure escapes its outer structure too.

Markup	Renders as
[[ wp: {{ 1x | pagename }} ]] [[ wp: {<nowiki />{ 1x | pagename }} ]] [[ wp: {{<nowiki /> 1x | pagename }} ]] [[ wp: {{ 1x <nowiki />| pagename }} ]]	wp: pagename [[ wp: {{ 1x | pagename }} ]] [[ wp: {{ 1x | pagename }} ]] [[ wp: {{ 1x | pagename }} ]]

For two, first pipes, two nowiki tags are required:

Markup	Renders as
[[ wp: pagename | {{ 1x | label }} ]] [[ wp: pagename <nowiki />| {{ 1x <nowiki />| label }} ]] &lt;nowiki>[[ wp: pagename | {{ 1x | label }} ]] &lt;/nowiki>	label [[ wp: pagename | {{ 1x | label }} ]] [[ wp: pagename | {{ 1x | label }} ]]

Displaying template calls

See also: Template:tl

For templates, put nowiki before the first pipe. If a parameter has a wikilink, put it in that, an inmost position.

Markup	Renders as
{<nowiki />{ val | u=&gt; [[ms]] | 49082 }} {{<nowiki /> val | u=&gt; [[ms]] | 49082 }} {{ val <nowiki />| u=&gt; [[ms]] | 49082 }} {{ val | u= &gt; [[ms]] | 49082 }<nowiki />} {{ val | u= &gt; [[ ms ]<nowiki />] | 49082 }}	{{ val | u=> ms | 49082 }} {{ val | u= > ms | 49082 }} {{ val | u=> ms | 49082 }} {{ val | u=> ms | 49082 }} {{ val | u=> [[ ms ]] | 49082 }} Y

Displaying magic words

Further information: Help:Magic words and Help:Parser function

For input parameters, {{{1}}}, {{{2}}}, just write them out, unless they have a default (which goes behind their pipe): {{<nowiki />{1|default}}} → {{{1|default}}}

For a parser function nowiki goes between bracketing-pair characters, or anywhere before the : colon.

Markup	Renders as
{{ #ifeq: inYes | inYes | outYes | outNo }} {<nowiki />{ #ifeq: inYes | inYes | outYes | outNo }} {{<nowiki /> #ifeq: inYes | inYes | outYes | outNo }} {{ #ifeq<nowiki />: inYes | inYes | outYes | outNo }} {{ #ifeq: inYes | inYes | outYes | outNo }<nowiki />}	outYes {{ #ifeq: inYes | inYes | outYes | outNo }} {{ #ifeq: inYes | inYes | outYes | outNo }} {{ #ifeq: inYes | inYes | outYes | outNo }} {{ #ifeq: inYes | inYes | outYes | outNo }}

Behavioral switches expect the tag anywhere:

Markup	Renders as
1. __HIDDENCAT__ 2. __HIDDENCAT<nowiki />__	1. 2. __HIDDENCAT__

Displaying tags

Tags do not display; they are just markup. If you want them to, insert <nowiki /> after an < opening angle bracket; it goes only in the very front. Opening tags and closing tags must be treated separately.

Markup	Renders as
<span style=color:blue> Blue </span> <<nowiki />span style=color:blue> Blue <<nowiki />/span> <section end=la<nowiki />bel /> <<nowiki />section end=label />	Blue <span style=color:blue> Blue </span> bel /> N <section end=label /> Y

Use template {{tag}} instead of nowiki tags to display parser tags:

Character entities, nowiki cannot escape. To escape HTML or special character entities, replace & with &. For example, < → <

To display a nowiki tag, you can (1) use {{tag}}, (2) replace the < left angle bracket with its HTML character entity, or (3) nest nowiki tags in each other:

Markup	Renders as
{{ tag | nowiki }} <code>&amp;lt; nowiki>...&amp;lt;/ nowiki ></code> <code><<nowiki />nowiki>...<<nowiki />/ nowiki ></code>	<nowiki>...</ nowiki > < nowiki>...</ nowiki > < nowiki>...</ nowiki >
{{ tag | nowiki | s }} <code>&amp;lt; nowiki /></code> <code>&lt;&lt;nowiki /> nowiki /></code> <code>&lt;nowiki>&lt; nowiki />&lt;/nowiki></code>	<nowiki /> < nowiki /> < nowiki /> < nowiki />

Nowiki tags do not otherwise nest, so it is the second and fourth that displays:

Markup	Renders as
1&lt;nowiki>2&lt;nowiki>3</nowiki>4</nowiki> &lt;nowiki>{{!}}&lt;nowiki></nowiki>{{!}}</nowiki>	12<nowiki>34</nowiki>       second and fourth {{!}}<nowiki>|</nowiki>

These simply scan from left to right. The paired tags cannot overlap, because the very first pair-match nullifies any intervening tags inside. Unbalanced tags always display.

Nowiki tags do not display table markup, use <pre>...</pre>.

Pre

<pre> is a parser tag that emulates the HTML <pre> tag. It defines preformatted text that is displayed in a fixed-width font and is enclosed in a dashed box. HTML-like and wiki markup tags are escaped, spaces and line breaks are preserved, but HTML elements are parsed.

<pre> examples

Markup	Renders as
<pre><!--Comment--> [[wiki]] markup &amp;</pre>	<!--Comment--> [[wiki]] markup &amp;

As <pre> is a parser tag, it escapes wikitext and HTML tags. This can be prevented with the use of <includeonly></includeonly> within the <pre>, making it act more like its HTML equivalent:

<pre> with <includeonly></includeonly> example

Markup	Renders as
<pre<includeonly></includeonly>><!--Comment--> [[wiki]] markup &amp;</pre>	wiki markup &

Invisible HTML <pre> tags can also be inserted by preceding text with a space character, like:

wiki markup &

Alternatively, consider using {{pre}} template or <syntaxhighlight lang="text">...</syntaxhighlight>.

Invisible text (comments)

See also: Help:Hidden text

It's uncommon – but on occasion acceptable for notes to other editors – to add a hidden comment within the text of an article. These comments are visible only when editing or viewing the source of a page. Most comments should go on the appropriate Talk page. The format is to surround the hidden text with "<!--" and "-->" and may cover several lines, e.g.:

<!-- An example of hidden comments
 This won't be visible except in "edit" mode. -->

Another way to include a comment in the wiki markup uses the {{Void}} template, which can be abbreviated as {{^}}. This template "expands" to the empty string, generating no HTML output; it is visible only to people editing the wiki source. Thus {{^|A lengthy comment here}} operates similarly to the comment <!-- A lengthy comment here -->. The main difference is that the template version can be nested, while attempting to nest HTML comments produces odd results.

Variables

See also: Help:Magic words § Variables

Code	Effect	Notes
{{CURRENTWEEK}}	45
{{CURRENTDOW}}	0	Monday = 1, Tuesday = 2, etc., but Sunday = 0
{{CURRENTMONTH}}	11
{{CURRENTMONTHNAME}}	November
{{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}}	November
{{CURRENTDAY}}	10
{{CURRENTDAYNAME}}	Sunday
{{CURRENTYEAR}}	2024
{{CURRENTTIME}}	19:35
{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}	6,908,710
{{NUMBEROFPAGES}}	61,814,366
{{NUMBEROFUSERS}}	48,243,866
{{PAGENAME}}	Wikitext
{{NAMESPACE}}	Help
{{REVISIONID}}	-
{{REVISIONUSER}}	John of Reading
{{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:index}} e.g. {{ns:1}} → full name of namespace
{{SITENAME}}	Wikipedia

{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} is the number of pages in the main namespace that contain a link and are not a redirect. This includes full articles, stubs containing a link, and disambiguation pages.

{{CURRENTMONTHNAMEGEN}} is the genitive (possessive) grammatical form of the month name, as used in some languages but not in English; {{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}}.

HTML

Main page: Help:HTML in wikitext

Many HTML tags can be used in wiki markup. You can check your HTML by using markup validation.

See also

Help desk

See the 'Coding wiki markup' section of the Help navigation navbox below for additional links.

• Wikipedia:User page design guide/Style
• Wikipedia:Extended image syntax: advanced visual file markup.
• Help:A quick guide to templates: an introduction to templates.
• Help:Substitution: substitution is an alternative way of including templates than transclusion.
• Help:Score: how to render musical scores.
• Help:Displaying a formula: displaying mathematical formulae.
• Editing Wikitext at Wikibooks.
• Parsoid: MediaWiki application that allows for converting back and forth between wikitext and HTML.
• {{Syntaxhighlight}}: template to show wrapped syntax-highlighted text.