Beginner's Guide:Editing

Editing a wiki can be pretty complicated, especially if you've never edited one before. This guide will help you learn to edit successfully and effectively. Wiki code is fairly simple and very versatile as well as similar to HTML, the code that makes up the vast majority of the World Wide Web. However, while some knowledge of HTML is useful, it is not at all necessary.

If you want to practice editing but are worried about wrecking an article, then you can use the Sandbox. You can try out whatever you want in the sandbox, and you won’t break anything!

This guide was written by User:Screennameless and paraphrases a guide written by User:EightyOne for Gears of War Fanon. If you have any questions feel free to ask and leave a message on Screennameless's talk page.

You may notice there is no comment on how to include images. That's because images are still confusing to me (Screennameless) and I don't feel confident putting up information about it.

Disabling the Rich Text Editor
Before you do anything, you need to disable the Rich Text Editor. The Rich Text Editor (RTE) is Wikia's recently instated default editing window. The idea behind the RTE is to facilitate editing by removing the need to enter code. The problem is that if you already know code and put it in the RTE, it garbles it and usually breaks your page. I, personally, would prefer having to teach you the code than having to fix your broken RTE page. So please do this if the RTE is giving you problems:


 * 1) Click the "MORE" button up at the top right corner of your page.
 * 2) In the scrolldown menu, click "Preferences".
 * 3) In Preferences, click the tab labeled "Editing".
 * 4) Uncheck "Enable Rich Text Editing".

The Editing Window
Now that you've disabled the RTE, let's plunge into our tutorial. When you create a new article using the button on the sidebar, a pop-up will prompt you for a title and ask you to select a "Standard Layout" or a "Blank Page". I recommend Blank Page because SlamWiki uses non-standard formatting, which will be discussed in Headings below.

Once you've titled your page and selected your format, the Editing Window will appear. The non-RTE window looks like a blank text window with thirteen buttons at the top left. It’s in this window that you enter the wiki code. Feel free to start typing, but you may want to consult our Manual of Style first.

Headings
Adding headings to your articles makes them look better and easier to read. A page that extends below the bottom of the screen and has several headings will automatically generate a Table of Contents, so every page of any significance should use headings.

The heading codes are very simple. A primary header, like the one above, is created by placing equals signs around the heading text. For example ==Headings== is used to create the heading for this section. To make a sub-heading add an extra equals sign to each end of the text.

SlamWiki notably does not use the single equals sign heading ( =Heading= ) and instead skips straight to double equals signs. This is a common practice on many wikis and is purely aesthetic, but don't be surprised if your single equals sign heading is "fixed" at some point.

Internal Links
Adding links to other articles very simple. Just enclose the name of the article in square brackets ( ... ). For example; SlamWiki:About will create a link to SlamWiki:About. Links are case- and space-sensitive, so typing Slamwiki: ABOUT will not link to the article.

Sometimes you might want to link to something but not use the article name. To do this, you need to type out a normal link, and then put a pipe ( |, which is usually next to the left shift key or above the enter key) followed by the text you want after the article name. For example; click here to find out more about SlamWiki will produce click here to find out more about SlamWiki.

Highlighting text
Putting three apostrophes (  ) before and after a section of text will make the words in the middle bold'''. For example; This text will be bold produces This text will be bold.

Putting two apostrophes (  ) before and after a section of text will put the words in the middle in italics''. For example; This text will be in italics produces This text will be in italics.

Putting five apostrophes (  ) around text will make it bold and in italics'.

Text can also be underlined by putting ...  around it. For example; This text will be underlined  produces This text will be in underlined. A strikethrough (a line) can be put though text by using ..., like this.

Making lists
You can make lists by adding asterisks ( * ) or hashes ( # ) before the text that you want to be in a list. Asterisks make a bulleted list, and hashes make a numbered list.
 * This is an example of a bulleted list.
 * Use a new asterisk or hash for each line
 * Putting two asterisks creates a sub list (putting three, four, etc. Creates further sub lists).
 * 1) Numbered lists look like this.
 * 2) And you can make sub lists in exactly the same way.
 * 3) The numbers generate automatically, so you do not need to change them if you change the order.

Indenting text
Text can be indented by putting a colon in front of it. This works just like the two example above, but it does not create numbers or bullets.
 * One colon indents text this much.
 * Two this much.
 * Three this much, and so.

Semicolon headings
If you want to separate a block of text but don't think it merits a big heading or a slot in the Table of Contents, you can put a semicolon in front of it. This is a common tactic for creating FAQs, for which each individual question is not necessarily desirable in the Table of Contents. However, unlike the previous examples, only one semicolon should ever be used. Multiple semicolons will break the page.
 * This is what a semicolon heading looks like.
 * Follow the semicolon with a colon to indent the heading.

Templates
Templates are very useful ways to add information to lots of pages on a wiki. Templates are linked to differently from internal links. If you would like to link to a template's source rather than use the template, treat it like an internal link. If you would like to use a template, take the template name (whatever follows the "Template:" prefix) and put it in curly brackets.

Infoboxes
The most useful templates for most users of a wiki are infoboxes. These are used to summarise vital information for the articles in an easy to read box. Here are some useful infoboxes: See the respective template for instructions on how to use them.
 * Template:Infobox

Conclusion
Congratulations! You have finished this guide! Hopefully it has helped you to gasp the basics of wiki code. You should now be able to edit on not just this wiki, but any wiki!

The best way to become familiar with the code is to use it. The two authors of this guide never had any kind of training in wiki code and never read any beginners guides, but they picked it up after trying things out and experimenting. After editing for a while, it will become second nature to you.

So go and edit something! Good luck!!