Help:Formatting
From WeRelate
Frequently asked questions
How do I create a header?
Put the text of the header between two or more equals signs.
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
|
New section Subsection Sub-subsection |
==New section== ===Subsection=== ====Sub-subsection==== |
- Start with a second-level heading (==); don't use first-level headings (=).
- Don't skip levels (for example, second-level followed by fourth-level).
- A Table of Contents will automatically be added to an article that has four or more sections.
- Clicking the
at the top of the edit page will create a second level or Headline Text tag: ==Headline text== for you to use.
How do I start a new paragraph?
Just leave a blank line to start a new paragraph.
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
|
This is paragraph 1. This is paragraph 2. |
This is paragraph 1. This is paragraph 2. |
How do I use bold, italics, or indentation?
To italicize a word, put it between 2 apostrophes (Note: although they appear similar, quotation marks do not italicize.). To make a word bold, put it between 3 apostrophes. To indent a paragraph, use a colon as the first character on the line. See table below for examples:
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
|
italicized word |
''italicized'' word |
|
bolded word |
'''bolded''' word |
|
:Indented paragraph. |
- You can also create Bold and Italic text by using the
and the 
tabs at the top of any edit page.
- Highlight the word or phrase you wish to change and click either of the tabs
- To change text to BOTH Bold and Italic: Highlight the text and press the Bold tab and then with the text still highlighted press the Italic tab.
- The result of using both would be: This text is Bold and Italic
How do I Center text?
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
|
|
<center>Center this Text</center> |
How do I Underline text?
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
|
Underline |
<u>Underline</u> |
How do I Strike Through Text (Strikeout)?
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
|
|
<s>Strikeout</s> |
How do I change the Font Color and Size?
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
|
Normal Font Font Size Font Color Font Color and Size |
Normal Font <font size="+2">Font Size</font> <font color="red">Font Color</font> <font color="red" size="+2">Font Color and Size</font> |
How do I create a list?
You can create either bulleted or numbered lists. To create a bulleted list, put a * as the first character on each line; to create a numbered list, put a # as the first character on each line.
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
|
* Item 1 * Item 2 ** Item 2.2 * Item 3 |
|
# Item 1 # Item 2 ## Item 2.2 # Item 3 |
How do I use Superscripts?
Type <sup> item </sup>
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
|
This statement is attributed to1 |
This statement is attributed to<sup>1</sup> |
How do I create a break (extra line)?
If you have a line of text you would like to force to the next line, use the <br> tag
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
|
I want to force this text to the next line here |
I want to force this text to the next line here<br>and let it begin on the next line. |
How do I include text without formatting (nowiki Tag)?
- If you wish to include some text that includes WeRelate or HTML tags in your text use the <nowiki></nowiki> tag
- You Type: If you use the <nowiki>[[Image:xxxx.jpg]]</nowiki> tag you can place an image on your page.
- Result: If you use the [[Image:xxxx.jpg]] tag you can place an image on your page.
- At the top of the editing page is an icon
that will produce the nowiki tag for you: <nowiki>Insert non-formatted text here</nowiki>
- Replace the text in the center with the text that you do not want to be formatted by WeRelate.
How do I sign my name to a comment in a talk page?
- Put --~~~~ after your comment.
- You can also press the
icon at the top of the edit box.
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
|
--Dallan 14:42, 24 March 2006 (MST) |
--~~~~ |
How do I create a link to another WeRelate page?
- To create a link to another WeRelate page, place the title of the wiki page within double brackets. You can follow the title with a | and some text if you want different text displayed in place of the title.
- You can also click the
tab at the top of the edit page to set up the internal link
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
[[Place:Chicago, Illinois]] [[Place:Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] [[Colorado Research Guide]] |
- Some examples of Internal WeRelate Links:
- Person: [[Person:August Haas (6)|August Haas]] Result: August Haas
- Family: [[Family:August Haas and Mabel Worthen (5)]] Result: Family:August Haas and Mabel Worthen (5)
- Place: [[Place:Hamilton, Indiana, United States|Hamilton County, Indiana]] Result: Hamilton County, Indiana
- Source: [[Source:Upper Fall Creek Church|Upper Fall Creek Church]] Result: Upper Fall Creek Church
- MySource: [[MySource:Robbhaas/Chevrolet Transmission Plant Info|Chevrolet Muncie]] Result: Chevrolet Muncie
- Help: [[Help:Search]] Result: Help:Search
How do I create a link to a location on the same page?
- For Example: If you wanted to refer to the article above "How do I create a link to another WeRelate Page?" you would enter:
- [[#How do I create a link to another WeRelate page?|Linking to another WeRelate page?]]
- The result: Linking to another WeRelate page
How do I create a link to an external web page?
- To create a link to an external web page, place the URL of the web page, followed by the text of the link, within single brackets. Don't forget the http://!
- You can also click on the
icon at the top of the edit page to set up an external link
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
[http://www.familysearch.org FamilySearch] |
How do I create a link to Wikipedia?
To create a link to Wikipedia, type [[wikipedia:Title of page|Text of link]]. For example, to link to Wikipedia's main page, with the link appearing as the word "Wikipedia", you would type [[wikipedia:Main page|Wikipedia]]. It would appear on your page as Wikipedia. Note that the Wikipedia designator is not capitalized and there is no space after the colon (:).
An alternate Method:
- Copy the link from the WikiPedia Page and paste it into an external link tag [ ]
- The External Tag Setup: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln Abraham Lincoln]
- WikiPedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/abraham_Lincoln
- Text you want to be visible on the page: Abraham Lincoln
- Result: Abraham Lincoln
- The External Tag Setup: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln Abraham Lincoln]
How do I Redirect a page to another page?
- In the first line of the Edit Page type: #redirect[[Place:Indiana, United States]]
- The text between the double brackets is the page you want the current page Redirected to
- MUST be the first line in the Text area for this command to work
- For detailed directions see the Redirect Help Page
- Another use: Creating an alternative Place Name for a page
How Do I create References and Footnotes?
- if you want a list of footnotes to appear at the bottom of your text, you can use <ref> and <references> tags. Take a look at Person:Ella_Grey_(1) for an example.
- You Type:
SomeText<ref name="headstones">According to headstones in Balou Cemetery</ref>
SomeMoreText<ref name="headstones"/>
DifferentText<ref name="obit">Obituary in Colorado City newspaper</ref>
=====Footnotes=====
<references/>
- The Results:
SomeText[1]
SomeMoreText[1]
DifferentText[2]
Footnotes
How do I include images on a page?
- First you need to upload the image. Please make sure that you are not violating someone else's copyright when you do so.
- Once you've uploaded the image, refer to it using an Image or a Media Link
- Image Link i.e. [[Image:WeRelate.gif]] will place a copy of the image on the page as shown below
- Media Link i.e. [[media:WeRelate.gif]] will place a link to that image on the page as shown below
- You can also use the Image button
or the Media button 
at the top of the text edit screen to produce the Image and Media tags for you. **Simply replace the "Example.xxx" with the name of your image file
| What it looks like | What you type |
|---|---|
|
|
[[Image:WeRelate.gif]] |
[[Media:WeRelate.gif]] |
- For more information concerning Images such as Preparing them for upload, how to upload, Annotating, placing them on a page and creating an image gallery see: the Images Tutorial
- To learn advanced image formatting techniques, visit the Wikipedia Image Formatting page.
How can I create Special Characters?
What HTML tags can I use on my pages?
HTML vs. WeRelate Tags
- Some HTML tags can be used on WeRelate pages, but for the most part it is quicker to use the WeRelate tags.
- HTML tags which do not have WeRelate counterparts are shown and described on this page.
- Below are examples of two tags both in HTML and WeRelate format to show the comparison
| What it looks like | WeRelate Tag | HTML Tag |
|---|---|---|
|
Bold Italic |
'''Bold''' ''Italic'' |
<b>Bold></b> <i>Italic></i> |
Unusable HTML tags
The following tags should not be used in wiki pages:
- pre Tag <pre> </pre>
- A pre tag just indents the first line of a paragraph
- Starting a line with one or more spaces does exactly the same thing as the pre tag
- it indents the first line of the paragraph.
- Link Tag <a href="http://www.google.com">googl</a>
- Not sure why the Wikipedia parser excludes this tag, but it does, and since we use the same parse as Wikipedia, we exclude it too.
- Use a WeRelate External Link Tag: [http://www.google.com google]
- Result: google
- Image source link <img src="xxx"/>
- Use a WeRelate External Link Tag: [http://www.werelate.org/w/skins/common/images/new-wr-logo.gif New WeRelate Logo]
- Result: New WeRelate Logo
Where can I learn additional formatting techniques?
You have several options:
- If you like to learn by example, you can go to a page that has a format (table, list, heading, etc.) that you would like to use and click on the Edit (or View source) link at the top of that page to see how that page is formatted.
- You can practice and share your formatting techniques in the Sandbox.
- If you'd like to learn about more advanced formatting techniques such as tables, see Wikipedia's excellent article on formatting.
- If you have questions that aren't answered by this page, please send an email to dallan@WeRelate.org.
- Regardless of how you learn, use the Show preview button as you're editing the page to experiment with different formatting options.
