Help:Editing

The Science Olympiad forum has a Wiki to provide a resource for events, user pages, and more. This page is meant to provide a basic guide for using MediaWiki and Wiki Markup.

BBCode and Wikitext

BBCode, Wikitext, and Wiki Markup are closely related. The tags used are similar, so an understanding of the first may lend itself to easier learning of the latter two. (See BBCode)

BBCode

Main Article: BBCode

BBCode is the abbreviated form of bulletin board code, used to format posts on forums.

Wikitext

Wikitext is a language that is used to create pages in wiki websites, including this Wiki. It is almost the same as HTML (hypertext markup language). In fact, one of its main goals is to be converted into HTML so that non-Wiki websites can copy and paste the text.

Wiki Markup

Wiki markup is the syntax used to format a page. Several versions of syntax are used on the wiki, because there is no standardized syntax used on Wikis. Pages may contain multiple different syntaxes that serve different or even the same function.

Editing a Page Using Wiki Markup

WM and BBCode use a similar format when editing. They both use tags, but in some cases the "tags" in Wikitext won’t appear as brackets ([example]) but as a series of apostrophes to change the text. Additionally, while BBCode usually uses one pair of brackets as tags, special Wiki Markup tags (such as image tags) use two pairs ([[example]]).

The next section provides a list of common codes that can be used in any page of Scioly’s Wiki.

Wiki Markup - Basics

	Code	Example of the Code	Result
Italics	''Example''	''WIDI''	WIDI
Bold	'''Example'''	'''MagLev'''	MagLev
Link to another page on the Wiki (internal link)	[[PageName]]	[[BBCode]]	BBCode
Internal Link with Description	[[PageName | Description]]	[[BBCode | A helpful guide]]	A helpful guide
Link to a page outside of the Wiki (external link)	[PageAddress]	[http://www.soinc.org]	[1]
External Link with Description	[PageAddress Description]	[http://www.soinc.org Science Olympiad]	Science Olympiad
Inserting an Image on the Wiki	[[File:filename.extension]]	[[File:sciolylogo.png]]
Adding citations (don’t plagiarize!)	References: <references/>	References: <http://www.scioly.org/phpBB3/index.php/>	References: http://www.scioly.org/phpBB3/index.php

Lists

Unordered Lists

Unordered lists are bulleted.

Code:

*List Entry1
*List Entry2
**List Entry2a

Result:

• List Entry1
• List Entry2
  • List Entry2a

Ordered Lists

Ordered lists are numbered.

Code:

#List Entry1
#List Entry2
##List Entry2a

Result:

1. List Entry1
2. List Entry2
   1. List Entry2a

Indented Lists

Indented lists are simply indented.

Code:

:List Entry1
:List Entry2
::List Entry2a

Result:

List Entry1

List Entry2

List Entry2a

Tables

Basic Table

Code:

{|
|+Example Table
!Heading 1
!Heading 2
!Heading 3
|-
!Row Heading 1
|Row Entry 1
|Row Entry 2
|-
!Row Heading 2
|Row Entry 3
|Row Entry 4
|-
!Row Heading 3
|Row Entry 5
|Row Entry 6
|-
|}

Result:

Example Table

Heading 1	Heading 2	Heading 3
Row Heading 1	Row Entry 1	Row Entry 2
Row Heading 2	Row Entry 3	Row Entry 4
Row Heading 3	Row Entry 5	Row Entry 6

Skinned Table

Use class="wikitable" to make your tables look nice.

Code:

{|class="wikitable"
|+Example Table
!Heading 1
!Heading 2
!Heading 3
|-
!Row Heading 1
|Row Entry 1
|Row Entry 2
|-
!Row Heading 2
|Row Entry 3
|Row Entry 4
|-
!Row Heading 3
|Row Entry 5
|Row Entry 6
|-
|}

Result:

Example Table

Heading 1	Heading 2	Heading 3
Row Heading 1	Row Entry 1	Row Entry 2
Row Heading 2	Row Entry 3	Row Entry 4
Row Heading 3	Row Entry 5	Row Entry 6

Text Alignment in Tables

Use style="text-align:_____" to set the alignment of text in a table. Allowed parameters include left, center, and right.

Code:

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
! Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit
|-
| Row 1 Content
|}

Result:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit
Row 1 Content

Code:

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
! Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit
|-
| Row 1 Content
|}

Result:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit
Row 1 Content

Sorted Table

Use class="sortable" to make your tables sortable on each column.

Code:

{|class="sortable" style="text-align:center"
|+2008 Science Olympiad Nationals Tournament
!Overall Rank!!School Name!!2008 States!!Nationals WS
|-
|1||Troy High School||18 Apr 2008||30
|-
|2||Centerville High School||18 Apr 2008||26
|-
|3||Grand Haven High School||26 Apr 2008||7
|-
|4||Fayetteville-Manlius High School||15 Mar 2008||2
|-
|5||Mentor High School||18 Apr 2008||20
|-
|}

Result:

2008 Science Olympiad Nationals Tournament

Overall Rank	School Name	2008 States	Nationals WS
1	Troy High School	18 Apr 2008	30
2	Centerville High School	18 Apr 2008	26
3	Grand Haven High School	26 Apr 2008	7
4	Fayetteville-Manlius High School	15 Mar 2008	2
5	Mentor High School	18 Apr 2008	20

Clicking on the buttons next to each column heading sorts the items in the table accordingly.

Text Color/Highlighting

You can change the color of text from the default black color.

Code:

<b style="color:red">red text</b>
<b style="color:orange">orange text</b>
<b style="color:yellow"> yellow text</b>
<b style="color:green">green text</b>
<b style="color:blue"> blue text</b>
<b style="color:violet"> violet text</b>

Result:
red text
orange text
yellow text
green text
blue text
violet text

Colored text is used sparingly on Wiki pages to maintain formality.

Images

Here is the most basic method of adding images:

1. If the image does not already exist on the wiki, you will need to save it to your computer before uploading it to the wiki.
2. Determine the location of the image you wish to upload and the Wiki page you wish to upload it to.
3. On the Wiki page, place the following where you want the image:

[[File:filename.extension]]

Example:

[[File:Flowers.jpg]]

The name and filetype can be changed based on your preferences, but it must be designated as a File by the "File:" prefix.

1. Once you have added the link, save your edit to the page. Note: the image has not been uploaded yet, so it will appear as a redlink after saving the edit.
2. Return to the broken filename on the edited page and click on the image file. The red text is indicative of no uploaded images or changes to that page.
3. Click on the "Upload" button and add a description if you wish.
4. Hit "Submit" and your image should now appear on the page!

Alternatively:

1. Upload an image to the wiki from your computer.
2. Choose a destination filename and upload.
3. Use step #3 from above to add it on the appropriate page.

Image Thumbnails

An image may be thumbnailed in order to limit its size on the page.

An image may also be aligned horizontally with the keywords left, center, and right. If no alignment is specified, it is automatically left-aligned.

Code:

 [[Image:sciolylogo.png|thumb|center|SciOly.org Logo]] 

Result

SciOly.org Logo

Image Size

An image or thumbnail may be resized to fit a page better.

Code:

 [[Image:sciolylogo.png|thumb|300px|center|SciOly.org Logo]] 

Result

SciOly.org Logo

Headings

NOTE: The first heading type is used in the titles of pages and using it for other subheadings is discouraged.

Code:

=Heading=

Result:

Heading

Code:

==Heading1==

Result:

Heading1

Code:

===Subheading===

Result:

Subheading

Code:

====Subsubheading====

Result:

Redirects

Redirects are used to redirect users to existing wiki pages from commonly used names. For example, the page Cow A Bungee redirects to Bungee Drop. To remove a redirect from a page, follow a link to the page you wish to edit, add &redirect=no to the end of the url, and edit out the redirect.

Code:

 #REDIRECT [[PageRedirectedTo]] 

See Also

How To Edit A Page
Cheatsheet (a more complete listing)
Displaying Formulas