Help:Getting started
Contents
Syntax
While most of the functions are available from the toolbar above the editing window, you may want to type it in using wiki syntax.
Bold text
To make text bold, surround it with three single-quotes: '''text to make bold''' will produce text that looks like text to make bold.
Italic text
To make text italic, surround it with two single-quotes; ''text to make italic'' will produce text that looks like text to make italic.
Links
There are two different types of links in a wiki:
- links that point to another page contained within the wiki (called internal links), and
- links that point to a page outside of the wiki (called external links)
To make an internal link, surround the title of the article with double brackets: [[Help:Getting started]] will produce a link that looks like Help:Contents. Note that all article titles are case sensitive. If you would like to link to the same article using different text, separate the article title and the link text with a bar (|): [[Help:Contents|Contents]] will produce a link that looks like Contents.
To make an external link, surround the URL of the page with single brackets: [http://www.gustavus.edu] will produce a link that looks like [1]. Note that when you make an external link, you must provide the entire URL, starting with http://. Additionally, if you would like a portion of text to link to a page, separate the URL and the link text with a space: [http://www.gustavus.edu Gustavus Adolphus College] will produce a link that looks like Gustavus Adolphus College.
Sections
It is important to use sections to break up content into smaller pieces. To create a section, surround text with two or more equals signs (=): == Level-2 section == will create a level-2 section.
Keep in mind that sections are hierarchical and should be used to organize information into sections, sub-sections, and sub-sub-sections. Each level only requires an additional equals sign on each side of the text. So, for example, a level-3 section would look like === Level-3 sections === and a level-4 section would look like ==== Level-4 section ====.
A table of contents at the top of the page will automatically be generated once there are enough headlines.
Bulleted lists
To make a bulleted list, start each line with an asterisk (*):
* List item 1
* List item 2
will look like
- List item 1
- List item 2
To nest lists, used additional asterisks:
* List item 1
** Sub-list item 1
** Sub-list item 2
will look like
- List item 1
- Sub-list item 1
- Sub-list item 2
Numbered lists
To make a numbered list, start each line with a pound (#):
# List item 1
# List item 2
will look like
- List item 1
- List item 2